Ashoka appears to have regretted his decision because of the suffering it caused. Very unusual for any Emperor from any era, especially if you were to contrast it with the brutal rule of the First Emperor of China at about the same time. However, at the end of the day, Ashoka was a politician. And one must take a politician’s statements with a pinch of salt! These inscriptions are what Ashoka wanted people to remember of him. While he expresses his regret, notice how he did not at the same time offer to free Kalinga and its inhabitants!
Though these inscriptions are very interesting, historians have focused too much on the noble sentiments expressed in them rather than on the pillars themselves. Around 40–50 feet high, the stone columns are impressive structures often capped by a lion or lions. This is an animal that has been associated with the Mauryans since Chandragupta’s time. In some of the pillars, the lions are accompanied by the chakra or wheel. Historians often associate this with the Buddhist ‘dharma-chakra’ but it is possible that this symbolizes the Chakravartin or Universal Monarch. The pillars and the lions are a clear expression of imperial power. They were the Mauryan way of marking territory.
Ashoka’s average subject would have been illiterate and unable to read the inscriptions. But just the sheer might of those pillars would have left no doubt in their mind about the power of their Emperor. The use of such structures to signal power is not unique to the Mauryans or even to India. The ancient Egyptians and the romans also used them. In India, the successors of the Mauryans raised their own columns and also inserted their own inscriptions on the Ashokan ones.
The Mauryan lions and pillars were mostly made from sandstone quarried at Chunar, near Varanasi, where the Ganga nudges the Vindhya range. We now know the exact location of the quarries to the south-west of Chunar fort, close to the famous Durga temple. Stone is still quarried here, and one can see some of the ancient quarries as well as cylindrical blocks of unfinished stone abandoned by the ancient stone-cutters. Some of them bear inscriptions that tell us when the stone was originally quarried.
The Mauryans rolled the stones to the river and then transported them by boat to workshops near Varanasi, just as the ancient Egyptians transported stone blocks down the Nile to construct their temples and pyramids. Though various irrigation projects these days have drastically reduced the water-flow in the Ganga, it is still possible to make the journey by boat from Chunar to Varanasi.
Archaeologists have found remains of workshops along the river where this stone was carved and polished. The stone used to carve the Sarnath lions, modern India’s national symbol, would have made this journey from quarry to workshop and then to Sarnath. There are still several stone-carvers who work on Chunar sandstone in and around Varanasi. What’s more, some of them are still carving lions to adorn homes and temples and the new sculptures all bear the same ‘grin’ that one sees on the Mauryan lions!
Later rulers understood the symbolic meaning of the Mauryan columns and were always keen to make them their own in some way. This is why the Emperors of the Gupta and Mughal dynasties went out of their way to put their own inscriptions next to those of Ashoka. Feroze Shah Tughlaq, the fourteenth-century sultan of Delhi, even had two of the pillars shipped to his newly built palace complex! It was therefore not very surprising that when India became independent, Mauryan lions and the Chakra became the country’s national symbols. These symbols have always stood for the power of the State, after all.
Some say that Ashoka himself took advantage of the symbolism that already existed. After all, there are legends that associated Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka’s grandfather, with lions. Some scholars even argue that a few of the Ashokan columns may actually have been put up by his predecessors and that Ashoka merely added his inscriptions to them.
Ashoka ruled till he died at the age of seventy-two in 232 BCE. The Mauryan empire collapsed soon after. Why did the empire collapse so quickly after Ashoka? Some feel that this was because of Ashoka’s interest in Buddhist philosophy. They say this must have sapped the morale of the army and the administration. We’re not sure what exactly happened but there is evidence to suggest that the empire had already begun to crumble in Ashoka’s later years. There are many stories about fights and struggles within the royal family which made the ageing Emperor powerless.
It’s also possible that the real problem was that Ashoka held on to power for too long. Though he was keen to follow the path of righteousness, he found it difficult to give up his power even when he could no longer rule effectively. Contrast this with the attitude of Chanakya and his own grandfather, the founders of the empire. The problem of ageing rulers clinging on to authority is something that has haunted India through the centuries.
THEIR WAY AND THE HIGHWAY
By the time the Mauryan empire was established, the second cycle of India’s urbanization had been underway for a millennium. Taxila in the north-west was not just a vibrant city but an important intellectual hub. In the east, Tamralipti was established as a major port; it is likely that Emperor Ashoka sent his son Mahindra on a mission to Sri Lanka from there. The site is located across the river from Kolkata and is not far from the port of Haldia.
Did you know?
The name ‘Tamralipti’ means ‘full of copper’ and may have originally been linked to the export of copper goods. Excavations have revealed punch-marked coins from this period.
The capital Pataliputra was the most important city in the empire. Megasthenes, the Macedonian ambassador to Chandragupta, tells us that Pataliputra was surrounded by massive wooden fences with sixty-four gates and 570 watchtowers. The city was shaped like a parallelogram 14.5 km in length and 2.5 km in breadth. Even if one does not take the numbers literally, it still suggests a very large city. Tower-bases and stockades found from excavations support this.
