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In Search of Ashoka’s Edict
.. by Fateh-ul-Mulk Ali Nasir
Ashoka’s rock edict
The Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Dynasty is one of the most intriguing figures in South Asian history. The celebrated story of a great warrior who ruled almost all of the South Asian Subcontinent but then had a spiritual awakening following his bloody conquest of Kalinga is a heartening one.
After his conversion to Buddhism, Ashoka decided to spread his ideology of pacifism across his realm. The stone and pillar edicts of Ashoka served this purpose and were mostly located at the edges of his empire and have been found in places as diverse as Nepal, Karnataka and Afghanistan. Three of these edicts are located in Pakistan. One of them was a pillar edict which has subsequently been lost to history, although fragments of it have been recovered, but the two stone edicts located at Mansehra and Shahbazgarhi, Mardan, are in remarkably good condition and are very easy to visit from Islamabad.