Janusz Fedirko

This article presents an outline of the life and scientific work of Adam Drath. He is a figure barely known to few geologists, and referred to occasionally and marginally during presentations of Polish achievements in Afghanistan or anniversary publications of his university – Mining Academy ( now A G H ). A. Drath is one of the Poles who reached probably the highest position in foreign service – in 1942 Darth became chief geologist of the Ministry of Mines in the Kingdom of Afghanistan. That is why, in authors’ opinion, this character deserves a closer presentation. Despite successes in the represented scientific discipline, his name is not mentioned in encyclopedias or biographical and professional publications, though his scientific achievements are significant.

Ashoka’s inscriptions from Kandahar

The article presents the silhouette of one of the most famous rulers in the history, the Indian emperor Ashoka. However, the knowledge about him is still not impressive. Recognized and identified by the scientists relatively late he proved to be a particular monarch – after a period of tyranny and ruthlessness, cruelty inflicted by him
and use of violence on a grand scale he has undergone a moral metamorphosis and attempted to expand, using authoritarian ways, pacifism to make humanity happy. To the religion of India he was like Constantine to Christianity. He promoted peace, tolerance and pacifism in the whole known world. The gate and bridge for Ashoka in the transmission of his ideas and mission towards west frontier were the areas influenced by Greeks: Gedrosia, Drangiana, Arachosia, Gandhara (largely part of contemporary Afghanistan). Strong cultural bastion of Bactria expanding to the south displaced Greek Alexandrian-Seleucid elements, what guaranteed Ashoka a success in the Hellenistic world. He based his projection on the Greek culture and Aramaic language, therefore not on Indian, but on the West Asian ideas. The meaning of Ashoka’s inscriptions found in Kandahar is a guideline for travelers and for those looking for the way to happiness.