Ashoka the Great - How he was lost and rediscovered
The Saga of how India's forgotten Emperor was rediscovered after two millennia. The turn of the 19 th century saw a renaissance in unearthing ancient history of India. The British had been around for 200 years by then and a lot was known about Mughal history, Muslim Sultanates and contemporary Hindu kingdoms. But systematic knowledge of ancient, pre-Muslim Indian history was scant, and was derived mostly from the Epics, folk stories and guesses. This changed in 1794, when the Asiatic Society of Bengal was set up in Calcutta by William Jones. Jones was a philologist and studied languages. Setting up the Society allowed him to pursue his interest in studying Hindu culture and learn more about the role of Sanskrit in Indo Aryan languages. The Society soon became a focal point for gathering information related to India's past. Amateur researchers, including British officers and soldiers on duty, started sending historical information that they saw or heard. ...