Download Ericka Rieck Anth 040H The Pillars of Ashoka Mauryan The pillars of

Ericka Rieck
Anth 040H
The Pillars of Ashoka Mauryan
The pillars of Ashoka were found all across India, many in places of great importance to
the Buddha and the Buddhist religion. The pillars were large and free standing, garnering
attention and acting as a reminder of the rules of the emperor that they were named for. On these
great monuments of sandstone were inscribed different edicts following the beliefs of Buddhism
and of King Ashoka himself. They acted as a way to preserve the written language of the Brahmi
script which is the language of origin for many written languages in use today. The pillars also
extended the arm of the law and acted as a way to regulate the goings-on of such a vast empire as
the one that Ashoka found himself ruling.
Ashoka Mauryan assumed the position as ruler of the Mauryan Empire in 269 BCE. He
was recorded as a cruel and oppressive emperor over his people and a merciless military leader.
He expanded his empire into territories that had previously stood up against the empire’s military
forces under the rule of the two previous kings. Ashoka’s military conquests were so brutal and
full of death and bloodshed that he began to question the advantages of war. He then turned away
from expansion as his goal and focusing on his subjects transformed himself from a merciless
military leader into a ruler of virtue earning him the name of Ashoka the Great.
With this new found sense of humanity Ashoka instituted laws including abolishing the
hunting and slaughtering of animals for sport, with only limited hunting for consumption,
instituting universities and irrigation systems, and showing mercy to those who were imprisoned
by granting them a day of reprieve in the outside world once a year. Following along with these
acts of good will King Ashoka also began to practice Buddhism and was a huge endorser of the
religion. He even sent his family throughout distant lands to hold massive gatherings for spiritual
leaders to meet and discuss different philosophies. King Ashoka adopted the dharma which
basically included virtuous teachings and advice about how to live a harmonious life.
King Ashoka considered the dharma to be the way to harmony for India. He saw the
dharma as showing respect for all living things so that India would find unity through
compassion. The dharma was used to act like a conscious. It has been interpreted as a, “religion
to be used as a symbol of a new imperial unity and a cementing force to weld the diverse and
heterogeneous element of the empire.” (D’cruz, Edward) Ashoka wanted the dharma to be what
brought everyone together. It was to be the glue that held India together because there would be
no rifts due to religious, or social differences. This moral code, so to speak, was so deeply rooted
in King Ashoka’s empire that he commissioned stone pillars to be created and etched with his
various edicts.
The pillars were created out of highly polished sandstone that generally sported a statue
of a lion or bull on the top and the edicts chiseled into its base. The pillars were sent all over the
empire so that all could read, or hear the edicts of Ashoka and the concepts of the dharma, but
the pillars that were more elaborate were placed at locations of importance. Ashoka wanted all of
his subjects to learn and obey the Buddhist dharma so that his empire could be united and strong
in spirit and in actions. During Ashoka’s time there were most likely many monuments, but only
ten survive today with their inscriptions intact, others survive in fragments. Pillars that survive
today include the pillar at Sarnath, which bears four lions at the top, also referred to as “Asoka
Column”. This pillar stands at the Sarnath Museum. Other pillars still standing today that include
animal are the pillar at Allahabad, and the pillar at Vaishali which stands at the site of where a
probable Buddhist monastery stood.
These columns of Ashoka were written to preserve the Buddhist beliefs and the thoughts
and edicts of King Ashoka himself. The Buddha himself had been deceased for nearly 300 years
when the pillars were created, but these inscriptions actually represent the first Buddhist
teachings to have been written down. The pillars do not include many specific Buddhist beliefs,
but what Ashoka believed and learned from the religion. The language of these etchings is
mostly the western dialect of Brahmi that closely relates to Sanskrit, but inscriptions found in the
east were written in Magadhi. The language of Brahmi is the script that all Indian scripts and
even many found in Southeast Asia later came from. These edicts were written in what was the
first written language that has been found since the ancient city of Harrapa. In 1837 James
Prinsep began to decipher the etchings and concluded that the pillars referred to the ruler King
Piyadasi, or King Ashoka. One hundred fifty Ashokan inscriptions have since been found etched
into various stone surfaces. These inscriptions of Ashoka’s edicts consist of the earliest found
decipherable written accounts from India.
These written accounts have only lasted through time due to the mediums in which they
were chiseled and without these pillars later generations would not have such in depth
knowledge of the capabilities of the people of Ashoka’s time, and of the written language that
was used as a building block for multiple other languages. These pillars are reported to weigh
over fifty tons and therefore hold the same mystery as other famous monoliths such as
Stonehenge when one thinks about how much a massive amount of rock was moved. The
communication of this ancient society to be able to accomplish such a massive feat must have
been incredible and this is demonstrated by the inscriptions themselves.
These texts were written without any mention of specific gods, or any criticisms for other
belief systems, but simply to state the beliefs that were governing India and its ruler at that time.
Rarely do the inscriptions include any historical events and in general seem to have been written
for the instruction and guidance of Ashoka’s people and for future generations of people. One of
the inscriptions states,
“to serve for the instruction of future genertations in Dharma till the end of the kalpa. This rescript on
Dharma had been promulgated that it may endure as long as the sun and the moon endure and that it
may be followed. Where there are stone pillars or stone surfaces this edict should be inscribed on them
so that it may endure for long ages.” Pt. 7 (Ashoka 290-232 BC)
This is showing that King Ashoka wanted his beliefs and these ways of life to be preserved for
posterity. The inscriptions are written in a very rough language, not the royal language often
used when works are commissioned, suggesting that Ashoka himself had a very firm grasp over
the project and that it is more of less his personal thoughts being transcribed.
