Ashoka samrat - Ancient History Encyclopedi...

Ashok samrat was born in PATALIPUTRA (currently BIHAR) on 304 BC (around 273-232 BCE). He was the third emperor of the Maurya dynasty. The founder of the Maurya dynasty was his grandfather "Chandra Gupta Maurya" (about 322-298 BC). After Chandragupta Maurya, his father "Bindusara",(about 294-273 BC) ascended the throne. Ashoka has a third Mourya emperor.

The practices of child marriage and polygamy were also in Samrat Ashoka's time. Samrat Ashoka herself had many queens. Ashoka samrat married at the age of 18 and his sister was married at the age of 14.

At the time when Bindusara died in Sinhalse history, Chakravartin Ashoka samrat was the President in Ujjain in Malwa. The succession of the Rajpadled to a fierce fratricide in which 99 of his brothers were killed and Chakravartin Ashoka samrat ascended the throne. However, there is no indication of this fratricidal war in the inscriptions of Chakravartin Ashoka samrat. On the contrary, from the inscription No.5, it appears that Chakravartin Ashoka samrat was a well-wisher of his siblings and family. He was not crowned until four years after sitting on the throne.

Chakravartin Ashoka samrat was a contemporary of King Antiochus II of Syria(261-246 BC) and some other Yavan(Greek) kings mentioned in inscription No.8. This shows that Chakravartin Ashoka samrat ruled in the second half of the third century BCE, but the exact time of his coronation is not known.

He reigned 40 years. Therefore, he may have been a young man during the coronation.

Eight years after his coronation, he invaded Kalinga, a coastal state in the Bay of Bengal. The Kalinga kingdom at that time was wide in area between Maha rivar and Godavari rivar. The reason for this war is not known, but he conquered Kalinga and annexed it to his kingdom. This war resulted in fierce bloodshed. One lakh people were killed and one and one a half lakh were taken captive and several lakh people were destroyed by the famine, epidemic etc. of the war. Chakravartin Ashoka samrat was very sorry for this destruction and oppression of millions of humans and he hated war. 

Only after this, Chakravartin Ashoka samrat, according to his inscriptions, appeared in 'Dhamma'(religion). Here Dhamma is taken to mean Buddhism and he soon become a follower of Buddhism. After becoming a Buddhist henchman, Chakravartin Ashoka's samrat personality changed completely.

                         

The Chakravartin Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya dynasty ruled unbroken India and his Mauryan empire extended from the ranges of Hindukash in the north to the south of the Godavari river in the south and Mysore, and from Bangladesh in the east to Afghanistan, Iran in the wast. The empire of

Emperor Chakravartin Ashoka samrat occupies most of the territory of present day. India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, this vast empire has been the largest Indian empire till date.

During the reign of  Ashok Samrat, there was a lot of change in the social satatus of India. There were many communities like "Brahmins, Shravan, Aajeevak etc.", but all were treated fairly in behalf of the state and everyone was instructed to learn to be tolerant in matters of religion, respect the truth, etc. The religious outlook of the people was liberal and sometimes foreigners were also made Hindus by giving them education which people accepted with pleasure.

According to me, the percentage of educated people in the Buddhist population of the time of Chakravartin Ashoka samrat Ashok was much higher than many provinces of modern British India.

Chakravartin Ashoka samrat full name was Ashokvardhana. In his writings, he is always addressed as 'Devanampiyya' (beloved of the gods) and 'Piyadarshi' (Priyadarshi). Only Yaski's short inscription inscribes him 'Devanam-pi Ashok'.

Chakravartin Ashoka samrat died in 232 BC after ruling for 40 years. It is believed that after his death his empire was divided into western and eastern part. The eastern part was ruled by Ashoka's son 'Dasaratha', while the western part was ruled by 'Samprati'.