{"id":252077,"date":"2026-07-13T01:44:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T22:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/ashoka-the-great-and-compassionate-king-subhadra-gen-gupta\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T01:44:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T22:44:27","slug":"ashoka-the-great-and-compassionate-king-subhadra-gen-gupta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1kitap1.com\/en\/ashoka-the-great-and-compassionate-king-subhadra-gen-gupta\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashoka The Great And Compassionate King – Subhadra Gen Gupta"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sometimes wild animals like leopards, buffaloes, lions and birds would be part of the royal procession. Everything changed after the invasion of Kalinga. Ashoka had been ruling for eight years before he invaded Kalinga. The area of Kalinga would match the modern state of Orissa and it had broken away and become an independent kingdom.<\/p>\n

Oddly, even though the edicts and books are full of details of the battle, the name of the ruling dynasty or the king of Kalinga is not mentioned anywhere. It was left to Ashoka to conquer this bit of coastal land that Chandragupta and Bindusara had not won. There was also a practical reason for Magadha wanting Kalinga\u2014it had ports that were the closest to Pataliputra. Magadha\u2019s trade was growing fast and goods being sent westwards were shipped from the ports of Gujarat.<\/p>\n

However for the trade eastward\u2014to Lanka, Burma and further towards Thailand, Cambodia and Bali, the ports of Kalinga were essential. So, in 265 BC, Ashoka decided to invade Kalinga and faced a fierce resistance. The Battle of Kalinga remains one of the most significant moments in the history of not just ancient India but also of Buddhism. Its consequences were not just the conquest of a kingdom or the expansion of an empire.<\/p>\n

It was the transformation of a king and it was crucial to the history of one of the greatest religions of the world. The echoes of Kalinga can be heard till today and it will be remembered forever. When Alexander marched across Asia his final destination was a fabulous land he had only heard about\u2014India.<\/p>\n

According to the stories of travellers it was a land of giant grey animals that could trample men under their feet, weeds that produced sugar and plants that burst into balls of wool. When he arrived he did see the elephants, the fields of sugar cane and cotton and also naked sadhus, snake charmers and men doing magic. One can be sure India did not disappoint him. India had trading links with the West as early as 1500 BC, during the time of Mohenjo- daro and Harappan civilizations.<\/p>\n

This trade was carried out by both land routes and by sea. An ancient Jewish chronicle written during the reign of the legendary King Solomon, who ruled in 9th century BC, describes a ship arriving at the port of Tyre with \u2018gold and silver, ivory, apes, peacocks \u2026 almug trees and precious stones\u2019. The writer said these goods had been shipped from a port called \u2018Ophir\u2019. Historians recognize the goods as coming from India and think they came from the Indian port of Abhira or Suppara.<\/p>\n

There were two trade routes during Mauryan times\u2014one overland and the other by sea.<\/p>\n

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2: Chandragupta and Bindusara 3: A Prince in Ujjaini 4: Marching to Kalinga 5: Spreading the Word 6: Living in Mauryan Times Trivia Treasury Copyright Page I am the history bug. Watch out for me in this book as I bring to you interesting facts and unusual trivia from the past. 1kitap1.com\/en PUFFIN BOOKS 1kitap1.com\/en ASHOKA Subhadra Sen Gupta became interested in history as she grew up in Old Delhi in the shadow of the Red Fort.<\/p>\n

So her special love is writing on history for children by making the past come alive. She writes both historical fiction and non-fiction and also detective stories, ghost tales and comic strips. Three of her books, Jodh Bai, A Clown for Tenali Rama and Twelve O\u2019clock Ghost Stories won the White Raven Award at the Bologna Children\u2019s Book Fair. She has written two books for Puffin, A Flag, A Song and A Pinch of Salt: Freedom Fighters of India and Saffron, White and Green: The Amazing Story of India\u2019s Independence.<\/p>\n

Subhadra is always happy to answer any questions about any period of Indian history. You can email her at: subhadrasg@gmail.com. 1kitap1.com\/en OTHER BOOKS IN THE PUFFIN LIVES SERIES Jawaharlal Nehru: The Jewel of India by Aditi De Rani Lakshmibai: The Valiant Queen of Jhansi by Deepa Agarwal 1kitap1.com\/en 1 Discovering Ashoka One of the greatest mysteries of ancient India was solved not by a historian but a scientist.<\/p>\n

When James Prinsep cracked the puzzle of an ancient script that no one could read, he swept away the curtains of time to reveal one of India\u2019s greatest kings\u2014a magnificent monarch who once again stood centre stage, speaking to us across a span of 2,000 years. He called himself Devanampiya Piyadasi, or beloved of the gods and handsome in looks. We know him as Ashoka, and call him \u2018the Great\u2019. Not just because he ruled over one of the largest Indian empires but also because he was an unusually humane and compassionate king.<\/p>\n

There are only two kings in Indian history who have earned the title \u2018Great\u2019\u2014one is the Mughal king Akbar and the other is Ashoka. The historian A.L. Basham calls him, \u2018The greatest and noblest ruler India has known and indeed one of the greatest kings of the world.\u2019 And the surprising fact is that we forgot all about him for 2,000 years. STRANGE PIN MEN The story of the discovery of Ashoka begins in the early years of the nineteenth century when a large part of India had been conquered by the English and was ruled by the East India Company.<\/p>\n

Many young Englishmen came to this country to work and joined the administration, army, police and the trading houses.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.<\/em><\/p>\n

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