The
Kalinga War was a war fought between the Mauryan Empire under Ashoka the Great and the state of
KalingaKalinga was an early kingdom in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Odissa / Utkal, as well as some northern areas of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh...
, a feudal
republicA republic is a form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch and the people have an impact on its government. The word 'republic' is derived from the Latin phrase res publica which can be translated as "a public affair".Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their...
located on the coast of the present-day
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n state of
OrissaOrissa , is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of ancient republican nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Indian Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC, that led to a turning point in the Emperor's life when deeply saddened by the bloodshed...
. The Kalinga war is one of the major battles in the
History of IndiaThe known history of India - the name in this context includes the areas now known as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its Mature Harappan period...
. Kalinga put up a stiff resistance, but they were no match for Ashoka's brutal strength. The bloodshed of this war is said to have prompted Ashoka to adopt
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
.
The main reasons for invading Kalinga were both political and economic.
The
Kalinga War was a war fought between the Mauryan Empire under Ashoka the Great and the state of
KalingaKalinga was an early kingdom in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Odissa / Utkal, as well as some northern areas of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh...
, a feudal
republicA republic is a form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch and the people have an impact on its government. The word 'republic' is derived from the Latin phrase res publica which can be translated as "a public affair".Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their...
located on the coast of the present-day
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n state of
OrissaOrissa , is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of ancient republican nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Indian Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC, that led to a turning point in the Emperor's life when deeply saddened by the bloodshed...
. The Kalinga war is one of the major battles in the
History of IndiaThe known history of India - the name in this context includes the areas now known as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its Mature Harappan period...
. Kalinga put up a stiff resistance, but they were no match for Ashoka's brutal strength. The bloodshed of this war is said to have prompted Ashoka to adopt
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
.
Background
The main reasons for invading Kalinga were both political and economic. Since the time of Ashoka's father, King
BindusaraBindusara was the second Mauryan emperor after Chandragupta Maurya. During his reign, the empire expanded southwards. He had two sons, Sumana and Ashoka, who were the viceroys of Taxila and Ujjain. The Greeks called him Amitrochates or Allitrochades - the Greek transliteration for the Sanskrit...
, the Mauryan Empire based in
MagadhaMagadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or regions in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges; its first capital was Rajagaha then Pataliputra...
was following a policy of territorial expansion. Kalinga was under Magadha control during the
NandaThe Nanda Empire originated from the kingdom of Magadha in Ancient India during the 5th and 4th centuries BC. At its greatest extent, the Nandas extended from Bengal in the east, Punjab in the west and as far south as the Vindhya Range...
rule, but regained independence with the beginning of the rule of the Mauryas. That was considered a great setback for the traditional policy of territorial expansion of the Magadhan emperors and was considered to be a loss of political prestige for the Mauryas.
Possibly Kalinga was a thorn in the body-politic of his dominions. Andhra, which lay to the south of Kalinga and comprised
inter alia the modern Krishna and Godavari districts, was conquered by Bindusara. Thus on one side of the Maurya kingdom was Chola and on the other Kalinga. According to Hindu Political theory, Kalinga and Chola were natural enemies of the Maurya power and therefore natural friends of each other. It is not unreasonable to suppose that in Bindusara's war on Chola and Pandya, Kalinga was an ally of the latter, attacked the Maurya forces from the rear and was thus chiefly instrumental in its ending in failure. It was therefore perhaps supremely imperative to reduce Kalinga to complete subjection. To this task Ashoka must have set himself as soon as he felt he was securely established on the throne.
The overseas activities of Kalinga threatened the economic and commercial interest of Magadha. As Magadha was not an important sea power she had to depend on other friendly states having overseas commerce to sustain her own economic interest. She would face economic collapse if the coasts would be blockaded against her. The hostile attitude of the traders of Kalinga inflicted a serious damage on her which is alluded to by Lama Taranatha. According to Taranatha, the serpents of the eastern seas stole away the jewels of Ashoka at which the emperor became angry and invaded their territory. Thus a war with Kalinga was not only political but also of economic necessity.Observes, Dr. R. P. Mohapatra.
The pretext for the start of the war is uncertain. One of
SusimaSushima was a prince of Mauryan empire and half-brother of Asoka. He was in line for his father Bindusara's throne, but was killed by Asoka....
