The Aramaic inscription of Taxila is an inscription on a piece of marble, originally belonging to an octagonal column, discovered by Sir John Marshall in 1915 at Taxila, British India. The inscription is written in Aramaic, probably by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka around 260 BCE, and often categorized as one of the Minor Rock Edicts.Asoka by Radhakumud Mookerji p.275 Since Aramaic was the official language of the Achaemenid Empire, which disappeared in 330 BCE with the conquests of Alexander the Great, it seems that this inscription was addressed directly to the populations of this ancient empire still present in northwestern India, or to border populations for which Aramaic remained the normal communication language.A new Aramaic inscription of Asoka found in the Laghman Valley (Afghanistan), André Dupont-Sommer Proceedings of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres Year 1970 114-1 p.173 The inscription is known as KAI 273.

Related inscriptions The discovery of this inscription was followed by that of several other inscriptions in Aramaic or Greek (or both), written by Asoka. The most famous are the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription, written in Greek and Aramaic, or the Kandahar Greek Edict of Ashoka, also found in Kandahar. In 1932 another inscription in Aramaic was discovered in the Laghman Valley at Pul-i-Darunteh, then in 1963 an inscription in "Indo-Aramaic" alternating the Indian language and the Aramaic language, but using only the Aramaic script, the Aramaic parts translating the Indian parts transcribed in the Aramaic alphabet, also found in Kandahar. Finally, another inscription was found in Laghman, the Aramaic Inscription of Laghman.

Text of the inscription The text of the inscription is very fragmentary, but it has been established that it contains twice, lines 9 and 12, the mention of MR'N PRYDRŠ ("our lord Priyadasi"), the characteristic title used by Ashoka.A new Aramaic inscription of Asoka discovered in Kandahar (Afghanistan), Dupont-Sommer, André, Records of the sessions of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres Year 1966 110-3 p.448 The fragments "and to his father", "and also his sons", and "good obedience" are also easily interpreted, and they are reminiscent of the fragments found in the Aramaic part of the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription.

+ The Aramaic Inscription of Taxila.Sircar, Dines Chandra, Select Inscriptions Bearing On Indian History and Civilization Vol.1 pp.78-79ObjectLineOriginal (Aramaic alphabet)TransliterationPossible interpretations 1 "...memorial..." (?) 2 "...for creation(s) upon..." (Ir. dāmdād-)may be a personal name akin to Devadatta 3 "...the non-injury upon..."(Ir. na + gada) 4 cf. Iranian *drzuš "true, right"+ "...the non-injury..." 5 "...and to his father..." 6 "...good obedience; this..." 7 "...that..."+ cf. Ind. bahuvardhaor Ir. vohuvərəd- "good increase" 8 Aram. "this" or Ir. "good"+ nštwn "document"+ "...which is..." 9 "...our lord Priyadasi..." 10 "...going..." 11 "...and also his son(s)..." 12 "...of our lord Priyadasi..."

The Soviet linguist Mikhail Bogoljubov treats the original Aramaic text differently, and reconstructs the content of this inscription by comparing it with parts of the Major Rock Edict 4 from Mansehra: Taxila inscriptionMajor Rock Edict 4 from MansehraAramaicTransliterationTranslationPrakritTranslation [non-]killing of [the animals, non-hurting]anarabhe praṇana avihisanon-killing of the animals; non-hurting the living beings, for [relatives right]bhutana ñatina saṃpaṭithe living beings; for relatives, approach, for [Brahmanas and Sramanas]pati bamaṇaśramaṇanacourtesy; for Brahmanas and Sramanas, right approach, [to mother]sa[ṃ]paṭi pati matacourtesy; to mother and father good [obedience, to elders]pituṣu suśru[ṣa] vudhranaand father, obedience; to elders, good obedience. In this [and other][su]śruṣa eṣe añ[e] caobedience. In this and other many ways [the practice]bahuvidhe dhrama-many ways the practice of good deeds was pro[moted; and always will promote]caraṇe vadhrite vadhrayiśati yevaof dharma was promoted; and always will promote our lord Priyada[si the king]devanapriye priyadraśi rajathe beloved of the gods Priyadasi the king this practice of good deeds;dhama[ca]raṇa ima[ṃ]this practice of dharma; and also the sons, [grandsons, and great-grandsons][putra] pi ca ka natare paṇatikaand also the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons of our lord Priyada[si the king]de[va]naṃpriyasa priyadraśine rajineof the beloved of the gods Priyadasi the king [will always promote this practice of good deeds]pavaḍhayiśaṃti yo dhramacaraṇa imaṃwill always promote this practice of dharma

See also

List of Edicts of Ashoka

References