“Conquest by piety far outweighs conquest by force in its effect and importance”. Thus proclaimed Emperor Ashoka, expressing remorse over the bloodshed, death and destruction his forces heaped upon tiny Kalinga. Reformed by the effects of the war, he converted to Buddhism and with a missionary zeal spent the rest of his life spreading the words of the Buddhist Dharma far and wide. And to ensure that the Emperor’s voice reached the masses directly, he had his high ideals inscribed on rocks and pillars and placed them at strategic locations throughout the country. This, in a nutshell, has been the generally accepted belief about the after effects of the Kalinga war.
If these rock edicts were the only source of Ashoka’s reign we would have had an open and shut case. Tantalizingly, there exists a body of literary work – whose authenticity has not been challenged – which make no mention about Kalinga. As far as these literary works are concerned, Kalinga just didn’t exist. So, was the battle mere propaganda by Ashoka? Did he really convert to Buddhism out of remorse? Is Ashoka who we really think he is?
In the second part of this blog series (first part here), we take a look closer at Ashoka’s rock edicts. And we shall attempt to decipher what may have happened at Kalinga in 260 BCE and whether the rendering of ancient historical incidents in our textbooks stand the test of scrutiny.
(Re)Discovery of Ashoka
Before we examine Ashoka’s edicts, let’s take a small detour and see how 19th century India re-discovered Ashoka. You see, very soon after the end of the Maurya dynasty, Ashoka and his achievements disappeared in the sands of time. Up until the 19th century CE.
| Did you know… |
|---|
| Kalsi, a small town at the foot of the Doon hills near Dehradun, is a place that not many of my readers would know of. Kalsi, though, has a tryst with history that would put most modern cities to shame. It was in Kalsi, around 1850, that Alexander Cunningham stumbled across an extraordinary find. Inscribed on a rock, in the Brahmi script, was an edict from an emperor to his subjects. The world knows this edict as Major Rock Edict XIII (or RE XIII), the most famous of Ashoka’s rock inscriptions. |
By the 1830’s, James Prinsep of the Asiatic Society had deciphered the Brahmi script, and finally the mysterious writings on rock and pillars seen at Kalsi and other locations could be deciphered. And what was the message in these edicts? Peace and compassion, one of repentance for massacring innocent people in war and a call to abandon all forms of military aggression. It surely would have been a sobering moment for the officers of the East India Company who had just occupied a foreign land with military might.
But who was this noble soul, who, several thousands of years ago, had such a high level of self realization? This king called himself ‘Devanampriya Priyadasi’. Prinsep associated this name with a Sri Lankan king (which would have meant that a Sri Lankan king had occupied the whole of India). But pretty soon a Pali script was discovered in Sri Lanka which clarified – Devanampriya Priyadasi was the titular name of Emperor Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya. The world had just re-discovered Emperor Ashoka.
The Battle
Going by Ashoka’s RE XIII, 150,000 people were captured and more than 100,000 people were slaughtered in the battle of Kalinga. We can very well assume that death and destruction due to associated famines, destruction of villages and towns would have claimed many more lives. No other battle fought on Indian soil comes close to the carnage that the Mauryan army unleashed on Kalinga. We can safely assume that the brave Kalinga soldiers, citizens and peasantry would have fought a battle of survival and that the war was not just a one day affair.
What are the chances that after a battle fought on such a monumental scale, the losing side would have made peace with the victor?
It’s all in the location
Ashoka’s edicts have a common theme: remorse for the war, compassion and the need to protect all forms of life and how to follow the principles of Dharma. These edicts were set up all throughout his vast empire – except in one place. You guessed it right: Kalinga!
The mighty battle of Kalinga was really a stalemate with no clear victor.
Why would Ashoka have his edicts published all throughout the kingdom but skip Kalinga? Instead of the main edicts, he has two separate rock edicts setup – one in Dhauli and another in Jaugada, within the boundaries of Kalinga. And what do these edicts convey? Instructions to his ministers and lower officers on how to treat people with compassion. It said the emperor’s subjects are like his children, and that people in the unconquered borders need not be afraid of Ashoka.
Unconquered territory? Here was Ashoka whose invincible Mauryan army held sway across the whole of the Indian subcontinent, referring to a region that was not fully conquered. Given that these edicts were in Kalinga and were intended for the local people to read, it implies that Ashoka never fully conquered Kalinga. The mighty battle of Kalinga was really a stalemate with no clear victor.
Edicts were set up all throughout his vast empire – except in one place. You guessed it right: Kalinga.
The Literary Evidence
The Buddhist literary evidence do not have any mention of Kalinga at all. If Kalinga was really the reason for Ashoka to embrace Buddhism, then surely this seminal incident would have been highlighted in the texts for posterity. We can say with greater confidence, that while the battle of Kalinga did happen, and that the event had a deep impression on Ashoka, it was not as defining an incident as has been made out to be.
