Iron Age India

Ashoka 'the Great', as he is known, is not presumed to have been great for his conquests but for his renunciation of violence and for laying the foundations of a welfare state which would serve as an example for centuries to come.

Ashoka is assumed to have been born at some point around 273 BC. James Princep in 1837 rediscovered this almost forgotten figure when he deciphered a script in which Ashoka was referred to as 'Devanampiya Piyadassi' or the 'beloved of the gods'. This was something which tallied with the Buddhist chronicles of Sri Lanka which gave details of his early life.

Ashoka served as the governor of Ujjain during the reign of his father, Bindusara. Following Bindusara's death, Ashoka is said to have seized the throne after a fratricidal war with his ninety-nine brothers, the most prominent being the eldest, Sushima.

His early life seems to have been one of extreme ruthlessness, typical of an imperialist ruler. But it was the cataclysmic war against Kalinga which is said to have transformed the personality of Ashoka from a cruel individual to a pacifist and benevolent king. A transition from 'Chandashoka' ('ferocious Ashoka') to 'Dharmashoka' ('the religious Ashoka').

There is no other king in ancient India for whom so much information has been unearthed, making Ashoka the most familiar name we have as far as future generations are concerned.

Ashoka's rock edicts

Ashoka left a huge number of inscriptions which furnish a wealth of information engraved on rocks, monolithic monuments, and remarkably well-polished stone pillars. Details on them are mainly about his later life as a king, his reign, his religion, and his ideology. They can be categorised as follows below.

Chandragupta's Mauryan capital of Pataliputra (modern Patna) is shown here in computer-generated form as it would have appeared from the air in the fourth century BC

Ashoka left a huge number of inscriptions which furnish a wealth of information engraved on rocks, monolithic monuments, and remarkably well-polished stone pillars. Details on them are mainly about his later life as a king, his reign, his religion, and his ideology. They can be categorised as follows:

• Fourteen rock edicts which have been found at eight different places: Shahbazgarhi (the seventh edict to be engraved) was on a bowl which was found at Peshawar in Pakistan and was more recently displayed in the Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai, along with Manshera (Hazara), Kalsi (Dehradun in Uttarakhand), Girnar (Junagadh in Gujrat), Sopara (Thana in Maharashtra), Dhauli and Jaugada (Orissa), and Yerragudi (Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh).
• Minor rock edicts have been found in thirteen locations: Roopnath (Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh), Bairat (Jaipur in Rajasthan), Sasaram (Shahbad district, Bihar), Maski (Raichur in Karnataka), Gavimath and Palkigundu (Mysore, Karnataka), Gujarra (Datia district , Madhya Pradesh), Ahraura (Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh), Rajulamandagiri (Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh), Yerragudi, and in three neighbouring locations in Mysore's Chitaldurga district.
• Seven pillar edicts have been found on a single pillar (Topra, presently displayed in Delhi). The rest were found in northern Bihar.
• The remaining inscriptions were engraved on rocks, pillars, and cave walls.

The most important of these were the pillar engravings of Rumindei in Nepal which mention Ashoka's visit to the birthplace of Gautam Buddha at Lumbini.

Two short inscriptions whichwere written in Aramaic have also been found at Taxilla and Jalalabad (Afghanistan). A bilingual inscription written in Greek and Aramaic has been found on a rock at Shar-i-Kuna (Kandahar, Afghanistan). Four edicts have been found in Shalatak and Qargha (Afghanistan), one in Kharoshti script which is derived from Aramaic and which was used in Iran, while others, perhaps, are in Prakrit, with the rest being in Brahmi.

The thirteenth rock edict provides a vivid account of Ashoka's conquest of Kalinga in 260 BC following a prolonged war in which a hundred and fifty thousand people were captured and a hundred thousand were killed, and many times that number perished afterwards. Ashoka was said to have been filled with great remorse and guilt after witnessing the misery and bloodshed his war had cost.

