Asoka and the Missions

Asoka or Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 BCE to 232 BCE. He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged. The Kalinga war had reportedly resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and it was one of the largest and bloodiest battles in ancient history. Ashoka thereafter regarded Buddhism as a doctrine that could serve as a cultural foundation for political unity, and he initiated a series of Buddhist missions the far corners of his kingdom.