Credo: Issue and Controversies in History

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Ashoka
Ashoka ruled the Mauryan Empire in India in the third century BCE. Several years after
coming to power around 268 BCE, he brutally conquered the Kalinga Kingdom and
expanded the size of his empire. At some point in his reign, however, he embraced
Buddhism and promoted his religious ideals through an astonishing series of
inscriptions on rocks and stone pillars across India. Was Ashoka a benevolent Buddhist
and idealist or an ambitious autocrat and shrewd empire builder?

• Arguments that Ashoka Was a Benevolent Buddhist and Idealist:

After conquering Kalinga, Ashoka converted to Buddhism and expressed
profound sorrow for his past actions in waging violent and bloody warfare. He
renounced any future use of force and vowed to rule peacefully only through
Dhamma, which means natural law, duty, or the right way of living. Ashoka's
idea of Dhamma stressed social cooperation, religious tolerance, peaceful
thoughts and actions, and the protection of all life, human and animal. In the
inscriptions he left on rocks and pillars throughout the subcontinent, he
addressed his people in a remarkably humble tone. His benevolent efforts helped
spread Buddhism and strengthen his religious ideals across most of India and
beyond to other parts of Asia.
• Arguments that Ashoka Was an Ambitious Autocrat and Shrewd
Empire Builder: Ashoka was only the third ruler of the Mauryan Empire. The
empire had grown rapidly under its first two emperors, who conquered one
region after another Ashoka continued this work of empire building with a
ruthless conquest of Kalinga that killed at least 100,000 people. Despite the
remorse he later claimed to feel over this violence, he never loosened his grip on
Kalinga or any other part of his vast empire. His conversion to Buddhism and
embrace of Dhamma were less about Buddhist philosophy and religious ideals
than they were about his empire's harmony and stability. The inscriptions he left
on rocks and pillars were nothing more than slogans and propaganda, a shrewd
effort to enhance his prestige and reinforce his authority.

The Case that Ashoka Was a Benevolent Buddhist and Idealist

Buddhism clearly transformed Ashoka and guided him in his practical efforts to turn his
vast empire into a more humane realm. Although some historians question the depth of
his commitment to Buddhism, Ashoka's own edicts make it clear that his conversion was
genuine, heartfelt, and backed up by deeds. In most of his edicts, Ashoka expressed his
advocacy of the Buddhist concept of Dhamma in general terms as an ethic of peace,
merging social harmony, and tolerance. In numerous cases, however, he made his specific
commitment to Buddhism much clearer. The Bhabra inscription, for example, explicitly
listed several Buddhist teachings he considered vital, and the "Schism Edict," a
of a conflation of three separate inscriptions, took a direct and detailed interest in disputes
that were occurring in certain Buddhist communities, such as Kausambi and Pataliputra
(or Pata), which he urged to maintain harmony.
 The Beloved of the Gods orders the officers of Kausambi/Pata thus: No one is
to cause dissension in the Order. The Order of monks and nuns has been
united, and this unity should last for as long as my sons and great
grandsons, and the moon and the sun. [See Ashoka, Bhabra Inscription and
Schism Edict, Third Century BCE (primary source)]

Ancient Buddhist chronicles, such as the Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa, emphasized

Ashoka's conversion and zealous intent to spread Buddhist teachings throughout his
realm. Based on earlier accounts and composed over several centuries by Buddhist
monks in Sri Lanka, these texts stressed Ashoka's vital role in encouraging missionary
work to bring Buddhism to the island kingdom. They specifically depict two of Ashoka's
children, Mahinda and Sanghamitta, as playing a central role in transforming Sri Lanka
into a Buddhist society. They also depict Ashoka's dramatic and sudden transformation
from a tyrannical ruler to a pious promoter of humanitarian works and nonviolence.
This extended to a strong determination to protect even all animal life, as in this vow
from the First Major Rock Edict, in which he referred to himself as Piyadassi, which
means "he who regards all with kindness":

