Brief History of Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh)
Sanchi is intimately connected with the life of Emperor Ashoka the Great (3rd century before Christ), who tried his best to live up to the noble ideals prescribed by the founder of Buddhism.
Ashoka was the only monarch in history who abandoned warfare as an instrument of state policy on the conclusion of a victorious war. Ashoka’s wife, Devi, was a native of Vidisa (now known as Besnagar, 8 miles away from Sanchi).
A few decades after the death of Alexander the Great, Ashoka succeeded to the governance of the Maurya Empire, which included in its compass most of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Central Asia. He waged a war of conquest on Kalinga (the present State of Orissa) and after a bloody campaign, achieved complete victory.
Tens of thousands perished in the campaign and Ashoka was so much moved by the carnage that he swore never to draw the sword again. He became a convert to Buddhism and strove vigorously to spread the Buddha’s doctrines of love and brotherhood. He sent Buddhist monks to China, Ceylon, Burma, Thailand and other countries of Asia, carrying with them the Buddha’s message. His role in Buddhist history was similar to that of Constantine the Great in the history of the Christian Church.
It was from Sanchi that Mahendra, son of Ashoka, left for Ceylon to preach Buddhism. It is believed in Ceylon that ‘on a full moon day, with his companions, Mahendra rose into the air from Sanchi and flying aloft, as fly the golden geese, alighted on the peak of the Mihintale mountain in Ceylon’. He converted the king of Ceylon to the new faith and soon after a major part of the island’s population followed its monarch.
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