King Ashoka, of the Gonandiya dynasty, was a king of the region of Kashmir according to

Kalhana Kalhana ( sa, कल्हण, translit=kalhaṇa) was the author of ''Rajatarangini'' (''River of Kings''), an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be ...

, the 12th century CE historian who wrote the ''

Rajatarangini ''Rajatarangini'' ("The River of Kings") is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western part of India, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE. Th ...

''. According to the ''

'', Ashoka was the great-grandson of Shakuni and son of Shachinara's first cousin. He is said to have built a great city called Srinagara (near but not same as the modern-day Srinagar). In his days, the mlechchhas (foreigners) overran the country, and he took

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' A ...

. According to Kalhana's account, this Ashoka was the 48th king of the Gonandiya dynasty (''Rajatarangini'' I102). By Kalhana's calculations, he would have ruled in the 2nd millennium BCE. Kalhana's chronology is widely seen as defective, as he places kings such as

Kanishka Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क, '; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε ''Kanēške''; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 '; Brahmi: '), or Kanishka, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire ...

and

Mihirakula Mihirakula (Gupta script: , ''Mi-hi-ra-ku-la'', Chinese: 摩酰逻矩罗 ''Mo-hi-lo-kiu-lo''), sometimes referred to as Mihiragula or Mahiragula, was the second and last Alchon Hun king of northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent betwee ...

respectively 1100 years and 1200 years before their actual reigns. Kalhana also states (''Rajatarangini'' I102) that this king had adopted the doctrine of Jina, and constructed stupas. Despite the discrepancies, multiple scholars identify Kalhana's Ashoka with the

Mauryan The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

emperor

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

, who adopted Buddhism. Although "Jina" is a term generally associated with

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...

, some ancient sources use it to refer to the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. He also built Shiva temples, and appeased ''Bhutesha'' (

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

) to obtain his son Jalauka. Other scholars have disputed the identification with

of the Maurya Empire. In the chronology of the ''Rajatarangini'', the reign of Ashoka is followed by that of his son

Jalauka Jalauka (also known as Jaluka) was, according to the 12th century Kashmiri chronicle, the Rajatarangini, a king of Kashmir, who cleared the valley of oppressing Malechas. Jaluka was reputed to have been an active and vigorous king of Kashmir, who ...

, then a king named Damodara II, and then the Kushan kings Husha, Juska and

References

Sources

* * {{cite book , editor=Nuradha Seneviratna , title=King Asoka and Buddhism: Historical and Literary Studies , author-link=Ananda W. P. Guruge , first=Ananda , last=Guruge , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iE5uAAAAMAAJ , year=1994 , publisher=Buddhist Publication Society , isbn=978-955-24-0065-0 Rulers of Kashmir