RowenaClune540 at 07:00, 8 May 2026

2026-05-08T07:00:10Z

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{{Fiction|date=July 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{merge to|Ashoka|date=May 2026}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title = (Gonandiya)
| succession =
| image =
| image_size = 285px
| caption = Approximate extent of the Kashmir region ruled by Ashoka Gonandiya.
| reign =
| coronation =
| predecessor = Sacinara<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pandit |first1=Ranjit Sitaram |title=River Of Kings (rajatarangini) |date=1935 |page=17, I99 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530051/page/n59 }}</ref>
| successor = [[Jalauka]] (son)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pandit |first1=Ranjit Sitaram |title=River Of Kings (rajatarangini) |date=1935 |page=18, I108 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530051/page/n59 }}</ref>
| spouses =
| issue = [[Jalauka]] (son)
| dynasty = Gonandiya, Godhara branch
| father =
| mother =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Kashmir]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
}}
King '''Ashoka''', of the Gonandiya dynasty, was a king of the region of [[Kashmir]] according to [[Kalhana]], the 12th century CE historian who wrote the ''[[Rajatarangini]]''.<ref name=SDK/>

According to the ''[[Rajatarangini]]'', Ashoka was the great-grandson of [[Shakuni]] and son of Shachinara's first cousin.

{{Quote|''The great grandson of [[Sakuni]] and a son of that king grand-uncle, named Ashoka, who was true to his engagement, then supported the earth''|''[[Rajatarangini]]'' I101.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pandit |first1=Ranjit Sitaram |title=River Of Kings (rajatarangini) |date=1935 |page=17 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530051/page/n59 }}</ref>}}

He is said to have built a great city called Srinagara (near but not same as the modern-day [[Srinagar]]).<ref>''[[Rajatarangini]]'' I104 {{cite book |last1=Pandit |first1=Ranjit Sitaram |title=River Of Kings (rajatarangini) |date=1935 |page=17 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530051/page/n59 }}</ref> In his days, the mlechchhas (barbarians) overran the country, and he took [[sannyasa]].<ref>''[[Rajatarangini]]'' I107 {{cite book |last1=Pandit |first1=Ranjit Sitaram |title=River Of Kings (rajatarangini) |date=1935 |page=17 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530051/page/n59 }}</ref>

According to Kalhana's account, this Ashoka was the 48th king of the Gonandiya dynasty (''Rajatarangini'' I102).<ref name=SDK/> 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]] and [[Mihirakula]] respectively 1100 years and 1200 years before their actual reigns.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bamzai |first1=P. N. K. |title=Culture and Political History of Kashmir |date=1994 |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-81-85880-31-0 |pages=69–70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1eMfzTBcXcYC&pg=PA69 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol. XVIII |date=1942 |page=204 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheIndianHistoricalQuarterlyVol.XVIII/page/n243}}</ref>

Kalhana also states (''Rajatarangini'' I102) that this king had adopted the doctrine of [[Arihant (Jainism)|Jina]], and constructed [[stupa]]s.<ref name=SDK>{{cite journal |last1=Kulkarni |first1=S. D. |title=Inscriptions of Aśoka : A Reappraisal |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |date=1990 |volume=71 |issue=1/4 |page=308 |jstor=41693531 }}</ref> Despite the discrepancies, multiple scholars identify Kalhana's Ashoka with the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan]] emperor [[Ashoka]], who adopted Buddhism.{{sfn|Guruge|1994|pp=185-186}} Although "Jina" is a term generally associated with [[Jainism]], some ancient sources use it to refer to the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]].{{sfn|Lahiri|2015|pp=378-380}}

{{Quote|''That king, who had extinguished sin and accepted the teachings of Buddha, covered Suskaletra and Vitastatra with numerous stupas''|''[[Rajatarangini]]'' I102.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pandit |first1=Ranjit Sitaram |title=River Of Kings (rajatarangini) |date=1935 |page=17 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530051/page/n59 }}</ref>}}

He also built Shiva temples, and appeased ''Bhutesha'' ([[Shiva]]) to obtain his son Jalauka.<ref>''[[Rajatarangini]]'' I107 {{cite book |last1=Pandit |first1=Ranjit Sitaram |title=River Of Kings (rajatarangini) |date=1935 |page=17 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530051/page/n59 }}</ref>

Other scholars have disputed the identification with [[Ashoka]] of the [[Maurya Empire]].<ref>"The reference to Ashoka in it is unimpeachable. Ashoka in Rajatarangini is Gonandiya Ashoka and cannot by any means be Ashoka Maurya Even V.A. Smith admits that Kalhana's work is a reliable history." He writes: "The Sanskrit book which comes nearest to the European notion of regular history is Rajatarangini of Kalhana the metrical chronicle of Kashmir written in the twelfth century by the son of a minister of the Raja" in {{cite book |last1=Kulkarni |first1=Shripad Dattatraya |title=Glorious Epoch: Svayambhuva Manu to Shakari Shalivahan, 29000 B.C to 135 A.D. |date=1994 |publisher=Shri Bhagavan Vedavyasa Itihas Samshodhana Mandir (BHISHMA) |isbn=978-81-900272-4-3 |page=201 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82NuAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref>

In the chronology of the ''Rajatarangini'', the reign of Ashoka is followed by that of his son [[Jalauka]], then a king named Damodara II, and then the Kushan kings [[Huvishka|Husha]], [[Vashishka|Juska]] and [[Kanishka]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pandit |first1=Ranjit Sitaram |title=River Of Kings (rajatarangini) |date=1935 |page=I101–I170 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.530051/page/n65 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bechert |first=Heinz |author-link=Heinz Bechert |title=When Did the Buddha Live?: The Controversy on the Dating of the Historical Buddha |date=1995 |publisher=Sri Satguru Publications |isbn=978-81-7030-469-2 |page=48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ImnYAAAAMAAJ |language=en |quote=In the Rajatarangini: within the line of kings, Asoka's successor was his son Jaloka, and the latter's Damodara, whom the three princes Huska, Juska and Kaniska followed upon.}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last=Lahiri |first=Nayanjot |title=Ashoka in Ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JaVRCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT379 |year=2015 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-91525-1 }}
* {{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 }}

[[Category:Rulers of Kashmir]]
[[Category:Gonanda dynasty]]

Ashoka Gonandiya - Revision history

RowenaClune540 at 07:00, 8 May 2026