10 Facts about Ashoka
Facts about Ashoka talk about one of the greatest emperors in India. Ashoka Maurya lived in 304 till 232 BCE. He was often called as Ashoka the Great or Ashoka. He came from the Maurya Dynasty. During his reign, he was the ruler of most parts of Indian subcontinent. Let’s find out more interesting facts about Ashoka by reading the following post below:
Facts about Ashoka 1: his ruling area
The areas that Ashoka ruled spanned from the Hindu Kush Mountain in the west to Bengal in the East in 269 BCE until 232 BCE. His areas did not include the present day Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Facts about Ashoka 2: capital of his empire
The capital of his empire was Pataliputra. It is the present day Bihar in Magadha. Taxila and Ujjain were the provincial capitals.
Facts about Ashoka 3: Kalinga
His famous war was with Kalinga. It was the destructive war ever occurred in 260 BCE. He could conquer Kalinga.
Facts about Ashoka 4: Buddhism
After seeing the mass death in Kalinga War, he decided to embrace Buddhism in 263 BCE. The report stated that there were 100,000 people death in the war and 150,000 people were deported.
Facts about Ashoka 5: the spread of Buddhism
After Ashoka embraced Buddhism, he decides to make it spread in Asia. He established some important sites and monuments for Gautama Buddha.
Facts about Ashoka 6: the name
Ashoka was taken from Sanskrit. It means without sorrow or painless. His name was derived from Samraat Chakravartin Ashoka.
Facts about Ashoka 7: the parents
His father was the mauryan emperor, Bindusara. His mother was Dharma. She was only a lower ranked wife of the emperor. When she bore a son, she stated that she was without sorrow now. That’s the time when his son got the name Ashoka. Find out another important figure in Amenhotep III facts.
Facts about Ashoka 8: siblings
Ashoka had several elder siblings. All of them were his half brothers from the marriage of his father with other wives.
Facts about Ashoka 9: the military training
Ashoka got his military training since he was at an early age. His fighting qualities were very impressive. A legend stated that he only used a wooden rod to kill a lion. He got the reputation as a fearsome hunter and frightening warrior.
Facts about Ashoka 10: the Kalinga War
The Kalinga war was a deadly battle. The battle actually occurred for 8 years after the coronation of Ashoka. When he rejoiced his victory after the war, he saw a lot of dead bodies. This terrible condition moved his heart.
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