| ASHOKA (r. c.268-c.233 BCE) | |
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Alexander's successor Seleukos I commemorated on his coins his battle and truce with Chandragupta Maurya, which brought him 500 elephants |
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After Chandragupta, founder of the *Maurya* dynasty, came Bindusara, and then Chandragupta's great-grandson Ashoka; *the Mauryan Empire** |
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The influence of the animal-topped pillars of Persepolis on Ashoka's pillars is readily apparent |
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The famous Ashokan lion capital from his pillar at Sarnath, which is now the symbol of India |
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A close look at one of Ashoka's pillars, in Lauriya-Nandangarh, Bihar |
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More Ashokan pillars: the one at Vaishali, Bihar |
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The pillar at Lumbini, in southern Nepal |
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The pillar at Bodh Gaya seems to have no inscription |
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The pillar at Allahabad has now lost its capital |
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SHAH* |
One pillar from the Punjab area has been moved to Firoz Shah ka Kotla in Delhi |
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Ashoka also inscribed edicts on large boulders beside important roads, as in this famous example in Girnar, Gujarat |
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Probably because of Ashoka's missionary activity, Buddhism got an early start in Sri Lanka as well |
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But could his fame ever have been truly established, without a film of his own? |
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A search for "asoka" will produce lots more images, including a pillar in *Allahabad*; there's also one in *Latiya* near Ghazipur |