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Essay, Biography or Paragraph on “Ashoka The Great” complete biography for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Ashoka The Great

 

India : Mauryan Emperor and Patron of Buddhism

Birth : About 294 B.C.        Death : 232 B.C.

By all considerations, Ashoka is one of the greatest kings not only in the history of India but that of the whole world. In the beginning, like all other Kings, Ashoka was also given to kingly pleasures and military conquests but after the battle of Kalinga, a powerful Kingdom on the Bay of Bengal, Ashoka was completely transformed. In this battle, lakhs of people were slain, wounded, which produced a profound reaction on the mind of Ashoka. The era of military conquests was now over and an era of spiritual conquests as Dharma Vijay began. Ashoka was converted to Buddhism and devoted the rest of his life to spread and put into practice the teachings of Buddhism. For the welfare of his subjects, Ashoka planted trees along the roads for providing shade, built rest houses for travellers and established hospitals for human beings and animals. He had also opened a separate department for distributing charity to the poor.

Ashoka also followed the Law of Piety or Dharma in his personal life; he gave up hunting and curbed slaughter of animals for the royal kitchen. A new class of officials called the `Dharma-Mahamatras’ was created for enforcing Law of Piety among people. For spreading Buddhism, Ashoka also despatched missions to foreign countries like Egypt, Syria, Macedonia etc. Ashoka’s son Mahendra and daughter Sanghmitra went to Ceylon where they became successful in converting the Ceylonese king to Buddhism. Ashoka also got the teachings of Buddhism engraved on many rocks and pillars in different parts of his empire.

Ashoka was the son of the Mauryan emperor Bindusara. He ascended the Magadha throne in 273 B.C., Buddhist records tell that he captured the throne after killing his 99 brothers, but this is hot supported by any other evidence. It seems certain that he had to contend with his elder brother Susima.

For his qualities and character, Ashoka as a king, is still unparalleled in the history of the world.

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