Asoka of India
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Asoka of India is said to be one of India’s greatest leaders. He lived from 299-232BC. He reunited all of India under one rule for, currently, the only time in history.
Early Rule
In 273BC, at age 26, he took to the throne when his father died. He was quite successful, and he nearly doubled the size of India. However, in his bloody conquest, he took over 100,000 lives, and he grew to hate war.
Middle Years
After at least doubling India’s size, Asoka learned of just what he had truly done. He learned of the 100,000 who died during the conquest he had just finished. He also learned that at least another 150,000 were dying, injured, or wounded, and how hundreds more were committing suicide. Asoka grew weary of war, and he began to dislike, even hate, war and any other kinds of violence. He took up Buddhism as India’s state religion. However, no matter how much of a Buddhist he was, he believed in universal acceptance of all religions, saying “all of them require self-control and purity of the heart.”
Death and Legacy
Asoka died in 232BC, at age 67. His name would be virtually lost in history by now if it were not for artifacts discovered called the “Edicts of Asoka”, which are columns and boulders with many of the words and teachings of this leader of India. The Edicts describe him as a wise and wonderful man who was full of compassion and care for his people. Unfortunately, the empire this “wise and wonderful man” created lasted for only fifty years after his death. It would appear that the legacy and the memory of this man and the empire that he built will live on forever, however, as long as we have the Edicts of Asoka, especially in the hearts of Indian people all over this world. For, if the Edicts of Asoka are true at all, Asoka was a great and wonderful leader, who, like many others before and after him, will live on forever in the hearts of men and women everywhere.
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