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Buddhist doctrine of king Ashoka 260BC[Proselytism]

Proselytism within Ashoka’s territories

Inside India proper, in the realm of Ashoka, many different populations were the object of the King’s proselytism:

“Here in the king’s domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods’ instructions in Dhamma.” Rock Edict Nb13 (S. Dhammika)

Greek communities lived in the northwest of the Mauryan empire, in the region of Pakistan, notably ancient Gandhara near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, and in southern Afghanistan in the region of Gedrosia, following the conquest and the colonization efforts of Alexander the Great around 323 BC. These communities therefore seem to have been still significant during the reign of Ashoka. A notable mention references aspects of Greek society.

There is no country, except among the Greeks, where these two groups, Brahmans and ascetics, are not found, and there is no country where people are not devoted to one or another religion” Rock Edict Nb13 (S. Dhammika)

Bilingual inscription (Greek and Aramaic) by king Ashoka, from Kandahar (Shar-i-kuna). Kabul Museum.

Two edicts in Afghanistan have been found with Greek inscriptions, one of these being a bilingual edict in Greek language and Aramaic. This edict, found in Kandahar, advocates the adoption of “Piety” (using the Greek term Eusebeia for Dharma) to the Greek community:

“Ten years (of reign) having been completed, King Piodasses (one of the titles of Ashoka: Piyadassi or Priyadarsi, “He who is the beloved of the Gods and who regards everyone amiably”) made known (the doctrine of) Piety (Greek:e?s?ße?a, Eusebeia) to men; and from this moment he has made men more pious, and everything thrives throughout the whole world. And the king abstains from (killing) living beings, and other men and those who (are) huntsmen and fishermen of the king have desisted from hunting. And if some (were) intemperate, they have ceased from their intemperance as was in their power; and obedient to their father and mother and to the elders, in opposition to the past also in the future, by so acting on every occasion, they will live better and more happily.” (Trans. by G.P. Carratelli

Kambojas are a people of Central Asian origin who had settled first in Arachosia and Drangiana (today’s southern Afghanistan), and then in the northwestern Indian subcontinent in Sindhu, Gujarat and Sauvira.
* The Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas are other people under Ashoka’s rule.

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Buddhist doctrine of king Ashoka 260BC[Proselytism

Asoka greek,Brahmi ROCK Letters to the WORLD

According to the edicts, the extent of Buddhist proselytism during this period reached as far as the Mediterranean, and many Buddhist monuments were created.

These inscriptions proclaim Ashoka’s beliefs in the Buddhist concept of dharma and his efforts to develop the dharma throughout his kingdom. Although Buddhism and the Buddha are mentioned, the edicts focus on social and moral precepts rather than religious practices or the philosophical dimension of Buddhism.

In these inscriptions, Ashoka refers to himself as “Beloved of the Gods” and “King Priya-darshi.” The identification of King Priya-darshi with Ashoka was confirmed by an inscription discovered in 1915. The inscriptions found in the eastern part of India were written in the Magadhi language, using the Brahmi script. In the western part of India, the language used is closer to Sanskrit, using the Kharoshthi script, one extract of Edict 13 in the Greek language, and one bilingual edict written in Greek and Aramaic.These edicts were decodified by British archeologist and historian James Prinsep.

The inscriptions revolve around a few repetitive themes: Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism, the description of his efforts to spread Buddhism, his moral and religious precepts, and his social and animal welfare program.
In order to propagate the Buddhist faith, Ashoka explains he sent emissaries to the Hellenistic kings as far as the Mediterranean, and to the peoples throughout India, claiming they were all converted to the Dharma as a result. He names the Greek rulers of the time, inheritors of the conquest of Alexander the Great, from Bactria to as far as Greece and North Africa, displaying an amazingly clear grasp of the political situation at the time.

“Now it is conquest by Dhamma that Beloved-of-the-Gods considers to be the best conquest. And it (conquest by Dhamma) has been won here, on the borders, even six hundred yojanas away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni.” Rock Edict Nb13
The distance of 600 yojanas (a yojanas being about 7 miles), corresponds to the distance between the center of India and Greece (roughly 4,000 miles).
Antiochos refers to Antiochus II Theos of Syria (261-246 BC), who controlled the Seleucid Empire from Syria to Bactria, in the east from 305 to 250 BC, and was therefore a direct neighbor of Ashoka.
Ptolemy refers to Ptolemy II Philadelphos of Egypt (285-247 BCE), king of the dynasty founded by Ptolemy I, a former general of Alexander the Great, in Egypt.
Antigonos refers to Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedon (278-239 BC)
Magas refers to Magas of Cyrene (300-258 BC)
Alexander refers to Alexander II of Epirus (272-258 BC).

