Question

After the Kalinga War, Ashoka never wanted to fight a war because?
(A) After the conquest of Kalinga, the political unity of Mauryan India had been achieved
(B) He did not want to extend his kingdom any further
(C) He was moved by the violence, slaughter, and sufferings of the combatants and non-combatants in the war
(D) Shortly after the war, he adopted Buddhism that was opposed to aggression.

Answer 1

Hint: Under the patronage of King Ashoka, Buddhism was able to spread outside India, including China. Bhutan, Nepal, Japan, etc
1. He sent his son Mahindra and daughter Sanghamitra to Sri Lanka in particular.

Complete Solution Step by Step
Who & What?
1. Born in 304 BC
2. Grandson of Maurya, Chandragupta. Son of the Mauryan Emperor Bindusara and Subhadrangi.
3. His other titles were Devanampiya (Sanskrit Devanampriya means the Beloved of the Gods) and Piyadasi.
4. One of India’s greatest Emperors
5. At its zenith, the kingdom of Ashoka extended from Afghanistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east. It included almost the entire Indian subcontinent, except present-day Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and modern-day Sri Lanka.
5. Ashoka has established several edicts in India, including in present-day Nepal and Pakistan.
Its capital was in Pataliputra (Patna) and it had provincial capitals in Taxila and Ujjain.

Battle of Kalinga
1. The war with Kalinga waged in 265 BC was led by Ashoka himself, and he was able to defeat the Kalingas.
2. Whole towns were devastated and more than one hundred thousand civilians were killed in the battle.
3. He was so shocked by the atrocities of war that he wanted to stop violence for the remainder of his life and converted to Buddhism.
4. Ashoka's 13th Rock Edict beautifully portrays the battle of Kalinga.
5. Now he is the Dharmashoka (Pious Ashoka) from Chandrashila.
6. In around 263 BC Ashoka was converted to Buddhism.

 Option B. He was moved by the violence, slaughter, and sufferings of the combatants and non-combatants in the war

Note
1. Ashokavadana (Sanskrit) written in the second century AD, Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa (Sri Lankan Pali Chronicles) provide much of the details on Ashoka.
2. He set out missions abroad to spread the message of the Buddha.