Ashoka Maurya

Abstract

Around 260 BCE, King Ashoka Maurya is said to have ceased warring, marauding and expanding his kingdom and converted to a small local pacifist religious sect centered in the Ganges River valley of Northern India, and in so doing, spread Buddhism to the nether regions of his kingdom. This is the noble story that is told of Ashoka, but in reality, his actions may have been alternatively motivated than simply being an evangelist for Buddhism. Examining stone inscriptions and other writings regarding Ashoka will shed light on his attitudes towards Buddhism and other local religious sects, which will help reevaluate this cursory assumption about Ashoka's relationship with Buddhism.