Who was Emperor Ashoka, History, Life Introduction of Emperor Ashoka, Biography, Buddhist Policy of Ashoka, Inscriptions, Stupas and Pillars (Samrat Ashoka History, Biography & Life Story, Death)
Maurya Empire has a glorious history in Indian history, Emperor Ashoka, the greatest king of Maurya Empire, was such a great king in Indian history who made important reforms during his reign, established religion.
He was the third emperor of the Mauryan Empire who gave a lot of thought to the issues of ethics, conflict and peace during his reign. He propagated Buddhism and created an important cultural base for Indian culture during this important period of Indian history.
Emperor Ashoka was one of the first rulers to make efforts for the expansion of Buddhism in South Asia. He made many reforms in the field of society, education, economic development, and foreign relations during his reign. The Mauryan Empire was at the height of its power during his time. Let us know deeply about Emperor Ashoka –
Who was Emperor Ashoka (Who was Ashoka in Indian History)
According to the Buddhist text Deepvansha, Bindusara had 16 wives and 101 sons. Ashoka was the son of Bindusara and Queen Subhadrangi, he was born in 304 BC in Pataliputra, Bihar.
He was very intelligent and skilled in martial arts since childhood. Ashoka was the most brilliant and brilliant among all the 101 sons of Bindusara.
Being born in a noble family and seeing the struggle for the throne since childhood, Ashoka had also become a cruel and merciless man. Ashoka is said to have killed his 99 brothers in order to sit on the throne of the Maurya Empire.
History of Emperor Ashoka, Life Introduction (Samrat Ashoka History in hindi, Biography & Life Story)
| Full Name | Chakraborty Ashoka Emperor |
| Birth | 304 BC in Pataliputra, Bihar. |
| time of reign | 269 ​​BC to 232 BC |
| descendants | maurya dynasty |
| Father | Bindusara |
| Mother | Rani Shubhadangri |
| Brother | Shushen and the other 99 brothers |
| Wife | Devi, Karuvaki, Padmavati, Tishyarakshita |
| sons and daughters | Teeval, Kanal, Mahendra and Sanghamitra and Charumati |
| Religion | Buddhist |
| death | 232 BC |
Emperor Ashoka’s reign
Emperor Ashoka became such a king who ruled unbroken India under an umbrella. During his reign, he expanded the Indian border. From the Hindu Kush Mountains in the north to Iran, Afghanistan in the west or the border of the country in the east, Ashoka established a united India.
In the early years of his reign, he used to be very cruel and merciless king, his father Bindusara had a lot of faith in him, from childhood he used to inspire him to do the work of the state.
Troubled by the rebellion in Takshashila, when Ashoka was sent there, Ashoka succeeded in establishing peace and suppressing the rebellion. When Bindusara died in 273 BC, he was the Subedar in Ujjain at that time.
Ashoka fought hard for 4 years and then sat on the throne of the Mauryan dynasty, there were many obstacles in his coronation, he crossed all the obstacles and formally became the king in 269 BC.
Kalinga war made a deep impact
Due to the efficient military operations and policies of Ashoka, all the states succumbed to Magadha, Ashoka merged all the states in his kingdom Magadha.
But Kalinga was such a state which was not ready to accept Magadha’s subordination under any circumstances. The king of Kalinga challenged Emperor Ashoka, seeing the challenge and with the aim of teaching Kalinga a lesson, Ashoka invaded Kalinga. A fierce battle ensued in which there was brutal carnage on both sides.
Seven years after becoming king, when Ashoka invaded the kingdom of Kalinga, the fierce bloodshed in it had a deep impact on his mind. In this war, about 1 lakh people died on both sides, several thousand people were injured, countless elephants and horses were crushed in the war. Seeing this carnage, Ashoka was so disturbed that he never took up arms after this war.
He swore in the same battlefield that after today he would never be a part of any war.
This incident inspires him to stand in favor of religion and non-violence during his rule.
Buddhist policy of Ashoka
After the bloodshed in Kalinga, Ashoka adopted Buddhism, and spread Buddhism around the world.
The main purpose of Ashoka’s adoption of this religion was that he had walked on the path of non-violence from violence.
By adopting Buddhism, he gave the message of kindness to living beings and compassion towards human beings.
Ashoka’s Buddhist policy is also called Dharma Vijay policy. During his reign, he experienced religion compromise instead of religion conquest and embraced Buddhism. He taught religion to most of the members of his army after adopting Buddhism and religion became an important part of his life.
According to his Buddhist policy, Emperor Ashoka laid the basis of governance on religion, discipline, compromise and equality. He implemented many policies like Dharmamatya Commission and Dhamma Vihara to protect religion. They also made policies to build roads and caves between India and their estates.
Emperor Ashoka created an important society according to Buddhism which inspired most of the people to give more compromise and peace.
Stupas and pillars built by Ashoka
Emperor Ashoka spread the propaganda of Maurya dynasty all over India and got many inscriptions and pillars constructed.
The history of Maurya dynasty is found in his inscriptions.
Ashoka had spread around South Asia and Central Asia for the propagation of Buddhism and collecting the relics of Lord Buddha. 84000 Spouts Got the construction done.
Following are some of the most important edicts of Emperor Ashoka:
- Mahabodhi Stupa was built in Bodh Gaya for the spread of Buddhism.
- Emperor Ashoka built the Dhammarajika Stupa at Sanchi for the propagation of Buddhism.
- He got the Lauriya Nandangar Stupa constructed for theology at Shikarigram.
- Emperor Ashoka had several inscriptions made to propagate the religion in every corner of the empire, such as the Jungarh inscription for Girnar, the Sanchi inscription for Sanchi and the Ashokanugraha inscription for Kalinganagara.
The wheel used in the Indian tricolor today, known as the Ashoka Chakra or Dharma Chakra, is derived from the Ashoka Pillar erected by Emperor Ashoka.
Apart from this, the lion face symbol, the state symbol of India, has also been taken from the Ashoka pillar, this statue is still kept in the museum of Sarnath. , Important and interesting facts related to Ashoka Pillar
Death of Emperor Ashoka (Samrat Ashoka Death)
He ruled on the throne of the Maurya Empire for about 40 years, he could not rule for long because of his vow not to take up arms. Neighboring states took great advantage of this vow of Ashoka and also harmed his states.
Historians believe that when Ashoka died in 232 BC, there was no one left to see the Maurya Empire and its decline started from here.
Some historians also believe that in the last moments of his life, Ashoka had taken sanyasa according to Buddhism and abandoned his body willingly by giving up food and drink. Ashoka is famous even today because of his great works and promotion of religion.
