Asoka: Ruthless Conqueror or Enlightened Ruler?

Historians have been debating whether or not Asoka, a powerful Indian ruler and warrior that began his reign from 268 to 232 BCE, was actually the kindhearted hero that several others believe. With some newly found evidence such as maps and scrolls, historians have seen Asoka from a different viewpoint. Now that there is evidence from both sides, this leaves countless scholars with the question- Was Asoka a Ruthless Conqueror, or an Enlightened Ruler? From my perspective, Asoka, ruler of the Mauryan empire at age thirty, was an enlightened ruler.

Asoka was a ruler of the great Mauryan empire from 268 BCE to 232 BCE (before common era), located in India. Asoka ruled the Mauryanians, who were named after his grandfather, Chandragupta Maurya. Asoka could be kind of ruthless, but in his later years of ruling, he showed to be peaceful and enlightened. Being the prince of the Mauryanians, he inherited almost all of India, and ruled for almost 36 years. With age, Asoka became an enlightened ruler.

Think of a child who set a house on fire, it’s sides burning down in a flame so strong you could feel it. Would you forgive them if they had a so called revelation? It’s highly unlikely that you would. Now, think of the adult equivalent of that child only worse, burning down countless houses and ruining or destroying countless lives. Plus, he’s a king. If he felt remorse after doing all of that, would you call him enlightened? Hopefully not. This is the real scenario of King Asoka. Asoka was a king of much of the Indian subcontinent during the Mauryan Empire. His reign started in 268 BCE and only ended upon his death 232 BCE. Not only was Asoka a military leader, but gravitated towards

To commence, Cyrus the Great, who ruled most of Persia during the 500s, and King Ashoka , emperor of the Maurya Dynasty from 268 to 232 BCE, both shared similar characteristics that made them great rulers, yet had their differences that made them unique in their own way. Furthermore, both Ashoka and Cyrus the Great were both knowledgeable, respectable, and tolerated by their own people, making them extraordinary leaders. Although, in comparison Ashoka was much more aggressive due to his extreme fear factor on everyone and his strong Buddhist beliefs. In comparison, Cyrus was much more lovable, understandable, and did anything possible for his people. To conclude, both King Ashoka and Cyrus the Great, were both powerful and intrepid leaders

Asoka the dirty ruthless conqueror or an amazing, enlightened ruler. Asoka was the ruler of the Mauryan Empire. He has killed many innocent lives, but he also gave rich gifts to the poor after he sought forgiveness of his wrong doings. There is one question many people ask and that is, is Asoka a ruthless conqueror or is he an enlightened ruler? Asoka is an enlightened ruler because he brought welfare of the world ,he seeked forgiveness, and Asoka agrees with nonviolence.

Ashoka was said to be one of the greatest rulers in India. Ashoka conquered a lot of land including the empire of Kalinga. After winning the war to claim Kalinga, Ashoka road his horse and looked out at the bloody battle, he then was filled with horror at the sight of war, and swore to give up violence and wars from then on, (BGE, Frey 161). But was King Ashoka a ruthless conqueror, or an Enlightened Ruler? Ashoka was an enlightened because of how he gives up violence and how he encouraged Buddhism.

Asoka, Emperor of India, made one of the most famous artifacts to express the history towards Buddhism in India. During his years, he created his famous edicts that around 250 BCE, the teachings of buddha inscribed in it so that many would be able to find a way to reach to reach the state of Nirvana , “ the highest place that someone can attain of perfect peace and happiness like what is considered heaven.” (vocabulary.com, 2003) By following this path of the Buddha, it was believed that it would lead to great welfare, health, happiness, and fortune to you. His 33 edicts are currently located throughout modern India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Asoka was a ruler of India, with much territory which he inherited from his dynasty. Asoka wanted to expand his territory for his people. So they intruded the Kalinga’s territory. Asoka was a ruthless conqueror because he was responsible for many deaths, wanted unfair wars, and had unjust laws.

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

“No society can prosper if it aims at making things easier-instead it should aim at making people stronger.” Said Asoka himself. Asoka always believed that in order to improve, you had to work, and that is what led his empire to become so successful and powerful. Asoka also helped his empire's economy flourish, showed remorse for those he had harmed, and honored other religions. Due to all of this, he was without a doubt and enlightened ruler

This essay that I have written for history class states an amazing amount of detail about the ruler Asoka. Asoka was considered either a ruthless conqueror or an enlightened ruler. I wrote about my opinion about if Asoka was a ruthless conqueror or an enlightened ruler. I believe that Asoka was a ruthless conqueror and below you will find out why.

There is a debate of who asoka was. Asoka is a ruthless conqueror in many different ways. He tried to hurt people and tries to get power. First of all, Asoka is a ruthless conqueror because he killed people. Then in document a most died because of hunger and diseases.

Some country's rulers are awful, some can even be called evil. Some could just be downright ruthless. Asoka the prince/king was a ruler that killed a great amount of people. He killed people that didn’t forgive him. He was a ruler that didn’t care for his people, he let them suffer. Yea he found a bit of elightendmet towards the deadline, but then he turned evil once again.

Alexander the great was a greedy, horrible leader. He was a ruthless man who had no regard for innocent lives whatsoever. Alexander was a reckless military leader who treated his troops with countless amounts of disrespect. He did a great deal of things that would be frowned upon today. In my opinion Alexander the great wasn’t so great after all the things he had done as a Macedonian King. He was a voracious hard hearted ruler.

Asoka was one of India’s greatest rulers. Asoka was Chandragupta’s grandson. Asoka fought in a lot of wars, but the thought of killing made him feel bad so he started to rule by using Ahimsa which is nonviolence.