By N.S.

Gill
Ashoka the Great
King of the Mauryan Empire of India
Who Was Ashoka (Asoka)?:
Name: Ashoka (Piyadasi or Priyadarsi "Beloved of the Gods")
Occupation: Ruler
Dates: 304 - 232 B.C. Ashoka ruled for thirty-eight years, from c.
270 B.C. until his death.
Ashoka was the 3rd king
of that Indian dynasty
whose empire, according
to Ashoka, borders
Tamrapami. This may
mean the Mauryan Empire
went all the way to Sri
Lanka/Ceylon, an island in
the Indian Ocean. [More
below on the extent of his empire.]
During his lifetime, the king's reputation changed. Early on, he was
known for his cruelty, but later, for his great acts and edicts. He
emphasized ahims, Ghandi-style non-violence (Korom) and
tolerance for other religions.
The nobler phase of his reign followed Ashoka's conversion to
Buddhism, which came after he had waged a far too bloody war in
Kalinga, in c. 265.
Conversion: Originally a Hindu, Ashoka converted to Buddhism in c.
262 (according to "Holy Cow! The Apotheosis of Zebu, or Why the
Cow Is Sacred in Hinduism," by Frank J. Korom; Asian Folklore
Studies (2000)). In honor of the Buddha, he reduced the tax burden
on the village of Buddha's birth, Lumbini (according to "Historical
Memory without History," by Romila Thapar; Economic and Political
Weekly (2007)). Likened to the Roman
Emperor Constantinespreading Christianity, Ashoka helped spread
Buddhism beyond the Indian subcontinent into Asia.
Extent of Empire: Ashoka's capital was in Pataliputra, from which
he controlled northern India and 14 other states, extending
toBactria and Persia, in the west, and southern India to the Krishna
River and eastward to Bengal. The capital city, according to
Kautilya's "Arthastra" on War and Diplomacy in Ancient India," by Roger Boesche [The
Journal of Military History, Vol. 67, No. 1 (Jan., 2003), pp. 9-37], was the largest city in the
world at the time. There were about fifty million people in this empire, making it larger than
the later Mughal Empire and the British Empire in India. [See Uruk, which had once, much
earlier, held the position of largest city in the ancient world.]

Family: Askoka was the son of the 2nd king of the Indian Mauryan dynasty, Bindusara, and
perhaps the Brahman queen Subhadrangi. Bindusara was the son of the founder of the
Mauryan dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya, who began his expansion into western India in 322,
after Alexander the Great left.
Edicts of Ashoka: Ashoka posted "the edicts of Ashoka" on large, animal-topped pillars,
chiseled in the ancient Brahmi script, rather than Sanskrit. Mostly reforms, the edicts also list
public works projects, including universities, roads, hospitals, and irrigation systems. In these
edits, Ashoka calls himself "Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi," according to King Ashoka -
His Edicts and His Times, where you'll find translations of the edits. The edicts are found in
India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Also Known As: Ashoka may be spelled in English with or without an "h". He is also referred
to as Ashoka Maurya and Dhammasoka. According to "Asoka and the Buddha - Relics," by T.
W. Rhys Davids; The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1901),
A Pillar of Ashoka
CC Flickr
Userampersandyslexia
Top Related Searches
Ancient Brahmi Script
Mauryan Dynasty
Public Works Projects
Bindusara
Indian Subcontinent
Irrigation Systems
Mauryan Empire at
Its Greatest Extent
Under Ashoka
Released into the public
domain by its author, Vastu.
Circa 230 AD,
Buddhist Emperor
Asoka (264BC - 228BC), of
India.
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty
Images
Asoka became Dhammasoka after his building of 84,000 vihras for the relics of Buddha.
"Codifying Hindu Law," by Shubha Khandekar: Economic and Political Weekly (1995) says
Ashoka's "Dhamma" is a statement of of his state policy, which includes the following:
"(1) There is no attempt by the ruler to impose his personal faith on his subjects.
(2) Likewise, the king repeatedly exhorts his subjects to respect holy men and faiths of
other communities. But also,
(3) the king bans such popular practices as animal sacrifice and certain congregations
specific to certain communities, on grounds of their being harmful to the state's objective of
maintaining communal harmony. In his Jaugada edict he even issues a veiled threat to
those commnunities who fail to toe the royal line. In this way, while allowing and promoting
internal autonomy for all communities alike, Ashoka firmly places the state above all the
various churches."