Who was Asoka? The effect did he have on Indian and East Asian History?

Asoka was the third emperor of the India Mauryan Empire. The Indian Mauryan Empire was the largest ever in the Indian subcontinent and one of the world's largest empires at its time. Under Ashoka India had an estimated population of 30 million, much higher than any of the contemporary Hellenistic kingdoms. After Ashoka’s death, however, the Mauryan Dynasty came to an end and its empire dissolved.

Explanation:

The Buddhist Theravada tradition claims that a group of Buddhist missionaries sent by Emperor Ashoka introduced the Sthaviravada school (a Buddhist school no longer existent) in Sri Lanka, c. 240 BCE. Which means that he spread the Buddhism. he also influenced monarchs from Sri Lanka to Japan. A particular story tells that Ashoka built 84,000 stupas (commemorative Buddhists buildings used as a place of meditation), served as an example to many Chinese and Japanese rulers who imitated Ashoka’s initiative.  He did with Buddhism in India what Roman emperor Constantine the Great did with Christianity in Europe and what the Han Dynasty did with Confucianism in China: he turned a tradition into an official state ideology, and thanks to his support, Buddhism ceased to be a local Indian cult and began its long transformation into a world religion. Eventually, Buddhism died out in India sometime after Ashoka’s death, but it remained popular outside its native land, especially in eastern and south-eastern Asia. The world owes to Ashoka the growth of one of the world’s largest spiritual traditions.

d. dr. francis collins