The present historical and archaeological evidences do not suggest that the Kalinga War and the related massacre had taken place in Odisha, said Sri Lankan writer Daya Dissanayake, who has authored book "Who is Ashoka?", here on Friday.
Participating in the monthly Kalinga Literary Corner, Dassanayake said many interpretations made to the historical facts by British and European scholars are self-contradictory and do not represent the whole truth.
Giving an example, he pointed out that the rock edict at the Daya River does not mention about Kalinga War. Instead, the incident has been mentioned at a rock edict far away from Odisha.
"It is possible that Ashoka had made this edict to convey people how he had changed and, in a way, tried to propagate his 'Dhamma',” the author said.
To emphasise his point, he added, “To me, it seems odd that he had to place a rock edict where he himself engineered the massacre.”
The KLF Corner, an initiative of the Kalinga Literary Festival, intends to popularise literary personalities and literature on a regular basis.