ashoka

Ashoka (273- 232 BC)


After the death of Bindusara in 273 BC Ashoka succeeded to the

throne. According to the Buddhist sources his mother was Janapada

Kalyani or Subhadrangi.As a prince he served as a victory first at

Ujjain and then at Taxila.According to the Buddhist tradition Ashoka

was very cruel in his early life and captured the throne after killing his

99 brothers.Ashoka is the first king in the Indian history who has left

his records engraved on stones. The history of Ashoka and his reign

can be reconstructed with the help of these inscriptions and some

other literary sources. The inscriptions on rocks are called Rock edicts

and those on pillars, Pillar edicts.

The Ashokan inscriptions are found in India, Nepal, Pakistan and

Afganistan.Altogether they appear at 47 places. However the name of

Ashoka occurs only in copies of Minor Rock Edict I found at three

places in Karnataka and one in MP.All other inscriptions refer to him as

devanampiya (beloved of the gods) and piyadasi.The inscriptions of

Ashoka were written in different scripts. In Afghanistan they were

written in Greek and Aramaic languages and script and in Pakistan

area in Prakrit language and Kharosthi script. Inscriptions from all

other places are in Prakrit language written in Brahmi script.

Kalinga war and its impact

The earliest event of Ashoka's reign recorded in his inscription is his

conquest of Kalinga (modern Orissa) in the 8th year of his reign. This

turned out to be first and also the last battle fought by him. The Rock

Edict III describes vividly the horrors and miseries of this war and its

impact on Ashoka.According to this edict one lakh people were killed in

this war, several lakhs perished and lakh and a half were taken

prisoners. He felt great remorse for the atrocities the war brought in

its wake.

He thus abandoned the policy of aggression and tired to conquer the

hearts of the people. The drums declaring wars were replaced by the

drums announcing ethical and moral principals with dhamma ghasa.He

sent ambassadors of peace to the Greek Kingdoms in West Asia and

several other countries. Within the empire he appointed a class of

officers known as rejjukas who were vested with the authority of not

only rewarding people but also punishing them if required.

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He thus abandoned the policy of aggression and tired to conquer the

hearts of the people. The drums declaring wars were replaced by the

drums announcing ethical and moral principals with dhamma ghasa.He

sent ambassadors of peace to the Greek Kingdoms in West Asia and

several other countries. Within the empire he appointed a class of

officers known as rejjukas who were vested with the authority of not

only rewarding people but also punishing them if required.

Dhamma of Ashoka

There is no doubt that Ashoka's personal religion was Buddhism. In his

Bhabru edict he says he had full faith in Buddha,Dhamma and

Sangha.he showed respect to all sects and faiths and believed in using

among ethical and moral values of all sects. In Rock Edict VII he says

all seeks desire both self control and purity of mind. In Rock Edict XII

he pronounces his policy of equal respect to all religious sects more

clearly.

The Dhamma as explained in Ashoka's edicts is not a religion or a

religious system but a moral law, a common code of conduct or an

ethical order. In Pillar Edict II Ashoka himself puts the question what is

Dhamma? Then he enumerates two basic attributes or constituents of

Dhamma: less evil and many good deeds. He says such evils as

rage,cruelty,anger,pride and envy are to be avoided and many good

deeds like kindness,liberty,truthfulness,gentleness,selfcontrol,purity of

heart, attachment to morality ,inner and outer purity etc are to be

pursued vigorously.Ashoka established hospitals for humans and

animals and made liberal donations to the Brahmans and ascetics of

different religious sects.

He erected rest houses, caused wells to be dug and trees to be planted

along the roads.Ashoka took for the propagation of Buddhism. He

conducted Dharamyatras and instructed his officials to do the same.

He appointed special class of officials called Dharamahamatras whose

sole responsibility was to propagate Dhamma among the

people.Ashoka sent missions to foreign countries also to propagate

dhamma.His missionaries went to western Asia, Egypt and Eastern

Europe. Of the Foreign kings whose kingdoms thus received the

message of Buddhism five are mentioned in the inscriptions of Ashoka

namely Antiochus, Syria and Western Asia, Ptolemy Philadelphus of

Egypt, Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, Megas of Cyrene and

Alexander of Epirus.Ashoka even sent his son Mahendra and daughter

Sanghamitra to propagate Buddhism in Srilanka.

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Policy and Administration

The Mauryan Empire was one of the largest in the whole of the ancient

world. It ushered in a centralized form of government. From the

Arthashastra Ashokan inscription and from the fragments available

from Megasthense's account there have a good idea about the various

aspects of administration, economy, society and religion of the people.

The king was head of the state. He had judicial, legislative and

executive powers. The king issued what was known as sasana or

ordinances. The edicts of Ashoka are examples of the sansanas.The

king was assisted in administration by a council of ministers

(mantriparishad).Besides there were some referred as Adhyakshas

(superintendents).

