Ashoka the Great
King Ashoka, also Ashoka the Great, succeeded to the throne after his father Bindusara’s death in 273 BC, but his coronation ceremony was held in 269 BC. This delay was possibly due to war of succession. On ascending the throne he referred to himself as Devanampiya Priyadarsi (the beloved of the gods). James Princep deciphered the Ashokan inscription written in Brahmi in 1837. The edicts of Ashoka found all over India, were written in a conversational style. These inscriptions not only bring out the personality of the ruler but also inform us about the events of the realm and the policies of the ruler. Ashoka was the greatest of the great kings of the world. His attainments remained to a large extent unmatched even by Akbar.
The Kalinga War and Its Impact:
It was in the year 261 BC, that King Ashoka decided to add Kalinga (modern Orissa and Ganjam district) to his kingdom probably to access the resources of Kalinga, control the trade routes along the eastern coast and punish the Kalingan’s for breaking away from the Magadhan control.
Despite offering a tough resistance, Kalinga was overpowered and as many as one hundred and fifty thousand people were captured, one hundred thousand were slain and many more died. It put an end to the annexationist policy pursued by Bindusara and Ashoka. In the post-Kalinga days, Ashoka embraced the policy of propagation of peace, social progress and an ethical system known as Dhamma (the law of piety). However, some scholars does not believe that Ashoka became a vehicle of peace after this war. If this had been the case, he would have declared Kalinga independent and excused the prisoners. Actually, Magadha was secured in every way and the need for war ceased to exist.
Extent of Ashoka’s Empire:
The location of Ashokan inscriptions, the accounts of Hiuen Tsang, the writings of the Tibetan historian Taranath, Kalhana’s Rajtarangini and Buddhist chronicles of Ceylon indicate the Ashokan empire extended from the Hindukush in the north-west to the foothills of the Himalayas, from Mysore in the south to the Brahmaputra in the east and the Arabian Sea in the west. Tamluk was an important port on the coast of Bengal that carried coastal trade with Burma and Sri Lanka. This pan Indian character of the empire has not been seen under any predecessor or successors of Ashoka.
Ashoka’s Dhamma and Its Propagation:
The Kalinga war made a deep mark in the mind of Ashoka and he opted for a simple life devoid of luxuries. He became a staunch follower of Buddhism and as a king he made it his obligation to insist that all religions should be respected. Buddhism was made the state religion and by the end of his reign it turned into a major religion of the subcontinent and later emerged as a world religion.
Emperor Ashoka appointed state employees for propagating the religion. They were charged with the duty of enforcing the moral code and looking after the need of the people. He personally went to the places related to Buddhism and started the custom of Dharmayatras instead of Viharayatras viz. hunting. He even sent his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghmitra to preach Buddhism in Ceylon. He banned cooking of meat in the royal kitchen. He is frequently quoted today, as an early example of conservator of wildlife. He also insisted on the planting of medicinal herbs for both men and animals. He took special care to inscribe the edicts in Prakrit, the language of the common people. In the pillar Edict VII, he claimed to have built charitable dispensaries and rest houses every nine miles, dug wells, planted trees for shades and made water bodies for the use of beasts and men.
Ashoka commanded the third Buddhist council at Pataliputra to safeguard the purity of Buddhism and unity and integrity of the Buddhist sangha.