Life Of Asoka Dbq

Asoka was the ruler of the Mauryan Empire, which consisted of almost all of India, from 273 BCE to 232 BCE. Once he conquered Kalinga, Asoka felt guilty and sought to find a guru to find enlightenment. After sitting beneath the Bodhi tree, Asoka emerged as a more fulfilling leader. Throughout his life, he proved himself to be an enlightened ruler by converting to Buddhism, creating the Asokan edicts, giving gifts to the poor, and devotedly improving his empire.

After the Kalinga war, Asoka “felt inside him a great crisis, a stirring for meaning and a remorse,” (Document C, Michael Wood) hence his conversion to Buddhism. He set off in search of a guru, and when he came upon a Buddhist monk, he sat under a tree to reach enlightenment. There,

This is supported in Document B by Romila Thapar: “the kingdoms of southern India were on very friendly terms with the Mauryan Empire, judging from the edicts.” So there is a possibility that Asoka tried to negotiate a treaty with Kalinga. Asoka would have had the right to attack Kalinga if they had rejected the treaty because that could mean his empire was in danger. Moreover, he could gain precious resources and freedom to the Bay of Bengal from Kalinga. As stated in Document B, “The conquest of Kalinga was of importance both to the strategy and the economy of the Mauryan Empire… stood in the way of the southern routes from the Ganges valley, and it was also a powerful maritime area.” It was his duty as king to develop and protect his realm, expand his empire, cultivate his domain, propagate his culture, establish laws, and gather wealth. (Doc A, Doc

As shown in Document D, Asoka created over 30 edicts across India so travelers could see them. The edicts exhibit Asoka’s great deeds, such as planting medicinal herbs where they didn’t grow, digging wells along roads, planting trees, giving prisoners’ relatives time to plead their cases, and stating his opinion on improving the welfare of the world. As stated in Rock Edicts VI and XII from Document D, “I consider that I must promote the welfare of the whole world and hard work… I have done them in order to discharge my debt to all beings… By honoring them, one exalts one’s own faith and at the same time performs a service to the faith of others.” In Document E, Rock Edict XIII describes how the Beloved of the Gods (Asoka) wishes for friendship with the forest tribes of his empire. However, he warns that he may conquer them if they don’t agree. Although this seems vicious, it shows that he wants peace with other tribes. Also, historians believe that Asoka was the first important ruler to promote Buddhism. His messengers traveled as far as Egypt, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Greece to spread Dharma. This further supports that Asoka was an enlightened