Ashoka's early life
Ashoka was born to the Mauryan emperor, Bindusara and Subhadrangī (or Dharmā).[11] He was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Maurya dynasty and the builder of one of the largest empires in ancient India.[12][13][14] According to Roman historian Appian, Chandragupta had made a "marital alliance" with Seleucus;[15][16] An Indian Puranic source, the Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purana, also described the marriage of Chandragupta with a Greek ("Yavana") princess, daughter of Seleucus.[17]
The ancient Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain texts provide varying biographical accounts. The Avadana texts mention that his mother was queen Subhadrangī. According to the Ashokavadana, she was the daughter of a Brahmin from the city of Champa.[18][19]:205 She gave him the name Ashoka, meaning "one without sorrow". The Divyāvadāna tells a similar story, but gives the name of the queen as Janapadakalyānī.[20][21] Ashoka had several elder siblings, all of whom were his half-brothers from the other wives of his father Bindusara. Ashoka was given royal military training.[22]
