The last Rock Edict is of special interest for the light which it sheds both on history and on the King’s character.  He expresses remorse for the bloodshed which accompanied the conquest of Kalinga and declares that he will henceforth devote his attention to conquest by the Dhamma, which he has effected “both in his own dominions and in all the neighbouring realms as far as six hundred leagues (?), even to where the Greek King named Antiochus dwells and beyond that Antiochus to where dwell the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonus, Magas and Alexander[589], and in the south the kings of the Colas and Pandyas[590] and of Ceylon and likewise here in the King’s dominions, among the Yonas[591] and Kambojas[592] in Nabhaka of the Nabhitis[593] among the Bhojas and Pitinikas, among the Andhras and Pulindas[594].  Asoka thus appears to state that he has sent missionaries to (1) the outlying parts of India, on the borders of his own dominions, (2) to Ceylon, (3) to the Hellenistic Kingdoms of Asia, Africa and Europe.

This last statement is of the greatest importance, but no record has hitherto been found of the arrival of these missionaries in the west.  The language of the Edict about them is not precise and in fact their despatch is only an inference from it.  Of the success of the Indian missions there is no doubt.  Buddhism was introduced into southern India, where it flourished to some extent though it had to maintain a double struggle against Jains as well as Brahmans.  The statement of the Dipa and Maha-vamsas that missionaries were also sent to Pegu (Suvannabhumi) is not supported by the inscriptions, though not in itself improbable, but the missions to the north and to Ceylon were remarkably successful.

The Sinhalese Chronicles[595] give the names of the principal missionaries despatched and their statements have received confirmation in the discoveries made at Sanchi and Sonari where urns have been found inscribed with the names of Majjhima, Kassapa, and Gotiputta the successor of Dundhubhissara, who are called teachers of the Himalaya region.  The statement in the Maha and Dipa-vamsas is that Majjhima was sent to preach in the Himalaya accompanied by four assistants Kassapa, Malikadeva, Dundhabhinossa and Sahassadeva.

About the twenty-first year of his reign Asoka made a religious tour and under the guidance of his preceptor Upagupta, visited the Lumbini Park (now Rummindei) in the Terai, where the Buddha was born, and other spots connected with his life and preaching.  A pillar has been discovered at Rummindei bearing an inscription which records the visit and the privileges granted to the village where “the Lord was born.”  At Nigliva a few miles off he erected another inscribed pillar stating that he had done reverence to the stupa of the earlier Buddha Konagamana and for the second time repaired it.

During this tour he visited Nepal and Lalitpur, the capital, founding there five stupas.  His daughter Carumati is said to have accompanied him and to have remained in Nepal when he returned.  She built a convent which still bears her name and lived there as a nun.  It does not appear that Asoka visited Kashmir, but he caused a new capital (Srinagar) to be built there, and introduced Buddhism.