Formerly in the kitchens of the Beloved of the Gods, the king Piyadassi, many
hundreds of thousands of living animals were killed daily for meat. But now,
at the time of writing this inscription on Dhamma, only three animals are
killed, two peacocks and a deer, and the deer not invariably. Even these three
animals will not be killed in future.
2

The clearest evidence of Buddhism's influential role in Ashoka's life and rule is found
not in the various Buddhist chronicles but in Ashoka's own Thirteenth Major Rock
Edict, which illustrates that he experienced a life-changing spiritual transformation in
the wake of the bloody and destructive Kalinga war early in his reign. According to this
edict, the emperor was overcome with sadness at the sweep of the war. Ashoka "felt
remorse," the edict stated, "for, when an independent country is conquered the
slaughter, death, and deportation of the people is extremely grievous to the Beloved of
the Gods, and weighs heavily on his mind." [See Ashoka, Thirteenth Major Rock Edict,
Third Century BCE (primary source)] Ashoka had the Thirteenth Major Rock Edict
carved in stone in many places throughout his realm, but not near Kalinga itself, likely
out of respect for those who had recently suffered there so tragically at his hands. He
did, however, place two other edicts on the edges of Kalinga instead. These urged
Mauryan officials in the region to treat the people of Kalinga with compassion and
decency. Remain "even-tempered and not harsh" to "gain the affection of men," these
edicts instructed, and never forget in dealing with the local population that "all men are
my children, and just as I desire for my children that they should obtain welfare and
happiness both in this world and the next, the same do I desire for all men." [See
Ashoka, Separate Edicts 1 and 2, Third Century BCE (primary source)]
Ashoka Stone Column in Odisha, India
In addressing imperial officials this way, these and other edicts often referred to special
administrators charged with promoting the spirit of Dhamma, showing how sincere
Ashoka was about establishing a new social ethic of harmony and cooperation
throughout his realm. As a part of this stress on social harmony, another recurring
demand of his was for greater tolerance among all sects. His support for such values was
made most explicit in the Twelfth Major Rock Edict: I subdivision of a larger

This progress of the essential doctrine takes many religious group

forms, but its basis is the
control of one's speech, so as not to extoll one's own sect or disparage
another's on unsuitable occasions, or at least to do so only mildly on certain
occasions. On each occasion one should honor another man's sect, for by
doing so one increases the influence of one's own sect and benefits that of the
other man; while by doing otherwise one diminishes the influence of one's
own sect and harms the other man's. Again, whosoever honors his own sect
or disparages that of another man, wholly out of devotion to his own, with a
view to showing it in a favorable light, harms his own sect even more
seriously. Therefore, concord is to be commanded, so that men may hear one
another's principles and obey them. [See Ashoka, Twelfth Major Rock Edict,
Third Century BCE (primary source)]

So deep was Ashoka's commitment to Dhamma that he even extended it beyond his
realm. The Thirteenth Major Rock Edict detailed Ashoka's efforts to spread his faith to
"all his frontiers," including regions in the northwest that Alexander the Great had
 conquered in the fourth century BCE and that Greek kings still ruled. He also expressed
his hope for a victory for Dhamma "in the south over the Colas and Pandyas as far as
Ceylon [Sri Lanka]." [See Ashoka, Thirteenth Major Rock Edict, Third Century BCE
(primary source)] Ashoka neither ruled nor controlled these areas but simply sought to
convince and convert people in other lands to his Buddhist philosophy and social ethic.
Ashoka's reforms also included a social welfare component. "My officers of Dhamma are
busy in many matters of public benefit," the Seventh Pillar Edict stated, and "they are
busy among members of all sects, both ascetics and householders." In the edict, Ashoka
listed some of these useful works:

On the roads I have had banyan trees planted, which will give shade to
beasts and men, I have had mango-groves planted and I have had wells dug
and rest houses built at every eight kos [about 2.25 miles]. And I have had
many watering places made everywhere for the use of beasts and men… I
have done these things in order that my people might conform to Dhamma.
[See Ashoka, Seventh Pillar Edict, ca. 240 BCE (primary source)]

Further evidence of Ashoka's benevolence, compassion, and commitment to Dhamma is

revealed in his treatment of prisoners, a topic he addressed in several edicts. This
reverence for life suggests the Buddhist concept of ahimsa was very real for him and
shaped his policies in many ways. In the Fifth Major Rock Edict, for example, he boasted
that the officials he placed in power "are busy in promoting the welfare of prisoners
should they have behaved irresponsibly, or releasing those that have children, are
afflicted, or are aged."
3

Modern historians have stressed Ashoka's humanitarianism, a quality practically unique

among ancient rulers. In The Outline of History (1920), for example, H. G. Wells wrote:

For eight and twenty years Asoka worked sanely for the real needs of men.
Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns
of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and serenities and royal
highnesses and the like, the name of Asoka shines, and shines, almost alone, a
star. From the Volga [River in Russia] to Japan his name is still honored.
China, Tibet, and even India, though it has left his doctrine, preserve the
tradition of his greatness. More living men cherish his memory to-day than
have ever heard the names of [the Roman emperor] Constantine or [the
Frankish king] Charlemagne. 4

During India's anticolonial struggles against Great Britain in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, even a nationalist critic of Ashoka such as historian Hem Chandra
Raychaudhuri acknowledged the profoundly spiritual nature of his rule. Ashoka's policy
of Dhamma, he claimed in his Political History of Ancient India in 1923, weakened the
Mauryan Empire in the third century BCE, and neighboring states, such as Yavana,
threatened the empire, which had arisen by conquering the kingdom of Magadha. "Dark
clouds were looming in the north-western horizon," he wrote, and "India needed men of
the caliber of … Chandragupta [the first Mauryan emperor and Ashoka's grandfather] to
ensure her protection against the Yavana menace. She got a dreamer. Magadha after the
Kalinga War frittered away her conquering energy in attempting a religious revolution." 5

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Despite such criticism, most Indian nationalists embraced Ashoka in the early 20th
century and saw in his policies of ahimsa, the rejection of violence, a foreshadowing of
Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence during India's long fight for
independence. In recognition of this, India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru
chose two Ashokan images as symbols for the new India shortly after he took office in
1947: the Ashoka Chakra, a wheel with 24 spokes; and the four back-to-back lions of the
Lion Capital of Sarnath. [See The Ashoka Chakra and the Lion Capital]

Ashoka Chakra, National Flag of India

A half-century later, author Gita Mehta explained in her article "In the Footsteps of the
Buddha" how Ashoka's rule and spirit continued to inspire people across India:

At the very pinnacle of his glory as a conqueror Emperor Ashoka embraced

the philosophy of ahimsa, nonviolence, declaring, "Instead of the sound of the
war drum, the sound of Dharma will be heard."
Two-and-a-half millennia later, the sound of Dharma would once again be
heard when Mahatma Gandhi used nonviolence to expel the British from
India. In the newly liberated nation, Ashoka's Dharma Chakra, the Wheel of
Law, would be given pride of place in the center of free India's flag. Ashoka's
pillar crowned with four lions facing the four points of the compass and
denoting the peaceful coexistence of Dharma would become free India's
national symbol— a constant reminder to India of what government should
be.6
The Case that Ashoka Was an Ambitious Autocrat and Shrewd Empire Builder

