Asoka Dbq Analysis

“The faiths of others all deserve to be honored for one reason or another”.. This is a quote from Asoka’s rock edict Xii. Should Asoka’s faiths be honored? Or in this case, is he and Enlightened Ruler or a Ruthless Conqueror? Mauryan emperor Asoka was a Ruthless Conqueror because of his savage war tactics, his responsibility of many deaths, and biased laws.

First of all, Asoka's war tactics prove that he is definitely a Ruthless Conqueror. He didn’t continue war with Kalinga only because the happiness of his empire was fulfilled. Document B, paragraph two states, “This...was not because he completely forsook the idea of war as a means to an end, though he claims to have done so, but because with the conquest of Kalinga the consolidation if his empire was complete”. Even though it is a good thing he didn’t continue with war; if the consolidation of his empire was not complete, then he would’ve continued with war, as it seems to be that he cares so much of his empire’s unjust opinion/consolidation, which just makes him selfish. Also, the conquest of Kalinga was unfair. As you can see, on Document A, the territory of the Mauryan Empire had surrounded Kalinga on three sides, and the ocean on the fourth side. Thus, giving Asoka an advantage on conquering Kalinga for successful trading. …show more content…
For example, on the key in Document A, it shows that the indirect battle with Kalinga lead to over 350,000 deaths of innocent civilians. They unfairly died of disease, hunger, and some were even driven out of the country. Also, when the emperor was seeking forgiveness (Asoka), he would force people to repent because of his power. He wouldn’t let them have the choice of “No”. If they said “No”, this would lead to death even with his remorse. This shows that he wasn’t truly committed to “his mindset of political order”; he didn’t take one’s opinion

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