Asoka

Asoka (ca. 304–232 BCE ; Sanskrit Aśokah , “without sorrow,” also commonly transliterated “Ashoka”) was ruler of the Indian Mauryan empire from around 269 until his death (Thapar 1997; Falk 2006). He was son of Bindusara and grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya Dynasty. Asoka occupies an important position in the ancient Indian historical and epigraphic tradition, where he appears as a ruthless conqueror and subsequently as a patron of Buddhism. He is also one of the few Indian rulers whose dealings with the west, especially with the kings of the Hellenistic eastern Mediterranean and with the Greek‐speaking population of Arachosia, are well documented.

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Buddhism · Empire · Literature · Ruler · Sanskrit · Sorrow · Ancient Near East History · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies

• Guide to the Asokan inscriptions

  F R Allchin, K R Norman•South Asian Studies•1985

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