Emperor Ashoka’s war against Kalinga in 260 BCE was a defining moment in ancient Indian history. The death and mayhem unleashed by Ashoka’s army decimated Kalinga, killing and maiming lakhs of people. And, as the story goes, so moved was the Emperor by the outcome of the war that he embraced Buddhism and became a pacifist. But why did Ashoka attack Kalinga in the first place? And if he intended to occupy Kalinga by force, why did he feel regret after his victory? What was the state of Kalinga before Ashoka’s invasion? In this blog series, we go beyond commonly held views and delve deep into the causes of the Kalinga war and its aftermath.
Kalinga before Ashoka
Seafarers par excellence
Sandwiched between the undulating hills of the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, Kalinga was blessed with several fast-flowing rivers that provided both a means of navigation as well as water for irrigation. The country had been populated from time immemorial with the fertile land sustaining a very large population. Geographically, Kalinga was spread out between the mouth of the Ganges in the north and the Godavari in the south.
The citizens of Kalinga were natural seafarers and armed with a deep knowledge of the monsoon winds, established trade routes with far eastern countries such as (present-day) Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. For a relatively small-sized kingdom, Kalinga became immensely wealthy and the richness of the kingdom soon invited attention from its powerful neighbours.
Magadha/Kalinga rivalry
One of the earliest references to Kalinga’s tumultuous relationship with its neighbours comes from the rock inscription of Kharavela at Hathigumpha.
| Did you know… |
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| Kharavela’s 17 line rock inscription (in the Udayagiri cave outside Bhubaneswar) depicts the key events during the reign of King Kharavela of Kalinga. History books may rarely have any reference to Kharavela and many of my readers may not be aware of this great king, but Kharavela’s story is intricately tied to the rise of Kalinga after the decline of the Mauryan empire. |
In line #6 of the inscription, Kharavela refers to the extension of a canal that was initially constructed by the Nanda king when he had annexed Kalinga to his empire. The Nanda’s were the rulers of Magadha before being deposed by Chandragupta Maurya (Ashoka’s grandfather), and the Nanda king referred to in Kharavela’s inscription was probably Mahadapadma Nanda. This helps us trace back the enmity between Magadha and Kalinga to around 350 BCE – a hundred-odd years before the Kalinga war.
At some point – and we have no real historical records to show when it happened – Kalinga managed to free itself from Nanda rule. The Nanda’s had a very powerful army and the mere prospect of facing this huge army had once convinced Alexander of Macedonia (aka Alexander the Great) to end his eastern campaign and return home.
It is inconceivable that Kalinga would have gone to war with the Nanda army and secured its independence. A safer conclusion would be to assume that Kalinga regained its independence when Chandragupta Maurya defeated the last Nanda ruler Dhanananda in 324 BCE.
Chandragupta and Kalinga
Kalinga was not a vassal of either Chandgraputa or his son Bindusara, for Ashoka had to wage war to conquer the state. A pertinent question here is why did Changraputa not attempt to bring Kalinga under his control – here was a rich state that did not bow to Mauryan supremacy and, more critically, was just a stone’s throw away from the capital of the empire at Pataliputra. Why would Chandragputa and Chanakya let Kalinga be?
The logical answer to this question could be that Kalinga was never seen as an enemy to the Mauryan empire. Kalinga and its trading ports were a window for the Mauryans to trade with the far east and what good would it be for Chandragupta to wage a war and ruin this source of revenue? Likewise for Kalinga – stuck between the Mauryan empire and the ocean – being on good terms with Chandragupta would have been the most prudent approach.
The Jain connection
Yet another aspect linked both the kingdoms – religious beliefs. The rulers of Kalinga were followers of Jainism. Chandragupta was drawn more and more to Jainism during his reign and after ruling for over 28 years, followed the Jain monk Badrabahu to Shravanabelagola (in present-day Karnataka) where he spent his last days. Once again there are no historical records to confirm this, but it may be assumed that Jainism helped cement a bond between the two kingdoms.
The relationship between Kalinga and the Mauryans did not change much when Bindusara, Chandragupta’s son, ascended the throne. Kalinga continued to remain outside the Mauryan sphere and all was well between them. This was to change when Bindusara’s son Ashoka took over the reins of the kingdom.
Ashoka before Kalinga
Ashokavardhana was the son of the Mauryan emperor Bindusara. Being one of the royal princes, we can safely assume that he was well trained and groomed for royal duties. He would have certainly been imparted with the knowledge of Arthashastra, the book that was the guiding principle of Mauryan statecraft. Historical records indicate that Ashoka excelled in the tasks assigned to him by Bindusara including leading troops at the far outpost of the empire at Takshashila.
It was during Ashoka’s governorship of Ujjain that he met and married Devi, the daughter of a local merchant. Devi was a practising Buddhist when she married Ashoka and her deep religious beliefs influenced Ashoka and played a major role in his embracing Buddhism later on.
Accession to the throne
When Bindusara passed away around 273 BCE a race ensued amongst his children in claiming the throne. Bindusara’s eldest and most favoured son, Sumana, was away from the capital when the emperor expired. Seizing the opportunity, Ashoka is said to have raced to Pataliputra, ordered the capture and execution of his younger brothers, and proclaimed himself the new emperor.
