THE HISTORY OF ASHOKA THE GREAT.

( MOST POWERFUL EMPEROR IN THE WORLD )

Ashoka (/əˈʃoʊkə/; Brāhmi: 𑀅𑀲𑁄𑀓, Asoka,[5] IAST: Aśoka), also known as Ashoka the Great, Piodasses in ancient
Greece, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty son of Bindusara Maurya, who ruled almost all of the
Indian subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BCE.[6][7] Ashoka promoted the spread of Buddhism across ancient Asia.
[4]
Considered by many to be one of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka expanded Chandragupta's empire to
reign over a realm stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east. It covered
the entire Indian subcontinent except for parts of present-day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. The
empire's capital was Pataliputra (in Magadha, present-day Patna), with provincial capitals at Taxila and Ujjain.
Ashoka, after the war of Kalinga, got upset with the bloodshed and vowed to never fight again. He embraced
Buddhism and patronised Buddhism in his rule and reign.

Ashoka waged a destructive war against the state of Kalinga (modern Odisha),[8] which he conquered in about
260 BCE.[9] According to an interpretation of his Edicts, he converted to Buddhism[8] after witnessing the mass
deaths of the Kalinga War, which he had waged out of a desire for conquest and which reportedly directly
resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations.[10] He is remembered for erecting the Ashoka
pillars and spreading his Edicts,[11] for sending Buddhist monks to Sri Lanka and Central Asia,[4] and for
establishing monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha.[12]

Beyond the Edicts of Ashoka, biographical information about him relies on legends written centuries later,
such as the 2nd-century CE Ashokavadana ("Narrative of Ashoka", a part of the Divyavadana), and in the Sri
Lankan text Mahavamsa ("Great Chronicle"). The emblem of the modern Republic of India is an adaptation of
the Lion Capital of Ashoka. His Sanskrit name "Aśoka" means "painless, without sorrow" (the a privativum
and śoka, "pain, distress"). In his edicts, he is referred to as Devānāmpriya (Pali Devānaṃpiya or "the Beloved
of the Gods"), and Priyadarśin or Priyadarshi (Pali Piyadasī or "He who regards everyone with affection"). His
fondness for a tree is the reason for his name being connected to the "Ashoka tree" or Saraca asoca, and this
is referenced in the Ashokavadana.

In The Outline of History (1920), H.G. Wells wrote, "Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that
crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and serenities and royal highnesses and the
like, the name of Ashoka shines, and shines, almost alone, a star."[13]