Ashoka was an ambitious and ruthless autocrat who became emperor through violence,
brutality, and treachery. His conversion to Buddhism cannot mask his bloody ascent to
power or vicious nature. The Mahavamsa, for example, a chronicle written by Sri
Lankan monks in the fifth century CE, focused on Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism, but
acknowledged that "he had slain his ninety-nine brothers" to gain the throne. His
cruelty was so blatant, the chronicle noted, that "in earlier times" he was called
"Candasoka," which meant "the wicked Asoka" or "the fierce Asoka." He earned this
titled, the Mahavamsa explained, "by reason of his evil deeds." [See Mahavamsa, ca.
Fifth Century CE (primary source)]
Another chronicle, the Asokavadana, written by Buddhist monks in India sometime
around the fifth century CE, recounted the start of his reign in a similar fashion:

Once Asoka had become king, many of his ministers began to look on him
with contempt. In order to discipline them, he ordered them to chop down all
the flower and fruit trees, but to preserve the thorn trees.
"What is your majesty planning," they asked, "should we rather not chop
down the thorn trees and preserve the flower and fruit trees?" And three
times they countermanded his order. Asoka became furious at this: he
unsheathed his sword and cut off the heads of five hundred ministers.

In yet another incident, the Asokavadana described an angry Ashoka flying "into a rage
and burn[ing] five hundred women alive." [See Asokavadana, ca. Fifth Century CE
(primary source)]
These chronicles contain elements both fantastic and magical, and the legends and
accounts they relate cannot be fully trusted. Moreover, as religious texts they have a
definite bias and agenda that aimed to dramatize the power of Buddhism to transform
totally the life of even the vilest of people. Yet the picture they paint of "the wicked
Asoka" performing "vicious acts" likely contains some elements of truth, even if
exaggerated. And the image of "the pious Ashoka" dedicated to establishing a purely
Buddhist realm is at odds with the most reliable evidence that survives—the rock and
pillar edicts.
What is clear from these edicts is that, except for a very few directed at Buddhist
communities of monks and nuns, they did not promote specifically Buddhist concepts or
seek to convert the general population to Buddhism. Dhamma was presented not as the
central precept of the faith but as a more general social ethic of cooperation and
tolerance encouraging mutual respect among the empire's many sects and peoples. As
the Eleventh Major Rock Edict stated:

There is no gift comparable to the gift of Dhamma, the praise of Dhamma, the
sharing of Dhamma, fellowship in Dhamma. And this is—good behavior
towards slave and servants, obedience to mother and father, generosity
towards friends, acquaintances, and relatives and towards sramanas and
 brahmans, and abstention from killing living beings. Father, son, brother,
master, friend, acquaintance, relative, and neighbor should say, "this is
good, this we should do." [See Ashoka, Eleventh Major Rock Edict, Third
Century BCE (primary source)]

As such, the edicts seem intended mainly to provide a social glue to hold together what
had become by Ashoka's time a vast and diverse realm very hard to unite. They were
little more than propaganda designed by a shrewd empire builder anxious to maintain
order and harmony in what had become an unwieldy imperial system.

Rock Inscription, 14 Edicts of Ashoka, Shahbaz Garhi, Pakistan

The edicts themselves reveal the harshness, vindictiveness, and downright evil of
Ashoka's rule. In the Kalinga war that Ashoka undertook to expand his empire in the
eighth year of his reign, the Thirteenth Major Rock Edict stated, "A hundred and fifty
thousand people were deported, a hundred thousand were killed and many times that
number perished." The edict emphasized that Ashoka "felt remorse" for all "the
slaughter, death, and deportation" he caused, but such sadness can hardly absolve him
for the widespread "suffering" for which he was responsible. Moreover, nowhere in the
edict did Ashoka offer to compensate the people of Kalinga for the destruction he had
wrought. No plan to repatriate the people or reconstruct the province seems to have
even been considered. Ashoka's guilt may or may not have been genuine, but it could
hardly have meant much of anything to the hundreds of thousands of people who,
because of him, endured "violence, murder, and separation from loved ones." [See
Ashoka, Thirteenth Major Rock Edict, Third Century BCE (primary source)]
Despite its emphasis on tolerance and reconciliation, the edict included veiled threats
aimed at intimidating the local population. To show off Ashoka's might and supremacy,
for example, it likely exaggerated the numbers killed. An earlier Greek visitor to Kalinga
estimated its entire army at about 60,000, undermining the edict's claim that hundreds
of thousands died in the war. The purpose of the edict could well have been to impress
 and even warn others in the empire by suggesting the enormous power at Ashoka's
disposal. This sort of exaggeration, after all, is typical of the more ruthless imperial
inscriptions of many ancient rulers. Elsewhere in the Thirteenth Major Rock Edict,
Ashoka made it clear that he had not entirely embraced nonviolence. He expressed his
hope that his sons and grandsons would "not think of gaining new conquests" by force
but added that if they needed to fight, "whatever victories they may gain should be
satisfied with patience and light punishment." The edict also contained a jarring
message vaunting Ashoka's dominance over groups dwelling in the more remote parts of
his empire.

