Ashoka Becomes Emperor
Ashoka's accession to the Mauryan throne, traditionally placed around 268 BCE, brought to power one of the most remarkable rulers in South Asian history. The grandson of the dynasty's founder, he ruled a vast empire that covered most of the Indian subcontinent. He is remembered above all for the policy of "dharma" he promoted after a costly war, and for his role in the spread of Buddhist ideas well beyond India.
The Mauryan Empire had been founded around 321 BCE by Chandragupta Maurya, who built a centralized state with its capital at Pataliputra, near modern Patna. His son Bindusara expanded it further, and Ashoka inherited a large bureaucracy, a standing army, and an extensive network of roads and officials. Buddhist sources describe a violent struggle for the throne among Bindusara's sons, with Ashoka emerging victorious. These accounts were written long afterward and are probably embellished, and the exact date of his accession is debated, with some scholars placing his coronation a few years later than 268 BCE.
The defining event of his reign was the conquest of Kalinga, a region on the eastern coast roughly corresponding to modern Odisha, which Ashoka undertook about eight years after his coronation. Our best evidence is his own inscriptions, carved on rocks and pillars across his realm. In the Thirteenth Major Rock Edict, he expresses remorse for the suffering the war caused, mentioning large numbers killed and deported. The figures he gives are probably rhetorical rather than precise. He describes turning toward dharma, a code of ethical conduct emphasizing nonviolence, tolerance, respect for elders, and humane treatment of people and animals.
Whether Ashoka's "dharma" was strictly Buddhist is a subject of scholarly discussion. His edicts do not preach Buddhist doctrine in detail, and they speak of respect for all sects. Yet Buddhist traditions firmly claim him as a devoted lay follower and patron. He appointed officials to oversee moral welfare, built hospitals and rest houses, and planted trees along roads. Later Buddhist texts credit him with building thousands of stupas and with convening a council at Pataliputra.
His legacy extended far beyond his lifetime. Sri Lankan chronicles say he sent his son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitta to bring Buddhism to the island, and his edicts mention envoys sent to Hellenistic kingdoms in the west. Whatever their immediate effect, his patronage helped turn Buddhism from a regional movement into a major religion that later spread across Central, East, and Southeast Asia. The Mauryan Empire declined within about fifty years of his death, but Ashoka's inscriptions, deciphered in the nineteenth century, restored him to history. His lion capital from Sarnath is now India's national emblem, and the wheel on its flag draws on the same symbolism.