From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kalinga War was a war fought between the Mauryan Empire under Ashoka the Great and the state of Kalinga, a feudal republic located in on the coast of the present-day Indian state of Orissa. The war began in the 9th year of Ashoka's reign, probably in either 265 or 264 BC. Ashoka's father Bindusara had previously attempted to conquer Kalinga, but had been repulsed. After a bloody battle for the throne after Bindusara's death, Ashoka tried to annex Kalinga. He was successful only after a savage war, whose consequences changed Ashoka's views on war and led him to pledge never to wage a war. It is said that in the aftermath of the Battle of Kalinga the river running next to the battle field turned red with the blood of the slain; about 100,000 Kalinga civilians and more than 10,000 of Ashoka's own warriors were among those slain. Ashoka had seen the blood shed himself from his own eyes the mangled bodies of both men and women from the young to the old, he could see over two hundred terrible sins he was the cause of from rivers of flowing blood to widows crying over there slain husbands till orphaned children, this made his heart broken in unbearable shame and guilt. Ashoka's response to the Kalinga War is recorded in the Edicts of Ashoka. According to some of these (Rock Edict XIII and Minor Rock Edict I), the Kalinga War prompted Ashoka, already a non-engaged buddhist, to devote the rest of his life to Ahimsa (non-violence) and to Dhamma-Vijaya (victory through Dhamma). Following the conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka ended the military expansion of the empire and over 40 years of peace, harmony and prosperity followed until Ashoka's death.
