Saturday, December 1, 2012

Emperor of Emperors Ashoka Of India



Coronation
270 BC
Born
304 BC
Birthplace
Pataliputra, Patna
Died
232 BC (aged 72)
Place of death
Pataliputra, Patna
Buried
Ashes immersed in the Ganges River, possibly at Varanasi, Cremated 232 BC, less than 24 hours after death
Predecessor
Bindusara
Successor
Dasaratha Maurya
Consort
Maharani Devi
Wives
Rani Tishyaraksha
Rani Padmavati
Rani Kaurwaki
Offspring
Mahendra, Sanghamitra, Teevala, Kunala
Royal House
Mauryan dynasty
Father
Bindusara
Mother
Rani Dharma or Shubhadrangi
Religious beliefs
Buddhism

Ashoka (Devanāgarī 304–232 BC), also known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. His empire stretched from present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan in the west, to the present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of Assam in the east, and as far south as northern Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. He conquered the kingdom named Kalinga, which none of his ancestors had conquered starting from Chandragupta Maurya. His reign was headquartered in Magadha (present-day Bihar). He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. Ashoka was a devotee of ahimsa (nonviolence), love, truth, tolerance and vegetarianism. Ashoka is remembered in history as a philanthropic administrator. In the history of India, Ashoka is referred to as Samraat Chakravartin Ashoka – the "Emperor of Emperors Ashoka".
His name "aśoka" means "painless, without sorrow" in Sanskrit (the a privativum and śoka "pain, distress"). In his edicts, he is referred to as Devānāmpriya (Pali Devānapiya or "The Beloved Of The Gods"), and Priyadarśin (Pali Piyadasī or "He who regards everyone with affection").
Along with the Edicts of Ashoka, his legend is related in the later 2nd-century Aśokāvadāna ("Narrative of Asoka") and Divyāvadāna ("Divine narrative"), and in the Sri Lankan text Mahavamsa ("Great Chronicle").
Ashoka played a critical role in helping make Buddhism a world religion. As the peace-loving ruler of one of the world's largest, richest and most powerful multi-ethnic states, he is considered an exemplary ruler, who tried to put into practice a secular state ethic of non-violence. The emblem of the modern Republic of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka.

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