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Conflict South Asia

Kalinga War

262 BCE – 261 BCE · 1 year

Emperor Ashoka's bloody conquest of Kalinga resulted in over 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations. The carnage so horrified Ashoka that he renounced violence, converted to Buddhism, and spread the dharma across Asia — one of history's most consequential moral transformations.

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Kalinga War on Wikipedia.

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Belligerents

The main peoples, kingdoms and states involved.

  • Maurya Empire (Ashoka)
  • Kingdom of Kalinga

Key moments

Defining events in the Kalinga War.

  1. 261 BC Battle of Kalinga

Elsewhere in South Asia at the time

Records whose own span overlaps this one, found by the same test the canvas draws with. The bar under each card is where it sits inside this one.

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Landmark · South Asia

Mount Everest

3000 BCE – still standing

Polity · South Asia

Hindu kingdoms

Attested 500 BCE – 1715 CE

Landmark · South Asia

Western Ghats

3000 BCE – still standing

Polity · South Asia

Simhala

Attested 500 BCE – 700 CE

Landmark · South Asia

Thar Desert

3000 BCE – still standing

Polity · South Asia

Zhangzhung Kingdom

500 BCE – 625 CE

Landmark · South Asia

Sundarbans

3000 BCE – still standing

Polity · South Asia

Mauryan Empire

321 BCE – 100 BCE

And in the rest of the world

Records running through the same years, on the other side of the map.

Grand Canyon Landmark · Americas 3000 BCE – still standing Meroe Polity · Middle East 500 BCE – 400 CE Nile River Trade Trade route · Middle East 3000 BCE – 30 BCE Warring States Period Conflict · East Asia 475 BCE – 221 BCE Great Barrier Reef Landmark · Oceania 3000 BCE – still standing Egypt Polity · Middle East 3000 BCE – 2026 CE
Image credits7 pictures from Wikimedia Commons