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((Short description|Conflict in ancient India))
((Multiple issues|
((more citations needed|date=November 2015))
((POV|date=August 2016))
((Essay-like|date=February 2020))
))

((Use dmy dates|date=December 2015))
((Use British English|date=December 2015))

((Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Kalinga War
| partof            = Conquests of [[Mauryan Empire]]
| image             = File:Chandragupta Maurya Empire.png
| caption           = [[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga]] (adjacent to the [[Bay of Bengal]]) and the [[Maurya Empire]] (blue) before the attack of [[Ashoka The Great]]
| date              = began ((circa|262 BCE)), ended ((circa|261 BCE)), in the 8th year of [[Ashoka]]'s coronation of 268 BCE<ref name=BA30/>
| place             = [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]], [[History of India|India]]
| territory         = [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]] conquered by [[Mauryan Empire]]
| result            = Mauryan Empire Victory
| combatant1        = [[Mauryan Empire]]
| combatant2        = [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]]
| commander1        = [[Ashoka]]
| commander2        = Unknown
| strength1         = Unknown
| strength2         = Unknown
| casualties1       = Unknown
| casualties2       = 100,000 killed, 150,000 deported (figures by Ashoka)<ref>[[Ashoka]] (((reign|268|231)) BCE), ''[[Edicts of Ashoka]]'', [[Ashoka's Major Rock Edict|Major Rock Edict]] 13.</ref><ref>[[Radhakumud Mookerji]] (1988). ''Chandragupta Maurya and His Times''. [[Motilal Banarsidass]] Publ. ((ISBN|81-208-0405-8)).</ref><br />
| conflict_native_name = କଳିଙ୍ଗ ଯୁଦ୍ଧ
| native_name_lang  = or
))

The '''Kalinga War''' (ended ((circa|261 BCE)))<ref name=" BA30">Le Huu Phuoc, Buddhist Architecture, Grafikol 2009, p.30</ref> was fought in ancient India between the [[Maurya Empire]] under [[Ashoka]] and [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]], an independent feudal kingdom located on the east coast, in the present-day state of [[Odisha]] and northern parts of [[Andhra Pradesh]]. It is presumed that the battle was fought on Dhauli hills in [[Dhauli]] which is situated on the banks of [[Daya River]]. The Kalinga War was one of the largest and deadliest battles in Indian history.<ref name="WorldAtlas 2016">((cite web | title=Greatest Battles In The History Of India | website=WorldAtlas | date=2016-09-19 | url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/greatest-battles-in-the-history-of-india.html | access-date=2019-06-28))</ref> 

This is the only major war Ashoka fought after his accession to the throne, and marked the close of the empire-building and military conquests of ancient India that began with the Mauryan Emperor [[Chandragupta Maurya]].<ref name=" Raychaudhuri 2006 p. 268">((cite book | last=Raychaudhuri | first=H. | title=Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty | publisher=Cosmo Publications | year=2006 | isbn=978-81-307-0291-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h1KObc_qaXYC&pg=PA252 | accessdate=2019-06-27 | page=268,305))</ref> The war cost nearly 250,000 lives.<ref name=" Raychaudhuri 2006 p. 268"/>

== Background ==
According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga [[janapada]] originally comprised the area covered by the [[Puri district|Puri]] and [[Ganjam district|Ganjam]] districts.<ref>((cite book|author=Sudāmā Miśra|title=Janapada state in ancient India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dua1AAAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana))</ref>

The reasons for invading Kalinga were to bring peace and for power. Kalinga was a prosperous region consisting of peaceful and artistically skilled people. The northern part of Kalinga was known as the [[Utkala Kingdom|Utkala]] (Uttar: North, Kal: Kalinga), they were the first from the region to use a navy and traveled offshore to [[Southeast Asia]] for trade. For that reason, Kalinga was able to develop several ports and a skilled navy. The culture of Kalinga was a blend of [[Adivasi|tribal religions]] and [[Brahmanism]] co-existing peacefully.<ref name="Ramesh Prasad Mohapatra 1986 Page 10">[[Ramesh Prasad Mohapatra]](1986) Page 10. ''Military History of Orissa''. Cosmo Publications, New Delhi ((ISBN|81-7020-282-5))</ref>

Kalinga was under the rule of the [[Nanda Empire]] who ruled over the region from their capital in [[Magadha]] until their fall in 321 BCE.<ref>(Raychaudhuri & Mukherjee 1996, pp. 204-209, pp. 270–271)</ref> Ashoka's grandfather [[Chandragupta Maurya]] had previously attempted to conquer Kalinga but had been repulsed.((Citation needed|date=March 2022)) Ashoka set himself to the task((Citation needed|date=November 2023)) of conquering and annexing Kalinga to the vast [[Maurya Empire]] as soon as he securely established himself as the Emperor.<ref name="Ramesh Prasad Mohapatra 1986 Page 10" /> Some scholars argue that Kalinga was a strategic threat to the Mauryas. It could interrupt communications between Mauryan capital [[Pataliputra]] and possessions in the central Indian peninsula. Kalinga also controlled the coastline for trade in the [[Bay of Bengal]].<ref name=" Roy 2015 p.15 ">((cite book | last=Roy | first=K. | title=Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Warfare, Society and Culture | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-317-32128-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q5JECgAAQBAJ | access-date=2019-06-28 | page=15))</ref>

==Course of the war==
[[Image: Kalinga battlefield daya river dhauli hills.jpg|thumb|A view of the banks of the [[Daya River]], the supposed battlefield of Kalinga from atop Dhauli hills, Bhubaneswar, Odisha State]]
((Quote|text=No war in the history of India is as important either for its intensity or for its results as the Kalinga war of Ashoka. No wars in the annals of human history have changed the heart of the victor from one of wanton cruelty to that of 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 peace for the entire war-torn humanity as the war of Kalinga.|author=[[Ramesh Prasad Mohapatra]]|title=''Military History of Odisha''<ref>[[Ramesh Prasad Mohapatra]] (1986) Page 12. ''Military History of Odisha''. Cosmo Publications, New Delhi ((ISBN|81-7020-282-5))</ref>))

The war was completed in the eighth year of Ashoka's reign, according to his own [[Edicts of Ashoka]], probably in 261 BCE.<ref name=BA30/>  After a bloody battle for the throne following the death of his father, Ashoka was successful in conquering Kalinga – but the consequences of the savagery changed Ashoka's views on war and led him to pledge to never again wage a war of conquest.

According to [[Megasthenes]], the Greek historian at the court of [[Chandragupta Maurya]], the ruler of Kalinga had a powerful army comprising infantry, cavalry and elephants.<ref>((Cite book|last=Sequeira|first=Dolly E.|title=Total History and Civics|publisher=Morning Star|year=2020|location=Delhi|pages=45, 46))</ref>

==Aftermath==
[[File: Dhauli Shanti Stupa, Bhubaneswar.jpg|thumb|left|Shanti Stupa, [[Dhauli]] hill is presumed to be the area where the Kalinga War was fought.]]
Ashoka had seen the bloodshed and felt that he was the cause of the destruction. The whole area of Kalinga was plundered and destroyed. Some of Ashoka's later edicts state that about 150,000 people died on the Kalinga side and an almost equal number of Ashoka's army, though legends among the [[Odia people]] – descendants of Kalinga's natives – claim that these figures were highly exaggerated by Ashoka. As per the legends, Kalinga armies caused twice the amount of destruction they suffered. However, prominent historians have rejected this claim and the edicts of Ashoka are believed to be the primary evidence. Thousands of men and women were deported from Kalinga and forced to work on clearing wastelands for future settlement.<ref name="Roy 2015 p. 16">((cite book | last=Roy | first=K. | title=Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Warfare, Society and Culture | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-317-32128-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q5JECgAAQBAJ | access-date=2019-06-28 | page=16))</ref>

((Quote|Beloved-of-the-Gods, King [[Priyadarsin|Priyadarsi]] (Ashoka) conquered the Kalingas eight years after his coronation. One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand were killed and many more died (from other causes). After the Kalingas had been conquered, Beloved-of-the-Gods came to feel a strong inclination towards the Dharma, a love for the Dharma and for instruction in Dharma. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods feels deep remorse for having conquered the Kalingas.|Ashoka|[[Edicts of Ashoka|Rock Edict]] No. 13<ref>((cite book|last1=Allen|first1=Charles|title=Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor|date=2012|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=9781408703885|page=82|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4vHjbUtf_4C&pg=PT82|access-date=1 May 2018|language=en))</ref>))

Ashoka's response to the Kalinga War is recorded in the [[Edicts of Ashoka]]. The Kalinga War prompted Ashoka, already a non-engaged Buddhist, to devote the rest of his life to [[ahimsa]] (non-violence) and to ''dharma-vijaya'' (victory through [[dharma]]). Following the conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka ended the military expansion of the empire and began an era of more than 40 years of relative peace, harmony, and prosperity. ((citation needed|date=May 2016))

==In popular culture==

* The 2001 Indian [[Hindi cinema|Hindi]]-language film ''[[Aśoka (film)|Aśoka]]'', is based on Kalinga war

* The book "Ashok and the nine unknown" by author Anshul Dupare is based on the aftermath of Kalinga war.<ref>((cite web | url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42929949-ashok-and-the-nine-unknown | title=Ashok and the Nine Unknown ))</ref>

==See also ==

* [[List of battles by casualties]]
* [[Kalinga (historical region)]]

==References==
((Reflist))

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081210080315/http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Foreign_Views/GreekRoman/Megasthenes-Indika.htm Megasthenes: ''Indika''] (archived 10 December 2008)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140328144411/http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html The Edicts of King Ashoka] (archived 28 March 2014)

((Authority control))

[[Category:260s BC conflicts]]
[[Category:History of Odisha]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Maurya Empire]]
[[Category:Maurya Empire]]
[[Category:Kalinga (India)]]
[[Category:3rd century BC in India]]
[[Category:Conflicts in India]]
[[Category:Ashoka]]

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