Jennifer Kieser
Overview
-

Ashoka’s Early Life
The Beginning of Ashoka’s Reign
Geography – maps of Ashoka’s empire
The Kalinga War
Buddhism & A New Ashoka
Ashoka’s Goal: The Spread of Buddhism
Highlights
Early Life of Ashoka

o From a young age, Ashoka showed great fighting qualities
o Ashoka became a fierce warrior and a heartless general
- Story: Ashoka rose to power by getting rid of the
legitimate heir to the throne by “tricking him into a hole
filled with hot coals”
o Some other stories tell of how Ashoka supposedly “killed
99 of his brothers, sparing only one” in order to get the
throne for himself
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka#Early_life)
Ashoka’s Reign

 268 BCE – Ashoka Maurya becomes emperor of India
(Keown 70)
 Reign of Ashoka according to Keown was
~ 268-239 BCE
 270 BCE – Ashoka becomes emperor
(Tilakaratne 16)
 Reign of Ashoka according to Tilakaratne was
~ 270-230 BCE
The Mauryan Empire
~ 269 BCE
(at the beginning
of Ashoka’s
reign)
Image From:
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chandragupta_Maurya_Empire.gif )
"Wicked King"

 Ashoka was very wicked and had an extremely bad
temper
 He tested the loyalty of his ministers (had 500 killed)
 When a few women in his harem insulted him, he had
all of them burnt to death
 Ashoka also, according to some sources, kept a torture
chamber (earned him the name “Ashoka the Fierce”)
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka#Early_life_as_Emperor
 Thus, the Kalinga War. . .
Odisha
The Kalinga War
was fought
~ 262-261 BCE
   
In Modern-day
India’s
Odisha (Odissa)
Image Attribution: CC-by-sa PlaneMad/Wikimedia
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:India_Orissa_locator_ma p.svg )
Kalinga
Ashoka’s life-changing campaign

 The bloodiest battle that Ashoka had ever participated in
 Battle resulted in huge numbers of both civilian and
soldier casualties
(http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/dharmadata/fdd9.htm)
 “It is said that in the aftermath of the Battle of Kalinga
the Daya River running next to the battle field turned
red with the blood of the slain; more than 150,000
Kalinga warriors and about 100,000 of Ashoka's own
warriors were among those slain.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalinga_War)
Ashoka’s
Empire
~ 265 BCE
(or ~ 250 BCE)
After the
Kalinga War in
the East
Attribution: Vastu at en.wikipedia
Buddhism & Ashoka
• After Kalinga, Ashoka sees all the destruction caused
by the war
• He reflects on his ‘victory’ and feels remorse for all
the lives lost
• Ashoka converts to Buddhism
• Uses the Buddha’s teachings and principles to rule
his empire with a new attitude, a different way of
thinking
• Given new names, such as: Ashoka the Great,
Samraat Chakravartin (emperor of emperors),
Priyadarshin (He who regards everyone with
affection)
(factsninfo.com)
The New Ashoka
 Now seen as the “ideal king”
 A model for Buddhist followers
• New motto – ahimsa (“non-violence” toward all things)
= No more violent sports, no more hunting, etc.
 Spreads the teachings to his family members & to his people
 Builds stupas to promote Buddhism
 Then he expands this idea – he wants to spread Buddhist
teachings even further
Spread of Buddhism:
The Missions of Ashoka
•
Image From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Asoka_Kaart.gif
Spread of Buddhism:
The Missions of Ashoka
 Ashoka’s Goal: spread the principles and teachings of
Buddhism to countries outside India
 Missionaries – even his own son and daughter – were sent out to
accomplish his goal and build monuments to the Buddha
 King Ashoka sent missionaries to:
 Sri Lanka (by Arhat Mahinda, son of Ashoka)
 Myanmar (by bhikkhunis named Sona and Uttara)
 Thailand
 Cambodia
(Tilakaratne pp. 80, 83, 86, 89, respectively)
Highlights




Ashoka was born about 304 BCE (factsninfo.com)
King Ashoka conquered through bloody battles
Last campaign – The Kalinga War – changed his outlook on life
Ashoka then chose to rule according to Buddhist principles and:
 Spread Buddhism teachings outside of India through
missionaries
 Saved Buddhism from dying out (as it was at the time of his
reign)
 His surviving stupas (shrines to the Buddha) resurrected Buddhism
again in the 20th Century
 Ashoka died about 232 BCE at the age of 72 (factsninfo.com)
Bibliography
Keown, Damien. Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press,
2000.
• Tilakartne, Asanga. Theravada Buddhism: The View of the Elders. University of
Hawai’i, 2012.
• Heehs, Peter. Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Expression and
Experience. NYU, 2002.
• http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha023.htm
• http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/dharmadata/fdd9.htm
• http://online.sfsu.edu/rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm
• http://www.factsninfo.com/2013/04/interesting-facts-information-samratashoka-great-emperors-of-india.html
• http://www.rk-world.org/dharmaworld/dw_2011jmfounder.aspx
• http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/history/asoka.htm
Images:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalinga_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odisha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:India_Orissa_locator_map.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurya_Empire#Ashoka_the_Great
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Asoka_Kaart.gif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edicts_of_Ashoka