The Rock Edicts of Shahbazgarhi: How Ashoka Spoke to the World

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Shahbazgarhi rock edicts of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, carved in the 3rd century BCE in what is now Pakistan. They discuss how these inscriptions, written in the Kharosthi script and Prakrit language, reveal Ashoka's innovative use of public communication to spread his Buddhist-inspired Dhamma across his vast empire. The conversation covers the edicts' content—Ashoka's remorse after the Kalinga war, his policies of nonviolence and religious tolerance, and his outreach to Hellenistic kings—and the unique bilingual trilingual nature of some versions. They also touch on the discovery and preservation of these rocks by figures like Alexander Cunningham and their modern significance in understanding early Buddhist statecraft. Specific terms include Dhamma, Kharosthi, Prakrit, Chandragupta Maurya, Kalinga, Antiochus II, and Alexander Cunningham. #Ashoka #MauryanEmpire #Shahbazgarhi #RockEdicts #Kharosthi #Prakrit #Dhamma #Buddhism #Kalinga #AlexanderCunningham #AncientIndia #Epigraphy #Nonviolence #Hellenistic #AntiochusII #History #FexingoHistory #PublicCommunication Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo