Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/23

Rh Devânaṁpiya and Piyadasi with Asoka. The titles Devânaṁpiya and Piyadasi are frequently combined, although also used separately. The name of Asoka next occurs in Rudradâman's inscription, c. 152. A few other inscriptions and traditions preserved in various literary forms help to fill up the outline derived from the primary authority, and by utilizing the available materials of all kinds, we are in a position to compile a tolerably full account of the reign, considering the remoteness of the period discussed, and the well-known deficiency of Hindu literature in purely historical works. The interest of the story is mainly psychological and religious, that is to say, as we read it we watch the development of a commanding personality and the effect of its action in transforming a local Indian sect into one of the leading religions of the world. That interest is permanent, and no student of the history of religion can ignore Asoka, who stands beside St. Paul, Constantine, and the Khalîf Omar in the small group of men who have raised to dominant positions religions founded by others.

The dates which follow may be open to slight correction, for various reasons which we need not stop to examine, but the error in any case cannot exceed three years, and the chronology of the reign may be regarded as practically settled in its main outlines. Bearing in mind this liability to immaterial error, we may affirm that Asoka succeeded his father in 273, and four years later, in B. C. 269, was solemnly consecrated to the sacred office of Kingship by the rite of