Causes of Kalinga War

          The Kalinga war was a milestone in the splendid career of Emperor Ashoka. It took place in 261 B.C. eight years after the coronation of Ashoka. A detailed account of this war is known from Rock Edict XIII found at Shahbazgarh in Pakistan. Kalinga was under the suzerainty of Magadha till
Dhana Nanda. It probably slipped away from the fold of Magadha when Kautilya and Chandragupta Maurya revolted against the Nandas around 322-321 B.C. Neither Chandragupta Maurya nor Bindusara never fought with the people of Kalinga. So, it was a historic necessity on the part of Ashoka to conquer Kalinga. The Kalinga war had far reaching results which made lasting impact on mankind. There was huge loss of man and material in the Kalinga war. In this war 150,000 soldiers from the side of Kalinga were taken as prisoners by Ashoka and 100,000 were slain and many others died of injuries and epidemic after the war. Equal number of mauryan soldiers were killed. With the victory of Ashoka in the Kalinga war, Kalinga was annexed to Magadhan empire and it constituted its fifth province.There are several causes of the Kalinga war, which changed the mind of Ashoka.

Powerful neighbor : 

The Magadhan Empire during Ashoka had surrounded Kalinga in the north, west and south. Existence of Kalinga as a powerful neighbor on the border of Magadha was definitely a threat to the power and potentiality of the latter. Thus, Kalinga posed a menace to the grand Magadhan empire. Before Kalinga rose to that extent, Ashoka wanted to defeat and capture it.

Economic prosperity of Kalinga :

There were certain economic factors which had created rivalry between Kalinga and Magadha.
Kalinga monopolized the oversea trade in the Indian ocean and gained vast wealth. Her wealth
also increased from inland trade. Through the Mauryas had foreign relation with the contemporary Hellenistic powers, they had not maintained commercial relation with them. It may also be pointed out that the Mauryas by that time had not built up a naval power and the Navadhyaksha (Superintendent of Shipping) mentioned by Kautilya in his Arthasastra was in charge of policing the rivers, lakes and seashores rather than building ships for maritime trades.

Commercial factor :

In trade and commerce, Kalinga was a great competitor of Magadha. Important trade-routes from the Gangetic valley to the Deccan and further south passed through Kalinga facilitating her trade and commerce. Though, Magadha had foreign relation and huge internal resources, it suffered from a commercial crisis due to the lack of trade routes. The existence of flourishing Kalinga with her trade and commerce was adversely affecting the economy of the Mauryan empire.

Imperialistic design of Ashoka :

Asoka's invasion of Kalinga in 261 B.C. appears to have been actuated by his imperialistic designs. By the time of Asoka's accession the Magadhan Empire had spread over most parts of India. From the Himalayas in the north to Mysore in the south and from the Kabul valley in the north-west to Bengal in the east, the whole territory was under the sovereignty of Ashoka. An independent kingdom of Kalinga, not very far from the center of Magadhan empire, was intolerable for a warlike-king like Chandasoka.

Stealing of Ashoka's jewels by the Nagas :

According to the description of Lama Taranath, a Tibetan author, the Nagas stole away the jewels of Ashoka. So, the emperor became angry and conquered their territory. These Nagas were identified with the seafaring people of Kalinga. In order to take revenge, Ashoka invaded Kalinga.

Legend of Karuvaki :

A strange story regarding the cause of Kalinga war prevails among the fisherman community of
the eastern coast of Odisha. According to this, Ashoka invaded Kalinga being infatuated by the beauty of Karuvaki, the daughter of a fisherman and the fiancee of the crown prince of Kalinga.
Though this fact appears absurd, but it cannot be rejected outright because from the Queen's31
Edict, it is known that Ashoka had a queen named Karuvaki who was the mother of Tivara, a son
of Ashoka.

Religious factor :

Religion was another potential factor for Ashoka's invasion of Kalinga. Before Kalinga War, Ashoka was a devout Saiva. Though, it is difficult to ascertain what was the prevalent form of religion in Kalinga, with tolerable degree of certainty, it can be stated that Buddhism and not Brahminism (Saivism) was prevailing in Kalinga. Asoka might have decided to wage a holy war against Kalinga to teach the Buddhists a lesson. Though, nothing concrete is available to the historians regarding this.

Takshashila - Worlds First and Oldest University

          Takshila (Takshashila in Sanskrit) is the oldest university in the world. Takshashila University was established sometime around the 8th Century B.C. in the Gandhar Mahajanapada. It is located in the Rawalpindi District of the Punjab province in Pakistan. It is said Taksha, an ancient king who ruled a kingdom called Taksha Khanda, the modern Tashkent founded the city of Takshashila. However in Sanskrit Takshashila, appears to contain the suffix shila, stone with the prefix Taksha, referring to Taksha, the son of Bharata and Mandavi, as described in the Ramayana. The city dates back to the Gandhara period and contains the ruins of the Gandharan city of Takshashila which was an important Hindu and Buddhist center, and is still considered a place of religious and historical sanctity in those traditions. In 1980, Takshila was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site with multiple locations.

          The site initially began to develop as a loosely connected group of buildings where learned persons resided, worked and taught. Over the years, additional buildings were added. Gradually a large campus developed with the donation of rulers and migration of more scholars. There were around 10,500 students. Not only Indians but also students from Babylonia, Greece, Syria, Arabia, Phoenicia and China came to study here. The curriculum consists of 68 elective courses and and the minimum entrance age was 16. Entrance to the university was a difficult process. Two out of three applications gets rejected for admission. Students were supposed to pay for their expenses. However, if a student was unable to pay then he could work for his teacher. There was a special academy for the princes, which had on its rolls 101 scholars. Another center of royal scions was the institute of military science, whose strength was 103 princes and at one time rose to 500. Besides these institutions, there were many other colleges, where instruction in archery, hunting, elephant-lore, political economy, law and other arts, humanities and sciences was imparted to students of high rank and caliber.

           Each teacher formed his own institution, enjoying complete autonomy in work, teaching as many students as he liked and teaching subjects he liked without confirming to any specific centralized syllabus. Study terminated when the teacher was satisfied with the student's level of achievement. The teachers were exempted from the payment of taxes. They were given ample amounts of money on the the occasion of various sacrifices and rituals as well.

           A wide range of subjects were taught by experienced teachers: Vedas, Language, Grammar, Philosophy, Medicine, Surgery, Archery, Politics, Warfare, Astronomy, Astrology, Accounts, Commerce, Futurology, Documentation, Occult, Music, Dance etc. Students from Magadha traveled the vast distances of northern India in order to join the schools and colleges of Takshashila. From Pali texts, it is evidence of the Brahmana youths, Khattriya princes and sons of Setthis from Rajagriha, Kashi, Kosala and other places went to Takshashila for learning the Vedas and eighteen sciences and arts. The panel of teachers included renowned names like Kautilya (the author of the “Arthashastra”), Panini (the codifier of Sanskrit into today’s form), Jivak (medicine specialist) and Vishnu Sharma (author and compiler of the Panchtantra).

          When Alexander’s armies came to the Punjab in the fourth century B.C., Takshashila had already developed a reputation as an important center of learning. Thus on his return, Alexander took many scholars from there with him to Greece. Being near the north-west frontier of India, Takshashila had to face the attacks and invasions from the north and the west. Thus the Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Shakas and Kushanas laid their destructive marks on this institution. However, the final blow came from the Huns  in 450 A.D., who razed the institution. When the Chinese traveler Huen T’sang (A.D. 603-64) visited Takshashila, the town had lost all its former grandeur and international character.