Ashoka

IndiaMaurya268-232 BC

RealmIndia

Reign268-232 BC

HouseMaurya

LegacyConverted conqueror, dharma pillars

Biography

Chandragupta grandson, Ashoka took Kalinga in a war so bloody, 100,000 dead, he turned Buddhist. The edicts, pillars and rocks across the empire, in Prakrit and Greek and Aramaic, proclaimed dharma, religious tolerance, animal welfare, welfare missions. Missions to Sri Lanka and the Hellenistic world. The wheel of his pillars is India flag emblem. His rediscovery, the 1837 decipherment, redefined Indian self understanding.

Related Monarchs

Akbar

1556-1605

IndiaMughal

Babur grandson, crowned at 13 after Panipat II, Akbar tripled the empire. He abolished the jizya, married Rajput princesses, Din-i...

Shah Jahan

1628-1658

IndiaMughal

The Peacock Throne, the Kohinoor seat, Shah Jahan ruled the Mughal zenith of wealth. The Taj Mahal, 22 years, 20,000 workers, for ...

Aurangzeb

1658-1707

IndiaMughal

Won the throne over his brothers, executed Dara Shikoh. Pious, austere, personal Quran copying, he banned music at court, reimpose...