Seven major pillar edicts have been found at Lauriya-Araraj, Lauriya Nandangarh, Rampurva, Nigali Sagar, Sarnath, Topra, and Meerut. Ashokan pillars probably signify the axis of the world (axis mundi) that separated heaven and earth.
Matsya was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas mentioned in the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya. The founder of the kingdom of the Matsya was Virata. It consisted of the present-day Alwar, Jaipur and Bharatpur.