The Legacy of Ashoka the Great

Ashoka's Life

Ashoka's

Life

Ashoka was the grandson of ChandraGupta Maurya, who founded the Mauryan dynasty. He was a small part of a large family. His family consisted of his father who was the previous ruler of the empire (Bindusara Vindusar) and his mother (Empress Subhadrangī). He also had several half-brothers and sisters from his father’s other wife, he had to fight and kill his half siblings in order to become emperor. Ashoka was a fierce fighter and hunter, with great military prowess. He was given military training and responsibility for maintaining order in local provinces. Later in his life he converted to Buddhism, this was a major turning point for the empire. Ashoka played a large role in the promotion of Buddhism and he is one of the main reasons why there are so many people that practice Buddhism currently in the world.

Ashoka's Empire

Ashoka's

Kingdom

Ashoka created one of the largest empires in the world, all within a few short years. Ashoka's traits shined through in his method of leadership. Determination, dedication and mastery were obvious as he led the empire to victory. Many problems were difficult to handle but Ashoka was well trained and had enough experience to find understandable solutions that helped or solved these issues.

War in India

War

War played a very significant role in Indian history. War influenced the culture in India immensely. Religion, beliefs, landscape and priorities are altered during war or the aftermath of it.

Buddhism

Ashoka was has been one of the largest influences of Buddhism across India. He is the reason why the Buddhist population is so heavy in India currently. Ashoka was once a very aggressive, violent and vengeful emperor, he found Buddhism to be relaxing and all of his problems were solved or helped through the relaxation. There were a number of problems that troubled Ashoka, people in the empire followed different religions and this sometimes led to conflict. Animals were sacrificed, slaves and servants were ill treated and there were common brawls amongst neighbours and family members. Ashoka felt it was his duty to solve these problems. His solution was life changing for many of us today and back then in 245+ B.C.E. He had officials venture across the empire to teach and encourage the practice of Buddhism.

Ashoka's Approach

Approach

Emporer Ashoka, he is widely remembered as a Buddhist ruler, and it was his contributions to Buddhism and morality that made him such a renowned figure in Indian history. But prior to his conversion to Buddhism, he was a fierce and sadistic ruler, known as Ashoka the Fierce or Chandashoka (Ashoka the Cruel). He sent his minions on a quest to find a vicious man to work as his official executioner. There are many examples of why the people of the Mauryan empire believed this, he was known for creating Ashoka's hell (beautiful gaol). A place that looked welcoming and vibrant from the outside but was frightful on the inside. At the beginning of his reign he ordered all of his ministers to chop down all trees and flowers in the empire, after questioning him for the third time all five hindred ministers were decapitated. This example gives people an insight to how Ashoka operated his empire before the conversion to Buddhism.

Stuctures Left Behind

Structures

During his reign Ashoka created symbols, representative statues (Sarnath capital) and monstrous temples that have been eroded, destroyed or forgotten. The Pillars of Ashoka are very well known landmarks in the Southern India. These columns are placed randomly around India, they are all containing incriptions including laws, traditions and stories at the time of the Mauryan Empire. Ashoka's representative statue consists of four Asiatic lions standing back to back, symbolizing power, courage, confidence and pride, mounted on a circular base. At the bottom is a horse and a bull, and in the centre is a wheel (Dharma chakra). He created this as a physical object that he believes represents his beliefs, personality and power.

Unification

Ashoka brought about the political unification of the country. He bound it further by one dhaama, one language, and virtually one script called Brahmi which was used in most of his inscriptions. In unifying the country he respected non-Indian scripts such as Kharoshthi, Aramaic, and Greek. His inscriptions appear not only in different types of the Indian languages like Prakrit, but also in Greek and particularly in Aramaic which was a Semitic language of ancient Syria.

Peace

Peace

During the beginning of his reign, Ashoka was violent, abusive and selfish. But after converting to Buddhism, he brought peace to his empire. Ashoka is an important part in history for his policy of peace, non- aggression, and cultural conquest. Ashoka followed a tolerant religious policy, not attempting to foist his Buddhist faith on his subjects, he helped administration and promoted cultural interaction between the developed Gangetic basin and distant backward provinces.

Ashoka's Army

Army

Ashoka used military power to become one of the greatest rulers of ancient India. Through war and congest he brought nearly all of India under a single rule for the first time. He made the capital city of Pataliputra the nucleus city of his empire. He was known as a great military strategist and his army was extremely well organized. It had a strong chain of command and even detailed written manuals to guide the soldiers through battle. His soldiers were well paid and well trained. But Ashoka had an even more formidable weapon, his army used elephants to have many victories in battle. Other armies had elephants in battle but Ashoka had 9,000 of them and they trained right beside his soldiers.

Ashoka's Empire

Empire

Ashoka ruled nearly all of India, his last conquest being the Kalinga War where he invaded the sate on the Bay of Bengal. His empire stretched for more than 3 million square kilometres, making it the second largest empire at the time. He led his empire to victory and after being assassinated the empire soon declined leaving it in the dust of new kingdoms, new boundaries and new ways of life. Although his empire did deteriorate he still influenced the culture, beliefs and future of India.

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Bibliography

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