Jaugada rock with Ashoka Major Rock Edict

Jaugada ("Jaugarh", ancient Samapa) is a ruined fortress in the

Ganjam district Ganjam is a district in the Indian state of Odisha. Ganjam's total area is 8,206 km² (3,168 mi²). The district headquarters is Chhatrapur. Ganjam is divided into three sub-divisions: Chhatrapur, Berhampur, and Bhanjanagar. As of ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Jaugada lies 35 km north-west of

Brahmapur Brahmapur may refer to the following places: * Brahmaloka, heavenly abode of the Hindu god Brahma * Brahmpur, Bihar, village in Bihar, India * Brahampur, Nepal, municipality ward in Dakneshwori, Nepal * Brahmapur, Odisha, city in Odisha, India * ...

and 160 km south-west of

Bhubaneshwar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra Khetra'' and ''Ekamra Khetra'' ( ...

. Once a provincial

Mauryan 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 ...

fortified capital of the newly conquered province of Kalinga, Jaugada is famous for its version of the monumental stone-cut edicts in

Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...

of the Mauryan 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 ...

. Despite J.D. Beglar's description during the later 19th century of the extant fortification towers and moat ("The walls had towers, also of earth, at each of the four corners, and also on each flank of each of the eight entrances"), without photos and drawings, the remains are difficult to visualize and comprehend. In 1956 Debala Mitra of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

transected the northern glacis with a trench. The now collapsed trench of this investigation appears to lie just east of the eastern gate of the north wall. It is near the great Shiva temple Kaleswar & Rameswar (which is known as a temple where

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

and

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

are seen together). This site was first documented in 2001 by a team from the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. ;Edicts of Ashoka Jaugada is the location of some of the

Major Rock Edicts The Major Rock Edicts of Indian emperor Ashoka refer to 14 separate major Edicts of Ashoka which are significantly detailed and represent some of the earliest dated rock inscriptions of any Indian monarch. These edicts are preceded chronologica ...

, inscribed circa 250 BCE: Major Rock Edicts 1-10 and 14 are inscribed on a central rock in the compound, as well as Separate Edicts 1&2.The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India: The Geographical Frames of the ... by Dilip K Chakrabart
p.32
/ref> This configuration is similar to that of the nearby Dhauli Edicts of Ashoka (250 km to the northeast). File:Jaugada rock inscription.jpg, Ashokan inscription File:Ashoka edict jaugada3.png, Ashoka's Rock Edict at Jaugada

References

* Yule, Paul, Early Historic Sites in Orissa (Delhi 2006)

External links

Photo Gallery of Jaugada

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