In the Gandhari original Antiochos is referred as “Amtiyoko nama Yona-raja” (lit. “The Greek king by the name of Antiokos”), beyond whom live the four other kings: “param ca tena Atiyokena cature 4 rajani Turamaye nama Amtikini nama Maka nama Alikasudaro nama” (lit”And beyond Antiochus, four kings by the name of Ptolemy, the name of Antigonos, the name of Magas, the name Alexander”

It is not clear in Hellenic records whether these emissaries were actually received, or had any influence on the Hellenic world. Some scholars however point to the presence of Buddhist communities in the Hellenistic world from that time, in particular in Alexandria (mentioned by Clement of Alexandria). The pre-Christian monastic order of the Therapeutae may have drawn inspiration for its ascetic lifestyle from contact with Buddhist monasticism. Buddhist gravestones from the Ptolemaic period have also been found in Alexandria, decorated with depictions of the Wheel of the Law (Tarn, “The Greeks in Bactria and India”). Commenting on the presence of Buddhists in Alexandria, some scholars have even pointed out that “It was later in this very place that some of the most active centers of Christianity were established” (Robert Linssen).

Ashoka’s proselytism also expanded to the south of the Indian subcontinent:
The Cholas and Pandyas were south Indian peoples living outside Asoka’s empire.
Tamraparni is the old name of Sri Lanka. Tamraparniya is also the name of Theravada School from Sri Lanka.

Asoka letter written in greek,Brahmi

Akkadian Postal history cover letter,

The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad Biblical Accad in central Mesopotamia present day Iraq.The city of Akkad was situated on the west bank of the Euphrates, between Sippar and Kish (in Iraq, about 50 km (31 mi) southwest of the center of Baghdad). Despite an extensive search, the precise site has never been found. It reached the height of its power between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC, following the conquests of king Sargon of Akkad.
Because of the policies of the Akkadian Empire toward linguistic assimilation, Akkad also gave its name to the predominant Semitic dialect: the Akkadian language, reflecting use of akkadû (“in the language of Akkad”) in the Old Babylonian period to denote the Semitic version of a Sumerian text.
The form Agade appears in Sumerian, for example in the Sumerian King List; the later Assyro-Babylonian form Akkadû  belonging to Akkad It is possible that the Sumerian name, despite its unetymological spelling A.GA.DÈ, is from AGA.DÈ, meaning “Crown of Fire” in allusion to Ishtar, “the brilliant goddess”, whose cult was observed from very early times in Agade. Centuries later, the neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus mentioned in his archaeological records[4] that Ishtar’s worship in Agade was later superseded by that of the goddess Anunit, whose shrine was at Sippar—suggesting proximity of Sippar and Agade.Despite numerous searches, the city has never been found. One theory holds that Agade was situated opposite Sippar on the left bank of the Euphrates, and was perhaps the oldest part of the city of Sippar. Another theory is that the ruins of Akkad are to be found beneath modern Baghdad. Reputedly it was destroyed by invading Gutians with the fall of the Akkadian Empire.

The first known mention of the city of Akkad is in an inscription of Enshakushanna of Uruk, where he claims to have defeated Agade—indicating that it was in existence well before the days of Sargon of Akkad, who the Sumerian kinglist claims to have built it.Akkad is mentioned once in the Tanakh—Book of Genesis 10:10: And the beginning of his Nimrod’s kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. The Greek (LXX) spelling in this passage is Archad.

Akkadian Postal history cover letter,

Akkadian Postal history cover letter,

Congress Party Leaders stamps,Photos,

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sind postal letter from mountains of GANDHARA,17XX AD

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POSTAL HISTORY consisting mostly of government dispatches,AND SPYING ON THE PEOPLE and anti government workers and that report was carried from place to place by horse bon men and on foot walkers during chandragupta period as written CHANAKYA BOOK OF ARTHASHASTA FIRST INDIAN CONTITUTION ANS TAX MANUAL ,horse or horse-drawn wagon in ancient Egypt and Persia. Most mail was still being transported the same way in the middle of the 19th century, when stagecoaches carried letters and packages to the West coast. Historical references to postal systems in Egypt date from about 2000 BC. The Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great (6th century BC) used a system of mounted relay messengers. The riders would stop at regularly placed posthouses to get a fresh horse or to pass on their packets of dispatches to another messenger for the remainder of the distance. On the other side of the world, in China, a posthouse service had been started early in the Chou Dynasty (ruled 1122-221 BC). It was used mostly to convey official documents. The far-reaching system consisted of relays of couriers who changed horses at relay posts 9 miles yojana apart. The system was enlarged under the Han Empire (202 BC-AD 220), when the Chinese came in contact with the Romans and their postal system.