Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/182

 148 ASOKA MAURYA the series of the Fourteen Rock Edicts, intended to fix the principles on which the administration of the newly conquered province and the wild tribes dwelling on its borders should be conducted. They were substituted for certain edicts (Nos. 11, 12, 13) of the regular series, which were omitted from the Kalinga recension, as being unsuitable for local promulgation. The three Cave Inscriptions at Barabar in the Gaya District are merely brief dedications of costly cave- dwellings for the use of a monastic sect known as Aji- vika, the members of which went about naked and were noted for ascetic practices of the most rigorous kind. These records are chiefly of interest as a decisive proof that Asoka was sincere in his solemn declaration that he honoured all sects, for the Ajivikas had little or noth- ing in common with the Buddhists and were intimately connected with the Jains. The two Tarai Pillar Inscriptions, although ex- tremely brief, are of much interest for many reasons, one of which is that they prove beyond question the truth of the literary tradition that Asoka performed a solemn pilgrimage to the sacred spots of the Buddhist Holy Land. The Rummindei, or Padaria, inscription, which is in absolutely perfect preservation, has the great merit of determining, beyond the possibility of doubt, the exact position of the famous Lumbini Garden, where, according to the legend, Gautama Buddha first saw the light. This determination either solves, or sup- plies the key to, a multitude of problems. The compan- ion record at Nigliva, which is less perfectly preserved,