Question: Who discovered the Maski Ashoka Inscription?
A) James Prinsep
B) C Beadon
C) Christian Lassen
D) Lord Canning
Answer: B) C Beadon
Maski, located in Raichur district, Karnataka, lies on the bank of the Maski river which is a tributary of the Tungabhadra.
It was the first edict of Emperor Ashoka that contained the name Asoka in it instead of the earlier edicts that referred to him as Devanampiye Piyadasi.
Ashoka is also mentioned in the Gujjara Minor Rock Edict, which is located in Datia district, Madhya Pradesh.
The Ashoka edicts can be classified into three categories:
Major Rock Edicts
Minor Rock Edicts
Pillar Edicts
The Major Rock Edicts were 14 in number and were found in eight places: Mansehra, Shahbazgarhi, Kalsi, Dhouli, Jaugada, Sopara, Girnar, and Yerraguddi.
Ashoka appears only in copies of Minor Rock Edicts, while all other inscriptions mention him as Devanampiya, dear to the gods.
The Pillar Edicts were seven in number in six places: Delhi-Topra, Delhi-Meerut, Lauriya-Areraj, Lauriya-Nandangarh, Prayag, and Rampurva.
Ashoka was converted to Buddhism as a result of the Kalinga War. The Kalinga war took place in the year 261 BC.
The third Buddhist council, which took place during his reign in 250 BC, was held in Pataliputra under Mogaliputta Tissa’s chairmanship.
James Prinsep became the first scholar to decipher Ashoka’s inscriptions, i.e., the Brahmi Script.
The edicts in Brahmi Script mentioned a king, Devnampiya Piyadassi, who was initially assumed to be a Sri Lankan King.
