Ashoka: Kalinga War, Dhamma, Edicts and Mauryan Art

Ashoka's accession

Ashoka (c. 268–232 BCE) was a son of Bindusara. Before becoming king he served as viceroy at Taxila and Ujjain. Buddhist texts say he fought his brothers for the throne, and there was a gap of about four years between his accession (c. 273 BCE) and coronation (c. 269 BCE). In his inscriptions he calls himself Devanampiya Piyadasi ("beloved of the gods, of pleasing appearance"). His own name, Ashoka, appears only in a few inscriptions: Maski (Karnataka), Gujarra (MP), Nittur and Udegolam (Karnataka). The identification of Piyadasi with Ashoka was confirmed when the Maski edict was found in 1915.

The Kalinga War (c. 261 BCE)

In the eighth year of his reign, Ashoka invaded Kalinga (coastal Odisha), probably because it controlled sea and land trade routes to the south and had remained independent. Rock Edict XIII describes the result: 1,50,000 people were deported, 1,00,000 killed and many more died. Ashoka expressed deep remorse – a rare example in world history of a ruler publicly regretting his own victory.

After Kalinga, Ashoka replaced bherighosha (the sound of war drums) with dhammaghosha (the sound of dhamma). He did not, however, give up the army or return Kalinga, and he warned forest tribes that he still had the power to punish them. His policy was a practical ethic of governance, not pacifism.

Ashoka became a lay follower (upasaka) of Buddhism under the influence of the monk Upagupta (or Nigrodha in Sri Lankan tradition), and later made a pilgrimage to Buddhist sites including Lumbini, where he reduced the land tax.

What was Ashoka's Dhamma?

Dhamma (Sanskrit *dharma*) was Ashoka's moral code for his subjects. It was not the same as Buddhism; it was a set of ethical principles acceptable to people of all faiths. Its main elements:

• Respect for parents, elders and teachers;
• kindness to slaves and servants;
• generosity to brahmanas and shramanas (ascetics);
• non-violence to animals – restrictions on killing, and the royal kitchen cut meat dishes;
• tolerance: Rock Edict XII asks people to honour other sects and to restrain their speech – "whoever praises his own sect while criticising others harms his own sect";
• restraint in spending and saving;
• opposition to meaningless rituals (mangalas), especially those performed by women at births and marriages.

Why dhamma? Historians such as Romila Thapar argue that it was a way to unify a vast, diverse empire with many religions, languages and customs, and to reduce social tension, rather than just personal faith.

Instruments of dhamma:

• Dhamma-mahamattas – a new class of officials appointed in the 13th regnal year to spread dhamma and look after the welfare of all sects.
• Dhamma-yatras – royal tours replacing hunting expeditions (vihara-yatras).
• Rajukas and yuktas were asked to tour every five years.
• Welfare works – medical treatment for humans and animals, wells, shade trees, rest houses along roads (Rock Edict II).
• Missions to the Hellenistic kings: Antiochus II (Syria), Ptolemy II (Egypt), Antigonus Gonatas (Macedonia), Magas (Cyrene) and Alexander (Epirus) – named in Rock Edict XIII.

Ashokan inscriptions

Ashoka's edicts are the first royal messages addressed directly to the people. They are written mostly in Prakrit in the Brahmi script; in the north-west in Kharoshthi; and in Afghanistan in Greek and Aramaic (Kandahar bilingual inscription).

Firuz Shah Tughlaq moved two pillars (from Topra and Meerut) to Delhi in the 14th century.

Mauryan art and architecture

Mauryan art had two streams: court art commissioned by the state and popular art by local people.

Court art:

• Monolithic pillars of Chunar sandstone, with a famous mirror-like polish. Each pillar has a shaft and a capital with an inverted lotus (bell) and an animal figure.
• The Sarnath Lion Capital – four lions back to back on an abacus with four animals (elephant, horse, bull, lion) separated by wheels. Adopted as India's National Emblem on 26 January 1950, with *Satyameva Jayate* below. The wheel on the abacus became the chakra on the national flag.
• Other capitals: Rampurva (bull and lion), Lauriya Nandangarh (lion), Sankissa (elephant).
• Stupas: Ashoka is said to have built 84,000; the core of the Sanchi stupa is Ashokan.
• Rock-cut caves: Barabar and Nagarjuni for the Ajivikas, with polished interiors; Lomas Rishi has an elaborate entrance.
• The Dhauli elephant – a rock-cut elephant above the Dhauli edict.

Popular art:

• Yaksha and yakshi figures, e.g. the Didarganj Yakshi (Patna; polished sandstone, a chauri-bearer), the Parkham Yaksha (Mathura).
• Terracotta figurines.

Persian (Achaemenid) influence is debated: the bell capital and polish show similarities, but Mauryan pillars are monolithic and stand without a base, unlike Persian ones.

Decline of the Mauryas

Ashoka died around 232 BCE. Within fifty years the empire broke up. The last king Brihadratha was killed by his commander Pushyamitra Shunga in c. 185 BCE. Reasons debated:

• Brahmanical reaction to Ashoka's policies (H.P. Shastri) – weak, since Ashoka respected brahmanas.
• Pacifist policy weakened the army (H.C. Raychaudhuri) – contested, since the army was kept.
• Financial crisis from a huge army and bureaucracy (D.D. Kosambi).
• Weak successors and partition of the empire.
• Over-centralisation: the system depended on strong kings.
• Distant provinces broke away, and Greek invasions in the north-west.

Mains practice question

Q. "Ashoka's dhamma was neither a religion nor a mere moral code but a policy of statecraft." Discuss. (150 words)

Framework: define dhamma; show ethical content; show political purpose (unify a diverse empire, reduce conflict, extend royal reach via mahamattas); note the continued use of force; conclude with its relevance to secularism and welfare governance today.

Key terms glossary

• Devanampiya Piyadasi: Ashoka's title.
• Dhamma-mahamatta: officer for dhamma.
• Dhammaghosha / bherighosha: sound of dhamma / war drums.
• Brahmi: script of most edicts, deciphered by Prinsep (1837).

Ashoka in modern India

Ashoka's legacy is visible in the symbols of the Republic: the National Emblem from Sarnath and the Ashoka Chakra on the flag, chosen by the Constituent Assembly to represent dharma and the rule of righteousness. Jawaharlal Nehru in *The Discovery of India* praised Ashoka as a ruler who renounced conquest by the sword, and his edicts are often cited as an early statement of religious tolerance and welfare governance. The Ashoka Chakra is also the name of India's highest peacetime gallantry award.

Quick self-test

1. Where is the Schism edict? *(Sarnath, also Sanchi and Kaushambi)*
2. Which pillar has all seven pillar edicts? *(Delhi–Topra)*
3. Which Hellenistic king of Egypt is named in RE XIII? *(Ptolemy II)*
4. What material are Mauryan pillars made of? *(Chunar sandstone)*