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By N.S. Gill

Ashoka the GreatKing 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 ruledfor thirty-eight years, from c.

270 B.C. until his dea th.

Ashoka was the 3rd king

of that Indian dynasty

whoseempire, 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. Ea rly on, he was

known for his cruelty, but later, for his grea t 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 Buddhismin 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 o f 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 Pata liputra, from which

he controlled northern India and 14 other states, extending

toBactriaand Persia, in the west, and southern India to the Krishna

River and e astw ard to Benga l. 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 Greatleft.

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, hosp itals, and irrigation systems. In these

edits, Ashoka calls himself "Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadas i," according to King Ashoka -

His Edicts and His Times, where you'll find translations o f the edits. The edicts are found in

India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Also Known As:Ashoka may be spe lled 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

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Ancient Brahmi Script

Mauryan Dynasty

Public Works Projects

Bindusara

Indian Subcontinent

Irrigation Systems

Mauryan Empire at

Its Greatest Extent

Under Ashoka

Released into the publicdomain by its author, Vastu.

Circa 230 AD,

Buddhist Emperor

Asoka (264BC - 228BC), of

India.

Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty

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Asoka became Dhammasoka after his building of 84,000 vihras for the re lics 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 s tate'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."