 I think we are good? I think we are good? I think we are good. I think we are good. I think we are good? There's so many new things we can do. I think we are good. Alson brought a bird. Bring young Skywalker to me. No, bring him to me. Come and eat frog here. Bring him to me please. Bring him to me. Please. Bring him to me. Savvy. Bring him to me. Why can't I think of any more in presence? Hey, welcome back to our stupid rex and Zed eat some Corbin. I'm Rick And he falls on Instagram to develop a juicy content make some pain Subscribe and like this video helps the algorithm. Mmm. And what do we all like a good algorithm? Oh, I love falling asleep to a good algorithm. Yeah, me too. Yep today We got a informational video, but this is decoding a A shock us legacy ancient holding a shock. He's apparently one of the great leaders in history Look like mmm. I was gonna make a joke. Oh, what? Let's just say they're in the Republican party Many many to choose from how hopefully not like that. Yeah, but anyways, but this is like a We've seen a couple these the animated things. Oh, I love these. Yeah. Yeah But I don't know what I don't love about these is how many times People get upset with us for them not being accurate Go. They have their own channel. Yeah, find them. Yeah, hunt them down. Not me. We're just reacting. Here we go Amidst the tens of thousands of monarchs that crowd the columns of history the name of Ashoka shines and shines almost so long a Star Ashoka is widely regarded as one of the greatest leaders in world history Ruling over a vast empire that encompassed most of the Indians of continent We're told that he was an able conqueror a commoners advocate a vigorous patron of Buddhism and above all a beacon of hope That even the worst of us is capable of change For as the popular narrative goes Ashoka was once a vicious and terrible man predisposed to violence But after the Kalinga war he gazed upon the dead and repented embracing peace and goodwill for all mankind Today more than 2,000 years after his death Ashoka's legacy is alive and well 2,000 line pillar serves as the official emblem of India and his chakro reel appears on the flat Oh, that's Ashoka's legacy. I remember that examined closely the historical record reveals a more nuanced figure that of a deeply troubled Authoritarian whose success has may have been limited So let's evaluate Ashoka's legacy was he really as great as we've been told Our story begins in 300 or BCE When Ashoka was born to Bindusara emperor of the Morias and Subhadarangi the royal hairdresser According to various writings Bindusara fell in love with Subhadarangi while she was cutting his hair But he thought marriage was impossible due to her presumed low caste status Not so fast. Subhadarangi was actually the daughter of a Bramann family thus opening the door to marriage This is a great example of how records have been manipulated by ancient monarchs to suit their political goals Well, it's possible that this is a true story It's more likely that Ashoka's mother was just a low-caste hairdresser her Bramann background a well-crafted light and legitimized marriage And so Ashoka may have felt as though he had something to prove once again If any of this is inaccurate do not get mad at us his half brothers to shima was and perhaps he perceived his mother's low birth as a Contributing factor as if that wasn't enough Ashoka was not a handsome man from the historical record We know that he was short Pudgy had a disfigured face and suffered from a condition that made his skin rough kind of like Rick In fact, Bindusara did not feel that Ashoka was a good fit for the throne on account of his ugly looks Ashoka was no more intelligent assertive and a natural leader and Bindusara could not ignore that Impressed by these qualities Bindusara used Ashoka as a tool to maintain the Empire Consider Takshila Takshila was a frontier city a significant geopolitical economic and cultural importance But it was crowded with migrant Greeks and Persians as such it teetered on the brink of open rebellion When Takshila revolted Bindusara sent Ashoka to quality uprising though. It's not clear how the rebellion was handled We know that Ashoka successfully suppressed it Ashoka returned to put the put there a victorious and Bindusara rewarded him with a viceroy position in Hujain As Ashoka presided over Hujain, he proved to be a competent leader Some ministers in the royal court began to think that Ashoka might make for a better Emperor than his half-brother Sashima and so Ashoka realized that he had an opportunity to claim the throne for himself in 272 BCE Bindusara fell gravely ill Ashoka rushed a putly put there at the Capitol Sashima rushed back to where he was late Ashoka had already taken the city No, Sashima laid siege but records indicate that he was captured and killed possibly by Greek mercenaries employed by Ashoka One writing indicates that Sashima may have been thrown into a burning pit filled with charcoal But Ashoka wasn't finished yet. For the next four years Ashoka waged a civil war to consolidate power He went on a rampage killing several of his brothers with potential claims to the throne Ashoka spared only his younger brother Tissa and so Ashoka was finally crowned Emperor For his regnal name. He chose to be called Priyadarshi, which according to some translations means he who is beautiful to look upon ironic now Before we evaluate Ashoka's rule It's important to understand the popular narrative and its inconsistencies as per the popular narrative Ashoka was a cruel Emperor who delighted in causing pain and suffering Todd Was not until his conquest of Kalinga a