Ashoka/Asoka the Great 300 BCE – 232 BCE Devin Ouellette

Location India

Timeline Conversion to Buddhism 263 BCE Death in 232 BCE Birth of Asoka 300 BCE Reign begins 272 BCE Marriage 284 BCE

Historical Importance After the death of Asoka's father, Binder Sar, Ashoka and his older brother competed for the throne. The prime minister and other important ministers at the time though Asoka to be more discreet, capable and efficient ruler. The next three years Ashoka focused on reestablishing peace. During Asoka's rule theft declined and science, medicine and technology all flourished. Buddhism received a significant boost of popularity when Ashoka converted to Buddhism.

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta was the grandfather of Asoka. He founded the Mauryan Empire. He gained power shortly after Alexander ‘s death. Once he was in power he forced all Greek inhabitants to leave.

Other relevant Asoka was a very compassionate king as he knew exactly what was happening in every portion of his kingdom. It is even said that he would not eat his supper until he fed 1000 Brahmins. To the east of Asoka’s empire was the empire of Kaling(a). Kalinga was a country that had very fertile lands and Ashoka decided that he wished to have these lands for himself. He surrounded the country with his soldiers. A war ensued and Ashoka stood in the aftermath of a battle and was appalled at how many suffered for his greed, he then took an oath to never wage war again.

India’s Flag After Asoka’s death in 232 BCE the people of India decided to commemorate Ashoka by using his personal chakra. It can still be seen today on the Indian flag. The word chakra is sandskrit and it means cycle or a repeating process.

Ashoka’s Wheel of Law Asoka’s chakra is also know as the wheel of the dharma (way) and it symbolizes the 24 virtues in Buddhism. Some of these 24 virtues include: love, patience, peacefulness, courage, justice and mercy.

Religion Under Ashoka’s rule religion flourished. In particular Buddhism received a significant boost when Asoka converted to Buddhism. Buddhism: Religion created by Siddhartha Gautama Believe in reincarnation, karma and nirvana (realm that is reached at the end of an individuals reincarnation cycle) Main ideology includes self-sacrafice, humility and detachment from worldly pleasures.

Religion Continued Ashoka was first introduced to Buddhism when he was injured on the battlefield and was tended to by a Buddhist monks.

Personal Information Asoka married a commoner called Karuwaki, she was a fisher. He met her before his reign when he was sent to Taxshila to subdue an uprising as a general of the Mauryan empire. Due to Ashoka’s success in the quelling of the uprising and his growing popularity, his step-brothers forced him into exile to prevent him from obtaining the throne. Asoka however returned two years later being summoned by the emperor to quell another uprising.

Asoka the terrible Before Ashoka’s conquest of Kalinga he was known as Chandashok ( Chanda-cruel, shok-associated with Hindu goddess of eternal energy) Asoka was considered a bloodthirsty and power greedy individual. It was not until later, after the conquest of Kalinga, where Asoka received his revelation that he was considered great.

Bibliography "Asoka - The Great Biography,Ashoka - The Great The Legend,Ashoka - The Great Interviews,Ashoka - The Great biography for kids,,Ashoka - The Great Autobiography, Ashoka Chakra, Son of Binder Sar, Grandson of Chander Gupta Maurya, Patli Putra, Radha Gupt, Suman, Ashoka great philanthropist, Himalayas, Nepal, Kashmir, Mysore State, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Brahamputra, Saurashtra, Junagarh, Godawari, Mahanadi, Bay of Bengal,Kalinga war, Anandiji, Ashoka embraced Budhism,History Biography for children,Life line of Ashoka - The Great,Write life sketch of Ashoka - The Great,Mauryan Emperor (273-232 B.C.)." 4to40:Indian Kids Portal,Kids Portal for Parents,Kids Networking site,children, kids, parents, news, jokes, stories, books, poems, activities, features, parenting, environment, e-pals, chat, postcards, opinion, forum, free, school, india. 16 Dec. 2009 <http://www.4to40.com/legends/index.asp?id=133>.

Bibliography Continued "Ashoka the Great -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 21 Dec. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka_the_Great>. "Google Image Result for http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Ashoka _Chakra.svg/414px-Ashoka_Chakra.svg.png." Google Images. Web. 21 Dec. 2009. <http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Ashoka_Chakra.svg/414px- Ashoka_Chakra.svg.png&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wi ki/File:Ashoka_Chakra.svg&usg=__eBagPau5WWRznJwTI0nT19FegW M=&h=414&w=414&sz=57&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=tHfV9q0dZR2 ogM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=125&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dashoka%2527s%2B chakra%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en- US:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1>.

More Bibliography "Image Result for http://www.khosla.in/images/Humanity.jpg." Google. Web. 21 Dec. 2009. <http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.kh osla.in/images/Humanity.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www. khosla.in/inspiration.aspx&h=446&w=500&sz=23&tbn id=fvXVEqUEXi9RzM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=130&prev=/i mages%3Fq%3Dashoka%2Bthe%2Bgreat&hl=en&usg= __ydqE6S83tWX7oq2wDkcKdEU2kSc=&ei=dMEuS7fo O4G0Nu2p1I4J&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct =image&ved=0CBMQ9QEwAw>.