What was the history of Kalinga War ?

The war was fought in 261 B.C. and was won by the Mauryan Dynasty.

The Mauryan army was led by Emperor Ashoka while the Kalinga army was led by Raja Anantha Padmanabhan.

The Battle of Kalinga began in 8th year of Ashoka’s rule. Before the battle started, Ashoka sent a letter to King of Kalinga or Kalingaraj where Ashoka asked for complete submission of Kalinga to the Mauryan Empire. This was refused by Kalingaraj.

Ashoka’s grandfather, Emperor Chandragupta Maurya tried to conquer Kalinga once but was unsuccessful.

Emperor Bindusara, father of Emperor Ashoka, was in a process of territorial expansion but the independent feudal republic of Kalinga was a major hindrance both politically and economically.

Emperor Bindusara also made attempts to conquer Kalinga but was defeated.

After death of Emperor Bindusara, Emperor Ashoka took a complete charge to annex the State of Kalinga.

When Raja Anantha Padmanabhan declined the proposal of complete submission to Mauryan Empire, Emperor Ashoka led an enormous army to Kalinga.

The Battle of Kalinga was the only battle in which Emperor Ashoka was present physically.

The battle was fought on Dhauli hill and later the whole State of Kalinga was turned into a bloody battlefield.

The battle was fierce and claimed the lives of 150,000 warriors of Kalinga and 100,000 Mauryan warriors.

It is being said that the battle was so fierce that in aftermath of the battle, Daya River flowing next to the battlefield turned completely red because of the bloodshed.

Several thousands of men and women of Kalinga were deported.

Emperor Ashoka did win the Battle of Kalinga and the State of Kalinga was eventually annexed by Mauryan Empire but the sheer number of lives lost and the sight of hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded scattered all other the battlefield filled Emperor Ashoka’s heart with remorse and grief.

It is said in oral history that one woman of Kalinga came to Ashoka after the war and said that the battle took away her husband, father and son from her and she has nothing to live for. Those words moved Emperor Ashoka so much that he adopted the Buddhism and walked the path of Ahimsa or non-violence.

After the Battle of Kalinga, Emperor Ashoka ended his military conquests and completely stopped the territorial expansion policy of Mauryan Empire.

Edicts of Ashoka have records of the response of Emperor Ashoka to Kalinga War.

The Kalinga War was a war fought between the Mauryan Empire and the state of Kalinga. Kalinga was an important kingdom because it controlled the trade routes with Southeast Asia. Because of this, Ashoka, the Mauryan king, wanted to capture it. Therefore he lead his huge army to Kalinga in 261 BC.

The Kalingans also led an army to the warfield. The small army of Kalinga was not a match for Ashoka's mighty army. Though the Kalingan army fought hard, soon the whole Kalingan army had collapsed. There were more than 100,000 deaths on both sides. The battlefield was bloody with dead or injured soldiers, crying orphans and widows.

Although he won the war, Ashoka realized the futility of war. He vowed never to fight again. He converted to Buddhism and he dedicated his later life to help his subjects.

The Kalinga war is the most famous war fought between the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great and the State of Kalinga.

Kalinga was a feudal republic state now known as Odisha.

This war was the last battle whichAshoka the Great ever fought.

Bindusara, the father of Ashokahad made some attempts to conquer Kalinga, but had been defeated.

The war began in 261 BC which was the 8th year of the reign ofAshoka.