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Abstract Asoka was the grandson of the Chndragupta Maurya, founder of one of the greatest empires of the ancient India (321-297 BC). The empire won by Chandragupta had passed to his son Bindusara, after his death, it was again transmitted to his son Asoka. During early years of his kingship he was a very harsh ruler. But after witnessing the miseries and suffering of people during the Kalinga War (260 BCE.) Ashoka converted to Buddhism and decided to substitute the reign of the peace and tranquility for that of violence. Due to his acts of piety and love for the Buddhist faith he become the most popular and personality after Buddha for the Buddhists. Many legends associated with him i.e. "a handful dust", "redistribution of Relics", " his visit of underwater stupa at Ramagrama" are depicted in Gandhara Art. In the present article an effort has been made to identify and analyze the legends of Ashoka in the light of their historical background.
Keywords: Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara, Ashoka, Kalanga war, Buddhism.
Introduction The Buddhist Art of Gandhara came in to being in the last century before the Christian era, when the Sakas were ruling in the North-West (Marshall, 1973: 17) and further developed during the Parthian period (1st century A.D.). Like the Sakas, the Parthians were confirmed philhellenes and proud of their Hellenistic culture, and not only had they large numbers of Greek subjects in their empire but they were in a position to maintain close commercial contacts with the Mediterranean coasts (Ibid: 6). Due to such contacts of the Parthians with the Greek World, influence of the Greek art the Buddhist Art of Gandhara was inevitable. On the other hand, indigenes Buddhist art of India, which has already developed in Gangetic plans also, had strong influence on the local sculptors of Gandhara. Amalgamation of foreign and local elements resulted in emergence of a beautifully blended religious art, which reached to its climax in 2nd to 3rd century A.D. during the hey days of the great Kushans.
Sir John Marshall while describing the emergence of the Buddhist Art of Gandhara states that "the purpose of these sculptures was to glorify the Buddha. This they did by recounting episodes from the story of his life and...