Kalinga War and its Impact

At a Glance

• Date Eighth year of Ashoka’s reign
• Source Thirteenth Major Rock Edict
• Claimed toll 150,000 deported; 100,000 killed
• Policy shift Bherighosha to dhammaghosha
• Capital of Kalinga Tosali
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Mauryan Empire

Where Does It Fit?

This is the sixth topic of the category on the Mauryan Empire. The previous topic covered Bindusara and Ashoka’s early life, and this one covers the war that changed his policy. The next topic covers Ashoka’s dhamma. Previous topic: Bindusara and Early Life of Ashoka.

Why Did the War Happen and What Was Its Scale?

In short: Ashoka’s one major war, against Kalinga in his eighth year, ended in great loss of life and deep remorse.

After his accession Ashoka fought only one major war, the Kalinga war. It took place in the eighth year of his reign, according to his Thirteenth Major Rock Edict. Another account says this is the only recorded military expedition of the Mauryas. It was probably more ferocious than usual because it was a punitive war against Kalinga, which had broken away from the Magadhan empire, and the Hathigumpha inscription speaks of Kalinga as part of the Nanda empire. In the edict Ashoka says that 150,000 people were deported, 100,000 were killed and many times that number perished. Historians consider these numbers exaggerated, because the figure of a hundred thousand is used as a cliche in Ashokan inscriptions. Even then it appears that the king was deeply moved by the massacre. The edict also says that brahmanas, shramanas, other sects and householders in Kalinga suffered violence, killing and separation from loved ones, and that the king felt grief for it. The Nanda background is in Rise and Growth of the Magadhan Empire.

What Changed in Ashoka’s Policy?

The ideology of Buddhism guided Ashoka’s policy at home and abroad. Moved by the suffering, he abandoned physical occupation in favour of cultural conquest: the policy of bherighosha, the war drum, was replaced by dhammaghosha, the proclamation of dhamma. In the edict he says that after Kalinga was annexed he very earnestly practised, desired and taught dhamma, and considers victory by dhamma the foremost victory. He now appealed ideologically to tribal people and frontier kingdoms. Subjects of the independent states in Kalinga were asked to regard the king as their father and to have confidence in him, and officials were told to spread this idea. Ashoka no longer treated foreign dominions as legitimate areas for military conquest and took steps for the welfare of men and animals in foreign lands. He sent ambassadors of peace to the Greek kingdoms in West Asia. Ashoka was converted to Buddhism as a result of the Kalinga war, according to the tradition mentioned in his story, and his edicts confirm his passion for peace and moral righteousness. The dhamma is explained in Ashoka’s Dhamma and Internal Policy.

Did Ashoka Become a Pacifist?

It would be wrong to think that the Kalinga war made Ashoka an extreme pacifist. He did not pursue peace for the sake of peace under all circumstances, but adopted the practical policy of consolidating his empire. He retained Kalinga after its conquest and incorporated it into the empire, and nothing shows he disbanded the huge army maintained from Chandragupta’s time. Though he repeatedly asked the tribal people to follow dhamma, he threatened adverse consequences if they broke the established rules of social order and righteousness. Within the empire he appointed a class of officers, the rajukas, with authority both to reward people and to punish them when necessary. In the Kalinga edicts he told officers and city magistrates at Tosali that all people were his children and that men should not be imprisoned or tortured without good reason, and he planned to send an officer every five years to check. The Kandahar inscription speaks of the success of his policy with hunters and fishermen, who gave up killing animals and possibly took to settled agriculture. Ashoka also promoted settlements in Orissa as a measure of pacification, and the Kalinga region later saw the spread of Gangetic material culture. Dhauli in Odisha has a rock edict.

As an analytical point, the Kalinga war was both a moral turning point and a practical stage in imperial consolidation: Ashoka turned from conquest to persuasion once the empire had reached its natural limits, a break from Kautilya’s advice to pursue physical conquest. Its longer consequences are weighed in Ashoka’s Dhamma and Internal Policy and Pushyamitra Shunga Chief causes Reaction, finance, oppression, frontier…">Causes of the Decline of the Mauryan Empire.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Turning point Warfare to dhamma
• Source use Rock Edict XIII
• Balance Moral and practical

What Came Next?

The next topic describes Ashoka’s dhamma and internal policy. Next topic: Ashoka’s Dhamma and Internal Policy.

Key People and Terms

• Bherighosha Proclamation by war drum
• Dhammaghosha Proclamation of dhamma
• Rajuka Rural administrator
• Tosali Provincial seat in Kalinga
• Dhauli Rock edict site in Odisha
• Cultural conquest Victory by dhamma

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask for the impact of the war. These points add depth.

• Moral Remorse
• Practical Consolidation
• Foreign Peace missions