The main gates had wide wood-floored walkways with bridges across a moat system. The moat system, fed by the Son river, was almost 200 metres wide on the landward side. Along the Ganga, wooden piles were sunk into the mud to protect against inundation. Brick and stone were used to construct buildings inside the walls, especially for important structures. However, wood was a common building material and fires could cause a lot of damage. Megasthenes tells us that he had visited all the great cities of the east but that Pataliputra was the greatest city in the world.
What was it like to live in a Mauryan city? Chanakya’s Arthashastra has a long list of municipal laws that gives us a good insight into the civic concerns of that time. For example, there were traffic rules that said that bullock carts were not allowed to move without a driver! A child could only drive a cart if accompanied by an adult. Reckless driving was punished except when the nose-string of the bullock broke accidently or if the animal had panicked.
The Arthashastra also contains instructions on how to dispose of waste, and rules for buildings, maintaining public spaces like parks and even against encroachment into a neighbour’s property. Chanakya didn’t approve of nosy neighbours—there’s a rule against interfering in the affairs of a neighbour! There were also specific rules against urinating and defecating in public spaces. Fines were imposed on those who committed such offences near a water reservoir, a temple or a royal palace.
Obviously, all of this indicates that this was a society that had a sophisticated understanding of urban life. Was all this relearned in the Iron Age or was it passed on from the Harappan way of life?
Most people in the Mauryan Empire lived in villages, and Chanakya attached a great deal of emphasis to agriculture, animal husbandry and land revenue. He gives detailed instructions on the management of forests, especially on elephants. Summer was apparently a good time to catch elephants and twenty-year-olds were considered to be of the ideal age. At the same time, the capture of pregnant or suckling females and cubs was strictly forbidden.
The establishment of the Mauryan Empire created a stable environment that encouraged trade within and outside the subcontinent. There were major imperial Highways crossing the co
untry. The most important of these extended from Taxila to the port of Tamralipti in Bengal. The Mauryans were merely formalizing the Uttara Path that had already existed for over a thousand years. Megasthenes probably used it to visit Pataliputra which he praised so much.
The Dakshina Path also remained an important Highway, especially because of the extensive Mauryan conquests in the south. However, the course of the road had shifted somewhat eastwards since the Iron Age. The new route passed through Vidisha and then made its way to Pratishthana (modern Paithan in Aurangabad, Maharashtra). It is possible that by the Mauryan period, a branch of the southern Highway already connected Ujjain to the ports of Gujarat. This route would become more important during the Gupta period.
Meanwhile, the sea routes were becoming more and more important. We know that by Mauryan times, there was coastal shipping between Tamralipti in Bengal and Sri Lanka. Links with South East Asia were also being established. It is likely that the ships initially hugged the coast, but as we shall discuss in the next chapter, nautical skills and shipbuilding technology were soon advanced enough to allow merchants to directly cross the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
MESSAGE TO THE FUTURE
By the time the Mauryans created their empire, Indian civilization was already well-developed. It was also interested in recording its own history, going by the long list of kings preserved in the Puranas and elsewhere. These records may or may not be perfectly accurate but they show that people in these times wanted future generations to know about their Land and its rulers. The Mauryans drew inspiration from these practices, which already existed before their arrival, including the idea of Chakravartin or Universal Monarch. However, they introduced an important innovation—the use of columns and rock inscriptions to record their presence. Like monarchs around the world, Ashoka wanted to be remembered. These structures were not only to mark territory and impress subjects but also to speak to us, the future generation.
Later rulers, who understood what the Mauryans were trying to do, created their own monuments and also tried to link themselves to the Mauryans. They continued to do this centuries after the Brahmi script had been forgotten and these original inscriptions could no longer be read. Even rulers of foreign origin did not break this chain.
In Girnar Hill in Junagarh, Gujarat, there is a rock outcrop at the foot of the hill with an Ashokan inscription. More than three centuries later, a Saka (i.e. Scythian) king called Rudradaman added his own inscription next to it. This second inscription records the restoration of the Sudharshana reservoir. The reservoir was originally constructed by Pushyagupta, Chandragupta Maurya’s provincial governor. It was completed during Ashoka’s time by Tushaspa, an official of possibly Greek origin. The inscription goes on to say that the reservoir was severely damaged by a great storm and floods in the year 72 (probably 150 CE). This was considered a catastrophe by the local people but rudradaman proudly says that he had the lake restored within a short time, without resorting to forced labour or extra taxes.
Another 300 years later, the Sudharshana lake burst from its banks again. There is a third inscription on the rock that tells us that this time it was repaired by Emperor Skandagupta of the Gupta dynasty in 455–56 CE. If this is not a sense of history, what is?
Girnar is remarkable not just for this reason. If you climb up the hillock behind the rock inscriptions, above the Kali shrine, you will see Girnar Hill with all its ancient hindu-Jain temples on one side. On the other side is the Junagarh fort and town. The fort is one of the oldest in the world and according to legend, built by Krishna’s army. The very name Junagarh means ‘old fort’. Over the centuries, Saka, Rajput, and Muslim kings ruled over it. As we shall see, Junagarh would be the focus of important events when India gained independence in 1947. Barely half an hour’s drive away is Gir National Park, the last home of the Asiatic lion.
