Great Souls of India: Gandhi and Ashoka's Legacies

1. Mahatma Gandhi Emperor Ashoka Important people of India

2. Mahatma Gandhi • BIOGRAPHY OF MAHATMA GANDHI :Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. He became one of the most respected spiritual and political leaders of the 1900's. GandhiJi helped free the Indian people from British rule through nonviolent resistance, and is honored by Indians as the father of the Indian Nation. • The Indian people called Gandhiji  'Mahatma', meaning Great Soul. At the age of 13 Gandhi married Kasturba, a girl the same age. Their parents arranged the marriage. The Gandhis had four children. Gandhi studied law in London and returned to India in 1891 to practice. In 1893 he took on a one-year contract to do legal work in South Africa.

3. More about Gandhi He developed a method of action based upon the principles of courage, nonviolence and truth called Satyagraha. He believed that the way people behave is more important than what they achieve. Satyagraha promoted nonviolence and civil disobedience as the most appropriate methods for obtaining political and social goals. In 1915 Gandhi returned to India. Within 15 years he became the leader of the Indian nationalist movement. Using the principles of Satyagraha he led the campaign for Indian independence from Britain. Gandhi was arrested many times by the British for his activities in South Africa and India. He believed it was honorable to go to jail for a just cause. Altogether he spent seven years in prison for his political activities.

4. Emperor Ashoka • Emperor Ashoka • The great Indian emperor, Ashoka, was born in 265 B.C. The grandson of the great Changragupta Maurya, Ashoka ruled over an empire that covered two-thirds of the Indian continent. He was the most famous of the Mauryan kings and was one of the greatest Hindu rulers of India, who later got embraced Buddhism.A very brave ruler and a good administrator, Emperor Ashoka was the younger son of the King Bindusara and was given the throne soon after the kings death because he was loved and respected by his subjects and by his ministers. His grandfather, Chandragupta, had set out to conquer the weaker kingdoms around his kingdom to expand the territory of his people in 324 BCE, and was the first to rule over a unified India. It was in 268 BCE, when Ashoka was crowned the king of Magadha.

5. More about Ashoka • The Turning PointAfter 8 years of his rule, King Ashoka decided to annex Kalinga (Orissa) into his kingdom. This was the first and last battle that Ashoka ever fought. Though Ashoka won the battle he was horrified by the loss of life and death of so many soldiers. This incidence changed him and it was then he pledged that he would never wage war again. He embraced Buddhism, and he promised to practice only righteous actions in the future. Under the guidance of many Buddhist gurus of the Buddhist community, Ashoka began to be like an ideal leader, spreading peace & prosperity within society. He religiously followed the principles of Buddhism - that of truth, charity, kindness, purity and goodness. A firm believer of non-violence, King Ashoka banned the sacrifice of animals and asked his followers to take the path of virtuous action. Besides all these, he opened clinics for birds and animals too. It was his good works, which earned him the name of Devanamapriya Priyadarshi. During the rule of Ashoka, India reached achieved numerous heights in the history of the world.