The various territories which made up the satrapy of the Northern Indus (Punjab) which was centred over the mighty River Indus, alongside those of Gandhara, would go on to form the heartland of Indo-Greek control of the east in the remaining centuries BC

He sought solace in the peace preached by the Buddhist religion. He was initiated into the Buddhist fold by the monk, Upagupta. He remained a disciple for two and-a-half years until he was formally inducted in the Buddhist order to become a 'Bhikku', a fully ordained Buddhist monastic.

Modern India's national emblem is a gift from Ashoka's heritage: the Dharma Chakra 'wheel' at the centre of the Indian flag.

Ashoka visited various places which are considered by Buddhists to be holy. He is said to have begun the propagation of the Buddhist doctrines through his specially appointed officers called 'dharmamahamatras'.

Ashoka's 'dhamma' in Prakrit or 'dharma' in Sanskrit is still considered to reflect his character and philosophy.

Dhamma

Dhamma was Ashoka's own invention according to the historian, Romila Thapar. It was essentially a code of moral duties, benevolent acts, and a freedom from passions for an individual (referencing historian L Prasad).

The basic tenets of Ashoka's Dhamma were:

• Compassion, liberalism, truth, and purity in one's personal life.
• Respect and kindness towards one's parents, siblings, companions, friends, elders, teachers, ascetics, the bramhanas, bhikkus, the disabled, and slaves and servants.
• Cruelty was abhorred towards humans and animals alike.
• Doing away with anger, envy, and pride, and espousing the pursuance of righteous deeds.
• The description on the twelfth rock edict states that the people should not only tolerate all religions and sects, but also develop a spirit of reverence for all. Polite speech was encouraged, and criticism and intolerance was discouraged. Also included was a request for people to read out religious texts to each other.

Ashoka never stressed the metaphysical element of religion, instead emphasising its moral and social aspects.

The kingdom of Bactria (shown in white) was at the height of its power around 200-180 BC, with fresh conquests being made in the south-east, encroaching into India just as the Mauryan empire was on the verge of collapse, while around the northern and eastern borders dwelt various tribes which would eventually contribute to the downfall of the Greeks - the Sakas and Greater Yuezhi (click or tap on map to view full sized)

He also practiced what he preached. He stopped consuming meat, prohibited the killing of animals, birds in the palace, or anything during hunting expeditions. He stopped animal fights and encouraged festivals and religious fairs.

He also convened the 'Third General Council' of Buddhists at his capital, Patliputra, to settle their internal differences and proceed with a more unified progression of Buddhism. It was presided over by the monk, Mogaliputta Tissa. It deputed missionaries to neighbouring and far off countries like western Asia, Syria (the Seleucid court of Antiochus II Theos), Egypt (the court of Ptolemy II Philadelphus), Ceylon (his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra were sent to the royal court of Ceylon, modern Sri Lanka), Macedonia and Greece (the court of Antigonus II Gonatas), Magas of Cyrene, and the court of Alexander of Epirus.

Ashoka's administration

Ashoka followed the basic structure of administration which had been set up during the rule of Chandragupta Maurya. However, Ashoka stressed 'humanism and dedication to his subjects' in his administration and which was to be the hallmark of his reign.

He categorically instructed his officers to apprise him of the people's problems whenever and wherever they wanted. He sincerely believed that being a monarch was only a means of public service rather than anything else. His subjects were his children and their king was their benevolent patriarch.

A special officer, the 'vrajabhumika', was appointed to be in charge of public utility works.

Orders were given to high-ranking officials that they should maintain a strict vigil over their subordinates to ensure the regular performance of their duties.

As mentioned in the book by Romila Thapar, during Ashokan times 'Land revenue was of two types, one being the tax on the area of land [which was being] cultivated and the [covering an] assessment of produce'. Ashoka's inscription at Lumbini which commemorates this as the birthplace of Buddha speaks of 'bali' and 'bhagga' which may have been these two taxes.

