Ashoka: a Great Emperor
Ashoka: A Great Emperor
The Mauryans ruled India from 322 B.C., to 15 B.C. Chandragupta Maurya, the first king in the dynasty ruled from 322 B.C., to 298 B.C. Ashoka, who was the third in line ascended the throne at the very early age of 20 years in 273 B.C. and ruled for a long period of 41 years, till 232 B.C.
During the reign of Ashoka, the Mauryan empire extended from Hindukush and Kashmir in the North West to Bengal in the North East. Its southern border was Karnataka. The present Andhra Pradesh was completely under Ashoka's rule. His forefathers had already left a good system of administration by appointing Viceroys to various parts of their empire. He carried on his administration smoothly with the nssistance of Viceroys. For the first seven years of his rule, there was nothing special about his administration. Later he wanted to expand his empire and declared war on Kalinga.
Ashoka fought the Kalinga War in 261 B.C. Though Ashoka won (lie war, it brought a revolutionary change in the attitude of the emperor. He saw, in the battle field, the flow of blood, thousands killed and many more wounded. Many became widows and orphans on account of his ambition to expand his empire. He was totally upset and deeply moved. During that period he came in contact with the Buddhist monk 'Upagupta' and was attracted towards Buddhism. He embraced Buddhism and decided not to fight any more battles thereafter, and follow the principle of truth and non-violence.
Ashoka declared Buddhism as the state religion, and took various measures to preach and propagate that religion. He implemented a number of welfare programmes for his people. Construction of tanks, dharmasalas, roads and planting of trees were taken up. Ashoka was a great builder. He built stupas, viharas and saw that the Buddhist principles were carved on rocks. They are called 'edicts'. We find Ashoka's stupas and pillars in many parts of India. The Sarnath Stupa is the most famous one.The Ashoka Dharma
The Mauryans ruled India from 322 B.C., to 15 B.C. Chandragupta Maurya, the first king in the dynasty ruled from 322 B.C., to 298 B.C. Ashoka, who was the third in line ascended the throne at the very early age of 20 years in 273 B.C. and ruled for a long period of 41 years, till 232 B.C.
During the reign of Ashoka, the Mauryan empire extended from Hindukush and Kashmir in the North West to Bengal in the North East. Its southern border was Karnataka. The present Andhra Pradesh was completely under Ashoka's rule. His forefathers had already left a good system of administration by appointing Viceroys to various parts of their empire. He carried on his administration smoothly with the nssistance of Viceroys. For the first seven years of his rule, there was nothing special about his administration. Later he wanted to expand his empire and declared war on Kalinga.
Ashoka fought the Kalinga War in 261 B.C. Though Ashoka won (lie war, it brought a revolutionary change in the attitude of the emperor. He saw, in the battle field, the flow of blood, thousands killed and many more wounded. Many became widows and orphans on account of his ambition to expand his empire. He was totally upset and deeply moved. During that period he came in contact with the Buddhist monk 'Upagupta' and was attracted towards Buddhism. He embraced Buddhism and decided not to fight any more battles thereafter, and follow the principle of truth and non-violence.
Ashoka declared Buddhism as the state religion, and took various measures to preach and propagate that religion. He implemented a number of welfare programmes for his people. Construction of tanks, dharmasalas, roads and planting of trees were taken up. Ashoka was a great builder. He built stupas, viharas and saw that the Buddhist principles were carved on rocks. They are called 'edicts'. We find Ashoka's stupas and pillars in many parts of India. The Sarnath Stupa is the most famous one.The Ashoka Dharma