Traditionally, the locations of Ashokan inscriptions in India have been interpreted as evidence for direct Mauryan control over a substantial portion of the peninsula (see Figure 3.2). More recently, some have noted that the distributions of the southern inscriptions are tightly circumscribed in the Deccan Plateau and Krishna River valley (Fussman 1988; Habib and Habib 1990; Ray 1986; Sinopoli 2001; Sugandhi 2003, 2008; Thapar 2002). Several gold fields lie within this area and likely account for the Mauryan interest in the region. Other than this limited area, there is little evidence for Mauryan presence in the South. Further, unlike the Ashokan inscriptions found in North India, the southern inscriptions were written in Brahmi, rather than the local languages of the areas in which they were found. Unlike the inscriptions in the North that were intended to be read to broader populations, in the South it appears that the inscriptions were intended only for a smaller number of Mauryan officials fluent in Brahmi (Sugandhi 2003). Given this, it seems likely that Mauryan political control was weak in South India, focusing on areas of the greatest agricultural or mineral wealth (Sinopoli 2001; Sugandhi 2003, 2008). While there may have been a fairly large degree of political centralization in the core of the empire in the North, in the peripheries Mauryan presence was likely less dramatic.
Ashokan inscriptions have been found on rock outcrops in North and South India and on stone pillars found only in the North (see Figure 3.2). In both cases, but particularly in the case of the pillars, inscriptions were usually located in prominent locations adjacent to important religious centers or settlements. The exceptions to this pattern occur in South India, where Sugandhi (2003, 2008) has shown that Ashokan inscriptions were often carved in peripheral locations, distant from major settlements. Ashoka had identical (or nearly identical) inscriptions carved in numerous locations throughout India. Using the criteria developed by Moore (1996; discussed in Chapter 2), Ashokan inscriptions can be productively viewed as material legitimations. That is, most Ashokan inscriptions are permanent, proximate to important places, ubiquitous, large, and highly visible. As for those less visible, peripheral inscriptions in South India, their locations might suggest that Ashoka had less authority in these more distant peripheries of the Mauryan state.
World History
