Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Ashoka the Great

Episode Date: July 9, 2026

He ruled one of the largest empires in ancient history, conquered through war, and then became remembered for renouncing conquest itself.  Ashoka the Great began as a Mauryan emperor whose armies crushed the kingdom of Kalinga, but the horror of that victory changed the course of his reign, his empire, and the spread of Buddhism across Asia.  His words, carved into stone, still speak more than two thousand years later, and his legacy has influenced modern-day India. Learn more about Ashoka the Great and his legacy on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Shop the store at Shop.Everything-Everywhere.com Sponsors Hexclad Get 10% off your order at hexclad.com/DAILY Mint Mobile Save 50% on Unlimited premium wireless plans starting at $15/month at MintMobile.com/EED Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! DripDrop Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code EVERYTHING for 20% off your first order! Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Ds7Rx7jvPJ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashoka the Great ruled one of the largest empires in ancient history, conquered through war, yet became remembered for renouncing the concept of conquest itself. He began as a Morian emperor whose armies crushed the kingdom of Kalinga, but the horror of that victory changed the course of his reign, his empire, and the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia. His words carved into stone still speak more than 2,000 years later, and his legacy has influenced modern-day India. Learn more about Ashoka the Great and his legacy on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast with Benjamin Boster. If you're tired of sleepless nights, you'll love the I Can't Sleep podcast.

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In the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great had designs on conquering India. He wanted to eclipse the Persian Empire and believe that he had to press further east in order to achieve a state of that size. When Alexander advanced into India and was ultimately victorious at the Battle of Hydaspe's River, the region was thrown into political chaos. Before the invasion, dozens of small kingdoms divided the northwest of India, while the powerful Nanda Empire dominated in the Ganges Valley. After Macedonian forces retreated, the political disruption intensified,

and Northwest India remained in turmoil. During this period of unrest, a young warrior named Shandragupta Moria stepped forward to fill the void. By combining political guile with aggressive military action, Shandra Gupta overcame the mighty Nanda Empire and unified the fractured kingdoms of Northwest India. These achievements culminated in the essential. establishment of the Morian Empire in 322 BC. Chandragupta and his successors embraced the Artha Shastras. The Artha Shastras were manuals of Indian statecraft written by the legendary

advisor of Shandragupta, Cautilia. Coutillia's writings endorsed a fierce, uncompromising form of statehood that the Maori ruling class adopted as a standard operating procedure. The Maori rulers established an empire from the Himalayas to southern India and from the Bay of Bengal to Afghanistan, so they needed a clear vision to organize institutions, collect revenues, and establish political legitimacy. To fund the vast state, the Maori and rulers created a unified currency and a complex network of roads linking the empire's four provinces for trade. The Indian Ocean trade networks were already flourishing, transporting Indian cotton and

Southeast Asian spices to the Near East and Mediterranean. The internal role of the internal Royal Road Network facilitated inland trade, but the Indian Ocean trade generated the most wealth. As such, strengthening control over the coastal region became the primary importance of Chandra Gupta's grandson, and the star of this episode, Ashoka. Ashoka was the son of the second Morian ruler, Bindusara. Ashoka endured a challenging childhood, but ironically, his name means one without sorrow. Ashoka struggled with his father because Bindusara preferred his older brothers to secede him. Legend also held that Ashoka had a skin condition so severe that it actually repelled other people.

Medical historians suggest that he likely had a serious case of plaque psoriasis. Ashoka used all of these perceived slights as fuel. After Bindu Sara's death, Ashoka and his older brother Soussema fought a fierce civil war, which ended when Ashoka killed him and ascended the throne. After assuming power, likely in his early 30s, Ashoka followed the Morian Statecraft playbook, embracing political violence and expecting complete obedience from his subjects. At first, Ashoka was a tyrant who excessively used torture.

Indian storytellers often tell of Ashoka's construction of Ashoka's hell, a massive torture palace that he intentionally designed as a beautiful garden. Stories of his fascination with horror and violence earned him the nickname Shonda Soka, or Ashoka the fierce. Ashoka's primary focus was on expanding the size and wealth of his empire. These designs led him to the Republic of Kalinga, a seafaring province on India's eastern coast in the Bengal region. Controlling Kalinga gave Ashoka control over a key terminus on the Indian Ocean trade route. Given Kalinga's proximity to the Spice Islands, control over it would give Ashoka significant. significant leverage and control over coveted trade routes. In 261 BC, Ashoka launched his invasion of Kalinga.

And even by the often inflated battle statistics of the ancient world, Kalinga was a bloodbath. Estimates of the casualties remain surprisingly consistent. The Morian army killed and wounded more than 100,000 and drove 150,000 people into exile. Historians believe that several factors prompted the high death toll. Kalinga did did not have a separate military class or standing army. They possessed a culture similar to that of Sparta in which all the people of Kalinga were part of the military. This forced the largest army in South Asia to collide with the entire population of Kalinga,

pitting professional forces against farmers, merchants, and even children. The Morians employed the total war mindset of the Artha Shastras. They cast aside traditional norms of warfare and embraced war as a means of absolute subject. The forces of Kalinga were known across India for their powerful battle elephants, a weapon they employed with great skill against Ashoka. But Ashoka's forces countered with tricks of their own. Famous for fire arrows, the Morians frightened the elephants with a torrent of fire, leading them to flee and trample the Kalingans. Local tradition tells us that the final decisive battle took place on the coastal plains near the modern city of Buba Neswar. The slaughter was so great

that the blood of the fallen Kalingan defenders literally ran the waters of the Daya River Red. In the ancient world, people expected a victorious king to march through the conquered territory and triumph, executing enemy leaders, looting temples, and celebrating their victory. However, as Ashoka strolled through the battlefield, he witnessed the complete devastation that he had caused. He saw thousands of corpses, he heard the groans of the dying and the cries of women and children. Ashoka realized that he had caused this entire catastrophe. As these feelings consumed him, he felt an unrelenting grief and realized that the wisdom of the Artheshastras could not guide him through this. Its teachings would have legitimized the death and marginalized the cost of the conquest.

