Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas

by Thapar, Romila

• ISBN13: 9780195639322
• ISBN10: 0195639324
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-05-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

First published in 1961, this classic work is based largely on the edicts of Asoka, whose policies are analyzed against the background of Mauryan civilization during the third and fourth centuries B.C. The present edition has been thoroughly revised with a new afterword and archaeological site map.

Author Biography

Romila Thapar is Professor Emeritus at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and Professorial Fellow at the Nehru Museum and Library, New Delhi.

Table of Contents

List of Plates
Abbreviations
The Background and the Sources	p. 1
Early Life, Accession, and Chronology of the Reign of Asoka	p. 20
Society and Economic Activity	p. 55
Internal Administration and Foreign Relations	p. 94
The Policy of Dhamma	p. 137
The Later Mauryas	p. 182
The Decline of the Mauryas	p. 197
Conclusion	p. 213
The Date of the Arthasastra	p. 218
The Titles of Asoka	p. 226
The Geographical Locations of the Edicts	p. 228
Pottery and Coins of the Mauryan Period	p. 239
A Translation of the Edicts of Asoka	p. 250
Mauryan Art	p. 267
Afterword	p. 271
Bibliography	p. 322
Index	p. 333
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