powerful coastal state that Ashoka repented We're told that when the Kalinga war ended Ashoka looked upon the battlefield Seeing 100,000 dead and realized the error of his ways He converted to Buddhism at that moment and vowed to rule only by Dhamma in other words animations funny and through good conduct alone From then on we're told that Ashoka transformed into a magnanimous kind Emperor committed to the best interests of the subjects Though theoretically possible this transformation story should make you at least a little suspicious Let's explore the facts In the early years of his rule Ashoka was known as Chanda Shoka Ashoka the terrible Tales of Ashoka's cruelty are diverse and extensive from burning alive women in his harem for implying that he was ugly To building a special torture facility. He was very insecure about the world like most dictators Yeah named Girika to torture and execute prisoners in a special facility known as Ashoka's hell Hey, that looks like the Republican Party supported by the historical record In fact to Chinese monks Fashian and Shuanzhang wrote about visiting the ruins of Ashoka's hell many hundreds of years later According to various writings Ashoka liked to visit the facility for hours at a time to watch people be tortured This begs the question. Why would such a person repent after witnessing more suffering? Narrative is ripe with even more inconsistencies Translations of Ashoka's edicts revealed that he was a lay follower of Buddhism in his fourth regular like how he says But does about he became a more devoted but this is but this Here's the rough Ashoka. I say Buddhist and his seventh year white Ashoka did not actually convert to Buddhism After the word he was already a practicing Buddhist before this. That's the right way. I know I like it Ashoka's own edicts is almost certainly a politicized account of the Kalinga invasion Ashoka even admits to manipulating the narrative in his very own edicts He reveals that we're too similar edicts are inconsistent in their language. It is due to political This is like they said two thousand years ago, right? Yeah, it's amazing how long people have been doing stuff How insignificant America is in the blimp of history The edicts in Kalinga itself do not contain any language referring to his repentance There is no apology no repentance to the people he actually killed The repentant story exists only in edicts far from Kalinga Fun fact the repentance edicts also include a line indicating that while Ashoka had repented He was willing and able to do to tribals and other problematic groups what he did to the people of Kalinga One wonders then if the edict was met as a threat as opposed to a true admission of regret a Shoka cared a great deal about his image among his subjects We know from his edicts that he would routinely travel in disguise among his subjects So it's to learn the prevailing sentiment about him and his administration Ashoka would therefore have been well aware that his image was deteriorating by the time the Kalinga war This was a man whose nickname had become Ashoka the terrible with the Kalinga war complete He had little need or ability to push for an additional conquest The Empire was consolidated and after losing several battles with the Tamil kingdoms in the deep south Way to go down all this has had been struck to ensure peace And so Ashoka set about on a campaign of repairing his tattered image and ruling his consolidated kingdom only had Rupert Murdoch repentance devotion peace Convenient story to put aside his concerns to rest And by indulging the popular narrative, it's possible that we've been buying into Ashoka's very own propaganda Interestingly Shoka's propaganda didn't last for very long after his death For example, just two generations later a Kalinga leader Karavela Attacked and took back the Jain idols that have been stolen by Ashoka Karavela created his own rock edicts describing these exploits on a hill directly overlooking Ashoka's edicts Symbolically he avenged the destruction once wrought upon his own people This evidence certainly weighs against the idea that Ashoka's near contemporaries believed in his peace-loving transformation But I should be clear Ashoka can still be considered a great emperor Even if he engaged in violence and propaganda and did not actually repent for his sins Just how successful was he? Let's take a closer look First it's important not to underestimate the challenge of a 38 year reign, which was remarkably stable during his lifetime Ashoka ruled over a vast and diverse empire, so this is quite an accomplishment Stability at that scale always comes at a cost however Ashoka purchased the stability with a burdensome centralized bureaucracy and a heavy-handed administrative force known as the Dhamma Mahamathras Essentially, they were a force of 81,000 government employees whose goal was broad To go amongst the people and to ensure good citizenship, proper conduct and governance, and to intervene where necessary To put positive outcomes They may have been well-intentioned. The Dhamma Mahamathras were rather invasive They work among soldiers, chiefs, bramans, householders, the poor and the aged for their welfare and happiness They work for the proper treatment of prisoners. They work in the women's quarters. They are occupied everywhere The Dhamma Mahamathras conducted routine inspections of local government, courts and the like They were entitled to punish people for transgressions that violated some vague moral standards They could even reward people for righteous conduct. Ashoka expanded the imperial bureaucracy substantially This was not a meritocracy Local