Ashoka: Portrait of a Philosopher King

"There are few historical figures more integral to South Asian history than Emperor Ashoka, a third-century BCE king who ruled over a larger area of the Indian subcontinent than anyone else before British colonial rule. Ashoka sought not only to rule his territory, but also to give it a unity of purpose and aspiration, to unify the people of his vastly heterogeneous empire not by a cult of personality, as numerous kings of antiquity did by claiming divine status, but by the cult of an idea, encapsulated in the term 'dharma' and serving as the linchpin of a new moral order. He aspired to forge a new moral philosophy that would be internalized not only by the people of his empire but also by rulers and subjects of other countries, the foundation for his theory of international relations, in which practicing dharma would bring international conflicts to an end. His fame spread far and wide both in India and in other parts of Asia, and it prompted diverse reimaginations of the king and his significance. In this new biography, Patrick Olivelle crafts a portrait of the man as it emerges from his own writings and from the art and architecture he pioneered, the philosophies that guided him, and the legacy he left behind"-- Provided by publisher.