gave his first sermon and set the Wheel of the Law in motion. It is a
seven-foot lion capital (FIG. 6-6). Stylistically, Ashoka’s capital owes
much to the ancient Near East, especially the Achaemenid art of Perse-
polis (see Chapter 2), but its iconography is Buddhist. Two pairs of
back-to-back lions (the Buddha is often referred to as “the lion”) stand
on a round abacus decorated with four wheels and four animals sym-
bolizing the four quarters of the world. The lions once carried a large
stone wheel on their backs. The wheel (chakra) referred to the Wheel of
the Law but also indicated Ashoka’s stature as a chakravartin (“holder
of the wheel”), a universal king imbued with divine authority. The
open mouths of the four lions that face the four quarters of the world
may signify the worldwide announcement of the Buddha’s message.Shunga, Andhra, and Kushan Dynasties
The Maurya dynasty came to an abrupt end when its last ruler was
assassinated by one of his generals, who founded a new dynasty in
his own name. The Shungas, however, never ruled an empire as ex-
tensive as that of the Mauryas. Their realm was confined to centralIndia. They were succeeded by the Andhras, who also controlled the
Deccan plateau to the south. By the middle of the first century CE,an
even greater empire, the Kushan, rose in northern India. Its most cel-
ebrated king was Kanishka, who came to power during the late first
or early second century CEand who set up capitals at Peshawar and
other sites in Gandhara, a region largely in Pakistan today, close to
the Afghanistan border. The Kushans grew rich on trade between
China and the west along one of the main caravan routes bringing
the luxuries of the Orient to the Roman Empire (see “Silk and the
Silk Road,” Chapter 7, page 188). Kanishka even struck coins mod-
eled on the imperial coinage of Rome, some featuring Greco-Roman
deities, but Kanishka’s coins also carried portraits of himself and im-
ages of the Buddha and various Hindu deities.
SANCHI The unifying characteristic of this age of regional dynas-
ties in South Asia was the patronage of Buddhism. One of the most
important Buddhist monasteries, founded during Ashoka’s reign and
in use for more than a thousand years, is at Sanchi in central India. It
consists of many buildings constructed over the centuries, including
viharas (celled structures where monks live), large stupas(see “The
Stupa,” page 163),chaitya halls (halls with rounded, or apsidal,ends
for housing smaller stupas), and temples for sheltering images.
The Great Stupa at Sanchi dates originally to Ashoka’s reign, but
its present form (FIG. 6-7), with its tall stone fence and four gates,
dates from ca. 50 BCEto 50 CE. The solid earth-and-rubble dome
stands 50 feet high. Worshipers enter through one of the gateways,
walk on the lower circumambulation path, then climb the stairs on
the south side to circumambulate at the second level. Carved onto the
different parts of the Great Stupa are more than 600 brief inscriptions
showing that the donations of hundreds of individuals (more than a162 Chapter 6 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA BEFORE 12006-6Lion capital of
the column erected
by Ashoka at
Sarnath, India, ca.
250 bce.Polished
sandstone, 7high.
Archaeological
Museum, Sarnath.
Ashoka formulated
a legal code based
on the Buddha’s
teachings and
inscribed those
laws on columns
erected throughout
his kingdom. The
lions on this capital
once supported the
Buddha’s Wheel of
the Law.T
he reign of the Maurya king Ashoka marks both the begin-
ning of monumental stone art and architecture (FIG. 6-6) in
India and the first official sponsorship of Buddhism. The impact
of Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism on the later history of art
and religion in Asia cannot be overstated.
An edict carved into a rock at Dhauli in the ancient region of
Kalinga (roughly equivalent to the modern state of Orissa on the
Bay of Bengal) records Ashoka’s embrace of nonviolence and of
the teachings of the Buddha after an especially bloody conquest
that claimed more than 100,000 lives. The inscription also cap-
tures Ashoka’s missionary zeal, which spread Buddhism far be-
yond the boundaries of his kingdom.
The Beloved of the Gods [Ashoka], conqueror of the Kalingas,
is moved to remorse now. For he has felt profound sorrow and
regret because the conquest of a people previously unconquered
involves slaughter, death, and deportation....[King Ashoka] now
thinks that even a person who wrongs him must be forgiven...
[and he] considers moral conquest [conquest by dharma] the
most important conquest. He has achieved this moral conquest
repeatedly both here and among the peoples living beyond the
borders of his kingdom....Even in countries which [King
Ashoka’s] envoys have not reached, people have heard about
dharma and about [the king’s] ordinances and instructions in
dharma....This edict on dharma has been inscribed so that my
sons and great-grandsons who may come after me should not
think new conquests worth achieving....Let them consider
moral conquest the only true conquest.*
The story of Ashoka at Kalinga and his renunciation of vio-
lent aggression still resonates today. It inspired one of the most
important 20th-century Indian sculptors to take up the theme
and imbue it with contemporary meaning (FIG. 26-15).Ashoka’s Conversion
to BuddhismWRITTEN SOURCES*Rock Edict XIII. Translated by N. A. Nikam and Richard McKeon,The Edicts
of A ́soka (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959), 27–30.1 ft.6-6BYakshi
holding a
fly whisk,
Didarganj,
mid-third
century BCE.