And at this point, he was still Ashoka the fierce, not Ashoka the Great. It was in the aftermath of the battle, he found salvation elsewhere, experience. one of the most remarkable transformations of any leader in world history. Ashoka found refuge in the teachings of the Buddha. On the battlefield that day, the fierce Ashoka died and was replaced by someone who emphasized kindness and Buddhist morality. History rarely sees a political leader experiencing a complete epiphany like this. The closest popular parallel might be the Roman Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity,

at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. But grief and remorse did not cause Constantine's conversion. His supposed citing of a sign from God in the sky occurred before the battle and served as a tactical rallying cry among his men, many of whom had already quietly embraced Christian teachings that were gaining momentum throughout Rome. Unlike many rulers who might experience such an epiphany and step down from power out of grief, Ashoka knew only one path forward. to use the political lessons he had learned from the Arthasasasasas as a guide to implementing

kindness and morality. He officially replaced the ancient imperial doctrine of Dig Vigaya, or conquest by military force, with Dharma Vigaya, which translates to conquest by righteousness. In a remarkable transformation, Ashoka pledged to conquer through persuasion and by setting an example of righteousness. To enforce this new order, Ashoka created a new civil code called the Dharma, based on the Buddhist teaching of Dharma. Dahma was a secular set of teachings applicable to India's diverse early Hindu and Jainist populations. Travelers and merchants from Hellenistic kingdoms or Western Asia would recognize these

teachings as part of a universal moral code. Similar approaches to applying Ashoka's tradition appeared later in Indian history under Akbar the Great and most famously Gandhi. Ashoka's attitude towards the value of all religions was clear in the writings of the time, in which he said, quote, that the goal of all religions is enlightenment. The core tenets of Ashoka's code were simple. Absolute nonviolence towards all living things, profound tolerance for all competing spiritual sex, respect for parents, teachers, and elders, immense generosity to the poor, and the humane dignified treatment of all regardless of status.

To make this vision a reality, Ashoka created what is probably the world's first welfare system. Ashoka's India would offer free hospitals for the poor, an idea thousands of years ahead of its time. As a lover of animals and part of his emphasis on kindness, Ashoka established veterinary facilities. Ashoka's Enlightenment also called for direct assistance to the impoverished and hungry.

Ashoka often said of his journey and desire to, to help his fellow men, quote, All men are my children. To ensure the endurance of his ideas, Ashoka wanted a permanent reminder of his message of Dahma. Ashoka erected dozens of 50-ton, 50-foot pillars across various parts of India. Approximately 25 of these pillars still stand today.

And in addition to the pillars, Scrib carved these edicts and codes into natural features such as boulders and rock cliffs. Ashoka was not content to limit his message to just India. Archaeologists have found edicts written in regional languages, including Greek and Aramaic, along trade routes leading towards modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Arthasasasasas originally called for the commitment of legal and often extra-legal violence to enforce its edicts.

Ashoka followed that blueprint and created the Dama Mahatmas, or Officers of the Righteous Law. These officials served as human rights and ethical observers, and their job was to ensure that the principles of Dahma were upheld. Perhaps the most revolutionary component of Ashoka's platform was the enforcement of these ideas regardless of caste, which was a remarkable innovation in India at the time. Ashoka was a key factor in transforming Buddhism from a regional belief system to a more universal religion. Through the Morian trade routes, Ashoka expanded the influence.

of his philosophical beliefs. One example was sending his own children on a historic maritime mission to the kingdom of Sri Lanka. They traveled by ship from the eastern port of Kalinga, carrying a sacred sapling of the original Bodai tree, the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. This act established Theraveda Buddhism in Sri Lanka, which eventually served as a launching pad for the expansion of Buddhism into Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and the rest of South East Asia. Under Ashoka's leadership, the Morian capital at Patali Putra became a center of Buddhist scholarship and monasticism. Emperor Ashoka died sometime around the year 232 BC after a monumental

40-year reign. Without his unifying influence, the Morian Empire was reduced to a regional state within 50 years, as it had been before Ashoka's ascent. In modern India, Ashoka became a powerful national symbol. After India gained independence in 1947, the new republic adopted the lion capital of Ashoka as the national emblem. This sculpture originally stood atop one of Ashoka's pillars. It shows four lions standing back to back, symbolizing authority, confidence, and moral rule. The Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoked wheel associated with Dharma, appears at the center of India's national flag. The wheel suggests law, motion, righteousness, and moral order. The use of Ashoka as a national symbol was not accidental, as independent India

wanted symbols that were ancient, but not narrowly sectarian. Ashoka offered an ideal model. He was an Indian emperor associated with unity, ethical government, religious tolerance, and peace. Ashoka's empire eventually faded, but his legacy endured in ways few conquerors ever achieve. He is remembered not merely for the territory he ruled, but for the moral transformation he claimed after the devastation of Kalinga and his role in spreading Buddhism across Asia. His pillars, edicts, and symbols still stand as reminders over 2,200 years later, that power can be measured not only by conquest, but also by restraint, compassion, and the attempt to govern with a conscience.

The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research in writing for this episode was provided by Joel Hermanson. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. And I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord, as this is where everything happens outside of the podcast. As always, if you leave a review on any of the major podcast apps,

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