Kautilya refers to a large number of superintendents like those of gold,

store houses, commerce, agriculture, ships, cows,

horses,chariots,infantry,the city etc.In the Maurya administration there

was an officer called yukta who was perhaps the subordinate officer in

charge of the revenues of the king.

The rajjukas were officers responsible for land measurement and fixing

their boundaries. They were also given power to punish the guilty and

set free the innocents. Another officer of the Mauryan Administration

was pradeshikas.Some scholars think that he was responsible for the

collection of revenue while others think that he was the provincial

governor. The Mauryan Empire was divided into provinces. During the

reigns of Bindusara, Ashoka was posted at Ujjain as Governor of the

Avanti region while his Brother Susima was posted at Taxila as the

governor of the north-western provinces. Provinces were subdivided

into the district each of these was further divided into groups of the

villages and the final unit of administration was the village. The

important provinces were directly under kumara (princes).According to

the Junagarh rock inscription of Rudradaman,Saurashtra was governed

by vaisya Pushyagupta at the time of Chandragupta Maurya and by

Yavana-raja Tushaspa at the time of Ashoka both provincial governors.

A group of officials worked in each district. The pradeshika was the

head of district administration who toured the entire district every five

years to inspect the administration of areas five years to impact the

administration of areas under his control. The rajjuka was responsible

for surveying and assessing the land, fixing its rent and record keeping

besides judicial functions. The duties of yukta largely comprised

secretarial work collection and accounting of revenue etc.There were

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intermediate levels of administration between district and that of

village. This unit comprised five to ten or more villages. The village

was the smallest unit of administration. The head of the village was

called gramika who was assisted in village administration by village

elders. It is difficult to say whether the gramika was a paid servant or

was elected by the village people. The villages enjoyed considerable

autonomy. Most of the disputes of the village were settled by gramika

with the help of village assembly. The Arthashastra mentions a wide

range of scales in salary, the highest being 48000 panas and the

lowest 60 panas.

City Administration

A number of cities such as Pataliputra, Taxila, Ujjain, Tosali,

Suvarnagiri, Samapa, Isila and Kausambi are mentioned in the edicts

of Ashoka.The Arthashastra has a full chapter on the administration of

cities.Megasthenese has described in detail the administration of

Pataliputra and it can be safely presumed that similar administration

system was followed in most of the Mauryan cities.Megasthenese

described that the city of Pataliputra was administered by a city

council comprising 30 members. These 30 members were divided into

a board of five members each. Each of these boards had specific

responsibilities towards the administration of city. The first board was

concerned with the industrial and artistic produce. Its duties included

fixing of wages, check the adulteration etc.The second board dealt with

the affairs of the visitors especially outsiders who came to

Pataliputra.The third board was concerned with the registration of birth

and death.

The fourth board regulated trade and commerce kept a vigil on the

manufactured goods and sales of commodities. The fifth board was

responsible for the supervision of manufacture of goods. The sixth

board collected taxes as per the value of sold goods. The tax was

normally 1/10th of the sold goods. The city council appointed officers

who looked after the public welfare such as maintenance and repairs of

roads,markets,hospitals,temples,educational

institutions,sanitation,water supplies etc.The officer in charge of the

city was known as Nagarka.The administrative machinery of the

Mauryan state was fairly developed and well organized. Numerous

depts regulated and controlled the activities of the state. Several

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important depts that Kautilya mentions are accounts, revenue, mines

and minerals, chariots, customs and taxation.

Economic Activities

The Mauryan state concerned machinery which governed vast areas

directly and to enforce the rules and regulations in respect of

agriculture, industry, commerce, animal husbandry etc.The measures

taken by the Maurya state for the promotion of the economy gave

great impetus to economic development during the period. The

vastness of India's agricultural and mineral resources and the

extraordinary skill of her craftsmen have been mentioned by

Megasthenes and other Greek writers. The large part of the population

was agriculturists and lived in villages. New areas were brought under

cultivation after cleaning the forest. People were encouraged to settle

down in new areas.

chief of the guild was called jesthaka.The guilds settled the disputes of

their members. A few guilds issued their own coins.

Among the crops rice of different varieties, coarse grains, sesame,

pepper, pulses, wheat, linseed, mustard, vegetable and fruits of

various kinds and sugarcane were grown. The state also owned

agricultural farms, cattle farms and dairy farms etc.Irrigation was

given due importance. Water reservoirs and dams were built and water

for irrigation was distributed. The famous inscription of Rudradaman

found at Junagarh mention that one of Chandragupta's governors,

Pushyagupta was responsible for building a dam on Sudarshana Lake

near Girnar in Kathiawad.From an inscription of Skandagupta it has

been known that this dam was repaired during his reign almost 800

years after it was built. Industry was organized in various guilds.

