9788175361423 - Asoka by Vincent a Smith (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. No Jacket. b-732.

glossy brown, white, tan & red illustrated hardbound 8vo. no dustwrapper. fine cond. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. contents free of all markings. nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking , underlining, remainder markings etc ~ reprint of the 1919 third edition. Rulers Of India series. Ed. By W.W. Hunter. 278p. appendix. index. b&w map. b&w illustration. world history. ancient history. biography. religion. ancient india. history of buddhism. ~ The book contains biography and the administration of prominent Indian emperors like Asoka of the Maurya dynasty. Asoka, a son of Bindusara and the third sovereign of the Maurya dynasty ascended the throne of Pataliputra (B.C. 273) and undertook the government of the Indian empire. He held the government for about forty years. The numerous inscriptions recorded by Asoka are the leading authority for the events of his reign and its administration. Tradition probably is right in stating that Asoka followod tho religion of the Brahmanas in his early days, with a special devotion to Lord Siva. But the horrors of the Kalinga war made a deep impression on the heart of the victorious monarch. Once he had begun to devote himself to the love, protection and teaching of the Law of Piety or Dharma, he never again allowed himself to be tempted by ambition into an unprovoked war. The Kalinga conflict was his last war. Asoka became a lay disciple under the Buddhist system immediately after the conquest of Kalinga. Then Asoka became both monk and monarch at the same time. The Mauryan empire, governed for about 90 years by Chandra Gupta, Bindusara and Asoka, crumbled like a pack of cards when the sLrong and powerful third sovereign relinquished the throne. Numerous particulars of the civil and eccelesiastical organisations of the empire for administrative purposes are revealed by close exnmination of the Asoka inscriptions on rocks and monuments which have all been graphically provided by the author. The book ~ Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of lndia ~ was originally written by Vincent A. Smith, C.I.E. and subsequently edited by William Wilson Hunter under the title of Rulers of India (Asoka Maurya).