Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/70

68 or where he died we know not, and no monument exists to mark the spot where his ashes rest. The Hindu Purânas assign him a reign of either thirty—six or thirty—seven years, in substantial agreement with the chronicles of Ceylon, which also give the duration of the reign as thirty—seven years. By adding the interval of about four years between his accession and coronation, the total duration of the reign may be taken as either forty or forty-one years. The materials available do not permit of the chronology being adjusted with more minute accuracy, but in assigning the period 273-542 to the reign of Asoka we cannot be far Wrong. The initial date is fixed within narrow limits of possible error by two independent calculations, one starting from the death of Alexander in 323 and the nearly contemporaneous accession of Chandragupta, the other working backwards from  258, the date of the death of Magas of Cyrenc, who is mentioned in the thirteenth Bock Edict, published presumably in the fourteenth 'regnal year' reckoned from Asoka's consecration. Some uncertainty is introduced into the first calculation by doubts as to the exact time of Chandragupta's accession and by the discrepancy of authorities concerning the length of the reign of Bindusâra, whether twenty-five or twenty-eight years. The second calculation, based upon the year 258, leaves very little room for doubt, and all authorities are agreed that Chandragupta reigned for twenty-four years. On the