Ashoka Embraces Buddhism
If the Kalinga war was not a defining moment, then when and how did Ashoka embrace Buddhism? Ashoka himself says, in the Minor Rock Edict I, that he was a Buddhist Upasaka (a layman follower) for more than 2.5 years. But was this after the war or before?
Ashoka’s first introduction to Buddhism was through his wife Devi. The emperor was surely aware of the basic principles of the religion during the reign of his father, but not necessarily a follower. When Bindusara died and Ashoka ascended the throne after a bloody war of succession, he started looking for a spiritual master. It is at this time – 4 years before the Kalinga war – that he was initiated into the Buddhist fold. And, as Ashoka indicated in his edict, for nearly 2.5 years he was just a layman follower of the Buddhist Dhamma.
Kalinga changed all that. The death and suffering – and the futility of the war – made the emperor realize his mistake. As has been argued by James Macphail in his book, Ashoka had been slowly getting conditioned to the Buddhist teachings over many years, and the war was just a trigger “serving to crystallize into convictions impressions that had been slowly forming in his mind.”
Ashoka, the layman Buddhist emperor, waged war on Kalinga and transformed to Dhamma Ashoka. He became the biggest ambassador of the new religion and forever changed the history of East Asia. Ashoka, the missionary, was the biggest outcome of the Kalinga war.
Epilogue
Ashoka out of favor
Here’s an exercise for you – try and recount the number of Indian emperors or kings whose name was Ashoka. Chances are that you may not be able to recollect even one. How about Ashoka’s grandfather, Chandragupta? Sounds like a much more favored name by kings, right? Ashoka seems to have fallen out of favor with future generations, but other elements of the Mauryan empire – Chandragupta, Chanakya and Arthashastra – remained popular all through.
Ashoka, the missionary, was the biggest outcome of the Kalinga war
And it was only later when Ashoka was ‘discovered’ by the British through his edicts that they coined the term ‘Ashoka the Great’. Misreading of some of the rock edicts, way back in the 1850’s, were never corrected and the real story of the outcome of the Kalinga battle remained in the shadows. By the 1930’s the flaws around our understanding of the war were clear to historians. But surprisingly, it never gained enough publicity as it went against the generally accepted theory that the British supported. Sadly enough, independence did not change much, as our school books continue to repeat the historical inaccuracies.
Kharavela’s Revenge
After Ashoka’s demise, the Mauryan empire had no strong ruler. Rebellions rose along the far extremities of the empire and the empire started to fracture. Somewhere during this period, Kalinga regained its independence. We do not know under which Kalinga ruler this happened and whether it involved battle with the Mauryans.
What we do know is that by 185 BCE, a mere 85-90 years after the great war of Kalinga, the last Mauryan king was overthrown by his general Pushyamitra Shunga. And thus the Shunga empire was established. Ruling Kalinga at that time was Kharavela, perhaps the greatest king to have ever ruled over modern day Odisha.
Kharavela was known to be a great general. He was raring to go against the Mauryan empire that had once subdued and destroyed Kalinga. He leads his troops north, ransacks Rajgir and finally knocks at the door of Patliputra, the Shunga capital. Kharavela breaks into the city that was once the capital of Kalinga’s enemies and the Shunga’s pay tribute to him. Statues of Jain Thirthankaras that the Nandas once stolen from Kalinga were taken back by Kharavela and installed in his capital city. The story had come full circle and Kalinga had regained its honor, glory and pride.
Conquest by piety far outweighs conquest by force in its effect and importance
Ashoka’s message of peace and harmony appears to have had its impact nevertheless. Kharavela had his achievements marked on rock at the Hathigumpha inscriptions, on a hill opposite to Ashoka’s rock edicts. Kharavela never destroyed Ashoka’s edicts, and these two inscriptions stand testimony to the Indic tradition of harmony and peace and reconciliation with the enemy.
In Conclusion
Was Ashoka great? Most certainly yes. An emperor who repented his acts of war, one who turned a pacifist and preached peace, harmony and non-violence 2000 years before such words became fashionable was undoubtedly a great person.
The story had come full circle and Kalinga had regained its honor, glory and pride
Ashoka’s story has been told through a pre-independence colonial lens all these years. Kalinga had been reduced to just a footnote, a mere prop to keep the light firmly shining on the greatness of Ashoka. The never-say-die attitude of the Kalinga people and their ultimate revenge through the person of Kharavela remains forgotten. Sadly, post-independence India barely recognizes the existence of Kharavela. His name is not one that you would come across in school textbooks. Hopefully one day Kharavela and such forgotten legends will get their due share in a more fact based retelling of our history.
References
I hope you find these books interesting reads as much as I found them to be.
- R D Banerji’s “History of Orissa from the earliest times to the British period” (published 1930). 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. Particularly interesting is Chapter # 3 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.
- James McPhail’s book referenced in this blog can be read here.
Nice read after a while! Good one…
Thanks Krishanu