# Ashoka ## Overview Ashoka (~304–232 BCE), also known as Ashoka the Great, was the third Maurya emperor who, after the bloody conquest of Kalinga, converted to Buddhism and promoted non-violence through rock and pillar edicts across the Indian subcontinent. His name means "without sorrow" in Sanskrit. In his edicts he styled himself *Devanampiya Piyadassi* ("Beloved of the Gods, gracious of mien"). @t[304 BCE..232 BCE] [^3] ## Key Facts - Born: ~304 BCE, Pataliputra @t[~304 BCE] - Died: ~232 BCE @t[~232 BCE] - Reign: ~268–232 BCE @t[268 BCE..232 BCE] - Dynasty: Maurya - Religion: Buddhism (after Kalinga War) - Father: Bindusara (r. ~297–273 BCE) - Grandfather: Chandragupta Maurya (founder of the empire) ## Family & Early Career - 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] - 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 (~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; 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] - 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] - Capital at Pataliputra (modern Patna); provincial capitals at Taxila and Ujjain [^2] ## Legacy - 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 - 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; "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