The chief industries were textile, mining and metallurgy, ship building,

jewellery making, metal working etc.The trade was regulated by the

state. India supplied to other states indigo, cotton and silk and

medicinal items. Provisions of warehouses, godowns and transport

arrangements were also made. Foreign trade was carried on by land as

well as by sea. Special arrangements were made for the protection of

trade routes. The state controlled and regulated the weights and

measures. The artisans and craftsmen were specially protected by the

state and offences against them were severely punished. The guilds

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were powerful institutions. It gave craftsmen great economic, political

and judicial powers and protection. The

The Sanchi Stupa inscription mentions that one of the carved gateways

was donated by the guilds of ivory workers.Similary the Nasik cave

inscription mentions that two weaver's guilds gave permanent

endowments for the maintenance of a temple.Kautilya says a full

treasury is a guarantee of the prosperity of the state and it is the most

important duty of the king to keep the treasury full at all the times for

all works. During the Mauryan period taxes were levied both in cash

and in kind and were collected by local officers. The chief source of

revenue was land tax and tax levied on trade etc.The land tax was

1/4th to 1/6th of the produce. Toll tax was levied on all times which

were brought for sale in the market. Tax was also levied on the

manufactured goods. Those who could not pay the tax in cash or kind

were to contribute their dues in the form of labor.Strabo mentions that

craftsmen, herdsmen, traders, farmers all paid taxes. The

Arthashastra describes revenues at great length. This was further

augmented by income from mines, forests, pasture lands, trade and

forts etc.Brahmans, children and handicapped people were exempted

from paying taxes. Also no tax was levied in areas where new trade

routes or new irrigation projects or new agricultural land were being

developed. Tax evasion was considered a very serious crime and

offenders were severely punished.

Society and Culture

Megasthenese speaks of Mauryan society as comprising seven castesphilosophers,

farmers, soldiers, herdsmen, artisans, magistrates and

councillors. He could not properly comprehend the Indian society and

failed to distinguish between jati, Varna and the occupation. The

chaturvana system continued to govern the society. But the craftsmen

irrespective of jati enjoyed a high place in the society. The material

growth mellowed the jati restrictions and gave people prosperity and

respectability. The urban way of life developed. The residential

accommodation and its wealth etc were entered into official records

and rules and regulation were well defined and strictly implemented.

The education is fairly wide spread. Teaching continued to be the main

job of the Brahmans. But Buddhist monasteries also acted as

educational institutions.Taxila, Ujjayini and Varanasi were famous

educational institutions. The technical education was generally

provided through guilds, where pupils learnt the crafts from the early

age. In the domestic life the joint family system was the norm. A

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married woman had her own properly in the form of bride gift and

jewels.

These were at her disposal in case of widowhood. The widows had a

very honourable place in the society. There are frequent references to

women enjoying freedom and engaged in many occupations. Offences

against women were severely dealt with.Kautilya laid down penalties

against officials in charge of workshops and prisons who misbehaved

with women.Megasthenese have stated that slavery did not exist in

India. However forced labour and bonded labour did exist on a limited

scale but were not treated so harshly as the slaves in the western

world. About one and half century of Mauryan rule witnessed the

growth of economy, art and architecture, education.

Art and Architecture

During the Mauryan period there was a great development in the field

of art and architecture. The main examples of the Mauryan art and

architecture that survived are

Ashokan pillars and capitals.

Remains of the royal palace and the city of Pataliputra

Rock-cut Chaitya caves in the Barabar and Nagarjuni hills

Individual Mauryan sculptures and terracotta figurines

Pillar and Sculpture

The pillars set up by Ashoka furnish the finest remains of the Mauryan

art. The pillars with Ashoka edicts inscribed on them were placed

either in sacred enclosures or in the vicinity of towns. The pillars are

made of two types of stone-the spotted red and white sandstone from

the region of Mathura and the buff coloured fine grained hard

sandstone usually with small black spots quarried in Chunar near

Banaras.The stone was transported from Mathura and Chunar to the

various sites where the pillars have been found and here the stone

was cut and carried by craftsmen. Each pillar has three parts: the prop

under the foundation, the shaft of the column and the capital. The

prop is buried in the ground. The shaft made of a single piece of sand

stone supports the capital made of another single piece of sandstone.

Thin round and slightly tapering shaft is highly polished and very

graceful in its proportions. The capital which is the third part of the

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pillar consists of some finally executed animal figures such as the lion

or the elephant.

The sacred dharmachakra with 24 spokes symbol engraved with

animal seulpures in relief and the inverted or bell shaped lotus. The

capital of the Sarnath Pillar is the magnificent and best piece of the

series. The wonderful life like figures of four lions standing back to

back and the smaller graceful and stately figures of four animals in

relief on the abacus and the inverted lotus- all indicate a highly

advanced form of art. The Indian government adopted this capital with

some modifications as its state emblem. The sculpture of the Mauryan

period is represented by the figures such as

• The Yakshi of Besnagar in MP.

