[INDOLOGY] Brahmi and Gupta script

[Artur Karp]

Dear Tim,

Thanks, and
Regards,

Artur

2016-08-22 22:17 GMT+02:00 Lubin, Tim <LubinT at wlu.edu>:

> Dear Artur,
>
> I can’t off the top of my head recall someone presenting conclusive
> evidence on this question, probably because it does not exist.  (Though I
> have a nagging feeling that I did once see something like that.)  Thapar
> says it is “possible” that the Guptas could read the edicts [*The Past
> Before Us*, p. 341].  The first thing that comes to mind was the Girnar
> rock that bears the 14 Asokan rock inscriptions, Rudradāman’s famous
> inscription of 150 CE, and an inscription of Skandagupta.  The latter two
> (in Sanskrit, rather than Prakrit) relate to the renovation of Sudarśana
> lake, which is presented by Rudradāman as a Maurya public work begun under
> Candragupta Maurya and improved by Aśoka.  This seems an explicit effort
> here to claim the Mauryan mantle, which means that it must at least have
> been recognized that the rock’s old inscriptions were Mauryan --- though
> that does not mean that those later kings could *read* them.  There is no
> explicit reference in the later inscriptions to the content of the edicts.
>   The same can be said about the Allahabad Pillar Inscription (Asoka’s
> pillar edicts + “the Queen’s edict" + the Samudragupta inscription).
>
> I do not have access at the moment to Harananda Sastri’s 1936 *The Asokan
> Rock at Girnar *(Gaekwad’s Arch. Series, 2) — perhaps he had something to
> say about it.  Unless I am missing something, standard authorities like
> Salomon, Falk, et al. don’t seem to address this question directly.
>
> Anyone else know differently?
>
> Tim
>
> Timothy Lubin
> Professor of Religion and Adjunct Professor of Law
> Chair of the Department of Religion
> Washington and Lee University
> Lexington, Virginia 24450
>
> http://home.wlu.edu/~lubint
> http://wlu.academia.edu/TimothyLubin
> http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=930949
> ḷ
>
>
> From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Artur
> Karp <karp at uw.edu.pl>
> Date: Monday, August 22, 2016 at 12:56 PM
> To: indology <indology at list.indology.info>
> Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Brahmi and Gupta script
>
> It might be that the answer to my questions is obvious, so obvious that my
> query does not deserve any interest.
>
> But, even if it is so, I would be grateful for a few references to
> books/papers I should get acquainted with.
>
> Artur
>
> 2016-08-22 9:09 GMT+02:00 Artur Karp <karp at uw.edu.pl>:
>
>> Dear List,
>>
>> Is there any evidence for Gupta officials being able to read the Brahmi
>> (Aśokan) script? Having knowledge about Aśoka - directly from his Edicts?
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> Artur Karp (ret.)
>>
>> Chair of South Asian Studies
>> University of Warsaw
>> Poland
>>
>
>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20160828/712b8753/attachment.htm>