Enrich Ashoka: add Karuvaki/Tivala, Lumbini pilgrimage, edicts significance, post-Ashoka succession

rulers/ashoka.md

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ Ashoka (~304–232 BCE), also known as Ashoka the Great, was the third Maurya em
 - Mother variously named Subhadrangi or Dharma in Buddhist sources [^3]
 - 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]
 - 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]
 
@@ -27,11 +28,13 @@ Ashoka (~304–232 BCE), also known as Ashoka the Great, was the third Maurya em
 
 ## 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]
 - 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]
 - Ordered construction of stupas across the empire, including the famous stupa at Sanchi [^3]
+- Undertook a pilgrimage to Buddhist sacred sites including Lumbini (birthplace of the Buddha), where he erected a pillar inscription (~249 BCE) exempting the village from taxes @t[~249 BCE] [^4]
 
 ## Empire Extent
 - At its height stretched from modern-day Iran and Afghanistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east [^3]
@@ -41,8 +44,10 @@ 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]
 
 ---
 [^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/
+[^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