Ebook: Emporer Asoka and the Five Greek Kings

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, light was shed on the ancient history
of India by the discovery and decipherment of a large number of royal edicts carved in
forgotten alphabets on rocks and pillars. The edicts heralded the achievements of a king
named Priyadarsi in "moral conquest" or dharma-vijaya⎯an ambitious program of public
works and state-controlled moral reform for which he claimed success at home and in
many foreign territories.
Since Priyadarsi's edicts were found over a broad area of the Indian subcontinent,
ranging from northern Pakistan to South India, it appeared that he was a powerful emperor
of great historical importance. At first it was difficult to identify him with any known
historical figure. But scholars surmised that Priyadarsi might be Asoka, an emperor who is
mentioned in the dynastic lists of the Puranas and who is glorified in the Ceylonese
Buddhist text Mahavamsa for his efforts to spread Buddhism. They therefore began to
refer to Priyadarsi's inscriptions as the edicts of Asoka. They believed this identification
was clinched by the discovery of inscriptions at Maski in 1919 and Gujarra in 1954 that
referred to Priyadarsi as Asoka.