Charumati (

Brahmi Brahmi ( ; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "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' or ...

: 𑀘𑀸 𑀭𑀼𑀼 𑀫𑀓𑀻), sometimes called Charumitra, was a daughter of Indian

Maurya The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...

Emperor

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

and the adopted daughter of his wife, Empress

Asandhimitra Asandhamitra (304 BCE – 240 BCE) was an empress and 1st chief consort of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. She was Ashoka's second wife and first empress consort Given the title "agramahisi", or "Chief Empress", Asandhimitra was likely from a roya ...

. She was trained in nursing by her. She was married to a Nepalese prince, Devapala Kshatriya, in Kathmandu. She is credited to have founded the monastery of

Chabahil Chabahil () (also Kathmandu Metropolitan City Ward 07) is an ancient neighborhood in northeast Kathmandu in Nepal. It is famous for its Licchavi stupa, called the Dhando Chaitya, considered by many historians to be the oldest Buddhist Stupa i ...

(called Charumati Vihara), which is one of the oldest Buddhist monasteries of Nepal. She is believed to have taken care of her father in his last years of life and accompanied him on his Buddhist pilgrimage, along with Upagupta. While scripture had described her and emperor Ashoka visiting Nepal,Thingsasian
/ref> no archaeological evidence was found until 2003. In 2003, while restoring Dhando chaitya, archaeologists discovered a brick bearing inscriptions with her name. The upper face is inscribed with ''Cha Ru Wa Ti'' in Brahmi, and with ''Cha Ru Wa Ti Dhande / He Tu Pra Bha'' in Bhujimol script. The brick measures 35.5cm x 23cm x 7cm and weighs 8.6kg.

References

See also