Pillars of Ashoka

View of the Pillar at Vaishali, which does not bear an Ashokan Edict.

The pillars of Ashoka are a series of columns dispersed throughout theIndian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed with edicts by the Mauryanking Ashoka during his reign in the 3rd century BC. Originally, there must have been many pillars but only nineteen survive with inscriptions, and only six with animal capitals, which were a target for Muslim iconoclasm. Many are preserved in a fragmentary state. Averaging between 40 to 50 feet (12 to 15 m) in height, and weighing up to 50 tons each, the pillars were dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, to where they were erected.

The Historical Ashokan Pillar in Patna

Sanchi Ashoka Pillar  

Feroz Shah Kotla Fort: The pillar of Ashoka

Brahmi inscription on a fragment of the 6th Pillar of Ashoka from Meerut, British Museum.

Inscription on Ashoka Pillar

The "minor" Ashokan pillar at Lumbini

Front view of the single lion capital in Vaishali.

The Ashoka lions at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh

 

Ashoka Missionaries set up an edict at Lauchiya Nandagrah, 244 B.C.

Distribution of the Edicts of Ashoka

Photo Source: Collected from Internet