AR Karshapana

Struck: 270 – 175 B.C.
Mint: Maurya Empire
Size: 15 x 12mm
Weight: 3.06g
Die Axis: ~0°
Grade: gVF
Ref: GH 570 series VIb

Obv: Five official marks.
Rev: One official mark.
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Ashoka Maurya, also as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost the entire Indian subcontinent from 269 to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. His empire stretched from the parts of the ancient territories of Khorasan, Sistan and Balochistan in what is now Afghanistan and possibly eastern Iran, through the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan, to present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of Assam in the east, and as far south as northern Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The empire had Taxila, Ujjain and Pataliputra as its capital.

In about 260 BCE Ashoka waged a bitterly destructive war against the state of Kalinga (modern Odisha). He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. Ashoka reflected on the war in Kalinga, which reportedly had resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations. Ashoka converted gradually to Buddhism beginning about 263 BCE at the latest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia, and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. Ashoka regarded Buddhism as a doctrine that could serve as a cultural foundation for political unity. Ashoka is now remembered as a philanthropic administrator. In the Kalinga edicts, he addresses his people as his "children", and mentions that as a father he desires their good.

H.G. Wells wrote of Ashoka in his book The Outline of History: "Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousness and serenities and royal highnesses and the like, the name of Asoka shines, and shines, almost alone, a star." Today he is regarded as one of the most exemplary rulers in world history. The emblem of the modern Republic of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka.