Our history is filled with warmongers who have waged war for years to acquire power. Today we
remember them either as Great such as Alexander and Constantine or as Terrible as in the case of
Qin Shi Huang and Attila the Hun. Whether they deserve to be called great or terrible is an
evergreen historical debate, but one cannot refute that none of these tyrants ever apologized for
their war efforts. … Except one. Ashoka the Great was an Indian emperor who repented after causing
the demise of thousands of people and became the ambassador of the pacifist religion Buddhism
and spread it from Japan to the Middle East. Welcome to Nutty History, today let’s look
at the history of India’s greatest emperor and find out if he was truly the better king of all.
The kingdom of Kalinga was located on the eastern coast facing the Bay of Bengal where today you
can find the state of Orissa. Kalinga was sitting not far from Patliputra in the north, the capital
seat of the Maurya Empire. Through trade, the kingdom enjoyed a considerable amount of wealth
but wasn’t greedy about it. The Mauryan Empire was surrounding Kalinga and the two polities evidently
prospered commercially from the interaction. Some historians believe that Ashoka’s grandfather and
founder of the Mauryan empire Chandragupta Maurya attempted at annexing Kalinga during his rule
after upsetting the Nanda Empire. However, Kalinga managed to secede from the Nanda
empire and form their own autonomy, resisting the advances of the Maurya Empire. Since then
up to the reign of Ashoka, some historians agree that the relations between the Mauryan Empire and
the Kalinga were harmonious and trade-friendly. While others argue that Kalinga was in fact,
under the sovereignty of the Mauryan Empire and that the war between the empire and Kalinga was
a result of a rebellion. Still, it’s just speculation because unfortunately, history
offers us no clear evidence or testimony about why Ashoka invaded Kalinga. It gets only more
baffling considering that the ruler of Kalinga had offered shelter to Ashoka, during the power
struggle between Ashoka and his brothers after the death of their incumbent father Bindusaar.
Later the ruler of Kalinga also married one of his daughters to Ashoka. The general consensus is that
a large and expansionist empire like that of the Mauryas would not have tolerated an independent
state so close to its capital Pataliputra and its main port at Tamralipti. Whatever the real reasons
were for Kalinga to attract Ashoka’s ire, a large Mauryan army marched into Kalinga around 262 BC.
Even the location of this battle is debatable in history. The traditional view is that the
two armies met on the banks of the river Daya at Dhauli near modern Bhubaneswar. However,
recent archaeological excavations point out that initial resistance was at Yuddha Meruda
followed by a desperate and bloody last stand at the Kalinga capital of Tosali. The Maurya
Army was six hundred thousand strong and attacked with a blizzard of arrows to commence the battle
and Kalinga never stood a chance after that. According to Megasthenes, the Greek historian
of the Maurya court, the rulers of Kalinga had a powerful army comprising infantry, cavalry,
and elephants. Yet, the Kalinga army was seriously undermanned in comparison to Mauryas, having one
soldier for every four Mauryan soldiers, despite that they gave everything during the battle.
According to Ashoka’s edicts, nearly a hundred and seventy thousand soldiers from
both sides perished in the battlefield and siege of Tosali and another one
hundred and fifty thousand soldiers and civilians perished due to torture, starvation,
and captivity. The end result of this more than a year-long war was a calamity that utterly
destroyed Kalinga. Looking back at this, for once in the course of entire human history, the
conquering war monger was ashamed of his action. Or at least that’s what he wants us to believe.
Indian historian R. P. Mohapatra wrote in his book Military History of Orissa : No war in the history
of India is as important either for its intensity or for its results as the Kalinga war of Ashok.
No wars in the annals of human history have changed the heart of the victor from one of
wanton (wahnt-un) cruelty to that of exemplary piety as this one. From its fathomless womb,
the history of the world may find out only a few wars to its credit which may be equal
to this war and not a single one that would be greater than this. The political history
of mankind is really a history of wars and no war has ended with such a successful mission of peace
for the entire war-torn humanity as the war of Kalinga. According to the official narrative,
Ashoka was horrified by his own brutality and became a Buddhist and a pacifist. The Buddhist
legend goes that Ashoka met a young Buddhist monk on the road after the war who shared a sermon
with Ashoka and it is believed that the monk left such a good impression on Ashoka that it inspired
Ashoka to convert. Soon after, the king became a Buddhist and began frequently visiting shrines in
his capital and met more monks. The religious texts depict those teachings of these Buddhist
clergymen helped shape his rule and politics from this point in time. He also became an ambassador
of Buddhism and to spread his religion, he used all available methods of mass communication
such as oral announcements and engraving his edicts on rocks and pillars. The inscriptions had
different dates and statements of his thoughts and actions, serving as evidence of his rule for time
immemorial. However, Buddhism itself doesn’t have a good impression of the Pre-Kalinga war Ashoka.
Keep in mind the only records that we know of Ashoka’s rule comes from Ashoka himself or through
Buddhist scriptures, and the Buddhist scriptures do not portray the early years of Ashoka
in good light. But in fairness, Ashoka didn’t have the best of childhood despite being a son
of an emperor. In many ways, the early years of Ashoka and Alexander have many similarities.
Ashoka was born to Emperor Bindusaar, son of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the
Mauryan empire. Like Alexander’s mother, Ashoka’s mother was also an outsider in Bindusaar’s court
which was filled with many wives. Just like Alexander was prophesied to be a great emperor,
a seer had made the same predictions about Ashoka despite he was not the first in line
to the ascension to the throne. Like Alexander, Ashoka too proved his worth by crushing down
rebellions for his father. He was highly educated at court, trained in martial arts,
and was no doubt instructed in the precepts of the texts meant for the king only as one of the
royal sons. However, despite being impressed by him, Bindusaar was dead set on his choice for
his successor. Ashoka’s half-brother Sushima was the heir apparent and crown prince and was in no
way lesser than Ashoka. That said, Ashoka did have a major supporter in Bindusaar’s court,
the elderly Prime Minister, Chanakya. Chanakya was the teacher of Ashoka’s grandfather and played a
crucial role in the foundation of the Maurya empire. Chanakya saw the potential of Ashoka
from an early age and was preparing Ashoka for the throne despite whatever plans Bindusaar had.
While Sushima was away dealing with rebellion at Taxila, Bindusaar met a sudden illness and death
in 268 BC. Some believe that Bindusaar was slain but the records are debatable on that matter.
Though the timing of his death was quite convenient for Ashoka, Chanakya and other
courtiers promptly crowned Ashoka as the new emperor against Bindusaar’s last wishes.
Ashoka had his half-brother Sushima executed at the city gates on his return and didn’t spare his
other two half brothers either. After eliminating any rival who could challenge his legibility as
the next emperor, Ashoka ruled with an iron fist. His rule was brutal, bloody, and belligerent,
taking down anyone who may challenge or rebel against his authority. Some believe that’s why
Ashoka turned on his former ally Kalinga despite being married to a Kalinga woman.
There are very few emperors, leaders, kings, and queens from the times of antiquity that have left
a long-lasting personal legacy. A legacy that’s presence can still be felt around in the modern
world. Alexander, Augustus, Hatshepsut, Xerxes, and Ashoka are a few names that come to mind.
For most of you watching this video, the last name might not be as familiar as the others
but Ashoka’s legacy is no less prominent than Alexander and Augustus. See that wheel in the
middle of the Indian National Flag? That’s Dharma-chakra or Ashoka’s Wheel named after
Emperor Ashoka the Great. The twenty-four spokes on that wheel represent the twelve causal links
taught by the Buddha and this wheel appears on most of the Edicts of Ashoka such as the Lion
Capitol. Lion Capitol of Ashoka is a sculpture of four Asiatic lions standing back-to-back
that was Ashoka’s emblem and today it is India’s national emblem appearing prominently on all
Indian currency bills. Ashoka’s childhood has similarities to the early struggles
and achievements of Alexander of Macedon. His contribution to popularizing Buddhism is similar
to Constantine’s contribution to Christianity. He used religion as a tool of diplomacy,
not only did this strategy usher the Maurya Empire into a 30 years long era of peace and harmony
but also spread religion to the entirety of Asia. Twenty-two hundred years later,
Buddhism is still a popular and impactful religion in India and Eastern Asian countries. However,
before accomplishing peace, and prosperity, and preaching the word of Lord Buddha, Ashoka was
a very different ruler. Back then people didn’t call him Ashoka the Great, instead, he was called
Chand Ashoka, or Ashoka the Terrible. But after the war of Kalinga, everything changed for him.
Buddhist texts have a polarizing view of Ashoka’s personality. According to these texts, Ashoka
was not just a hardened king with a penchant for war before the events of the Kalinga war.
Buddhism portrays Ashoka before embracing Buddhism as a tyrant, a cruel sadistic king whose thirst
for blood had no end. The title ‘Chand Ashoka’, according to these texts was more than just
Ashoka the Terrible, they referred to him as ‘Ashoka the Demon.’ The story of Ashoka meeting
a Buddhist monk has a gory version in these texts mentioning that Ashoka tried to boil the monk for
criticizing his ways but the monk would not be harmed by the flames or heat. Ashoka recognized
the divine protection around the monk and asked for forgiveness and was then taught Buddhism by
that very monk. Ashoka’s earlier image as a cruel and ruthless king who found pleasure in personally
torturing those who were sentenced to prison vanished after embracing Buddhism. There is a new
school of thought emerging among modern historical scholars that point to the discrepancy between
Ashoka’s recording of events and Buddhist records of events. They believe that Ashoka may have been
already a Buddhist before he annexed Kalinga and his repentance and redemption were nothing but
fictional propaganda crafted by him to boost his image as a great emperor. Yet, whatever the case
may be, there is no dispute that Ashoka did spread Buddhism to many parts of the world as a pacifist
religion. Under Ashoka, Buddhism was widely propagated and spread to Sri Lanka and Southeast
Asia. Many Buddhist monuments and elaborately carved cave temples found at Sarnath , Ajanta,
Bodhgaya, and other places in India, date from the reigns of Ashoka and his Buddhist successors.
Ashoka sent Buddhist missionaries including his own son and daughter to the four corners of Asia
and emissaries to countries including Greece and Syria to spread the religion.
Ashoka led pilgrimages to all the Buddhist sacred places, repaired old shrines, and pillars,
and built new ones. He crafted his new image as a tolerant ruler although some texts dispute that.
We must take into account that his method of spreading his favored religion wasn’t a
crusade. He did not campaign against Hinduism he just derided some of the Hindu ceremonies
and sacrifices as wasteful. The book ‘Ashok Vandana’ or ‘Praise to Ashok’ however did mention
certain mass executions in modern Bengal and Ashoka’s prejudice against followers of Jainism
and Ajivikas. Ashoka also tried to mingle ideas of Hinduism and Buddhism in a similar fashion to
how Constantine tried to mingle Christianity and Roman paganism to make Christianity mainstream.
His fusion version of Buddhism appealed to merchants and took hold primarily in urban areas.
Before its final decline in India, Buddhism developed the popular worship of enlightened
beings, produced a refined architecture at Sanchi, and sculpture on the geographical fringes of the
Indian civilization which also began with Ashoka himself. Ashoka’s inscriptions chiseled on rocks
and stone pillars located at strategic locations throughout his empire constitute the second set of
datable historical records. These inscriptions are the only surviving testament of what the
Mauryan Empire was like under Ashoka’s rule and how Ashoka’s change of heart after the Kalinga
war’s bloodshed led to a utopian age in the empire for the next three decades of Ashoka’s rule.
The Maurya empire reached its zenith under Ashoka with Buddhism as its empirical religion.
As Buddhism migrated out of India, it took three routes. To the south, monks brought it by land and
sea to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. To the north, they spread the word across Central Asia and along
the Silk Road into China, from where it eventually made its way to Korea and Japan. A later wave took
Buddhism over the Himalayas to Tibet. In all the countries, local customs and cosmologies
were integrated with the Buddhist basics, the magic, and masks of demon-fighting lamas in Tibet,
and the austerity of a Zen monk sitting still as a rock in a perfectly raked Japanese garden. Over
centuries Buddhism molded into a religion with such acceptance and flexibility it can be compared
to the flow of water. This is the reason why it survived through time and many different cultures.
Unfortunately, despite Ashoka’s said good governance and peaceful rule for three
decades after the Kalinga war, the Mauryan Empire collapsed like a house of cards fifty
years after his death in 232 BC. This does cast a shadow of doubt over the propaganda of his rule
being the golden age of the Mauryan Empire in the Indian subcontinent. Some historians have reasons
to believe that Ashoka was not a successful administrator. In his later years, an increasingly
unwell Ashoka watched his empire disintegrate from rebellion, internal family squabbles,
and fiscal stress. While he was still alive, the empire had probably lost all the north-western
territories that had been acquired from Seleucus. Within a few years of Ashoka’s death in 232 BC,
enemies had taken over most of the territories in southern India and Kalinga too had seceded.
Still, it is also possible that Ashoka created such an impactful legacy that none of his
successors were able to fill in his shoes. The string of weak kings and partition of the empire
in two could have been the major cause of the collapse of the Mauryan Empire. Whatever may
have been the cause, the Indian subcontinent never saw another emperor as Ashoka (Uh-sho-ka) again.
But was he as Great as history wants us to believe or was he just a very crafty politician
who would do anything to hold on to power and be remembered forever in history? We will let you
decide in the comments. Thanks for watching Nutty History and do not forget to like and subscribe.