________________
156
AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA it was absolutely necessary for Asoka to conquer Kalinga and make his kingdom one compact mass, and this he did.
The war that followed was destined to be a great holocaust for Kalinga. The victim, determined to resist the Imperial aggression, to preserve its independence and honour, was ready to fight to its last breath. Equally, the aggressor, bent upon achieving an imperial aim, determined to wipe out the existence of an independent Kalinga within the framework of his all-India Empire, was ready to perpetrate any possible carnage that would be necessary for the purpose. To quote M. N. Das,1 "From the bank of the Ganges to the bank of the Godāvari, from river to river and hill to hill, from village to village and city to city, from one corner to the other of this hoary land, the fire and sword must have been carried by the soldiers of Asoka.” It was the war of a mighty empire against the lone and solitary country of Kalinga which defied her power.
Asoka himself has left enough material for us in Rock Edict XIII about the conquest of Kalinga. He vividly describes the horrors and miseries of that war. He says“During the conquest one hundred and fifty thousand people were captured and carried away into slavery, one hundred thousand were killed and many times that number died as a result of the war."2
The above are the figures of Kalinga only and do not include the casualties in Asoka's army. But the losses
1. Glimpses of Kalinga History, p 30.
2. Original: "Diadha-matre prana sata-sahasre ye tato apavudhe sata.sahasra-matre tatra bate babu tavatake va mute" -- (Line 1).
3. It appears that this Edict is guilty of an exaggeration here. If the number of those who died (cf. wounds received in the battle) be taken to be at least thrice that of the killed, the total number of casualties would be something like four lacs, and adding to these the
(carried over)
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
