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Ashoka
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Tall stone Ashoka pillar topped with a lion sculpture stands among ancient brick ruins at Vaishali, Bihar, India, with trees visible in the background. Replica of the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, showing four intricately carved lions standing back to back atop a round pillar with a wheel and animal reliefs. Side-by-side historical maps of the Indian subcontinent. The left map shows India around 500 BC with major kingdoms and regions labeled, such as Kamboja, Gandhara, Magadha, and Avanti. The right map depicts Ashoka's empire at its greatest extent around 250 BC, shaded in purple, covering much of northern, central, and eastern India, with marked sites of Ashokan rock and pillar edicts and the probable boundary of the empire.
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Ashoka summary
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Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon in Coronation Robes or Napoleon I Emperor of France, 1804 by Baron Francois Gerard or Baron Francois-Pascal-Simon Gerard, from the Musee National, Chateau de Versailles.
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Ashoka: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Amulya Chandra Sen (ed.), Aśoka’s Edicts (1956), focuses on all aspects of Ashoka’s life and work on the basis of archaeological and literary materials. R.K. Mookergee, Aśoka, 3rd ed. (1962); D.R. Bhandarkar, Aśoka, 4th ed. (1969); and Nayanjot Lahiri, Ashoka in Ancient India (2015), are studies based on historical materials.

Amulya Chandra Sen The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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  • Amulya Chandra Sen
  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified link of Web site: IndiaNetzone - Ashoka. May 10, 2026
Add new Web site: The History Files - The Mauryas: Ashoka. Oct 27, 2025
Add new Web site: ABC listen - Late Night Live - India's Lost Emperor Ashoka. Jun 11, 2025
Questions and answers added. Feb 11, 2025
Add new Web site: Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research - Ashoka's Edicts: A Source of Ancient Indian Governance (PDF). Dec 16, 2024
Add new Web site: Yale University Press - A Shining Star of Kingship: Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd Century BCE. Sep 20, 2024
Media added. Apr 16, 2024
First paragraph modernization. Feb 13, 2024
Add new Web site: Encyclopaedia Iranica - Aśoka. Mar 30, 2023
Add new Web site: GlobalSecurity.org - Biography of Asoka the Great. Jan 05, 2023
Add new Web site: Ancient Origins - Ashoka the Great: From Cruel King to Benevolent Buddhist. Nov 13, 2022
Add new Web site: Maps of India - Biography of Ashoka. May 01, 2022
New title added to bibliography; media added. Dec 10, 2020
Add new Web site: World History Encyclopedia - Ashoka the Great. Feb 22, 2019
Corrected display issue. Sep 21, 2018
Add new Web site: Religion Facts - Conversion of the Emperor Asoka. Jan 23, 2013
Add new Web site: Cultural India - History of India - Biography of Ashoka. Jan 23, 2013
Add new Web site: Colorado State University - The Edicts of King Ashoka. Jun 14, 2011
Bibliography revised. Feb 04, 2009
Article revised and updated. Feb 04, 2009
Added media to article. Feb 04, 2009
Added new Web site: Kevin Wold's - Biography of Ashoka. Jul 12, 2007
Added new Web site: Humanistic Texts - Asoka. Jun 06, 2007
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
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