Edicts of Ashoka

Examples of Edicts of Ashoka in the following topics:

• Expansion of the Maurya Empire

  • Perhaps one of the greatest-known accomplishments of Ashoka was his creation of his edicts, which were erected between 269 BCE and 232 BCE.
  • The Edicts of Ashoka, set in stone, are found throughout the Subcontinent.
  • Ashoka's edicts refer to the Greeks, Kambojas, and Gandharas as peoples forming a frontier region of his empire.
  • Ashoka's edicts also mentioned social and cultural attributes of his empire, emphasizing Buddhism, though not condemning other religions.
  • For this, the Edicts of Ashoka are known as an early document that promoted religious tolerance.

• 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 edict goes on to address the even greater degree of sorrow and regret resulting from Ashoka's understanding that the friends and families of deceased would suffer greatly too.
  • 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.
  • The only source of information not attributable to Buddhist sources are the Ashokan Edicts, and these do not explicitly state that Ashoka was a Buddhist.
  • In his edicts, Ashoka expresses support for all the major religions of his time: Buddhism, Brahmanism, Jainism, and Ajivikaism.

• 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.

• Maurya Dynasty

  • The decline of the Maurya Dynasty took place somewhat rapidly following the death of Ashoka.
  • He is famous for ordering that his edicts be carved into stones and caves around the empire and, later, for ordering that his edicts be carved into large sandstone pillars topped with statues of lions, known as the Pillars of Ashoka.
  • 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.
  • Describe the Barabar Caves, the Pillars of Ashoka, and other examples of architecture and art of the Maurya dynasty.

• The Rise of Christianity

  • Persecutory laws were nullified by different emperors at different times, but Constantine and Licinius's Edict of Milan (313) has traditionally marked the end of the persecution.
  • Constantine, Caesar in the Western empire and Licinius, Caesar in the East, also were signatories to the edict of toleration.
  • The Edict of Milan went a step further than the earlier Edict of Toleration by Galerius in 311 and returned confiscated Church property.
  • This edict made the empire officially neutral with regard to religious worship; it neither made the traditional religions illegal nor made Christianity the state religion (as did the later Edict of Thessalonica in 380 CE).
  • The Edict of Milan did, however, raise the stock of Christianity within the empire and it reaffirmed the importance of religious worship to the welfare of the state.

• Louis XIV and the Huguenots

  • The Edict of Nantes was issued in 1598 by Henry IV of France.
  • Through the Edict, Henry aimed to promote civil unity. 
  • After all, the Edict of Nantes was the pragmatic concession of his grandfather Henry IV to end the longstanding French Wars of Religion.
  • The Edict of Fontainebleau revoked the Edict of Nantes, and repealed all the privileges that arose therefrom.
  • However, French society would sufficiently change by the time of Louis' descendant, Louis XVI, to welcome toleration in the form of the 1787 Edict of Versailles, also known as the Edict of Tolerance.

• Buddhist Stupas

  • Originally a simple mound of clay or mud, stupas evolved from simple funerary monuments to become elaborately decorated objects of veneration.
  • 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.
  • Symbolic stupas, built to symbolize various aspects of Buddhist theology; and
  • Emperor Ashoka is credited with construction of numerous stupas that remain to this day, including the stupa at Sanchi.

• 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.
  • The Empire was expanded into India's central and southern regions by the emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara, but it excluded a small portion of unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga (modern Odisha), until it was conquered by Ashoka.
  • 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.
  • Conquest of Magadha and foundation of the Maurya Empire (c. 321 BCE)
  • These men included the former general of Taxila, accomplished students of Chanakya, the representative of King Porus of Kakayee, his son Malayketu, and the rulers of small states.

• Decline of the Maurya Empire

  • 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.
  • Sunga rulers helped establish the tradition of royal sponsorship of education and the arts at a time when some of the most important developments in Hindu thought were taking place.
  • 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.
  • In the east, the fall of the Mauryas left the Khyber Pass unguarded, and a wave of foreign invasion followed.

• The French Wars of Religion

  • The war began when the Catholic League convinced King Henry III to issue an edict outlawing Protestantism and annulling Henry of Navarre's right to the throne.
  • The warfare was finally quelled in 1598 when Henry IV recanted Protestantism in favour of Roman Catholicism, issued the Edict of Nantes.
  • The Edict established Catholicism as the state religion of France, but granted the Protestants equality with Catholics under the throne and a degree of religious and political freedom within their domains.
  • The Edict simultaneously protected Catholic interests by discouraging the founding of new Protestant churches in Catholic-controlled regions.
  • With the proclamation of the Edict of Nantes, and the subsequent protection of Huguenot rights, pressures to leave France abated.