Hinglish

Aśhoka: The King Who Chose Peace

Class 7 Social Science · Chapter 5: The Rise of Empires · NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond section 5.5

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Chandragupta's grandson Aśhoka (268–232 BCE) expanded the empire over almost the whole subcontinent, except the far south. Then he invaded Kalinga (Odisha). Seeing the terrible death and destruction, he chose to give up violence and follow the Buddha's path of peace and non-violence. Unusually, he admitted the horrors of that war in his own edicts. He sent emissaries to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Central Asia and beyond to spread the Buddha's message.

Aśhoka was a "great communicator". He had edicts carved on rocks and pillars across his empire, mostly in the Prakrit language and the Brahmi script, the mother of India's regional scripts (a language is what we speak; a script is how we write it). He called himself Devanampiya Piyadasi, "Beloved of the Gods, who regards others with kindness", and urged people to follow dharma: duty, truth, law and right conduct together.

His edicts claim he provided medical care for people and animals, banned cruelty to animals, dug wells, built rest houses and planted shade trees along roads, told officials to be fair and never imprison anyone without reason, and urged all sects to respect each other's best teachings. We need not take every claim literally, but he clearly followed Kauṭilya's ideal of caring for the people. His lion capital from Sarnath is India's national emblem, and the dharmachakra sits on our flag.

Explore: the story of the empires.

  1. Put the events in order.

Remember

  • After the Kalinga war, Aśhoka chose peace and spread the Buddha's message.
  • His Prakrit edicts in Brahmi urged dharma, welfare and tolerance; his lion capital is our national emblem.

Quick check

What made Aśhoka turn to peace?

  1. the suffering he saw in the Kalinga war
  2. losing to Alexander
  3. a drought
  4. Megasthenes' book
Answer

the suffering he saw in the Kalinga war. He followed the Buddha's teaching of non-violence.

Think about it

Why do you think Aśhoka admitted the Kalinga war in his edicts instead of hiding it?

One answer

Perhaps to show sincere regret, to make his change of heart believable, and to teach others that conquest by force causes great suffering.

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.