Asoka - Enlightened Leader

ASOKA: ENLIGHTENED LEADER

By Ben Davis

Asoka was the ruler of India from 268 BCE- 232 BCE, and was one of the most influential rulers of its generation. He conquered enemies that stood in the way of a prosperous Mauryan empire, while keeping a healthy relationship with the rest of Asia. He did all of these things because he was a progressive leader who did things for the sake of his people. Asoka showed his people the way of the Buddha, and finding eternal peace. I believe that Asoka was an enlightened leader, who only had eyes for his own people, and keeping them as safe and happy as he could, even if that meant fending off enemies with the use of brute force. Asoka is often seen as a brutal leader who stole land from the Kalingans in order to satisfy his unquenchable desire for land, but I will explain that that is not the case.

Asoka is often accused of being a land-hungry leader, who killed innocent people for no reason, but this is not the case. In 261 BCE, Asoka began an invasion of Kalinga, which in the end, saw him with complete control over the area, including the Ganges valley which he proudly added to his collection of land. 100,000 or so died in combat according to Document A. The Ganges valley was “... a powerful maritime area which if included within the empire would provide a convenient source of income,” says Document B. This shows that Asoka had his mind on the wellbeing of his own people, and he wanted the economy in the Mauryan Empire to flourish. With the addition of Ganges valley, the economy would blossom, and there would be no military threats around them.

        After conquering the Kalinga, Asoka felt very bad about killing all of those innocent people.  He believed that he had done something very wrong, so he sought after religious help in the form of Buddhism, says Document C. In this enlightenment stage, he gave gifts to the poor people, and he consulted local communities about governing with good conduct, political order that had never been conceived in the history of the world. Asoka began to put into place national decrees in rock edicts all around the country in order to fairly govern his people. According to Document E, if a thousandth of the Kalinga were killed or deported today, “it would weigh heavily” on Asoka. These rock edicts were very fair, such as Rock Edict VI which, according to Document D, says “... there is no better work than promoting the welfare of the whole world.”