The Beloved of the Gods [Ashoka] believes that one who does wrong should
of
them be forgiven as far as it is possible to forgive him. And the Beloved of the Gods
conciliates the forest tribes of his empire, but he warns them that he has v0
power even in his remorse and he asks them to repent, lest they be killed. [See
Ashoka, Thirteenth Major Rock Edict, Third Century BCE (primary source)]

These forest tribes may have supplied the gold, elephants, and other minerals the IIert
Mauryans obtained in the southernmost parts of the subcontinent. The smaller societies
there were mainly friendly, and Ashoka had no need to conquer them outright. But the
Thirteenth Major Rock Edict could well be seen as a warning to them of what would be
in store should they cause major problems. That the warning is embedded in a
statement of remorse may have softened it, but the implied threat seems clear enough.
The location of the rock edicts further suggests that they were erected to reinforce
Ashoka's authority. Most were placed along the edges of the vast Mauryan realm—in
both the northwest and the southern regions, especially, in what is now Karnataka. In
these locations, they were likely to awe neighboring peoples with Ashoka's might as well
as with his humanitarian concerns. Such placement informed potential enemies of
Ashoka's power, thereby helping to secure and protect his empire.
In place of the Thirteenth Major Rock Edict, which appeared in several places around
the Mauryan Empire, Ashoka had the two Separate Edicts inscribed on the edges of
Kalinga itself. Directed at local officials, these two edicts stressed the need to "gain the
affection of men," insisting that "all men are my children, and just as I desire for my
children that they should obtain welfare and happiness both in this world and the next,
the same do I desire for all men." This emphasis was what one might have expected if
the goal was to calm and reassure a defeated group in the interest of achieving security
and good order. Yet a threat was also implied in the very act of proclaiming peaceful
intent, as this command from Separate Edict 2 suggested:

If the unconquered peoples on my borders ask what is my will, they should be

made to understand that this is my will with regard to them—the king
desires that they should have no trouble on his account, should trust in him,
and should have in their dealings with him only happiness and no sorrow.
They should understand that the king will forgive them as far as they can be
forgiven. [See Ashoka, Separate Edicts 1 and 2, Third Century BCE (primary
source)]

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Ashoka may well have been sincere in both his own commitment to Buddhism and his
desire to promote a new spirit of cooperation and nonviolence throughout his realm.
Conveniently, however, this ethic also helped—and was perhaps designed—to enhance
and stabilize what was a vast and unwieldy empire. In her 1958 book Asoka and the
Decline of the Mauryas, historian Romila Thapar put it well when she summed up
Ashoka's reign and calculating ways:

In our analysis of the subject, we find that Asoka was attracted to Buddhism
but his was not a case of a somewhat eccentric or unusual overnight
conversion. We believe that in the context of society as it was then, Buddhism
was not just another religion. It was the result of a more widespread
movement towards change which affected many other aspects of life from
personal beliefs to social ideas.… As it was, it was an ideal tool for an
ambitious ruler of Asoka's caliber. Whatever his personal convictions may
have been regarding the religion, it was eminently suitable for such a ruler
who wished to use it to consolidate political and economic power. 7