bureaucrats were often chosen arbitrarily selected from existing noble families or others with connections and money This gave rise to a deeply corrupt regime at all levels An expanded bureaucracy sucked up a significant portion of tax revenues The Dhamma Mahamathras alone cost roughly 25% of total tax revenues to maintain He had created a regime Bound to crumble under the weight of its bureaucracy It should come as no surprise that so many kingdoms declared their independence immediately after his death For example, the sub-fahanas in the south and the Kalinga's in the East. I like the name Kalinga Perhaps Ashoka's most obvious accomplishment lies in their religious realm. Ashoka was not only a practicing Buddhist He also played a crucial role in the early spread of Buddhism throughout the subcontinent and beyond Ashoka sent Buddhist missionaries to far-off lands from Egypt to Greece to Sri Lanka For example, it's believed that Sri Lanka became Buddhist Thanks to the missionizing monks sent by Ashoka in the generations to come Sri Lanka would serve as a launching point for Buddhist missionaries going to Southeast and East Asia It's very likely that without Ashoka Buddhism would not be a major world religion It's worth pointing out that Ashoka at least as a matter of policy Attempted to create a religiously tolerant environment his edicts indicate that he wanted his subjects to respect each other's religions and traditions This may have been necessary given that the era involves significant conflict between religious sex In fact, records indicate that Indian religious communities would sometimes come to blows after disagreements No, but Ashoka seemed to have acted inconsistently with his edicts Various sources describe Ashoka as having ordered 18,000 Ajivikas killed He did this in response to an offensive drawing of the Buddha as depicted by an Ajivika This occurred after his supposed repentance Sources describe another incident involving an offensive drawing depicting the Buddha this time done by a Jain Ashoka had the violator in his family locked in a house and burned alive He then ordered bounty on the heads of all Jains offering one silver coin for each Jain head that was brought to him The violence did not stop until Ashoka's own brother. I'm not convinced he repented With respect to Hindus It's worth noting that Ashoka banned many of the rituals such as animal sacrifice That would have been part of normal life for Hindus of that era Ashoka's many actions betray a rather significant bias in favor of Buddhism All that being said emperors are complex and so too was Ashoka He was a hard-working emperor who made himself available at all times in the day for reports and other important meetings He was also reform minded In today's world some of his policies would be considered quite progressive He was not afraid to be heavy-handed. He made many legal reforms For example those who were sentenced to death were given time to appeal their case Animal rights were also nice. I guess wildlife preserves were created to stay funds and cruelty to animals was prohibited by law Nice according to his edicts Ashoka believed that women had a right to be educated and he made provisions to study in university Today would be the equivalent of creating scholarships for the benefit of women Emperors proceeding Ashoka such as Cyrus the great of persia did the same and may have influenced Ashoka in this regard Ashoka also styled himself a builder in his edicts He writes about how he built many hospitals and roads universities water tanks and irrigation systems Okay, let's take a step back for just a moment I'd like to address something that's really important when it comes to evaluating history relative success See when Ashoka talks about building hospitals and roads universities and irrigation systems We are told to accept this at face value as a resounding success of his administration But if Tsushima had been emperor instead of Ashoka, would he not have built hospitals roads and universities? Ashoka ruled for 38 years as emperor it would be ridiculous if he did not build new infrastructure He did what an emperor is supposed to do build and rule But we have no reference point with which to measure his success So why do we assume that his projects were affected? Consider recent archaeological excavations of the morian period They reveal that after Ashoka's death and after the collapse of the morian empire the archaeological record becomes significantly more prosperous There are improvements in material well-being in the generations after Ashoka's death Whether this was due to a corrupt bureaucracy or a misguided economic policy For example the morian focused on agricultural development and not on trade We don't know but Ashoka did not necessarily preside over a prosperous empire Ashoka is a complex figure whose legacy is clearly mixed In truth his greatest accomplishment appears to have been religious So why do we put Ashoka on a pedestal and ignore many other leaders in Indian history? It's quite simple really the political class that fought for Indian independence had to craft a story of a united india A geographically ethnically linguistically and religiously diverse country In essence a country full of countries Ashoka ruled over the largest swath of land of any leader in Indian history Conveniently he was also a north indian who followed a dharmic religion in line with modern india's political majority In his edicts, he promotes religious tolerance and encourages tolerance of local traditions Whether he lived up to those principles is a separate question And so if you're choosing a historical leader