4
Dip Dip Dip, It’s a Stitched Ship!
Once the Mauryan rule had collapsed, the outer edges of the empire soon broke into smaller kingdoms. A part of the empire continued under the Shunga dynasty.
Even though the empire had broken down, it was still a big area and the northern and southern trade routes continued to be busy. The royal court maintained international diplomatic relations; there’s a stone pillar raised by heliodorus, the Greek ambassador in Vidisha, a major pit stop on the Dakshina Path.
The north-western parts of the subcontinent came to be occupied by Indo-Greek kingdoms that evolved a culture based on a mix of Indian, Greek and Bactrian elements. But once again, nature would play a role in the course of history.
In the first century BCE, there was severe snow in the area we now call Mongolia. This led to a famine. A fierce tribe of nomads called the Xiongnu lived in this area. We are not sure who exactly these people were but the Mongols are probably descended from them. These tribes had created a lot of trouble for early Chinese civilizations and it was because of them that the First Emperor decided to build the earliest version of the Great Wall of China.
Because of this famine, the Xiongnu migrated into the lands of another Central Asian tribe called the Yueh-Chih. The Yueh-Chih had to move out and they, in turn, forced the Sakas (Scythians), the Bactrians and Parthians to vacate their lands. One by one, these groups were forced to move into the subcontinent. Thus, Afghanistan and North West India saw a succession of invasions and migrations. For several centuries, this region continued to remain unstable.
Despite this instability, there were also some peaceful periods when trade and culture grew. Taxila remained a centre of learning and new urban centres appeared, especially under Kushan rule. Buddhist ideas made their way into Central Asia and then eventually to China. As we saw, the heart of Indian civilization had already shifted from the Sapta-Sindhu region to the Gangetic plains during the Iron age. Now, the action moved to the coasts due to a boom in overseas trade.
Overseas trade was not new to India. As we have seen, the Harappans traded actively with Mesopotamia. In the Iron age, centres like Dwarka may have continued to trade with these places. By the time of the Mauryans, Tamralipti was a busy port with links as far as Sri Lanka. We also know that the empire had diplomatic and trade interactions with the Greek kingdoms of the Middle East. However, it was from the second century BCE that trade with the Greeks, Romans and South East Asia really grew in volume.
A Tamil epic from this period—Silapaddikaram— tells us about the story of two lovers—Kannagi, daughter of a captain, and a merchant’s son named Kovalan. The epic describes the busy port of Puhar (or Kaveripatnam) as a place that was envied by great kings for its immense wealth brought in by the merchants.
The literature from this period talks quite a lot about trade. This is especially true of the Sangam anthologies. These collections of early Tamil poetry seem to have been put together in a series of conferences which probably took place between the third century BCE and the sixth century CE. Madurai seems to have been the venue for most of these gatherings. Some say that the tradition began even earlier in another city, also called Madurai, which was built along the coast. Apparently, this city, too, like Dwarka, was swallowed by the sea.
Unfortunately, many scholars studying Sangam literature only try to prove the ‘purity’ of Dravidian culture. They wish to show that it had nothing to do with the ‘Aryan’ influences from the north. This is quite ridiculous. First, the society described in the poems is full of trade and exchange with the rest of India as well as foreign lands. It is a world that is open to absorbing influences from everywhere and is actually welcoming of this. Secondly, the Sangam poets clearly had strong cultural and religious connections with the rest of the country. They knew of Buddhist, Brahminical and Jain traditions that are of ‘northern’ origin. Even when local gods like Murugan (Kartik) are mentioned, they are not seen as separate but obviously part of the same culture.
Sangam poetry was almost entirely lost and forgotten by the mid-nineteenth century. Luckily, a few scholars like Swaminatha Iyer
painstakingly collected ancient palm-leaf manuscripts from old temples and faraway villages. In the process, it was found that there are ancient religious practices and texts which have survived from those times to this day in some regions.
All this tells us that by the late Iron age, the people in southern India were not just aware of the rest of Indian civilization but were also fully part of it. Goods and ideas were flowing not only on the Dakshina Path but also along the coast. For some reason, Indian historians see cultural influences flowing only from the north to the rest of the country. But the fact is that these influences went both ways.
Instead of trying to split hairs over regional differences, what is amazing is that Sangam literature shows us a world that seems very familiar to us even now. For example, one of the Sangam poems gives us a glimpse of Madurai as it was under the Pandyan king Neduchelyan. We are told of the stalls near the temple selling sweetmeats, garlands of flowers and betel paan. The bazaars were full of goldsmiths, tailors, coppersmiths, flower-sellers, painters, and vendors of sandalwood. Isn’t it amazing that this description would fit almost any temple-town in the south even today?
Many think Sanskrit is a ‘pure’ language but in reality, it has many ideas and words from Tamil, Munda and even Greek! Many of the words that are considered to be Sanskrit which are now used in modern Tamil are actually ancient Tamil words that had been absorbed into Sanskrit! The influence worked both ways and enriched both languages.
The Incredible History of India's Geography Page 7