The King as Patron

Alexander Cunningham (1814-1893), the first director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India, had an abiding interest in Buddhism, which he argued could only be understood through archaeology, as it was not mentioned in the Purdnas or other Sanskrit texts.

It was in order to identify sites associated with the historical Buddha, whose death is traditionally dated to 543 bce, that Cunningham found the seventh-century Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang's travels invaluable. In the context of this chapter, Cunningham is significant for establishing a connection between the Buddhist king Asoka mentioned in the Mahdvamsa and the several stupas that dotted much of North India. He opened the Dhamekh stupa at Sarnath near Varanasi in 1835, and in early 1851 Cunningham and Lieutenant F. C. Maisey dug into the main stupa at Sanchi in central India. After his work at Sanchi, Cunningham concluded that “in the inscriptions found in the Sanchi and Sonari Topes, we have the most complete and convincing proof of the authenticity and history of Asoka as related in the Mahdvamsa. In the Pali Annals of Ceylon, it is stated that after the meeting of the Third Buddhist Synod, in 241 bce, Kasyapa was despatched to the Hemawanta country to convert the people to Buddhism. In the Sanchi and Sonari Topes were discovered two portions of the relics of Kasyapa, whom the inscriptions call the ‘Missionary to the whole Hemawanta.' ”^[566] Thus Cunningham established the historicity of both the Mahdvamsa and Asoka, as the builder of stupas in North India, and this stereotype has persisted ever since.

Though Asoka is known to have promoted the study of Buddhist texts and undertaken pilgrimage to a few sites associated with the life of the Buddha, recent research indicates that there is a lack of stupas dated specifically to the Mauryan period. The earliest coins found at any of the Buddhist sites in the northwest are those of the Indo-Greek ruler Menander I (155-130 bce).

These were found at Dharmarajika stupa at Taxila, one of the sites excavated by John Marshall and the Archaeological Survey of India in the early twentieth century. A majority of the coins found at Taxila are the square, uninscribed bronze coins of the lion and elephant type dated to the second century bce. In terms of architecture, the earliest phase at Taxila is dated from 200 bce to the late first century ce. It is from this period that we find evidence for the creation of public sacred areas and temples in and around the city of Sirkap, as well as at the Dharmarajika complex.^[567] The numismatic evidence indicates that the greatest expansion of Buddhism in Gandhara and eastern Afghanistan took place in the second century ce. This expansion occurred in a period when Asoka had acquired the historiographical status of ideal Buddhist king in Sanskrit writing, known for his zeal in promoting the worship of the stupa.

The second-century ce Asokdvaddna, written in Sanskrit, credits Asoka with collecting the relics from the eight drona stupas, set up soon after the Buddha's passing away, and re-enshrining them into 84,000 stupas throughout Jambudvipa.^[568] Unlike the Asokavadana, the Mahavamsa refers to 84,000 monasteries or viharas, which Asoka established to honor the Buddha's teachings, omitting all reference to any breaking in of stupas. What is the significance of the number 84,000? Rhys Davids refers to an early verse in the canon attributed to Ananda, which mentions that the number of sections of the dhamma was 84,000, as well as to a verse in the Dipavamsa, which states that the number of Asoka's buildings was determined by the number of sections of the dhamma.^[569] While the Asokavadana merely announces that Asoka celebrated a festival of relics on completion of his construction of 84,000 stupas, the Mahavamsa provides graphic accounts of Asoka's participation in the festivities, with lavish gifts given to the Sangha, streets adorned with strings of lamps, and garlands of flowers and music being played, as well as sermons preached.^[570]

It is apparent that by the second century ce, several new phenomena had appeared.

First, the Buddhist Dhamma had spread beyond the area in which the Buddha had preached, viz. large parts of North India, encompassing both the northwestern regions of the subcontinent, peninsular India, and also to Sri Lanka. The worship of relics over this extensive area was striking, as was the proliferation in the number of stupas and monasteries that had been constructed. John Strong also makes a distinction between the Asoka of the edicts, as studied and presented in the nineteenth century, and the Asoka of Buddhist legends. He underscores the fact that, throughout the historical period, visitors to the sites of Asokan edicts read them through the lens of Buddhist, rather than an historical, narrative.^[571] Another text that has often been associated with the Mauryas is the Arthasastra,^[572] though this affiliation has been subjected to scholarly analysis in recent years.

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Source: Bang Peter F., Bayly C.A., Scheidel Walter (eds.). The Oxford World History of Empire. Volume Two: The History of Empires. Oxford University Press,2020. — 1352 p.. 2020

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