Ashokan Prakrit

Ashokan Prakrit
Ashokan Prakrit inscribed in the Brahmi script at Sarnath.
RegionSouth Asia
Era268—232 BCE[1]
Early forms
Brahmi, Kharoshthi
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
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Location of the Minor Rock Edicts (Edicts 1, 2 & 3)
Other inscriptions often classified as Minor Rock Edicts.
Location of the Major Rock Edicts.
Location of the Minor Pillar Edicts.
Original location of the Major Pillar Edicts.
Capital cities

Ashokan Prakrit, also known as Asokan Prakrit or Aśokan Prakrit (IAST: Aśoka Prākṛta), is the Middle Indo-Aryan dialect continuum used in the Edicts of Ashoka, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire who reigned 268 BCE to 232 BCE.[2] The Edicts are inscriptions on monumental pillars and rocks throughout the Indian subcontinent that cover Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism and espouse Buddhist principles (e.g. upholding dhamma and ahimsa).

The Ashokan Prakrit dialects reflected local forms of the Early Middle-Indo-Aryan language. Three dialect areas are represented: Northwestern, Western, and Eastern. The Central dialect of Indo-Aryan is exceptionally not represented; instead, inscriptions of that area use the Eastern forms. [3]: 50 [2] Ashokan Prakrit is descended from an Old Indo-Aryan dialect closely related to Vedic Sanskrit, on occasion diverging by preserving archaisms from Proto-Indo-Aryan.

Ashokan Prakrit is attested in the Brahmi script, as well as the Kharoshthi script in the north-west.[clarification needed]

  1. ^ Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh K. (2003). The Indo-Aryan Languages. p. 164. The inscriptions of Asoka - a king of the Maurya dynasty who reigned, based in his capital Pataliputra, from 268 to 232 BC over almost the whole of India - were engraved in rocks and pillars, in various local dialects.
  2. ^ a b Thomas Oberlies. "Aśokan Prakrit and Pali". In George Cardona; Dhanesh Jain (eds.). The Indo-Aryan Languages. pp. 179–224.
  3. ^ Masica, Colin (1993). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2.