He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest.

After the Kalinga War, the Empire experienced half a century of peace and security under Ashoka.

The Mauryan Emperor Aśoka ( 273 – 232 BCE ) converted to Buddhism after his bloody conquest of the territory of Kalinga ( modern Orissa ) in eastern India during the Kalinga War.

Kalinga student in traditional garb with hand-crafted weapon first produced in Kalinga during World War 2

After the Kalinga War, the Empire experienced half a century of peace and security under Ashoka.

Image: Mauryan Empire Map. gif | Ashoka the Great extended into Kalinga during the Kalinga War circa 265 BCE, and established superiority over the southern kingdoms.

Ashoka initially practiced Hinduism but later embraced Buddhism ; following the Kalinga War, he renounced expansionism and aggression, and the harsher injunctions of the Arthashastra on the use of force, intensive policing, and ruthless measures for tax collection and against rebels.

* Kalinga War ( 265-264 BC ) was a war fought between the Mauryan Empire under Ashoka the Great and the state of Kalinga, a feudal republic located on the coast of the present-day Indian state of Orissa.

Ashoka's response to the Kalinga War is recorded in the Edicts of Ashoka.

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 Ahimsa ( non-violence ) and to Dhamma-Vijaya ( victory through Dhamma ).

The region was scene of the bloody Kalinga War fought by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka the Great of Magadha c. 265 BCE.

The kingdom fell when Asoka, leader of the Mauryan Empire led a war against the kingdom, leading to its bloody defeat in the Kalinga War.

* Kalinga War

Kalinga War () was a war fought between the Maurya Empire under Ashoka the Great and the state of Kalinga, a feudal republic located on the coast of the present-day Indian state of Orissa and nothern parts of andhra pradesh. The Kalinga city is capital of Kalinga kingdom, it is situated in present day Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh.

Dhauli hill is presumed to be the area where the Kalinga War was fought.

Ashoka's response to the Kalinga War is recorded in the Edicts of Ashoka.

A few years after the declaration of the area as site for settlement and agricultural development, World War II broke out and the region was later placed under Japanese control, Although the extent of damage on properties and the number of lives lost during the war was nothing compared to other areas in the Philippines, early settlers of the region had difficulty rebuilding their lives after the war for they were not spared from the wrath inflicted by the members of the Kalinga tribes from the north.

The Empire was expanded into India's central and southern regions by the emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara, but it excluded a small portion of unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga ( modern Orissa ), till it was conquered by Ashoka.

An unusual example is that of Emperor Ashoka who became a pacifist after the bloody Kalinga war.

Kalinga was conquered by Bindusara's son Ashoka.

The Empire was expanded into India's central and southern regions by the emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara, but it excluded a small portion of unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga ( modern Orissa ), till it was conquered by Ashoka.

Although the annexation of Kalinga was completed, Ashoka embraced the teachings of Buddhism, and renounced war and violence.

Ashoka implemented principles of ahimsa by banning hunting and violent sports activity and ending indentured and forced labor ( many thousands of people in war-ravaged Kalinga had been forced into hard labor and servitude ).

The Mahameghavahana dynasty of Kalinga in central-eastern India also broke away from imperial rule after the death of Ashoka.

In the third century B. C, during the reign of Ashoka the Great, it was under Kalinga empire ( ancient Orissa ).

The film was directed by Santosh Sivan and stars Shahrukh Khan as Ashoka and Kareena Kapoor as Kaurwaki, a princess of Kalinga.

Eight years after his accession he campaigned in Kalinga where in his own words, " a hundred and fifty thousand people were deported, a hundred thousand were killed and as many as that perished ..." After this event Ashoka converted to Buddhism in remorse for the loss of life.

It is said that she led an army of females against Ashoka in Kalinga after Kalinga had no males left to defend it.

Ashoka's invasion and his Buddhist policy also subjugated Jains greatly in Kalinga.

The Hathigumpha inscription, written by the king of Kalinga, Kharavela, has been interpreted to describe the presence of the Greek king " Demetrius " with his army in eastern India, possibly as far as the city of Rajagriha about 70 km southeast of Pataliputra and one of the foremost Buddhist sacred cities, but claims that Demetrius ultimately retreated to Mathura on hearing of Kharavela's military successes further south:

Kalinga had become Buddhist and begun to worship the Sacred Tooth relic.

Chulla-Niddesa, another ancient text of the Buddhist canon, adds Kalinga to the list and substitutes Yona for Gandhara, thus listing the Kamboja and the Yona as the only Mahajanapadas from Uttarapatha.

From 400 onwards, military campaigns in the form of invasions, by rulers from South India and Orissa ( then known as Kalinga Desa ) and counter-attacks by the Singhalese Buddhists rulers in Sri Lanka, heralded a period of great turmoil wherein the Hindu Tamils from the affore mentioned areas in India and the Buddhist Singhalese would struggle for territorial control.

But it was his conquest of Kalinga which proved to be the pivotal event of his life.

In the aftermath of the carnage caused in the invasion of Kalinga, he renounced bloodshed and pursued a policy of non-violence or ahimsa after converting to Buddhism.

With the decline of Mauryan power, King Kharavela of Kalinga led on army through Jharkhand and ransacked Rajgriha and Pataliputra of Magadh.

1019 CE Rajendra ’ s forces continued to march through Kalinga.

Green Kalinga: The GK Environment program aims to create " green " model communities through its various programs to protect the environment.

On October 4, 2006, Manotoc received the first Gawad Haydee Yorac Award " for his outstanding visionary leadership and compelling philosophy inspiring a pioneering sustainable movement of volunteerism to eradicate poverty through Gawad Kalinga community development ministry, giving hope and dignity to marginalized Filipino families, building homes and model communities in the Filipino spirit of ‘ bayanihan ’, emulating the selfless public service espoused by the late Haydee Yorac.

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.

C. 1019 CE Rajendra ’ s forces continued to march through Kalinga to the river Ganges.

Also, the Cholas were controlling Kalinga through the Vengi Kings likie Vimaladitya and Raja Raja Narendra who were related to the Chola Kings.