01The quiet middle reign
No inscription of Bindusara survives, so his reign is pieced together from others. Tibetan historian Taranatha says Chanakya served him too and that he conquered the land between the eastern and western seas. Since Ashoka’s edicts stand as far south as Karnataka and record no war but Kalinga, the Deccan was probably brought in under Bindusara. The Divyavadana tells of a revolt at Takshashila, which he sent the young prince Ashoka to settle; the people met Ashoka saying they had risen against wicked ministers, not against the king.
02Figs, wine and a philosopher
The Greek kings kept envoys at his court. Deimachus came from Antiochus I of Syria, and Pliny names Dionysius, sent by Ptolemy II of Egypt. Athenaeus preserves a small exchange: Amitrochates wrote to Antiochus asking for sweet wine, dried figs and a sophist. Antiochus sent the figs and wine and replied that Greeks did not sell philosophers. At home the king favoured the Ajivikas, and an Ajivika seer, Pingalavatsa, is named at his court in the Buddhist texts.
