348 JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON). [Vol. HI. 



possible to adjust this date with precision, even according to 

 Bhuddhistical writers, unless we obtain proofs in support of 

 the next hypothesis of Mr. Turn our, to which we now turn 

 our attention. 



Third* That As oka of Kashmir was identical with the 

 Maghada prince of that name. True it is, that in addi- 

 tion to the resemblance in the names, some little incidents of 

 life, as related of Asoka in the Raja Tarangani, accord with 

 the same facts detailed in Ceylon and Indian Annals of the 

 Asoka of Maghada : as for instance, his abolishing the Brah- 

 minical rites, and substituting those of Jina or Buddha 

 (Raja Tarangani in " Asiatic Researches," xv. p. 19, and 

 Mahawansa, pp. 23, 26); and his " n«£ having been the direct 

 descendant of his predecessors, who reigned, in Kashmir," as 

 attested by the genealogy given in the Vishnu Parana. 



Opposed, however, to these marks of resemblance, are the 

 following points of discordance ; First, the Asoka of 

 Kashmir appears, from the whole tenor of the Raja Tarangani, 

 to have been a resident of that country : whereas the Asoka 

 of Hindu and Bhuddhistical annals, was a prince of Patali- 

 puttra (modern Patna), who had previously held the govern- 

 ment of Uggeni (Avanti) before his inauguration (MoJid- 

 ivansa, cap. v.) Second — The mission of Buddhist priests 

 into Kashmir, the abolition of Naga worship, and the visita- 

 tion of tempests, are related in Mahawansa, cxiii. as 

 having occurred during the reign of Asoka of Patna, whilst 

 the same incidents are detailed in the Raja Tarangani as 

 having taken place in the reign of Abhimanya, (" Asiatic 

 Researches," xv. p. 24.) One other reason, and it is a 

 weighty one, for the non- identity of the two Asokas is, that 

 Kashmir is not included in the number of countries over 

 which the Indian Asoka reigned ; and according to the Girnar 

 inscription of that monarch, where all the conquered states 

 are named, he was " Lord of the countries of Avanti, Anupa, 

 Vrija, Anartta, Surqshtra, Savara, Kiikura, Kirata, Tisha 



