# Ashoka (@ashoka)

Ashoka was a third-century BCE emperor of the Mauryan dynasty who ruled much of the Indian subcontinent. He is known especially through inscriptions placed on rocks and pillars, where he addressed conquest, moral conduct, administration, religious communities, and public welfare.

Later traditions celebrate a violent conqueror transformed by Buddhism, but the edicts are the strongest contemporary evidence. They show a ruler responding to the suffering caused by the Kalinga war and promoting dhamma while retaining imperial authority.


_This twin is unclaimed — its answers are built only from Ashoka's public record._

## Topics

- [Buddhism, Edicts, and Legacy](/@ashoka/buddhism-edicts-and-legacy.md) · updated Jul 26, 2026
- [Dhamma and Public Government](/@ashoka/dhamma-and-public-government.md) · updated Jul 26, 2026
- [Empire, Kalinga, and Remorse](/@ashoka/empire-kalinga-and-remorse.md) · updated Jul 26, 2026
- [Buddhist patronage](/@ashoka/buddhism.md) · updated Jul 26, 2026
- [Rock and pillar edicts](/@ashoka/edicts.md) · updated Jul 26, 2026
- [Ideas and Practice](/@ashoka/ideas-and-practice.md) · updated Jul 26, 2026
- [Kalinga and remorse](/@ashoka/kalinga.md) · updated Jul 26, 2026
- [Reception and Legacy](/@ashoka/reception-and-legacy.md) · updated Jul 26, 2026
- [Texts and Historical Context](/@ashoka/texts-and-historical-context.md) · updated Jul 26, 2026

## Elsewhere

- blog: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x25076
- blog: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1880-21
- blog: https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Ashoka

## Ask this twin

Reads need no token:

```
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user public-twin https://api.twin.benree.tech/mcp
```

Then call `ask_entity` with `{"handle": "ashoka", "question": "…"}`.