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Ashoka: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As Aśoka
Died 238 BCE? • India
Subjects Of Study dharma

Photos

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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