• The Yaksha of Parkham near Mathura

• The Chauri bearer from Didarganj in Bihar

• The stone elephant from Dhauli in Orissa

Artistically these figures do not appear to belong to the same tradition

as the animal capitals. They were probably carved by local craftsmen

and not by the special craftsmen who were responsible for the animal

capitals

Decline of Mauryan Empire

Ashok ruled over 40 years and met with his death in 232 BC.The

decline set in and soon after the empire decline set in and soon after

the empire broke up. Seven kings followed Ashoka in succession in a

period of 50 years. The empire was divided into an eastern and

western part. The western part was governed by Kunala, Samprati and

others and the eastern part with southern India with its capital at

Pataliputra by six later Mauryan Kings from Dasarath to

Brihadratha.The revolt of the Andhras in the south and victorious raids

of Greek king in the west gave a blow to the power and prestige of the

Mauryan Empire. Due to the concern for the empire and total

disillusionment on kings unworthiness Pushyamitra the commander-inchief

killed the King Brihadratha while he was reviewing the army. This

is the only recorded and undisputed incident in the history of India till

the 12th century AD where the king was murdered and replaced.

Most of the historians agree that after Ashoka his successors were

weak who could not control the unrest and revolt in various parts of

the empire. Some historians hold Ashoka responsible for this

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decline.Ashoka's pacifist policies weakened the empire in terms of

wars and military strength. The centralised empire needed very strong

willed rulers which were not the case with Ashoka's successors. Some

historians think that Ashoka's welfare measures must have eaten away

a large chunk of income and overall income must have been very

inadequate to maintain the army and the administrative machinery.

Moral Codes of Ashoka

Ashoka in Rock Edict XII and many other edicts prescribes the

following codes:

Obedience to mother and father, elders, teachers and other

respectable persons.

Respect towards teachers

Proper treatment towards ascetics,relations,slaves,servants and

dependents, the poor and miserable,friends,acquaintances and

companions

Abstention from killing of living beings

Non-injury to all living creatures

Spending little and accumulating little wealth

Truthfulness

Purity of heart

Later Mauryas (232-184 BC)

The evidence for the later Maurya is very little and whatever is there is

in an uncertain form rendering the re construction of their history very

difficult. The Puranas besides Buddhist and Jaina literature do provide

us with some information on the later Maurya but there is no

agreement among them. Even among the Puranas there is lot of

variance between one Purana and another. But on one point which all

Puranas are in agreement is that the Mauryan dynasty lasted 137

years.Ashoka's death was followed by the division of the Mauryan

Empire into two parts-western and eastern. The western part was

ruled by Kunala (son of Ashoka) and then for a short time by

Samprati.It was later threatened by the Bactrian Greeks in the northwest

and by the Satvahanas and others in the Deccan.

The eastern part of the empire with Pataliputra as the capital came to

be ruled by Dasaratha.Dasaratha is also known as from the caves in

the Nagarjuni hills which he dedicated to Ajivikas.Three inscriptions

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ordered by Dasartha Devanampriya state that the caves were

dedicated immediately on his accession.Samprati also mentioned in

the Matsya Purana is referred to in both the Buddhist and Jaina

literature as the son of Kunala.

According to Jaina tradition he was a grandson of Ashoka and a patron

of Jainism. He is said to have been converted to Jainism by Suhastin

after which he gave the religion both his active support as a ruler and

encouragement in other ways. The western part including the northwestern

province ,Gandhara and Kashmir was governed by Kunala.It is

possible that Kunala gradually extended his territory to include the

western province of the empire.According to the Puranas Dasaratha

reigned for eight years.Jaina sources mention that Samprati ruled from

Ujjain and Pataliputra.

This would suggest that the capital of the western part of the empire

was moved from the north to Ujjain.The decade following was to see

the conflict between Antiochus III of Syria and Euthydemus of Bactria

with Bactria emerging as a strong power ready to threaten northwestern

India.A number of Principalities in the trans-indus region

broke away from the empire while Samprati was occupied in

establishing himself at Pataliputra.Gradually the concentration of

attention moved to Magadha and the main line of the Mauryan dynasty

lived out its years at Pataliputra unable to control or prevent the

breaking up of the empire in the more distant regions.

After the reign of nine years Samprati was followed by Salisuka who

ruled for thirteen years. The successor of Salisuka mentioned as

Somavarman or Devavarman ruled for seven years. The last two kings

of the Mauryan dynasty were Satadhanvan who is said to have ruled

for 8 years and finally Brihadratha who ruled for seven years and was

assassinated by Pushyamitra Sunga.

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