Kalinga Under The Mauryan

Kalinga Under The Mauryan

During the era of Chandragupta and Vindusara, Kalinga enjoyed its freedom as a separate and independent state, although it is not sure whether it was ruled by one king or as a group of kingdoms or any democratic form of government.

Ashoka and Kalinga Ashok (son of Vindusara) wanted to annex Kalinga with Magadha for commercial reasons, although some folktales indicates that he invaded for personal reason, but primarily commercial reason is most prominent. Because Kalinga has many sea ports which Magadha lacks and Kalinga is between north and south part of India and main trade routes goes through it, Ashoka attacked Kalinga in 261 B.C. and an epic fight occurred between two armies near the river Daya. This site is now identified near Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa. In this battle the Kalinga army put up a brave fight with Magadha’s mighty army. Although Ashoka was winner at the end of the day, the bloodshed and human suffering changed his mind forever.