ASHOKA

THE EMPEROR WHO GAVE UP THE WAR

 THE LION CAPITAL

The lions that we see on our notes and

coins have a long history. They
were carved in stone, and placed on top of
a massive stone pillar at Sarnath.

Asoka was one of the greatest rulers known

to history and on his instructions
inscriptions were carved on pillars, as well
as on rock surfaces.
 THE LION CAPITAL
The empire that Asoka ruled was founded
by his grandfather, Chandragupta
Maurya, more than 2300 years ago.
Chandragupta was supported by a wise
man named Chanakya or Kautilya.

Many of Chanakya’s ideas were written

down in a book called the Arthashastra
When members of the same family become rulers one after another,
the family is often called a dynasty. The Mauryas were a dynasty with
three important rulers — Chandragupta, his son Bindusara, and
Bindusara’s son, Ashoka.
 CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA

 (Founder & grand father of Ashoka)

 BINDUSARA

(Second king & father of Ashoka)

 ASHOKA THE EMPEROR

(Third king)
 ASHOKA BELONGS
TO MAURYAN DYNASTY

 H E IS THE THIRD KING

OF MAURYAN DYNASTY
 Conversion Death in
Birth of Reign Marriage to
Asoka begins Buddhism
232 BCE
300 272 BCE 284 BCE 263 BCE
BCE
 Ashoka was born to
the Mauryan emperor Bindusara and a
relatively lower ranked wife of his,
Dharmā [or Dhammā]. He was the
grandson of Chandragupta Maurya,
founder of Mauryan dynasty.

Empress Subhadrangī was a Brahmin of

the Ajivika sect, and was found to be a
suitable match for Emperor Bindusara.
 Ashoka's reign as emperor
began with a series of wars .
 H e conquered more lands
and added them to his
empire.

 The Kalinga War of 260 BC

was the worst of all.
KALINGA WAR
Kalinga War was a war fought between the Maurya
Empire under Ashoka the Great and the state
of Kalinga, a feudal republic located on the coast of
the present-day Indian state of Orissa and nothern
parts of Andhra pradesh.The Kalinga city is capital
of Kalinga kingdom, it is situated in present day
Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. . The Kalinga war, the
only major war Ashoka fought after his accession to
throne, is one of the major and bloodiest battles in
the history of World. Kalinga put up a stiff
resistance, but they were no match for Ashoka's
brutal strength. The bloodshed of this war is said to
have prompted Ashoka to adopt Buddhism.
However, he retained Kalinga after its conquest and
incorporated into the Maurya Empire.
 The huge loss of life and
suffering witnessed on
the battlefield made him
turn away from war.
 S o he was deeply
influenced by Buddhism,
and adopted the dharma
principles
 A . Dharma Principles

 B . Spread of Buddhism

 C . Ashoka the Administrator

The main principles of dharma (dhamma)
 nonviolence,

 tolerance of all sects,

 obedience to parents,

 respect for Brahmans , teachers & priests

 liberality towards friends,

 humane treatment of servants,

 Ashoka built shrines and
monasteries and inscribed
Buddhist teachings on
rocks and pillars in many
places.
 H e sent missionaries to
countries.
H i s own son Kunal
became a
monk & carried Buddhism
to Sri Lanka
ASHOKA IN BUDDHISM
Around the year 260 Ashoka
fought great battles and imposed
his rule on people southward
along the eastern coast of India –
an area called Kalinga. The
sufferings created by the war
disturbed Ashoka. He found relief
in Buddhism and became an
emperor with values that differed
from those of his father,
grandfather and others.
Buddhism benefited from the
association with state power that
Hinduism had enjoyed – and that
Christianity would enjoy under
Constantine the Great.
The Ashoka Chakra is
a depiction of the
Buddhist Dharmachak
ra, represented with
24 spokes. It is so
called because it
appears on a number
of edicts of Ashoka,
most prominent
among which is
the Lion Capital of
Sarnath.
  Ashoka
taught and convinced people to love and respect
all living things.
 He insisted on therecognition of thesanctity of
all human life.
 H e abolished the unnecessary salughteror mutilation of
animals.
 Ashoka banned sport hunting & thus protected wildlife.
 He became vegetarian& most people chose to
become vegetarians on their own.
 H e allowed one day leave to prisoners to go outside for a
day of the year.
 After the death of Asoka's father, Binder Sar, Ashoka
and his older brother competed for the throne. The
prime minister and other important ministers at the
time though Asoka to be more discreet, capable and
efficient ruler.
 The next three years Ashoka focused on reestablishing
peace.
 DuringAsoka's rule theft declined and science,
medicine and technology all flourished.
 Buddhismreceived a significant boost of popularity
when Ashoka converted to Buddhism.
 Asoka married a commoner called Karuwaki, she wasa
fisher.
 H e met her before his reign when he was sent to
Taxshila to subdue an uprising as a general of the
Mauryan empire.
 Due to Ashoka’s success in the quelling of the uprising
and his growing popularity, his step-brothers forced
him into exile to prevent him from obtaining the
throne.
 Asoka however returned two years later being
summoned by the emperor to quell another uprising.
 Before Ashoka’s conquest of Kalinga he was known
as Chandashok ( Chanda-cruel, shok-associated with
Hindu goddess of eternal energy) Asoka was
considered a bloodthirsty and power greedy
individual. It was not until later, after the conquest of
Kalinga, where Asoka received his revelation that he
was considered great.
 Q. 1. What do you mean by an empire ?
Ans. Large kingdom where different types of people live in different
Q parts of the kingdom is known as empire.
 
U Q. 2. What are provinces ?
Ans. Big cities of an empire. Empires were divided into provinces to
E administer them efficiently.
 
S Q. 3. Who wrote Arthashastra ?
Ans. Chanakya wrote Arthashastra
T
Q. 4. What was important about South India during Mauryan period ?
I Ans. South India was important for its gold and precious stones.
 
O Q. 5. Who was Megasthenes ?
Ans. Megasthenes was an ambassador who was sent to the court of
N Chandragupta by the Greek ruler Selcucur Nicator.
 
S Q. 6. Which language and script was used for Ashoka’s inscriptions ?
Ans. Ashoka’s inscriptions were in Prakrit and were written in the
Brahim script.
 Q. 1. Explain the term tribute.
Ans. Tributes were the payments that was not collected regularly but at
Q the times when it was possible tribute could be in the form of a variety
of things.
U  
Q. 2. Why Ashoka gave up wars ?
E Ans. Ashoka had fought a famous war called Kalinga. Although he had
won the war but the violence and bloodshed of the war made him
S restless. So he decided to give up wars.
 
T Q. 3. What was Ashoka’s dhamma ?
Ans. Ashoka’s dhamma was not a new religion. Ashoka was inspired by
I the teaching of Buddha and his dhamma contained mostly the teaching
of Buddhism. He considered it was his duty to solve the problems of his
O subjects by instructing them. So he appointed dhamma mahamatta to
teach people about dhamma.
N  
Q. 4. How are empires different from kingdoms ?
S Ans. Emperors need more resources than kings because empires are
larger than kingdoms, and need to be protected by big armies.
Q
U
Q.Who is the son of Chandragupta Maurya?
E Ans. Bindusara
S Q. Who is the son of Bindusara?

T Ans. Ashoka
Q. Who followed Buddhism in the mauryan dynasty?
I Ans. Ashoka
O Q. Which war made Ashoka change in his life?

N Ans. Kallinga War.

S
THANK YOU