monarch who calls himself the ‘Beloved of the Gods’, but these dedications
were made by Asoka’s grandson Dasaratha.
     Fragments of the Greek recensions of Major Rock Edicts XII and XIII
have been noticed in the area of Kandahar. A bilingual edict, in Aramaic and
Greek, has been found at Shar-i-Kuna near Kandahar. Inscriptions in
Aramaic have been brought to light at Taxila, Kandahar and Pul-i-Darunta
and in the Lamghan valley. In this valley two recensions of one edict have
been discovered.
     Of the above noted inscriptions, those which are in Prakrit language and
Kharoshti script have been discovered in the territory now in Pakistan. Of the
Aramaic (both language and script) inscriptions one has been unearthed at
Taxila and five in eastern Afghanistan. The two Greek (both language and
script) inscriptions belong to the same region. The inscriptions in Prakrit
language and Brahmi script have been reported from different localities in
north and peninsular India.
     The findspots of all these records were presumably once within Asoka’s
empire. Their provenances may help us in determining its limits. Of the
Asokan epigraphs those in Kharoshti or Brahmi have been well discussed
over a long time. But, the importance of Greek, and Aramaic records has
been realised only in recent decades.
     The dhamma tours were inaugurated about 260 BC, and Minor Rock
Edicts I and II (and possibly III) were issued the same year. These were the
first of the edicts. The Kalinga Edicts (Rock Edicts XV and XVI) may have
been published in 259 BC but the Fourteen Rock Edicts were issued and two
of the caves in the Barabar Hills were dedicated about 258–257 BC. The two
commemorative pillars in Nepal were erected about 250 BC. The Pillar Edicts
were then erected in 243–242 BC.
Sites of Asokan Edicts
Ahraura Located in north-eastern Madhya Pradesh, it is the site of Asokan
Minor Rock Edict I.
Allahabad-Kosam (Pillar Edicts I–VI, the Queen’s Edict, and the
Kausambi Edict or Schism Edict): The site is the same as modern Kosam on
the left bank of the Yamuna, twenty     eight miles southwest of Allahabad. The