Ashoka the Great

Ashoka the Great (304 BC- 232 BC) was a famous ancient Indian emperor who ruled from 269 BC to 232 BC. He was king of Maurya Dynasty and the grandson of Chandraguptha Maurya.  His regime was starts from part of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan in western part, Assam and Bangladesh at east, Kerala and Andra pradesh at southern part.

The Kalinga War: (265-264BC)

Ashoka invade the Kingdom of Kalinga (Bihar), before no one invades that kingdom of Kalinga from Maurya dynasty except Ashoka. He fought against with the Kalinga King “Raja Anantha Padmanabhan”. In this war there were more than 100,000 soldiers and including Kalinga civilians were killed in both sides. Ashoka had seen thousands of army men, women and civilians were killed in the war field with the bloodshed. It causes a great destruction in king Ashoka’s mind.

After the war of Kalinga, Ashoka embraced Buddhism due to the strong impact in the war of Kalinga. Later he decides to spread Buddhism to all over Asia. He played an important for the development of Buddhism in India.