Topra, combined name for the larger Topra Kalan and adjacent smaller Topra Khurd, is a

Mauryan Empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

-era village in

Yamunanagar district Yamunanagar district is one of the 22 districts of the Indian state of Haryana. The district came into existence on 1November 1989 and occupies an area of . Yamunanagar town is the district headquarters. Yamunanagar's average rainfall in Mons ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

state in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It lies 14 km west of

Yamunanagar Yamunanagar (), is a city and a municipal corporation in Yamunanagar district in the Indian state of Haryana. This town is known for the cluster of plywood units and paper industries. It provides timber to larger industries. The older town is ...

, 14 km from Radaur and 90 km from

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

Topra Ashokan Pillar

Ashokan Pillar at Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi

Situated in ''Pong valley'' of is the original home of Delhi-Topra pillar (originally located at ), one of many

pillars of Ashoka The pillars of Ashoka are a series of monolithic columns dispersed throughout the Indian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed with edicts by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka during his reign from c. 268 to 232 BCE. Ashoka used the expressi ...

, that was moved from Topra to

Feroz Shah Kotla The Feroz Shah Kotla or Kotla ("fortress", "citadel") was a fortress built by Feroz Shah Tughlaq to house his version of Delhi city called Firozabad. A pristine polished sandstone Topra Ashokan pillar from the 3rd century BC rises from the p ...

in Delhi in 1356 CE by

Firuz Shah Tughlaq Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309 – 20 September 1388) was a Muslim ruler from the Tughlaq dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388.

(1309-1388 CE). Sirat i-Firuz Shahi 14th century illustration of the transportation of the Topra pillar to Delhi

The original inscription on the Delhi-Topra Ashokan obelisk is primarily in Brahmi script, but the language was

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usua ...

, with some Pali and Sanskrit added later. The inscription was successfully translated in 1837 by

James Prinsep James Prinsep FRS (20 August 1799 – 22 April 1840) was an English scholar, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi and ...

. This and other ancient ''lats'' (pillars, obelisk) have earned Feroz Shah Tughlaq and

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

fame for its architectural patronage. The Sultanate had wanted to break and reuse the Ashokan pillar for a minaret. Feroz Shah Tuhglaq, however decided to erect it near the mosque instead. At the time of re-installation of the obelisk in Delhi, in 1356, no one knew the meaning of the script engraved in the stone. About five hundred years later, the script (

Brahmi Brahmi (; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' ...

) was deciphered by

in 1837 with help from scripts discovered on other pillars and tablets in South Asia. It was restored by the

Raja Hindu Rao Raja Hindu Rao was a Maratha nobleman, the brother-in-law of Maharaja Daulat Rao Scindia of Gwalior, and the brother of Baiza Bai, the regent of the Indian princely state of Gwalior. Following the Revolt of 1857, he shifted to Delhi where he was ...

after the

Revolt of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

Translation

The inscription on the 3rd century pillar describe King Devanampiya Piyadasi's policies and appeal to the people and future generations of the kingdom in matters of

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

(just, virtuous life), moral precepts and freedoms. Some extracts of the translation, per

, are as follows: DPPX 8

Topra Ashokan Edicts Archaeological Park and Museum

In 2015 April,

Manohar Lal Khattar Manohar Lal Khattar (born 05 May 1954) is an Indian politician serving as the 10th and current chief minister of Haryana. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a former RSS pracharak. He represents Karnal constituency in Harya ...

, the Chief Minister of Haryana, announced an allocation of INR 50 crore (INR 500 million) to build an Ashokan Edicts Archaeological Park at Topra Kalan village where seven Ashoka Pillars, eight Rock Edicts and other ancient structures of Mauryan Time will be constructed. It was all started back in 2011 when Sidhartha Gauri and Dr. Satyadeep Neil Gauri, Founders of The Buddhist Forum

initiated the project of Topra Asoka Edicts Park along with INTACH

Gram Panchayat, Topra Kalan and other social organizations. Village panchayat has given away 28 acres land for the construction of park, museum and monastery.Park for Ashoka stalled?, DNA India News, 7-Nov-2016
/ref>

References

{{Haryana Villages in Yamunanagar district

History of Haryana Indian inscriptions Early Buddhist texts Tourist attractions in Haryana Landscape design history Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India Buddhist sites in India

Topra Ashokan Pillar

Translation

Topra Ashokan Edicts Archaeological Park and Museum

See also

References