A 'search' for Ashoka

Olivelle has written a thought-provoking book. He has scrupulously avoided the hagiographic sources about Ashoka because he feels they contain too many uncertainties

Ashoka: Portrait of a Philosopher King

Author: Patrick Olivelle

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: Rs 799   

Pages: 400

There is an accepted convention of writing book reviews, especially if one thinks that the book is significant and good. The usual practice is to summarise the author’s arguments and their importance and then almost as an aside throw in a few points of criticism or bring to light some errors, if any. I am going to reverse this process because Olivelle is an outstanding scholar from whose works, especially his translations of Sanskrit texts, I have benefitted enormously. I thus began to read this book with great