Ashoka – The Great
One of the greatest rulers of India’s history is Ashoka. He was born in the year 304 B.C. His father, Bindusara was a powerful king of his time. After the death of his father, Ashoka became the king of Pataliputra. He was a very good king.
Ashoka had already gained experience of administration during his father’s rule. Eight years after he took his throne, Ashoka’s powerful armies attacked and conquered Kalinga.
Ashoka was able to manage the affairs of his kingdom. He was religious and cared for the people of his kingdom.
Although he had conquered many other places this violent war was the last war he ever fought and a turning point of his career. He was disgusted by the extreme deaths of numerous civilians, especially the Brahmans.
In the nineteenth century, a large number of edicts written in Brahmi script carved o rocks and stone pillars were discovered in India, proving the existence of Ashoka.
Ashoka sent his son and daughter to other countries to spread the message of ahimsa and Buddhism. Ashoka died in the thirty-eighth year of his reign, 232 B.C. The Buddhist ideas no longer inspire the government and at the same time, his descendants quarrel over the successions.
In less than fifty years after his death, the Maurya Empire collapsed and fell into pieces.
