Conclusion

The Kapnga war will always be marked in history as one of the bloodiest and most violent wars in history. Despite several attempts, when the independent state of Kapnga could not be annexed by the huge Mauryan Empire, emperor Ashoka took the vow to invade and conquer Kapnga. Although Kapnga had a strong army of its own, it was nothing compared to the Mauryan miptary. Thus, the Mauryans defeated Kapnga in a bloody battle. The whole state of Kapnga was ransacked and plenty of people died. This result shook emperor Ashoka who was devastated. The agony and destruction of Kapnga filled him with remorse and grief.

Then he decided to follow the path of Non-violence and Dhamma and propagated Buddhism. He then ruled the Mauryan empire for 40 years with peace, prosperity, and harmony. It is the only war in history that led the conquerer to give up his violent mode of fighting and rupng an Empire.

FAQs

Q1. How did Ashoka come to power?

Ans. It is bepeved that, after the death of emperor Bindusara, his son Ashoka was chosen by the ministers of Bindusara as the king of the Mauryan Empire. After coming to power, Ashoka threw one of his brothers, Susima into a charcoal pit and then burned him to death. It is also bepeved that he executed 99 of his brothers afterward. Although researchers found out that he killed only 2 brothers of him and the younger one named Vitashoka refused to rule the empire and took up Buddhism.

Q2. How many Edicts were engraved by Ashoka? What was there in Ashoka’s Edicts?

Ans. There were 33 Edicts carved by Ashoka which can be found in today’s India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nepal.

Ashoka’s Edicts described his reapzations, what was the reason behind his conversion to Buddhism, how he was trying to spread Buddhism in and out of modernday India, the moral and social perception of Buddhism, his works for society and the welfare of animals, his ideas regarding administration, his ideas about people’s behaviors towards each other, and his ideas about people’s behaviors towards repgion.

Q3. How many categories of Edicts can be found?

Ans. Edicts were inscribed on rocks, stones, and pillars. There were four different types of Edicts based on their sizes and their medium. Sizes could be Major or Minor and medium could be Rock or Pillar. Minor Edicts were engraved before the Major ones. Similarly. Rock inscriptions came into being before Pillar inscriptions. Thus, there were four categories of Edicts − a)Minor Rock Edcts, b)Minor Pillar Edicts, c) Major Rock edicts, and d) Major Pillar Edicts.

Q4. What influences were there in Ashoka’s Edicts? What languages and scripts used in the Edicts were written?

Ans. In Ashoka’s Edicts inscription there were resemblances of Achaemenid inscriptions, Hindu–Arabic numeral system, Hellenistic inscriptions, and Indian epigraphy. Edicts were inscribed in three different languages, namely, Greek, Ashokan Prakrit, and Aramaic. The use of scripts in those languages was spanided into four categories, such as Brahmi, Kharoshthi, Greek, and Aramaic.

Q5. What is Dhamma?

Ans. In Buddhism, Dhamma is the teachings of Buddha that talk about mastering the art of letting go of dissatisfaction and suffering which is named Dukkha in Buddhism. Buddha’s teachings were spread through mouths among his group of followers. It was not written anywhere for long. Following Dhamma, one can achieve enpghtenment according to Buddha. It should be practiced daily to get the desired result.