preview

Asoka Dbq Essay

Decent Essays

Before its modern state, India had only been united once. This time was under the rule of the Mauryan Empire in the 300s-200s BCE. The Mauryan Empire was started by Chandragupta Maurya after overthrowing and conquering the Magadha government. He proceeded to conquer more than half of the Indian subcontinent. After some time, Chandragupta’s grandson Asoka came to power. Asoka was a leader who ruled with feelings of remorse for decisions he had made in the past yet still ruled with great, imposing power. He also was mindful of his people and made sure to always rule in favor of them.
After conquering a large region in India called Kalinga, Asoka felt intense remorse. In turn, he used this remorse or regret during his later rule of the Mauryan …show more content…

In his rock edicts, which are pillars containing rules and codes throughout the empire, Asoka says a few times that however peaceful his leadership is, he has the power to strike people down as well. (Doc E) The purpose of making statements such as this are warn people in the empire to not be fooled by Asoka’s peacefulness and benevolence as he has the power to hit back at anyone. His power to back this up was shown at the beginning of his rule when he conquered areas such as Kalinga and expanded his empire to include most of India. So because of this most people in his empire have seen his ability to conquer and see power in him. Asoka used this power combined with his peacefulness in order to promote stability throughout the …show more content…

The people he ruled over took priority every time for him. This started for the most part after he conquered Kalinga. After strategically conquering Kalinga, Asoka supposedly did not want to start anymore wars to remain peaceful with all the people in his empire and around it. There was no significant threats surrounding him so there was no point to ceaselessly conquer more people. (Doc B) Asoka also used the rock edicts in order to promote the wellbeing of his people. Throughout his empire he put up edicts that stated that he wanted to “promote the welfare of the whole world”, help the health of people, be fair to everyone including prisoners, and maintain religious freedom. (Doc D) Asoka is clearly directing these edicts at the population of his empire and anyone else who comes across the edicts such as merchants and travelers. He was keeping his citizens in mind while writing these edicts. Many prominent figures in modern times still recognize Asoka’s caring nature. Jawaharlal Nehru, modern day India’s first prime minister, praised Asoka for how he led. Even mentioning that Asoka did everything such as public works and righteousness “for the good of the people”. (Doc F) Nehru’s point of view was obviously very important here as he was a pioneering Indian just like Asoka. He most likely sympathizes with Asoka and believes in what he

Get Access