Asoka

Asoka, an Indian king, has been called the 'Buddhist Constantine,' having organised Buddhism as the state religion. He was the grandson of Chandragupta or Sandrocottus (q.v.). He began to reign in 264 B.C. As king of Magadha or Behar, Asoka became a zealous convert to Buddhism about 257 B.C., and in 244 he convened the third of the great Buddhist councils at Patna. Throughout his kingdom and the conquered provinces he published the grand principles of the faith; and the fourteen edicts by which these sermons were preached are still found graven deep on pillars, caves, and rocks from Peshawar and Kathiawar to Orissa. About 40 such rock inscriptions in the Indo-Bactrian character (see ALPHABET) are still extant; but he is said to have erected 84,000 memorial columns. His civil organisation and administration of justice were also admirable. He died about 223 B.C. See INDIA, Vol. VI. p. 117.