The script used to write these edicts, Brahmi script, is one of the most important systems
of writing not just for India itself, but for most of the world. Brahmi script is the foundation
language of all India writing languages and many scripts that can be found all over Asia. It is the
origin of all southern Asian writing systems and also many eastern scripts like Thai, and Tibetan.
Southern Brahmic scripts generated and became the Khmer script in Cambodia, and the Javanese
script in Indonesia. The northern Brahmic script was turned in the Gupta script and then was
morphed in many written cursives such as Siddham and Nagari. Written from left to right,
Brahmi script is made up of symbols that can be used or seen as either a consonant, or as a
syllable including both a consonant and vowel.
The origin of Brahmi script is highly debated. There are several theories of how this
written language originated. One theory is that Brahmi come from West Semitic origin which
would mean that it is a dialect related to the Phoenician language which is the origin of written
languages such as Arabic, Latin and Greek. Another theory is that Brahmi descends from
Southern Semitic languages of Southern Arabian where modern Amharic is descended from.
One other theory that has been debated is that Brahmi script comes from Indus script which
includes the ancient city of Harrapa, the last known site of ancient written language in India
before the pillars of Ashoka were discovered. The specific origin of Brahmi script is not
necessarily vital, but what each of these theories has in common is that the use of Brahmi had
and has a great influence over many modern languages that are used today.
The importance of the pillars of Ashoka is that these stone monuments carry with
them a huge link in the chain of evolution for written language for India and much of Asia.
Without this language many other languages would either not exist, or would not be able to be
understood. The pillars of Ashoka represent the earliest known examples of the Brahmi script
and also carry with them the beliefs and moral system of the ruler of the one of the largest and
most unified Indian empires of all time.
The specific branch of the Brahmi language that these inscriptions are written in is
Prakrits which is similar to the dialects of Sanskrit as stated previously. This dialect is considered
to be in the Middle language branch for the origin of Indian language, from about the third
century BCE. The Prakrits are spoken today by about 750 million people in India and over 100
million people in Bangladesh (“History of Indian languages”). The importance of the pillars of
Ashoka can clearly be seen in modern day India and Asia.
Without these pillars having been made the Brahmi script could have possibly died out,
significantly changing the use of written language in the Middle East and Asia. Modern written
language has evolved from the written script that comprises these inscriptions and from this
written language modern spoken language has also evolved. Without this link that separation
between modern day language and early Indian languages might never have been found and
understood. The pillars of Ashoka give an eye witness account into the past and provide a map
for the origins of many languages.
The fact that modern day scholars have the pillars of Ashoka as a point of origin for
hundreds of different languages and dialects is incredible. The pillars of Ashoka give a glimpse
into the past so that the expansion of Buddhism through India can be seen and the progression of
language can be mapped out. The pillars have preserved the earliest known accounts of Brahmi
writings and Brahmi writing in and of itself has lent itself to the evolution of hundreds of
languages and dialects that have been changed over time into modern day. The specific dialect of
Prakrits used on the pillars can be traced through time up until today and depending on the
theory of origin for Brahmi that one subscribes too, Brahmi could have even come from the line
of language that lends itself to modern day Greek and Latin which in turn has given us English.
The pillars were an important stepping stone for ancient written language, which in turn
impacted both modern day written and spoken languages used all over India and Southern Asia
and even possibly all over the world. Much more is known about the past due to the
understanding that was discerned from the finding and preservation of the pillars Ashoka.
In addition to the language benefits that come from having the pillars of Ashoka, the
pillars themselves act as a great evolutionary mark for communication because they act as one of
the first examples of mass transmissions of information from the government. Ashoka ruled an
empire that took up a large amount of territory in a time when portable messages on papyrus and
in clay, were not readily available. These pillars were placed all across his empires in various
places as stated previously and therefore spread Ashoka’s word of law to the far reaches of the
empire. People would gather around these monuments and the laws and edicts would be read
from the pillar so that all knew the laws and had to abide by them. The pillars remained as a day
to day reminder of what the rules were and how people within the empire were supposed to act.
They acted as a guide for decorum as a citizen. The pillars of Ashoka were an everyday reminder
of the presence of their king and his will.
The pillars of Ashoka lend themselves to the evolution of communication in various
ways. These pillars have preserved the Brahmi script and have acted as a place holder on the
timeline of written script in and of itself since it was the first written language found since in
India since the ancient city of Harappa. In addition to this the pillars preserved laws including the
Buddhist beliefs of King Ashoka. The pillars reached the entire empire and acted as a mass
communication of laws, or of government “by remote control” that spread the word of the king
to all reaches of the empire when there was no conventional was to transmit messages over great
areas of land such as with papyrus, or other portable forms of writing material.
Bibliography
D'cruz, Edward 1967, India The Quest For Nationhood, India Printing Works, Bombay, India.
Wold, Kevin. The Life of Ashoka Mauryan California State University Chico, n.d. Web. 25 Feb
2012
Dhammika, Ven. S. The Edicts of King Ashoka Buddhist Publication Society. 1993. Web. 25 Feb
2012
N.p. Ancient Scripts. Lawrence Lo. 1996. Web. 27 Feb 2012
-Brahmi
-Phoenician
-South Arabian
-Indus Script
Diehardindian.com, History of Indian Languages. 2000. Web. 28 Feb 2012
Macphail James Merry. The Heritage of India: Asoka. Calcuta: The Association press, 1918.
Web