Ashoka Vardhana, the third Mauryan emperor (the first great unified empire of India), has gone down in history for converting to Buddhism after witnessing the massacres resulting from the campaign he initiated to conquer the neighboring kingdom of Kalinga. His story is told in thirty-three edicts that he himself promulgated, ordering them to be spread throughout the country (parts of present-day India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Afghanistan) inscribed on walls, caves, rocks, and columns. These are known as the Edicts of Ashoka.

The mentioned columns, known as Ashoka Pillars although formerly called Dhaṃma thaṃbhā (Pillars of Dharma), constitute a characteristic element of Mauryan art. About twenty are preserved, although only seven are complete because the Mughal, who were iconoclasts, destroyed the capitals representing animals.

They measure between fifteen and twenty meters in height, weigh approximately fifty tons, and are dated to the 3rd century BCE, identifying them as the oldest Indian sculptural pieces (except for the capital of Pataliputra, slightly earlier).

Edict inscribed on the Minor Pillar of Sarnath
Edict inscribed on the Minor Pillar of Sarnath. Credit: ampersandyslexia / Wikimedia Commons

The pillars were constructed with sandstone in Buddhist monasteries, usually to commemorate Ashoka’s visit to each monastery. They can be seen scattered throughout the northern part of the country, in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana, plus one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan), although some were relocated from their original location, such as the two in Delhi.

Most of their inscriptions are in Brahmi script (the oldest of the Brahmic scripts), in Prakrit language (which was used to spread Buddhist precepts, less scholarly and therefore more popular than the Sanskrit used by Brahmin priests or Hinduists).

As mentioned, the text of the pillars (seven in the main pillars plus fourteen in other minor ones and others on rocks) corresponded to the aforementioned Edicts of Ashoka, the oldest documents of India and the first to reference Buddhism. This religion originated from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the prince who abandoned his privileged worldly life to embrace a hermit, ascetic, and spiritual life, becoming known as the Buddha (“the enlightened one”), and it gradually spread throughout the subcontinent until receiving the definitive impulse from Ashoka during the Mauryan Empire.

The Mauryan Empire in the time of Ashoka, with the main cities and the distribution of the edicts
The Mauryan Empire in the time of Ashoka, with the main cities and the distribution of the edicts. Credit: Avantiputra7 / Wikimedia Commons

This empire began in 320 BCE and lasted until 185 BCE. It originated in the kingdom of Magadha, in the Indo-Ganges basin, which encompassed Bihar and Bengal with its capital in Pataliputra (near present-day Patna), being founded by the Chandragupta Maurya dynasty, who overthrew the Nanda and began an unstoppable expansion first to the north and east, and later to the west, coinciding chronologically with the arrival of Alexander the Great. Later, his son Bindusara also expanded the frontier to the center and south, with only the southernmost corner and the kingdom of Kalinga in the northeastern zone remaining independent.

It was Ashoka who succeeded his father Bindusara, although the king preferred another son, Susima, allegedly because of his unattractiveness according to tradition. However, the members of the government and a committee of sages supported his candidacy because they considered his brother too arrogant and haughty, so Ashoka ascended to the throne in 269 BCE. He was not lacking in experience, for despite his father’s displeasure, his good qualities had not escaped notice, and he had been entrusted with important political and military missions.

The new monarch expanded the empire into Pakistan and Nepal, but the most decisive campaign of his reign was the one he started to conquer Kalinga (now Odisha) and thus unify the subcontinent. The war began in 260 BCE, eight years after Ashoka’s coronation, and was so brutal—more than a hundred thousand dead and a hundred and fifty thousand deported, according to the monarch’s own testimony—that the victor could not help but feel a lump in his throat at the sight of that desolation as he walked amidst it. The Duke of Wellington would express it very accurately two millennia later, facing a Waterloo strewn with corpses and wounded: Except a battle lost, there is nothing so melancholy as a battle won.

The bilingual edict, in Greek and Aramaic, of Kandahar
The bilingual edict, in Greek and Aramaic, of Kandahar. Credit: पाटलिपुत्र (Patna) / Wikimedia Commons

As one of his edicts indicates, Ashoka felt strong remorse for having undertaken the conquest of Kalinga. Although it must have been a more gradual process than is told, overwhelmed by the lamentations of the families of the fallen, he decided to adopt as his personal conduct and government policy the law of dharma, which advocated for a growing Buddhism, although the concept was also present in Hinduism. It has no single translation and encompasses ideas such as cosmic order, righteousness, piety, moral duty, virtue, etc. Consequently, from then on, his policy was based on non-violence and religious tolerance.

It is not clear whether he personally converted to Buddhism, although Buddhist tradition asserts this (another tradition says he was already a Buddhist before), but he did promote it throughout his empire, thus facilitating its expansion. For this purpose, he promulgated thirty-three edicts aimed at informing the people, hence they were displayed in public places, on rocks, and on the mentioned pillars, following the model of the inscription of Kineas of Alexandria of the Oxus (possibly present-day Ai Khanum). In them, he laid out the foundations of the new policy, from the emperor’s personal history—which culminated in his conversion—to the ethical and religious precepts that would serve as a reference, through a social program based on retribution: the future life will depend on what has been done in this one.

Adopting the epithet Devanaṃpriya, meaning “the beloved of the gods”, he himself embarked on a pilgrimage through his domains to preach. The first edict was placed at the entrance of Kandahar, curiously in Greek and Aramaic languages (perhaps due to the proximity of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom). The following ones were already made in Indian languages (Magadhi Prakrit in the eastern zone, Kharosthi in the western), although not all at once: they were released over twenty-seven years, with those of the seven main pillars being the last. The style is quite ponderous and repetitive, leading linguists to suppose that perhaps Ashoka himself drafted it.

Twin Ashoka Pillars at Rampurva
Twin Ashoka Pillars at Rampurva. Credit: Praanshu / Wikimedia Commons

Thematically, the edicts of the rocks and minor pillars, the earliest ones, are fundamentally religious, with continuous references to Buddha and theological scriptures, while the content of the major rocks and pillars is moral and political, civil in a word, albeit under the Buddhist doctrine of Dharma, non-violence, and righteousness. The latter are the most interesting for historians because they also discuss administration and relations with other states, as well as narrating Ashoka’s reign—especially those of the major pillars.

Among the issues they address are moral precepts (proper behavior, respect for elders, benevolence, fair treatment of prisoners, equity in justice), religious (the word of Buddha, belief in an afterlife, tolerance towards other beliefs), and social welfare (medical treatments, public facilities, creation of a priestly caste). It is very curious the deference shown towards animal life, renouncing court hunts, limiting sacrifices, proposing to reduce meat consumption, and banning castration under penalty of fine.

All this should be reinforced by proselytizing not only within but also outside of India, for which imperial envoys were appointed to travel every five years carrying the word to neighboring countries and the Western Hellenistic world; some believe that the pursuit of ataraxia (absence of disturbance, freedom from pain) advocated by philosophical currents such as Epicureanism and Cyrenaicism comes from there, as well as the lifestyle model of communities like the Essenes. However, it is not recorded that Buddhism was elevated to an official religion as claimed by Buddhist sources.

One of the pillars with its edict, photographed in 1913
One of the pillars with its edict, photographed in 1913. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

The fact is that Ashoka did not undertake any more wars for the rest of his reign, which was characterized rather by these evangelizing missions and the construction of temples and stupas. However, some sources do mention acts of violence, such as a pogrom against Jains and other persecutions towards sects of different faiths, which historians doubt and consider propaganda against him. Furthermore, he had a wife and five consorts who must have given him many children, although only one name, Tivara, has securely come down to us, who would not be the heir.

Ashoka fell seriously ill towards the end of his reign and, enveloped in his ascetic obsession, tried to dispose of his properties to the scandal and opposition of his ministers, who saw the state treasury in jeopardy. Finally, he died in 232 BCE, and his body was cremated, burning for a week and his ashes being thrown into the Ganges River. By then, the Mauryan Empire was the largest in the world, and India was experiencing the so-called Golden Age, having extended Buddhism to Sri Lanka, Bactria, and Burma, as well as maintaining diplomatic relations with the Seleucid Empire of Antiochus II Theos and the Egyptian Ptolemy III Euergetes.

But all things come to an end. After the ruler’s death, the empire was divided among his son Kunala—mentioned only by northern sources—and his grandsons Dasaratha and Samprati, while the southern territories took advantage to declare independence.

Ashoka attending the Third Buddhist Council of Pataliputra. Although the event was held, the king's presence is not actually recorded
Ashoka attending the Third Buddhist Council of Pataliputra. Although the event was held, the king’s presence is not actually recorded. Credit: Photo Dharma / Wikimedia Commons

Only three more rulers followed, the last of whom, Brihadratha, was assassinated by the usurper general Pusiamitra; it was he who founded the Shunga dynasty, which only controlled the northeastern half of the subcontinent. Over the following centuries, various dynasties divided up the vast territory of the former Mauryans: Satavahana, Kushan, Gupta, Kamarupa, Pallava, Kadamba, Chaulukya, Rashtrakuta, Pala, Chola, Shahi…

In the Middle Ages, the Delhi Sultanate and the Vijayanagara Empire came close to achieving a new reunification, something that the Mughals, descendants of Tamerlane, who occupied most of India in the 16th century, also did not fully accomplish. It was during this time that the British traveler Thomas Coryat discovered one of the pillars with edicts among the ruins of old Delhi.

Later, others appeared that began to be deciphered in the second quarter of the 19th century, by the orientalist James Prinsep and colonial officials George Turnour and Edward Smith, revealing that the name of the king Devanampriya Piyadasi (“the beloved of the gods”) appeared, which they identified as a title of Ashoka.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on February 20, 2024. Puedes leer la versión en español en Los Edictos de Ashoka, el emperador Maurya que renunció a la violencia horrorizado por sus campañas militares

Sources

Romila Thapar, Historia de la India | Ven. S.Dhammika, The Edicts of King Ashoka | Émil Sénart, Les inscriptions de Piyadasi (I) | Émil Sénart, Les inscriptions de Piyadas (II) | Anuradha Seneviratna (ed.), King Asoka and Buddhism | Burton Stein, A history of India | John S. Strong, The Legend of King Aśoka: A Study and Translation of the Aśokāvadāna | Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century | Wikipedia

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