It must not be forgotten that Asoka was greedy. Asoka already had about 10,000 miles of land, he just wanted more. So, Asoka killed thousands of people so he could have more to himself. Also,
Asoka: Ruthless Conqueror Or Enlightened Ruler Asoka an indian ruler was more of an enlightened ruler like a nice person than an ruthless conqueror like hammurabi who killed a lot of people. There is a lot of evidence for why Asoka is an enlightened ruler. Some evidence is where he expanded his land. Also, how nice or mean Asoka was. Then finally, what his religion is.
Asoka could have figured out a peace deal with the Kalingan Empire so the Mauryan Empire could use the trade routes and the Kalingans could still have their kingdom. Instead, Asoka decided to conquer Kalinga, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. Numerous pieces of evidence demonstrates that Asoka was an enlightened ruler who helped pave roads, supported and sent Buddhist teachers to spread the religion, and planted trees for shade. Unfortunately, his ruthlessness led to thousands of innocent lives taken, which is a greater loss than building roads and spreading Buddhist
In the essay, “A History of Violence”, the author Segun Akinsanya reveals information about his childhood explaining his troublesome life. He goes into detail on how he contributed to the downfall throughout his youth years. Segun was influenced by many factors that caused the negative outcome throughout his childhood, such as, the negative contributions from family, the instability of his child and teenage years, and his own struggle to find his identity of self-worth. Segun’s family played an immense part, they contributed to the negative actions throughout his life, he honestly didn’t have any family support or stability.
Many people who live in India know and worship the leader Asoka, or Ashoka, up to this day. But it is debatable whether he was a ruthless conqueror or an enlightened ruler. Asoka was a leader of the Mauryan Empire in India, from about 268 BCE to 232 BCE. He was born in 304 BCE, and became king at the age of 34, and died in 232 BCE at the age of 72. When Asoka ascended to the throne, he started a conquest called the Conquest of Kalinga.
There are some people that believe he was actually enlightened. However, based on his expanding empire, his greed, and forcing people to follow his rules, Asoka is a ruthless conqueror. Asoka was a ruthless ruler because he was responsible for killing a lot of people. According to the map of document A it states,” Asoka invaded Kalinga in 261 BCE.
However, some believe that he was a ruthless conqueror and did not deserve to be known as an enlightened ruler. Ashoka caused the rise of the Mauryan empire, which was important in ancient India. In addition, he cared for the welfare of his people. This goes to prove that Ashoka was in fact an enlightened ruler.
1 People have been arguing that Ashoka, a Buddhist was a Ruthless leader or Enlightened ruler. I will be proving you that Ashoka was a Enlightened ruler by rejecting violence, better government, and making strict laws and it made others happy. 2 To start off, Ashoka was enlightened because he rejected violence after conquering Kalinga. “He felt a great crisis and stirring remorse”.
Ashoka had many great strategies to claim land. Ashoka lived a royal because he ruled many people and had many great things. He had many violence wars that helped Ashoka out because he got lot’s of land and took lot’s of people for his army to fight. Was Ashoka a ruthless conqueror or enlightened ruler? Ashoka was an enlightened ruler because of two reasons: he out thinked the others and promoted a strong empire.
Many people may say that Asoka was a ruthless conqueror because of his conquest of Kalinga which was a bloody battle where many people died and many more were driven out of their country, but I bet the evidence I will show you will make you believe he was an enlightened ruler. From 268 BCE to 232 BCE Asoka was the ruler of the Mauryan Empire, which is now known as India. During that time many of his actions shows that he was enlightened. First, the conquest of Kalinga which many people think was ruthless was something that the Mauryan people needed so I believe that battle was one of an enlightened ruler rather than a ruthless conqueror. Asoka can also be considered an enlightened ruler because he went on a pilgrimage looking for a teacher and after finding a Buddhist monk and following his instructions he was able to understand history, reject violence, and form ideas that had never been thought of before.
For instance, Romila Thaper argues that Asoka discontinued his indulgence in wars after witnessing the horrific battles during the conquest of Kalinga. This establishes that Asoka was an informed individual because he changed his mindset due to the weight that his actions placed on his mind. Asoka felt bad for the people that were killed because of his violent battles so he attempted to take responsibility for his wrongdoings by completely halting his aggressive ways. Additionally, Asoka lives up to his title as an enlightened ruler because he became a Buddhist. According to historian Micheal Wood, Asoka set off on a journey to find a teacher or a guru.
In Ancient India, the people named their flag after Asoka. He did great things for the Mauryan Empire that gave a good ending, but were the means of the ending just? Asoka ruled Ancient India and changed the history of it doing good and bad things for himself but for his empire. Was it being Ruthless or Enlightened? His responsibility for many deaths, his wanting of unfair wars, the unjust laws all clearly imply that Asoka is a Ruthless Conqueror.
Whether it be 2,000 years ago or today, these ‘leaders’ all have one thing in common: Taking lives of individuals, (forcefully or not) to fulfill an ultimate selfish goal. In conclusion Asoka is a ruthless leader due to the fact he was power-hungry and ignorant. Although he could be considered enlightened because he changed his ways, how he got to his positive ending was wrong and egocentric of him.
Henry Clay was not the most educated man in the world, but he had a strict set or morals and he knew how
Violence did not need to be performed for the advocate to get their point across. Ghandi states “No country has ever become, or will ever become, happy through the victory in war. A nation does not rise that way, it only falls further.” (Gandhi 377). He simply wants his followers to know that war does not bring happiness.