's brothers might have fled to Kalinga and found official refuge there. This enraged Ashoka immensely. He was advised by his ministers to attack Kalinga for this act of treachery. Ashoka then asked Kalinga's royalty to submit before his supremacy. When they defied this diktat, Ashoka sent one of his generals to Kalinga to make them submit.The general and his forces were, however, completely routed through the skilled tact of Kalinga's commander-in-chief. Ashoka, baffled at this defeat, attacked with the greatest invasion ever recorded in Indian history until then.
Course of The War
Dr. R. P. Mohapatra aptly remarks, No war in the history of India as important either for its intensity or for its results as the Kalinga war of Ashoka. No wars in the annals of the human history has changed the heart of the victor from one of wanton cruelty to that of an exemplary piety as this one. From its fathomless womb the history of the world may find out only a few wars to its credit which may be equal to this war and not a single one that would be greater than this. The political history of mankind is really a history of wars and no war has ended with so successful a mission of the piece for the entire war-torn humanity as the war of Kalinga. The war began in the 8th year of
AshokaAshoka , popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests...
's reign, probably in 261 BC. Ashoka's grandfather Chandragupta 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. Ashoka 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
Daya RiverThe Daya River starts as a branch of the Kuakhai River at Saradeipur in Orissa state in India. It is joined by the Malaguni River below Golabai and flows through Khordha and Puri districts before emptying into the north-eastern corner of Chilika Lake, km from its origin...
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.
DhauliDhauli hills are located on the banks of the river Daya, 8 km south of Bhubaneswar in Orissa . It is a hill with vast open space adjoining it, and has major Edicts of Ashoka engraved on a mass of rock, by the side of the road leading to the summit of the hill. Dhauli hill is presumed to be the...
hill is presumed to be the area where the Kalinga War was fought. The historically important Dhauli hills are located on the banks of the
Daya RiverThe Daya River starts as a branch of the Kuakhai River at Saradeipur in Orissa state in India. It is joined by the Malaguni River below Golabai and flows through Khordha and Puri districts before emptying into the north-eastern corner of Chilika Lake, km from its origin...
, 8 km south of
BhubaneswarBhubaneswar is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Orissa. Once the capital of ancient Kalinga, the city has a long history of 3000 years and is today a center of economic and religious importance...
in Orissa (India). Dhauli hill, with a vast open space adjoining it, has major Edicts of Asoka engraved on a mass of rock by the side of the road leading to the summit of the hill.
The Aftermath
Ashoka had seen the bloodshed with his own eyes. He felt that he was the cause of the destruction. The whole of Kalinga was plundered and destroyed. Ashoka's later edicts state that about 100,000 people were killed on the Kalinga side and 10,000 from Ashoka's army. Thousands of men and women were deported.
Ashoka's response to the Kalinga War is recorded in the
Edicts of AshokaThe Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of 33 inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, made by the Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty during his reign from 272 to 231 BC. These inscriptions are dispersed throughout the areas of modern-day Pakistan, Nepal and...
. 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
AhimsaAhimsa is a Sanskrit term meaning to do no harm . It is an important tenet of the religions that originated in ancient India . Ahimsa is a rule of conduct that bars the killing or injuring of living beings...
(non-violence) and to Dhamma-Vijaya (victory through Dhamma). Following the conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka ended the military expansion of the empire, and led the empire through more than 40 years of relative peace, harmony and prosperity.
- "Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Priyadarsi, conquered the Kalingas eight years after his coronation. One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand were killed and many more died (from other causes). After the Kalingas had been conquered, Beloved-of-the-Gods came to feel a strong inclination towards the Dhamma, a love for the Dhamma and for instruction in Dhamma. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods feels deep remorse for having conquered the Kalingas." Rock Edict No.13
In Popular Culture
The Kalinga War is depicted in
Santosh SivanSantosh Sivan is a critically acclaimed Indian film director and cinematographer. He has won five National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards, and ten international film festival awards....
's 2001
BollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the Indian film industry. Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the...
epic
Asoka, starring
Shahrukh KhanShahrukh Khan born November 2, 1965, sometimes credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian actor and a prominent Bollywood figure, as well as a film producer and television host....
and
Kareena KapoorKareena Kapoor , often informally referred to as Bebo, is an Indian film actress who appears in Bollywood films. Born into a film family where both her parents, Randhir Kapoor and Babita, and her elder sister Karisma were actors, Kapoor faced the media spotlight from a very young age...
. While the film was found to be lacking in authenticity, it did, nevertheless, correctly incorporate many of the key historical elements of the Kalinga War.
External links