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Were Ashoka's Public Inscriptions Governance or Propaganda? - Ashoka's Edicts and the Public Voice of Empire | Sleepy Facts About History
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How does a ruler make himself present to people who will never see him, and what happens when a state publicly commits itself to standards it cannot guarantee? In the third century BCE, Emperor Ashoka governed a vast realm stretching from Afghanistan to Bengal. Most of his subjects would never hear his voice or witness his court. To bridge this immense distance, he carved his principles of justice, welfare, and religious respect into polished rock faces and towering sandstone pillars…
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