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@@ -18,18 +18,19 @@ Ashoka (~304–232 BCE), also known as Ashoka the Great, was the third Maurya em
- First wife: Devi (also Vidisha-mahadevi), daughter of a merchant at Ujjain
- Children with Devi: son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitra, both of whom led Buddhist missions to Sri Lanka [^3]
- Second queen: Karuvaki (also Kaurwaki); their son Tivala (also Tivara) is the only child of Ashoka mentioned by name in his own inscriptions — in the Queen's Edict [^4]
- Son Kunala (by another queen) was blinded by his stepmother Tishyaraksha and thus excluded from succession; his own son Samprati later ruled part of the empire [^4]
- As a young prince, suppressed a revolt at Taxila (~age 18), then served as viceroy at Ujjain [^3]
- Governed using the *Arthashastra* (political treatise attributed to Chanakya, Chandragupta's prime minister) as his administrative framework [^3]
## The Kalinga War
- Conquered Kalinga (~262 BCE) with devastating casualties (~100,000 killed, 150,000 deported per his own edicts) @t[~262 BCE]
- Conquered Kalinga (~261 BCE), a kingdom on the east coast corresponding to modern Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh, with devastating casualties (~100,000 killed, 150,000 deported per his own edicts) @t[~261 BCE]
- The carnage prompted his conversion to Buddhism [^1]
- His 13th Major Rock Edict records his remorse over the campaign
## Ashoka's Edicts
- 33 inscriptions total on pillars, boulders, and cave walls across the empire [^3]
- The edicts are the earliest written and datable texts from India [^4]
- Written in Prakrit, Greek, and Aramaic; the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription (~260 BCE) is carved in both Greek and Aramaic at Chehel Zina, Afghanistan @t[~260 BCE] [^2]
- Written in Prakrit, Greek, and Aramaic; two inscriptions were found at Kandahar (Chehel Zina, Afghanistan): the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription (~260 BCE) in Greek and Aramaic (discovered 1957), and a separate Greek-only inscription (discovered 1963) @t[~260 BCE] [^2] [^5]
- Promoted *dhamma* (dharma): Non-violence, religious tolerance, welfare of subjects
- Established hospitals for humans and animals
- Sent Buddhist missionaries to Sri Lanka, Central Asia, and the Hellenistic world [^2]
@@ -44,10 +45,12 @@ Ashoka (~304–232 BCE), also known as Ashoka the Great, was the third Maurya em
- The Ashoka Chakra appears on India's national flag
- Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath is India's national emblem
- Rediscovered by James Prinsep (1799–1840 CE) who deciphered Brahmi script in 1837
- After Ashoka's death, the empire fragmented under a succession of weaker rulers; the last Maurya emperor, Brihadratha, was assassinated by his general Pushyamitra Shunga in 185 BCE, ending the dynasty [^4]
- Ashoka was immediately succeeded by his grandson Dasharatha Maurya (~232–224 BCE), as his son Kunala had been blinded and was ineligible; the empire began fragmenting under Dasharatha and subsequent weaker rulers [^4]
- The last Maurya emperor, Brihadratha, was assassinated by his general Pushyamitra Shunga in 185 BCE, who founded the Shunga dynasty, ending Maurya rule [^4]
---
[^1]: Thapar, R. *Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas* (Oxford, 1961)
[^2]: Singh, U. *A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India* (2008)
[^3]: Mark, J. J. "Ashoka the Great." *World History Encyclopedia*, 24 Jun 2020. https://www.worldhistory.org/Ashoka_the_Great/
[^4]: "Ashoka." *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka; "Tivala." *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivala; "Edicts of Ashoka." *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edicts_of_Ashoka
[^4]: "Ashoka." *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka; "Tivala." *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivala; "Edicts of Ashoka." *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edicts_of_Ashoka; "Kunala." *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunala; "Dasharatha Maurya." *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasharatha_Maurya
[^5]: Olivelle, P. *Ashoka: Portrait of a Philosopher King* (Yale University Press, 2024); "Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription." *Wikipedia*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandahar_Bilingual_Rock_Inscription