Ashoka the Great

(noun)

Lived 304-232 BCE. As the king of the Maurya Empire, he conquered the Indian subcontinent.

Related Terms

Examples of Ashoka the Great in the following topics:

  • Expansion of the Maurya Empire

    • After winning the Seleucid-Mauryan war, the Maurya Empire expanded into the southern Indian subcontinent under the rule of Ashoka the Great.
    • In 305 BCE, Emperor Chandragupta Maurya led a series of campaigns to retake the satrapies left behind by Alexander the Great when he returned westward.
    • Bindusara died in 272 BCE, and was succeeded by his son, Ashoka the Great (304-232 BCE).
    • One notable stupas created during the reign of Ashoka was The Great Stupa, which stands in Sanchi, India.
    • Ashoka the Great extended into Kalinga during the Kalinga War c. 265 BCE, and established superiority over the southern kingdoms.

  • Ashoka's Conversion

    • Edict 13 on the Edicts of Ashoka Rock Inscriptions reflect the great remorse the king felt after observing the destruction of Kalinga:
    • The use of Buddhist sources in reconstructing the life of Ashoka has had a strong influence on perceptions of Ashoka, as well as the interpretations of his Edicts.
    • It thereby illuminates Ashoka as more humanly ambitious and passionate, with both greatness and flaws.
    • Great Stupa (3rd century BC), Sanchi, India.
    • Ashoka ordered the construction of 84,000 stupas to house the Buddhas relics.

  • Decline of the Maurya Empire

    • The Sunga Dynasty usurped the Maurya Dynasty, and parts of the empire were incorporated into the Indo-Greek Kingdom.
    • A 50-year succession of weak kings followed the reign of Ashoka the Great, the Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who died in 232 BCE.
    • As Ashoka's highly centralized government lost power, the Maurya Empire lost control over its territories.
    • Buddhist sources, such as the Ashokavadana, an Indian Sanskrit text describing the birth and reign of Ashoka the Great, mention that Pusyamitra was hostile towards Buddhists and allegedly persecuted members of the Buddhist faith.
    • Throughout the first century BCE, the Indo-Greeks progressively lost ground to the Indians in the East, and the Scythians, the Yuezhi, and the Parthians in the West.

  • Jain Architecture

    • It originated in the Indian subcontinent in the 6th century BCE.
    • Chandragupta Maurya (born c. 340 BCE, ruled c. 320–298 BCE), the founder of the great Maurya Empire, had succeeded in conquering almost the entire Indian subcontinent; however he abdicated his throne at the age of 42 to become a Jain monk.
    • Samprati, also an emperor of the Maurya dynasty and the grandson of Ashoka the Great (304–232 BCE) also became a Jain.
    • Many of the styles they used were a function of the time and place rather than the particular religion.
    • The largest temple in the complex, the Vimal Vasahi Temple, was built in 1021 and is dedicated to the Tirthankara Rishabha.

  • Buddhist Architecture and Sculpture

    • The initial function of the stupa was the veneration and safe-guarding of the relics of the Buddha.
    • Sri Lankan art and architecture was deeply influenced by Buddhism, which was introduced to the island in the third century BCE by the son of Ashoka, Mahinda.
    • Ashoka, the great Buddhist emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, dedicated himself to the propagation of the religion across Asia.
    • Intended to enshrine relics of the Buddha, they were built in various shapes, including the bubble, the pot, and the bell.
    • The lines are painted in a manner that enhances the sense of volume of the figures, and the paint is applied in sweeping strokes, using more pressure on one side than the other and giving the effect of a deeper tone toward the edges.

  • Maurya Dynasty

    • By far the most famous emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, Ahsoka is considered one of the most famous rulers in all of Indian history as well as one of the great Buddhist kings.
    • The decline of the Maurya Dynasty took place somewhat rapidly following the death of Ashoka.
    • Another famous example includes the Great Stupas at Sanchi, whose gates are lavishly decorated with lions, elephants, figures of fertility, and images from the Jakata tales.
    • Ashoka's patronage of the Buddhist religion greatly influenced the visual iconography of time.
    • The Mahabodhi Temple is one of the many temples erected by Ashoka across India.

  • Centralization in the Maurya Empire

    • This led to a war of succession in which Bindusara’s son, Ashoka, defeated his brother, Susima, and rose to the throne in 268 BCE, eventually becoming the greatest ruler of the Maurya Dynasty.
    • Although Emperor Ashoka renounced offensive warfare and expansionism, he maintained this standing army to protect the empire from external threats and maintain stability and peace across Western and Southern Asia.
    • The Edicts of Ashoka, a collection of inscriptions made during Ashoka’s reign from 268-232 BCE, give the names of the Maurya Empire’s four provincial capitals: Tosali in the east, Ujjain in the west, Suvarnagiri in the south, and Taxila in the north.
    • Like his father and grandfather, Ashoka sponsored the construction of thousands of roads, waterways, canals, rest houses, hospitals, and other types of infrastructure.
    • Under the Indo-Greek friendship treaty during Ashoka's reign, the Mauryan international network of trade saw great expansion.

  • Buddhism

    • He taught what he called the Middle Way or Middle Path, the character of the Noble Eightfold Path.
    • It marks the release from the cycle of rebirths, known in the Sramana tradition as samsara.
    • Another important Buddhist concept is Bodhisattva, a Sanskrit word for anyone who has been motivated by great compassion and a wish to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings—those who have a conscious awareness of the self but are in contrast with buddhahood.
    • Buddhism was overshadowed by the more dominant Hindu religion, but this began to change in the 3rd century BCE; this was when one of the Indian subcontinent’s great rulers, Ashoka I of the Maurya Empire, renounced wars, despite having waged war to build his own kingdom.
    • Ashoka promoted the religion’s expansion by deploying monks to spread Buddha’s teaching.

  • Rise of the Maurya Empire

    • The empire was the largest to have ever existed in the Indian subcontinent, spanning over 5 million square kilometres at its zenith under Ashoka.
    • His expansion took advantage of the disruptions of local powers in the wake of the withdrawal westward by Alexander the Great's armies.
    • It declined for about 50 years after Ashoka's rule ended, and it dissolved in 185 BCE with the foundation of the Shunga Dynasty in Magadha.
    • The rulers of this dynasty were famed for the great wealth that they accumulated.
    • He rapidly expanded his power westward across central and western India, taking advantage of the disruptions of local powers in the wake of the withdrawal westward by Alexander the Great's Greek armies.

  • Buddhist Stupas

    • Stupas exist all over the world and are the oldest Buddhist religious monuments.
    • Emperor Ashoka, who ruled from 274-236 BCE during the Maurya Empire, is said to have redistributed the relics housed in the original stupas into thousands of stupas throughout India.
    • Ashoka is also credited with construction of numerous stupas that remain to this day, including those at Sanchi and Sarnath.
    • It is believed that the more objects placed into the treasury, the stronger the stupa's energy.
    • Emperor Ashoka is credited with construction of numerous stupas that remain to this day, including the stupa at Sanchi.