Who is Samrat Ashoka?

It is because of this, the Brahmin actually brought his daughter to King Bindusara so that the two can get married. The King liked her beauty and took her in and kept her in women’s apartment along with his other queens.

Dharma’s beauty made the other queens of jealous and out of a wicked plot, they all made Dharma a barber girl. Dharma was put at King’s service where she did really well as a barber girl. Soon, Bindusara recognized Dharma as his wife and told her to ask for a wish that he could grant.

After the Ujjain uprising, Samrat Bindusara became seriously ill and never recovered. That’s when a conflict for throne started. Prince Ashoka was called by a ministers’ group led by Radhagupta to take control of the throne.

Ashoka was the third ruler of the illustrious Maurya dynasty and was one of the most powerful kings of the Indian subcontinent in ancient times. His reign between 273 BC and 232 B.C. was one of the most prosperous periods in the history of India.

Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BCE.[5][6] The grandson of the founder of the Maurya Dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya,

Dharma wished to become the mother of King Bindusara’s son. The King agreed and that’s how Ashoka was born. On birth, he was given the name Ashoka Vardhana Maurya.

The elder brothers of Ashoka weren’t happy about this and they started believing that their father, Emperor or Samrat Bindusara will start favoring Ashoka as the next Emperor of the Mauryan Empire.

The other brothers of Ashoka were against this and a battle followed. Ashoka attacked Patuliputra (which has now been named as Patna). In that attack, Ashoka killed his brothers

Ashoka’s empire consisted most of India, South Asia and beyond, stretching from present day Afghanistan and parts of Persia in the west, to Bengal and Assam in the east, and Mysore in the south.

Ashoka promoted the spread of Buddhism. Considered by many to be one of India's greatest emperors,

The Indian TV Series Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat portrays that Emperor Bindusara and Ashoka had a special bonding. This is however not true. As per historical chronicles, Ashoka was actually looked down by his father because he wasn’t a good-looking child. However, the question of Bindusara favoring Ashoka popped in because of Ashoka’s exceptional skills as a warrior and army commander.

Ceylonese chronicles state that Ashoka, in the battle of succession, ended up killing 99 out of his 100 brothers and spared only Tishya – the youngest brother of all. However, the authenticity of this claim is often questioned and it is believed that Buddhist writers only falsely exaggerated the facts in an attempt to portray how Chanda Ashoka transitioned into Dharma Ashoka.

Buddhist literature document Ashoka as a cruel and ruthless monarch who underwent a change of heart after experiencing a particularly gruesome war, the Battle of Kalinga.

Ashoka expanded Chandragupta's empire to reign over a realm stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east.

Bindusara made Ashoka the Viceroy of Ujjain when Ashoka was only 18 years old. Ashoka went there and met Devi – a merchant’s daughter. The two fell in love and married. Ashoka’s first son Mahindra was born two years later and his daughter Sanghamitra was born 3 years after Mahindra was born.

Taranatha – a Tibetan writer however states that Ashoka killed 6 of his elder brothers and then ascended to the throne of Magadh.

Ashoka was soon called back to Patuliputra but Ashoka did not take Devi and their children. It was not really a good option because Devi who was a merchant’s daughter would become the chief queen of Ashoka and this was not acceptable

After the war, he embraced Buddhism and dedicated his life towards dissemination of the tenets of the religion.

It covered the entire Indian subcontinent except for parts of present-day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The empire's capital was Pataliputra (in Magadha, present-day Patna), with provincial capitals at Taxila and Ujjain.

Ceylonese chronicles are proven wrong by some evidences found in various inscriptions which state that Ashoka actually went on to appoint several of his brothers as viceroys of various provinces like Taxila, Tosali, Suvarnagiri, Ujjaini etc. These brothers were referred to as Kumaras or Aryaputras.

Fearing that Bindusara would make Ashoka the next emperor of Mauryan Empire, the elder brothers of Ashoka plotted against him and the eldest of them, Prince Susima talked to Emperor Bindusara and convinced the emperor to send Ashoka away to Takshashila so that the militia uprising can be controlled.

He became a benevolent king, driving his administration to make a just and bountiful environment for his subjects. Owing to his benevolent nature as a ruler, he was given the title ‘Devanampriya Priyadarshi’.

Bindusara acted accordingly and Ashoka was sent off to Takshashila. Weirdly enough, the militia responsible for the disturbance actually liked Ashoka and as soon as he arrived there, the uprising ended via mutual talks and without a single drop of blood been spilled.

The youngest brother Tishya was appointed by Samrat Ashoka as Upraja or Deputy King.

Ashoka was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty. He lived around the third century BC (c 269 BCE to 232 BCE).