Kalinga War
| The Kalinga War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Maurya Empire | Kalinga | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Ashoka | Kalingraj | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Total 70,700 |
60,000 infantry, |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 100,000 | 200,000+ (figures by Ashoka himself) (including civilians) |
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60,000 infantry,
10,000 cavalry
The Kalinga War fought between the Maurya Empire under Ashoka and the state of Kalinga, a feudal republic located on the coast of the present-day Indian state of Odisha and northern parts of Andhra Pradesh. There is no historical evidence for the name of the king who fought Ashoka. The Kalinga war, the only major war Ashoka fought after his accession to the throne, is one of the major and bloodiest battles in world history. Kalinga, then an independent region, put up a stiff resistance against the brutal strength of Ashoka and fought bravely till the end. But despite being tough, they were outnumbered against Ashoka's armies. The bloodshed of this war is said to have prompted Ashoka to adopt Buddhism. However, he retained Kalinga after its conquest and incorporated it into the Maurya Empire.
The main reasons for invading Kalinga were both political and economic. Kalinga was then said to be a glorious and prosperous region consisting of freedom-loving and artisticly skilled people. The Kalinga Kingdom, also known as the "Utkala" were the first from the Bharat (present day India) who traveled offshore to the South East for trade. For that reason, Kalinga had some important ports and powerful navy. They used to follow open culture and uniform civil code. Since the time of Ashoka's father, King Bindusara, the Mauryan Empire based in Magadha was following a policy of territorial expansion. Kalinga was under Magadha control during the Nanda rule, but regained independence with the beginning of the rule of the Mauryas. That was considered a great setback for the traditional policy of territorial expansion of the Magadhan emperors as Kalinga was very close to Magadha. It was considered to be a loss of political prestige for the Mauryas merely imperative to reduce Kalinga to complete subjection. To this task Ashoka must have set himself as soon as he felt he was securely established on the throne.
As Ramesh Prasad Mohapatra remarks, "No war in the history of India as important either for its intensity or for its results as the Kalinga war of Ashoka. No wars in the annals of the human history has changed the heart of the victor from one of wanton cruelty to that of an exemplary piety as this one. From its fathomless womb the history of the world may find out only a few wars to its credit which may be equal to this war and not a single one that would be greater than this. The political history of mankind is really a history of wars and no war has ended with so successful a mission of the peace for the entire war-torn humanity as the war of Kalinga." The war began in the 8th year of Ashoka's reign, probably in 261 BCE. Ashoka's grandfather Chandragupta had previously attempted to conquer Kalinga, but had been repulsed. After a bloody battle for the throne after Bindusara's death, Ashoka tried to annex Kalinga. Ashoka was successful only after a savage war, the consequences of which changed Ashoka's views on war and led him to pledge to never again wage a war of conquest.
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