300 BCE 232

BCE

Presentation by:Kritika Thakur, 5th

Ashoka belongs to

the Mauryan
Dynasty
He is the third
king of Mauryan
Dynasty

BEFORE THE KALINGA

WAR

 Ashoka's reign as

emperor began with a

series of wars.
He conquered more lands
and added them to his
empire.
The Kalinga Wa r of

260 BC was the worst

of all.

The huge loss of life

and suffering
witnessed on the
battlefield made him
turn away from war.
So he was deeply
influenced by Buddhism,
and adopted the
dharma principles

AFTER THE KALINGA

WAR

A. Dharma

Principles
B. Spread of Buddhism
C. Ashoka the

Administrator

The main principles of dharma (dhamma):

Non - violence,
Tolerance of all sects
Obedience to parents
Respect for Brahmans , teachers &
priests
Liberality towards friends,
Humane treatment of servants,

Ashoka built shrines and

monasteries and
inscribed Buddhist
teachings on rocks and
pillars in many places.
He sent missionaries to
countries.
His own son Kunal
became a monk &
carried Buddhism to Sri
Lanka

 Ashoka taught and convinced

people to love

and respect all living things.

He insisted on the recognition of the sanctity of all

human life.
He

unnecessary
mutilation of animals.

abolished the
slaughter or

Ashoka banned sport hunting & thus protected

wildlife.
He

became
vegetarian
&
most people
chose to
become

LEGACIES OF
ASHOKA

SYMBOLI

C
BOLLYWOO

LEGAC
Y
LEGAC
Y

Indian government

has adopted the

famous lion capital
from his pillar at
Sarnath as
official
national emblem.

After Asokas death in 232

BCE the people of India
decided to commemorate
Ashoka by using his personal
chakra. It can still be seen
today on the Indian flag.
The word chakra is sandskrit
and it means cycle or a
repeating process.

 Asokas

chakra is also know as the

wheel of the dharma (way) and it
symbolizes the 24 virtues in Buddhism.
Some of these 24 virtues include: love,
patience, peacefulness, courage, justice
and mercy.

 The film-ASHOKA-

was directed by
Santosh Sivan and
stars Shahrukh Khan
as Ashoka and
Kareena Kapoor as
Kaurwaki, a princess
of Kalinga

 After the death of Asoka's father, Binder Sar,

Ashoka and his older brother competed for

the throne. The prime minister and other
important ministers at the time though Asoka
to be more discreet, capable and efficient
ruler.
The next three years Ashoka focused on
reestablishing peace.
During Asoka's rule theft declined and
science, medicine and technology all
flourished.
when Ashoka converted to
Buddhism.
Buddhism received a significant boost of

 Asoka married a commoner called Karuwaki,

she was a fisher.

He met her before his reign when he was sent
to Taxshila to subdue an uprising as a general
of the Mauryan
empire.
Due to Ashokas success in the quelling of the
uprising and his growing popularity, his stepbrothers forced him into exile to prevent him
from obtaining the throne.
Asoka however returned two years later being
summoned by the emperor to quell another
uprising.

 Before

Ashokas conquest of Kalinga

he was known as Chandashok ( Chanda-cruel,
shok-associated with Hindu goddess of
eternal energy) Asoka was considered a
bloodthirsty and power greedy individual. It
was not until later, after the conquest of
Kalinga, where Asoka received his revelation
that he was considered great.

 "