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“Why AÅ›oka (and therefore the Buddha and MahÄvÄ«ra) must be more ancient than currently thoughtâ€
Lecture by Professor Ashok Aklujkar, Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia.
Abstract:
Most historians have placed Aśoka, well-known as the patron and propagator of Buddhism, in third century B.C. and assigned him a reign period of 269/268-233/232 B.C. They have done this, mainly or ultimately, on the basis of two rock edicts ascribed to Aśoka which refer to five rulers to the west of Aśoka's domain: Antiochus II Theos, ruler of Syria and Western Asia, 261-246 B.C., Ptolemy II Philadelphus, ruler of Egypt, 285-247 B.C., Antigonus Gonates, ruler of Macedonia, 278-239 B.C., Magas, ruler of Cyrene, 300-258/250 B.C., and Alexander, ruler of Epirus, 275-255 B.C. (or Alexander, ruler of Corinth, 252-247 B.C.). However, I will point out that Aśoka is unlikely to have been meant as a contemporary of Antiochus et al. He must have ruled much earlier than is commonly stated at present. This conclusion affects the dating of the Buddha, usually accepted to be 100 or 218 years earlier than Aśoka, and the dating of Mahåvīra, usually taken to be a pre-Buddha founder of historical Jainism.
Date: 03/19/2016
Location: MIT room 1-150
Time: 6:00 pm
Organized By: India Discovery Center
Cost: Free
Contact: Dr. B. Misra 617-864-5121
Email: misra.bijoy@gmail.com
Directions: http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=1
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