Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/129

Rh the eastern and western faces of a mass of trap rock, 24 feet long and I0 feet high, which lies on the slope of a hill to the south—east of the village.

The Toleration Edict, No. XII discovered a few years ago by the late Sir Harold Deane, is incised on a separate rock about ﬁfty yards distant from the main record. The text of all the documents, being nearly perfect, is of high value to the student.

The next recension in order is that at Mânsahra. (Mânsera) in the Hazâra District of the North-West Frontier Province, N. lat. 34° 20’, E. long. 7 3° I 3', about ﬁfteen miles to the north of Abbottabad. The inscription not being near habitations or on any main line of road, the reason for the selection of this site, which is not apparent at ﬁrst sight, has been made clear by Dr. Stein, who found an ancient road leading to a place of pilgrimage now called Breri. As at Rﬁpnath and Girnâr the inscription was placed so as to catch the eye of pilgrims. The text is less complete than that at Shâhbâzgarbi. Both of the north—western versions agree in giving special prominence to the Toleration Edict, which at Mansahra has one side of the rock to itself, and at Shahbazgai-hi is inscribed on a separate