to represent India as a whole Ashoka is uniquely well equipped Just so long as you stick to the sanitized version And now you know Shit Are you are you guys taught about him in school? Ashoka Oh, really? That's interesting. I I had you heard about him before. No. Yeah, I know that the wheel was connected to him Yeah, but no as far as I mean, it's not a surprise. We learned about alexander the great We learned about you know, everybody from the the the western point of view of the conquerings When it comes to asia as a whole we are not taught much of anything about any of the asian leaders what's Until uh until of the hunt the hunt, right? He's probably the biggest guy just because he was so barbaric Asia, that's it. We probably know about that's it. I'd say He didn't learn about any of the dynasties in china a little bit of gondi Essentially, that's it. Yeah, you don't learn a lot. You do learn texas history in case you want to know That's a guy actual class You know, they gotta be careful who they show this to because there's a lot of people who when they hear about how many things from The past are Telling stories that aren't accurate. They're gonna go destroy all of the archaeological findings and say it's fake news. Yeah, that's true So you got to keep away from those folk Yeah, it is really interesting. Obviously once again, if you think anything in here is incorrect Say so That you don't need to be mad you can put it in the comments what you think And let us know imagine if every teacher got mad at their students because they got something incorrect A lot of teachers teach incorrect stuff because that's what the government requires you to teach Yeah The only time I got mad at a student is when they did well below what they ought to have done and they knew better But if they were genuinely ignorant to something, what in the world would I get mad at them for? Yeah? America in public schools has a government subsidized learning and so And also there's a lot behind that as well. Yeah in terms of the dixie crats and And and and the daughters of those people well the civil war they got to Make all the textbooks the daughters of the civil war people in the south And so there's a reason now some of our history is a little incorrect might make right by the victors Yeah, might makes right and history is not only written by the victors Histories rewritten by the victors because they will take the things that were negative about them from the past and obliterate them If they have a conquering of a land that upheld beliefs that they didn't like they will destroy everything in its place Native americans and erase it's from memory. Native america. Yeah, so Black people Yeah, there's a lot of america has a time. I mean it happens right now I mean we're watching stuff happen in america where if certain people get into power They want to obliterate the reality of the past because it's no longer in alignment with what they believe Yeah, so if they win they get the right to do that because they got the power It was a really interesting well done video obviously once again Information-wise you guys can let us know where how accurate it is taking this thing. We're not gonna be like oh It was just an informational video. I don't walk out the door going. I know everything I need to know about that subject I'm gonna go teach everyone else the same thing Yeah, we don't do that. We don't do that but it was a well-made video for sure Very engaging and also it was to learn about somebody that I Literally never heard of outside of we've probably heard of of him in a few videos I'm sure especially with the wheel and the flag and its origins and some of the most important people in Indian history Yeah, but if you look at most old rulers even current rulers They're all pretty pretty pretty sketchy Yeah, where did it when you in drani when you were learning about Him where did he stand in terms of the great Indians in Indian history? Is he at the top? Yeah, yeah with many others But there's no one more important for you to learn about when you talk about the history of India and its leaders Yeah, yeah, yeah a lot a lot of You got a lot more but that's the thing about you guys a lot of kings when you study Indian history guys You study millennia. We've got 200 years I mean Yeah, and they're all old white guys. Yeah, it's true. We are Yeah, it's true. It's true. It's so funny Like I was showing especially here on the west coast because we expanded obviously from the east to the west If you go to new york, there's a lot older things and there are a lot more european influenced When you get to the west, this is the babyest part of this baby country So when I drive around and show anything to indrani, she's like my city's older than your country. That's true That it's that's actually correct. Yep. And if you go to much older, uh, we stole that land as well. Um, just yeah Don't look up our history. It's not good. Uh, nothing to see here I love although I will say our beautiful, uh, Secretary of the interior who is native american. She's the first native american To get that position. Did you hear about them giving back tribal lands sacred lands to a native american tribe this week? No, I didn't it it it happened 400 and something acres of sacred land to this one particular tribe Which could very well be the first step in many as long as she is the one that's secretary of interior I was so glad to see that. Yeah America's stolen land. Let us know what you thought about the video And uh, if there's any information that was incorrect, please just let us know what it is and get mad at them Not us. Thank you so much. Bye. Bye