Major Pillar Edicts

Major Pillar Edicts of Ashoka
Major Pillar Edicts on the Delhi-Topra pillar.
Material	Sandstone
Created	3rd century BCE
Present location	Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan
Lauria Nandangarh Kosambi Allahabad Topra New Delhi Meerut Lauriya Araraj Rampurva class=notpageimage| Location of the Major Pillar Edicts. New locations after displacement.

The Major Pillar Edicts of Indian Emperor Ashoka refer to 7 separate major Edicts of Ashoka inscribed on columns (the Pillars of Ashoka), which are significantly detailed and are among the earliest dated inscriptions of any Indian monarch. An English translation of the Edicts was published by Romila Thapar.^[1]

These edicts are preceded chronologically by the Minor Rock Edicts (11th year of his reign), Major Rock Edicts (12th year of his reign), and Minor pillar edicts (12th year of his reign) and constitute the most technically elegant of the inscriptions made by Ashoka. They were made at the end of the reign of Ashoka (during the 26th and 27th years of his reign), that is, from 237 to 236 BCE.^[2] Chronologically they follow the fall of Seleucid power in Central Asia and the related rise of the Parthian Empire and the independent Greco-Bactrian Kingdom c. 250 BCE, and Hellenistic rulers are not mentioned anymore in these last edicts.

Edict No.7, the last Major Pillar Edict, appears exclusively on the Delhi-Topra pillar, and is testamental in nature, making a summary of the accomplishments of Ashoka during his life.