Was Asoka an enlightened ruler or ruthless conqueror? I believe he was an enlightened ruler. Due to the fact that he chose to become a better person. Most ruthless people, would choose to stay that way. But Asoka was different. Asoka was affected by all the suffering and death that he came across. He was affected so much that he chose to change himself. He switched from Hinduism, to Buddhism and changed his ways to help others. Like giving rich gifts to the poor, and meeting with communities. Examples are; Missionaries, Legacies, and Edicts.
Asoka was the founding father of India from 268 BC - 232 BC (his death), ruling the Mauryan empire over 2,000 years ago. He wanted to help spread a religion called Buddhism. Buddhism is a variety of traditions, beliefs, and spiritual practices. A way he did that was spreading out edicts. They were carved by missionaries, which are groups of people that spread royal messages or religious ideas. Some of which were spread were edicts. Edicts are carved royal messages serving as ancient-era billboards. They were written on pillars, boulders, and walls in different languages for the people. It helped them understand the principles along his rule.
…show more content…
Yes, he did have a bit of a dark side, along with his light side. He was in many wars and killed thousands of people. He was very troubled. But after conquering Kalinga, he was questioning himself on why people in his empire were suffering. Others may argue, that he was ruthless because of all the deaths and conquerings in their town or others. But he later on felt horrible about his past. Which is one of many reasons he switched to
As the Reconstruction Era ended, the United States became the up and coming world power. The Spanish-American war was in full swing, and the First World War was well on its way. As a result of the open-door policy, England, Germany, France, Russia, and eventually Japan experienced rapid industrial growth; the United States decided to pursue a foreign policy because of both self- interest and idealism. According to the documents, Economic self- interest, rather than idealism was more significant in driving American foreign policy from 1895 to 1920 because the United States wanted to protect their foreign trade, property and their access to recourses. While the documents also show that Nationalistic thought (idealism) was also crucial in driving American foreign policy, economic Self- interest prevailed.
Silver has always been around but it wasn't until the 1500's to the mid 1700's that the
The Atlantic Slave Trade affected millions of lives throughout the centuries that it existed and now many years later. It was so widely and easily spread throughout four continents and with these documents we get to read about three different people with three different point of views. A story of the life as a slave from an African American slave himself, how the slave trade was just a business from the point of view from merchants and kings, and letter from King Affonso I referring to the slave trade to King Jiao of Portugal.
As I walked through the snow with aching, raw feet, the blood, making a trail behind me, I soon began to realize how Valley Forge and this whole war in it’s entirety was driving me to the point where I wanted to quit. It was the winter of 1777 and the American Army was forced to set up camp 18 miles outside of Philadelphia, we called it Valley Forge. The question that keeps popping up in my mind while I sit miserably in my hut is, am I going to re-enlist? I am not going to re-enlist for 3 reasons; death and illness, harsh conditions, and the lack of support and supplies.
“Season of Hope” happened during 1870 to 1890. “Some blacks in the South pressured plantation owners into adopting individual family farming.” Also, black men’s voting rights were guaranteed and even some office accepted black. Benjamin Singleton, a slave who escaped from his owner tried to help other move to Kansas. Those who answered him were called “Exodusters”. Singleton helped black people start their own industries, even though he sooner realized he was not strong enough to do that. From 1890 the Southern states began to enforce white supremacy through disfranchisement and segregation. They tried to remove African-American from the vote list so that they could do whatever they want. Not only the race separation, black people were also
Throughout Europe in the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, nations were filled with poor and less fortunate individuals. While the nobles of countries such as France and England ruled their lands, many forgot about the underprivileged that roamed the city streets begging for alms. As a result, the opinions towards these lower class people were very differentiated. However, three main opinions stood out. All in all, the views of the poor in fifteenth – eighteenth century Europe included those who believed individuals should help the poor because it is the right thing to do, those who believed individuals should help the poor for God, and those who believed the poor were just idlers
In India, one of the greatest rulers is now being put on trial. His name is Asoka, and he is currently remembered as a wise king, but some scholars believe there is some evidence to argue with that. They say that he was a merciless vanquisher. Now historians have a question, was Asoka an enlightened ruler or a ruthless conqueror? In my opinion, although Asoka might have made a few mistakes, he always put his country first, was a dedicated ruler, and he was very conscious of his mistakes.
He continued to teach Buddhism and enlightenment. These teaching principles can be found in the book Dhamma (Document 6). This was the start of a similar practice of Buddhism. It was not the original since it incorporated some orthodox beliefs.
disciplines were send to India to retrieve the holy sculptures, and help them become Buddha
Buddhism was founded by one man, Siddhartha Guatama. He was born into royalty around 563 B.C.E. in a Kingdom near the border of India and Nepal. He was raised in wealth and luxury, and at the age of 16, he married a wealth woman and they had a child together. Around the age of 29, he began to realize that all humans were in a cycle of suffering, dying, and then being reincarnated only to suffer and die over and over again. It was then that he decided to leave his wife and child to find a way out of this repeating cycle of life and death. First he studied with teachers, but found he was coming to no conclusions, so he turned to more extreme things such as self-mortification, but he was still left unsatisfied.
Before the Mongols began to attack Eurasian civilizations in the 1200s, China, Russia, and Persia had developed advanced societies. The Mongols desired power and wealth, and wanted to advance their society. They sometimes attempted to achieve this power and wealth using brutality, but they were not as barbaric as some historians would conclude. There were many positive aspects of their actions. The Mongols were a civilized society because they had an organized military form of warfare, they incorporated early forms of writing, communication, and religious tolerance, and they had key trading partners throughout the region which allowed international trade to safely develop.
Asoka’s conversion to Buddhism, affected with the help of his own teacher, Upragupta, was gradual. Even though he did little to change the system of government he inherited, he introduced a novel and powerful moral idealism, which was a moral rule or way of life in the Buddhist sense, as he understood it. He called this the “Law of Piety.” This law, though following the tenets of the Buddha, was distinct from them and peculiar to Asoka. It was to become one of the great turning points of the civilization of the East, having profound effects throughout the neighboring kingdoms, not least in
Asoka was a ruler of Ancient India and has done evil, but good things, so would you think he is a ruthless conqueror or an enlightened ruler? Asoka had been a ruler in 268 BC. He had conquered an emperor, Kalinga. During the war, he had killed many people. Because he felt a great crisis, he decided to seek enlightenment. After seeking enlightenment with a buddhist monk, he helped his citizens. Because Asoka was remorse after the killings of many people, he helped the poor, and spread the Buddha’s beliefs while still honoring the traditions of the Hindu religion in India, proving Asoka really was an enlightened ruler.
Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism made a great impact on the Mauryan Empire. If Ashoka continued to be a ruler with such evil ways of enforcement, the people of the Mauryan Empire would not be happy. His conversion to Buddhism saved a lot of lives because of his new belief in ahimsa. Ashoka also sent out many Buddhist missionaries all over the country to spread the religion of Buddhism. Significant events like these were very important events that occurred during the time period of the Mauryan Empire.
Imagine you are standing in front of an edict, one of the many written in different languages by Asoka. You can see them written on pillars, boulders, and walls all around the whole empire. The edicts are written by a calm, enlightened ruler. Asoka ruled India from about 268 B.C.E to 232 B.C.E. He conquered all of India except for the south empires, for they were on good terms. Asoka became a buddhist when he conquered Kalinga, and had completed his empire. Was Asoka a ruthless conqueror or an enlightened ruler? A ruthless person shows no pity for anyone, while an enlightened person is spiritually aware. Asoka was an enlightened ruler because he was just and generous.