Essay Examples on San Jacinto College

Buddhist Kings and Kingship

Buddhist Kings and Kingship In 320 BCE Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the Nanda dynasty to start his own empire the Mauryan Empire Maurya seemed to have been a strong conqueror by 300 BCE his empire included India south of the Hindu Kush and most of northern India However it does not appear that Chandragupta was necessarily born a ruthless conqueror It is thought that at some point possibly after being imprisoned for offending him Chandragupta was influenced by Alexander the Great a ruler who was able to cement his reputation as one of the great conquerors of the ancient world It is possible that after being exposed to Alexander s powerful way of ruling Chandragupta was inspired to become like him However Chandragupta was not Mauryan Empire s most powerful ruler From 269 233 BCE the Mauryan Empire was ruled by a man named Ashoka After conquering a kingdom on the east coast Kalinga more than 250 000 people were killed made captives or died later of starvation Upon realizing the consequences of his actions Ashoka converted to Buddhism and began erecting sandstone pillars inscribed with edicts based on the ideal of dharma he had conceived Within the inscribed messages laid passages stressing ethical conduct both public and private for example one has been translated to say that while we should respect our parents we must also respect living creatures 



2 pages | 446 words
Save