Reimagining Asoka : memory and history / edited by Patrick Olivelle, Janice Leoshko and Himanshu Prabha Ray

Includes references and notes on contributors.

PROLEGOMENA: Asoka: a retrospective / Romila Thapar -- The languages of the composition and transmission of the Asokan inscriptions / K.R. Norman -- PART I: EMERGENCE OF ASOKAN STUDIES: Archeology and Asoka: defining the empire / Himanshu Prabha Ray -- From Kautilya to Kosambi and beyond: the quest for a "Mauryan/Asokan" coinage / Shailendra Bhandare / Bhagwanlal Indraji's pioneering contribution to Asokan studies / Virchand Dharamsey -- PART II: ASOKA AND HIS TIMES: Asoka's inscriptions as text and ideology / Patrick Olivelle -- The composition of Asoka's Pillar edict series / Herman Tieken -- Linguistic experiments: language and identity in Asokan inscriptions and in early Buddhist texts / Oskar von Hinuber -- The fate of Asoka's donations at Lumbini / Harry Falk -- The Yona era and the end of the Maurya dynasty: is there a connection? / Richard Salomon -- Mauryan pillars of the middle Ganga plain: archaeological discoveries of Sarnath-Varanasi and Chunar / Vidulal Jayaswal -- Environmental changes in North Bengal: an opportunity for the Mauryas? / Jean-Francois Salles -- Is the Arthasastra a Mauryan document? / Mark McClish -- Asoka the Greek, converted and translated / Grant Parker -- PART III: ASOKA REIMAGINED: Asoka and museums / Janice Leoshko -- The commingling of Gods and humans, the unveiling of the world, and the descent from Trayastrimsa heaven: an exegetical exploration of Minor Rock Edict I / John S. Strong -- Asoka: model ruler without a name? / Max Deeg -- Asoka-type Buddha images found in China / Chongfeng Li -- Asoka, historical discourse, and the post-colonial Indian state / Bhagwan Josh