By the period between 100-50 BC the Greek kingdom of Bactria had fallen and the remaining Indo-Greek territories (shown in white) had been squeezed towards eastern Punjab, while India was partially fragmented (click or tap on map to view full sized)

Interestingly, he exempts the people of Lumbini from the first tax, but continues to impose a tax on their produce. The assessment varied from region to region and the sources mention a range from one sixth to a quarter of the produce of the land. The calculation was generally based on land being worked by each individual cultivator and also on the quality of land. A reference to 'pindakara' - a heap of taxes - could suggest a tax which was collected jointly from a village. The treasury was entitled to tax shepherds and livestock breeders on the number and produce of the animals. Taxes were also levied on other activities were referred to by the general term 'kara'.

A tax of a different kind, the 'vishti', was paid in labour for the state and is therefore translated as unpaid labour (UK English), or corvée labour (US English). 'Vishti' pertains more to the individual than do the other taxes. At this period it is often mentioned in the context of craft production, where craftsmen provide a stipulated amount of free labour to the state.

Security and law and order were also strictly maintained during the Ashokan period of rule. It was decided that the death penalty was to be carried out three days after judgement being delivered, and there were also dates for granting amnesty.

All people were considered to be the same in the eyes of the law, irrespective of their religion, sect, or class. The 'rajukas' (revenue settlement officers), were given judicial powers to facilitate a quick dispensation of justice.

The Ashokan empire was governed by its many 'viceroys' who were seated in their provincial capitals: at Suvarnagiri, Toshali, Taxillam and Ujjain. The empire was mainly the inheritance of his predecessors, barring Kalinga which Ashoka conquered in 260 BC. It extended down to the south, but exluded the independent Tamilian kingdoms of the Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas, Satyaputras, and Tamraparnis of Sri Lanka (with whom Ashoka maintained friendly relations as mentioned in the chronicles of the island, 'Dipavamsa' and 'Mahavamsa'. There is also mention of Ashoka gifting the Sri Lankans the branch of the bodhi tree under which Buddha achieved salvation).

Emperor Ashoka died around 232 BC. He was succeeded in turn by a further seven Mauryan kings, the last being Brihadrata who was killed by his Brahmin commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra, who then established the Sunga dynasty.

H G Wells once wrote about Ashoka: 'It is not every age, it is not every nation, which can produce a king like this type. Ashoka still remains without a parallel in the history of the world'.

The post-Ashoka kings

• 321-301 BC Chandragupta Maurya
• 232-224 BC Dashratha - he was a successor to Ashoka as Ashoka's son Kunala had been blinded in a palace conspiracy. Dashratha was the nephew of Kunala and ruled for eight years. He dedicated three caves at Nagajuni to the Ajivika sect. Dashratha was succeeded by Kunala's son, Samprati.
• 224-215 BC Samprati - he ruled for nine years. He converted to Jainism (his grandmother, Padmawati, was also a Jain). He propagated Jainism and is credited with the founding of many Jain temples.
• 215-202 BC Salisuka - according to the Gargi Samhita he was a cruel tyrant.
• 202-195 BC Devavarman
• 195-187 BC Satadhanwan
• 187-185 BC Brihadrata - the last Mauryan king. During his reign there were invasions by the Indo-Greek king Demetrius, who captured what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, Panchala, Saketa, Mathura, and Pataliputra. Brihadrata was killed by his minister, Pushyamitra Sunga, who established the Sunga dynasty in Magadha.

This late-period Sunga terracotta plaque from the first century BC depicts the goddess Durga and her attendants

Main Sources

Altekar, A S - State and Government in Ancient India, Motilal Banarasidas Publishers Ltd

Majumdar, R C - Ancient India, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Ltd, 1987

Prasad, L - Studies in Indian History, Cosmos Bookhive, Gurgaon, 2000

Thapar, Romila - Penguin History of India, Volume 1, Penguin Books, London, 1990

Text copyright © Abhijit Rajadhyaksha. An original feature for the History Files.