As a young student of history I used to examine the rocks on roadside in Garhwal, my native district, with the hope of finding the inscriptions of Asoka. I did not find any. I have the great satisfaction that after my retirement as a Professor of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology I have a good luck of identifying, deciphering and discussing a new and unpublished inscription of that Mauryan king. I have been in touch with the important new epigraphic discoveries, more particularly those relating to Asoka. I had never heard of any inscription of the Mauryan king from Ratanpurwa and as such was almost certain this was a new discovery. In the meantime, a few scholars who could be contacted also told that they had no knowledge of the existence of such an inscription. After being fully convinced that this was a new discovery, it was decided to give the information through media- television, radio and newspapers. Accordingly, the Jnana-Pravaha authorities arranged a press conference on 15th January 2009, which was attended by a number of representatives of different media. I gave the information regarding the circumstances of the find about the script, language, contents and importance of the inscriptions. Dr. Niraj Pandey informed about the location of the inscription and its surroundings. Some scholars also attended the conference, which was chaired by Dr. Pramod Chandra, Professor of Indian Art, Harvard University, U.S.A. The news of this discovery was flashed by the television, radio and newspapers the next day. The news of the discovery was also communicated to Dr. B.R. Mani, Joint Director General of Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, on 15th January 2009 through fax and e-mail. The discovery, according to the archaeological convention, is dated from the day it is reported; and as such, the date of discovery of the Ratanpurwa Inscription should be 15th of January 2009.
In the press conference, it was reported that the inscription was found within the boundary of the village Ghurahupur. But later, it was revealed that it is located within the limits of village Ratanpurwa in Bhabua district of Bihar, and hence, it is named after that village.
The authorities of Jñana-Pravaha requested me to prepare a monograph on this newly discovered Asokan inscription. It was decided that the monograph should be prepared at the earliest so that it may be released on 7th of February 2009, on the occasion of Lecture scheduled to be delivered in the memory of Prof. R. C Sharma, renowned scholar, who Director/Acharya of Jñana-Pravaha. Prof. Sharma nurtured Jihana-the Honorary Pravaha since its inception and created it as a Centre of Epigraphical Studies.
I came to know about the inscription on the 11th January 2009 and had to prepare this within a short period of twenty-seven days; and during that period, I had also to attend to other engagements. I regret that uniform method of referencing could not be followed.
Smt. Bimla Poddar, Managing Trustee, has been very enthusiastic about the discovery of the inscription and showed her keenness that I should prepare a monograph on the inscription at the earliest. She provided all the necessary facilities for its preparation. Prof. Kamal Giri, the Director of the Institute, kindly arranged a press conference promptly for reporting the discovery to the media and continuously kept herself in touch with the progress made in the preparation of the monograph. Dr. N. P. Joshi, Hon. Acharya of Jnana-Pravaha, was a source of encouragement. I express my gratefulness to all of them.
Dr. Niraj Pandey and Shri Chandraneel Sharma of Jnana-Pravaha deserve my sincere thanks for their help of various kinds, but for which it would not have been possible to prepare the monograph in such a short time. I thank all the members of Jnana-Pravaha Parivāra for their help and cooperation. I also thank the media for giving proper coverage to the discovery.
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