Outcome and Impact

Ashoka's rule may have been peaceful after his conquest of Kalinga, but the Buddhist
chronicles hint at all sorts of trouble toward the end of his reign. Whatever the truth of
these accounts, it is clear that the Mauryan Empire entered on hard times soon after 232
BCE, the year it is estimated when Ashoka died. He was followed by a succession of
rulers about whom little is known. In fact, various Buddhist and Hindu sources provide
a variety of king lists in which many of the names do not even match. By the time of the
last ruler, Brihadratha, in the early second century BCE, the Mauryans were already
losing control over outlying territories. According to the accounts that survive,
Brihadratha was assassinated around 185 BCE by a general named Pushyamitra Shunga,
ending the Mauryan dynast. Pushyamitra Shunga took over and established the Shunga
dynasty, ruling over a large but reduced realm. Some accounts suggest he may have
persecuted Buddhists, although others dispute those claims. Either way, Buddhism does
seem at least to have lost the energetic support of the new dynasty. This rapid decline of
the Mauryan Empire suggests that Ashoka's fondest dreams for the future of his realm
went unfulfilled, perhaps indicating that Dhamma was not as strong a cultural or
political force as the edicts sometimes imply.
Some interpretations by British colonialists and historians romanticized Ashoka as a
profoundly spiritual leader, others criticized him as a typical "Oriental despot," and
some viewed him both ways. Indian nationalists in the 20th century had their own
debates over Ashoka. Some claimed that his absolute rejection of violence weakened the
Mauryan Empire, leading to its downfall a mere 50 years after his death. More often,
however, they embraced Ashoka as a harbinger of an authentic Indian nationalism that
found its highest expression in the nonviolence of Mahatma Gandhi, who led the fight
for Indian independence in the early 20th century. Perhaps the greatest advocate of this
view was Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who succeeded in placing the Ashoka
Chakra—the 24-spoked wheel often found on Ashoka's rock edicts—on the flag of the
modern Indian nation in 1947.
The debate over Ashoka continues in the 21st century, as a growing array of scholars
approach him from many different perspectives and interpretive molds. The challenge
still is to understand how his spiritual concept of Dhamma and his broad call for an
ethic of tolerance and the avoidance of violence fit with his having expanded and ruled
the greatest empire in ancient India. Ashoka stands as a bright moment of promise in
the subcontinent's distant past, a figure who even now inspires the hopes of Indians for
a more humane and peaceful future. In the meantime, what Ashoka himself longed to
accomplish is still a matter of controversy, and unless substantial new evidence is
uncovered, it is likely to remain so for a long time to come.
Allen, Charles. Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor. New York: Overlook
Press, 2012.
Falk, Harry. Asokan Sites and Artefacts: A Source-book with Bibliography. Mainz,
Germany: Von Zabern, 2006.
Grayson, A. K., 1991. Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC: I (1114–859
BC) (Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia. Assyrian Periods. Volume 2). Toronto,
Canada: University of Toronto Press.
Keay, John. India: A History. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000.
Lahiri, Nayanjot. Ashoka in Ancient India. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
2015.
Mehta, Gita. "In the Footsteps of the Buddha." Tricycle: The Buddhist Review (Winter
1998).
Olivelle, Patrick, Janice Leoshko, and Himanshu Prabha Ray. Reimaging Asoka. New
Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Raychaudhuri, Hem Chandra. Political History of Ancient India. Calcutta, India:
University of Calcutta Press, 1923.
Strong, John S. The Legend of King Asoka: A Study and Translation of the
Asokavadana. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1983.
Thapar, Romila. Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas. New Delhi, India: Oxford India
Perennials, 2012.
Wells, H. G. The Outline of History. Garden City, N.Y.: Garden City Publishing, 1920.

Citation Information
Burack, Jonathan. "Ashoka." Ashoka. Infobase, 2020. Accessed September 22, 2023.
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