By the time Sumana arrived on the scene, all was lost – Ashoka had Sumana captured and executed as well. Buddhist stories abound of Ashoka killing 99 of his brothers in a brutal battle to come to power, and this killing of the family members earned him the title ‘Chandashoka’ or ‘Ashoka the fierce’. Are these stories factual, do they stand the test of (available) evidence?
Most certainly Ashoka did kill his brother(s) to gain control of the Mauryan throne. And while he did have Sumana killed, Ashoka never had 99 brothers and hence couldn’t have killed so many. The Buddhist chroniclers were most probably painting a highly negative picture of Ashoka before his admission to the Buddhist fold. But why so? This was propaganda at play: the aim was to demonstrate how conversion to the Buddhist faith could transform someone as immoral and inhumane as ‘Chandashoka’ to ‘Dhammashoka’ (‘Ashoka the righteous’).
Ashoka and Buddhism
In the eighth regnal year of Ashoka’s rule, the ‘immoral and fratricidal’ Ashoka unleashed his army on the hapless citizens of Kalinga. What followed was death and destruction at a scale unheard of till then. Saddened by the outcome of his actions, Ashoka realised his folly – and the futility of war – and vowed to spend the rest of his life on the upliftment of his subjects. Guiding him in that journey would be the 3-fold path of the Buddhist dharma, and ‘Chandashoka’ transformed to ‘Dhammashoka’.
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| Regnal year is a fancy term for the year of coronation, so 8th regnal year means the 8th year after coronation |
Or so goes the narrative in our textbooks. Let’s once again get down to examining the available evidence.
The Contradictions
You may be surprised to know that there is very little real historical evidence for Ashoka’s religious conversion post the Kalinga war. Neither Ashoka’s rock edicts nor his pillar edicts give any indication that he converted to Buddhism after Kalinga. In fact, the Sri Lankan Pali scripts (Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa) which exhort the virtues of Ashoka and his role in spreading Buddhism make no mention of Kalinga at all. Put simply, the entire edifice of Ashoka’s personality – his regret for the destruction at Kalinga leading to a change of heart – appears to be a figment of someone’s imagination.
But wait, before we jump to a conclusion, hasn’t Ashoka himself mentioned the battle of Kalinga in his rock edict – in particular rock edict number XIII? The famous Indologist, Dr. Bhandarkar’s translation of the first few lines of the edict is as follows:
(The country of) Kalinga was conquered when king Priyadarsin, Beloved of the gods, had been anointed eight years. One hundred and fifty thousand were therefore captured, one hundred thousand were there slain, and many times as many died. Thereafter, now, in that acquired (country) of Kalinga are found Beloved of the gods’s zealous protection of Dhamma, longing for Dhamma, and teaching of Dhamma. That is the remorse of the Beloved of the gods on having conquered Kalinga.
(Emphasis mine). Opening lines of the English translation of the XIII Rock Edict of Ashoka by Dr. Bhandarkar. Courtesy – Puratattva.
So the written Pali traditions – whose authenticity has not been doubted by historians – make no mention of Kalinga, but Ashoka’s rock edict mentions it. Is one wrong and the other right, or – more tantalisingly – are both correct? And if the war never happened, when and how did Ashoka embrace Buddhism?
Stay Tuned…
To get to the bottom of this, we need to go back and understand what may have happened at Kalinga. The next blog in this series will examine the battle of Kalinga, and unravel the mystery of Ashoka’s change of heart. We will examine the contents of Ashoka’s edicts, summon evidence from Sri Lankan Pali scripts, pour-over interpretations by renowned Indian historians & epigraphists, and separate fact from fiction. Stay tuned!
References
There are no dearth of books about Ashoka and the impact that Kalinga war had on him. I have listed here some books and research articles that go beyond the obvious and delve deep into interpreting the many facets of Kalinga. I hope you find these books interesting reads as much as I found them to be.
- R D Banerji’s insightful book “History of Orissa from the earliest times to the British period” (published 1930) is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the region. You can find an online version of the book here.
- The great Indologist Dr. Bhandarkar’s masterpiece ‘Asoka’ is highly recommended. Part of his Carmichael Lecture series, the book was published in 1925. An online version can be read here.
- Beni Madhab Barua’s book “Asoka and his inscriptions” (published 1946) is a handy read to interpret the contents of the Rock and Pillar Edicts. Online version here.
- ‘King Ashoka and Buddhism‘ is a collection of historical and literary essays by the Buddha Dharma Education Association, Sri Lanka. Of particular interest would be Chapter # 3 (authored by Ananda Guruge) which explains the Sri Lankan Pali traditions about Ashoka and opens up a can of worms on what really happened at Kalinga. Surprisingly this book published in 1994.
- Kharavela’s Hathigumpha inscription has been notoriously difficult to read and interpret. The most commonly accepted interpretation can be read here.
Last but not the least, I would heartily recommend heading to Puratattva for some insightful blogs on Indian history, in particular on the Ashokan edicts.
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