#14 Guilt Made Him the Kindest Ruler in History
From killing 100,000 people to becoming the symbol of peace - the story of Ashoka
Hello everyone,
Hope you are having an amazing week. Today’s dose of history is about the last emperor of great Mauryan Empire - Ashoka. This story takes you through the life of the celebrated king, whose conscience made him a pious teacher of Buddhism and an honored leader even after he killed 100,000 people in battles. Hope you love this read!
His guilt over his actions made him change his entire personality and thus, he established a rule which made the people very happy.
India was known as Hindustan during the time, centuries before the partition of India and Pakistan. And Hindustan certainly thrived under the rule of Ashoka.
The Mauryan Dynasty
Unlike many other Empires that ruled Hindustan in history, Mauryan Dynasty was rather short-lived. Chandragupta Maurya was the first ruler and founder of the dynasty.
His conquests stretched from Bengal in the east to Afghanistan in the west. After his death, his son, Bindusar became his successor. He then won the territory of the Central parts of South India. Then came Ashoka, who was his son and Chandragupta’s grandson.
The Mauryan Dynasty was only ruled by three people and Ashoka was the last major leader. He was not so forgiving at the start of his reign.
Many people claim that he killed his brothers to get to the throne but there is not enough evidence to back these claims.
Nevertheless, Ashoka was brutal. He expanded his reign and killed thousands. How did a leader who was so brutal change and become the complete opposite of what he was?
The Life-Changing Battle
After numerous successful battles and conquering many territories with ease, Ashoka fought one last battle, the battle of Kalinga in 260 B.C., that changed his life. Kalinga was a region in Hindustan from the Orissa state that he had been trying to conquer for a long.
When Ashoka finally invaded the place, his army killed around 100,000 people and around 1,50,000 were held captive. Many more died of famine and disturbance from the war.
After the war was over and he finally won the place, he realized how much damage he had caused.
The streets were covered with blood and flesh and the sight of that was enough to make him realize that it was time to change his ways and he ordered to call quits on any more wars.
The Peaceful Reign
After that war, Ashoka was so shocked that he even stopped eating animals. He indulged in activities like learning more about Buddhism as he thought that that religion promoted peace.
He banned wars in the region and said there would only be “Conquest by Dharma” or by principles of right life from then on.
He started publicizing his work, gave people the freedom of practicing their religion saying that practicing religion is an “increase of inner worthiness,” and ordered his officials that along with fulfilling their normal duties, they should know what people are going through and what they need.
He was an example of a great leader and made all the people very happy.
The Dharma Practice
Ashoka became a very pious man, following every teaching of Buddhism. He had special Dharma ministers among his officials who would get special classes on Dharma, go to different places in the kingdom, and teach people the importance of spirituality.
His pious social conduct promoted Buddhism on a large scale. All his teachings and ideas were carved on several stones throughout his kingdom which included the territory from modern-day Iran to the entire Indian subcontinent.
Those engravings were given the name Devanampiya Piyadassi meaning the beloved of gods. He taught people that they should appreciate everyone for their positivity and avoid criticism at all costs and became a source of inspiration for many.
The Death of the Leader
After Ashoka’s death, his family continued to reign in the Mauryan Empire but soon the last leader was assassinated by his general. Ashoka was the last prominent ruler so the Empire kind of shattered after his death.
His death was sudden and due to natural causes. The ruler died at the age of 36 years in 232 B.C., in Pataliputra or modern Patna, and is buried in the Ganges.
He made several hospitals for both animals and plants which continued to function after his death.
However, most of his work was disintegrated from monasteries to pillars to religious inscriptions. People eventually started to forget about the Empire but in 1837, a British scholar James Prinsep, wrote a book on Ashoka’s life which made people study more about him.
The last remaining relics of the Empire are still found today and looking at the life of Ashoka, it sure seems like he was a great ruler.
His work on religion was incredible and so was the empathy that he had for his people.
One incident changed his whole personality and his guilt took an emotional toll on him. He made sure to make up for his past mistakes by being a leader who was there for everyone, from his people to those who were not a part of his kingdom.
The banning of wars and killings was something that no other king in history ever did. Although many facts are known about Ashoka, we still are left with little evidence of what else he might have done as most of his work was destroyed and replaced by other Empires.
Nevertheless, the little that we know today set an example of how leadership is supposed to be.
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