Ashoka Maurya (/ok/; Sanskrit: ; 304232 BCE), commonly known as Ashoka and also

as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian
subcontinent from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE.[1] One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over a
realm that stretched from the Hindu Kush mountains in the west to Bengal in the East and covered the
entire Indian subcontinent except parts of present day Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The empire's capital
wasPataliputra (in Magadha, present-day Bihar), with provincial capitals at Taxila and Ujjain.In about 260
BCE Ashoka waged a bitterly destructive war against the state of Kalinga (modern Odisha).[2] He
conquered Kalinga, which none of his ancestors had done. [3] He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the
mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. "Ashoka
reflected on the war in Kalinga, which reportedly had resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000
deportations."[4] Ashoka converted gradually to Buddhism beginning about 263 BCE. [2] He was later
dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia, and established monuments marking several
significant sites in the life ofGautama Buddha. "Ashoka regarded Buddhism as a doctrine that could serve
as a cultural foundation for political unity."[5] Ashoka is now remembered as a philanthropic administrator.
In the Kalinga edicts, he addresses his people as his "children", and mentions that as a father he desires
their good. Ashoka was born to the Mauryan emperor Bindusara and a relatively lower ranked wife of his,
Dharm [or Dhamm]. He was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, founder ofMauryan dynasty.
The Avadana texts mention that his mother was queen Subhadrang. According to Ashokavadana, she
was the daughter of a Brahmin from the city of Champa. [6]:205 Empress Subhadrang was a Brahmin of
the Ajivika sect,[7] and was found to be a suitable match for Emperor Bindusara. Though a palace intrigue
kept her away from the emperor, this eventually ended, and she bore a son. It is from her exclamation "I
am now without sorrow," that Ashoka got his name. The Divyvadna tells a similar story, but gives the
name of the queen as Janapadakalyn.[8][9]
Ashoka had several elder siblings, all of whom were his half-brothers from other wives of Bindusara. His
fighting qualities were apparent from an early age and he was given royal military training. He was known
as a fearsome hunter, and according to a legend, killed a lion with just a wooden rod. Because of his
reputation as a frightening warrior and a heartless general, he was sent to curb the riots in
the Avanti province of the Mauryan empire.[10]Approximate extent of Maurya empire under Asoka. The
empire stretched from Afghanistan to Bengal to southern IndiaThe Buddhist text "Divyavadana" describes
Ashoka putting down a revolt due to activities of wicked ministers. This may have been an incident
in Bindusara's times. Taranatha's account states that Chanakya, one of Bindusara's great lords,
destroyed the nobles and kings of 16 towns and made himself the master of all territory between the

eastern and the western seas. Some historians consider this as an indication of Bindusara's conquest of
the Deccan while others consider it as suppression of a revolt. Following this, Ashoka was stationed at
Ujjayini as governor.[9]
Bindusara's death in 272 BCE led to a war over succession. According to Divyavandana, Bindusara
wanted his son Sushim to succeed him but Ashoka was supported by his father's ministers, who found
Sushim to be arrogant and disrespectful towards them. [11] A minister named Radhagupta seems to have
played an important role in Ashoka's rise to the throne. The Ashokavadana recounts Radhagupta's
offering of an old royal elephant to Ashoka for him to ride to the Garden of the Gold Pavilion where King
Bindusara would determine his successor. Ashoka later got rid of the legitimate heir to the throne by
tricking him into entering a pit filled with live coals. Radhagupta, according to the Ashokavadana, would
later be appointed prime minister by Ashoka once he had gained the throne.
The Dipavansa andMahavansa refer to Ashoka's killing 99 of his brothers, sparing only one,
named Vitashoka or Tissa,[9] although there is no clear proof about this incident (many such accounts are
saturated with mythological elements). The coronation happened in 269 BCE, four years after his
succession to the throne.
OSMOSIS

Osmosis is the movement of a solvent across a semipermeable membrane toward a

higher concentration of solute. In biological systems, the solvent is typically water, but
osmosis can occur in other liquids, supercritical liquids, and even gases. [9][10]When a cell
is submerged in water, the water molecules pass through the cell membrane from an
area of low solute concentration to high solute concentration. For example, if the cell is
submerged in saltwater, water molecules move out of the cell. If a cell is submerged in
freshwater, water molecules move into the cell.When the membrane has a volume of
pure water on both sides, water molecules pass in and out in each direction at exactly
the same rate. There is no net flow of water through the membrane.The mechanism
responsible for driving osmosis has commonly been represented in biology and
chemistry texts as either the dilution of water by solute (resulting in lower concentration
of water on the higher solute concentration side of the membrane and therefore a
diffusion of water along a concentration gradient) or by a solute's attraction to water
(resulting in less free water on the higher solute concentration side of the membrane
and therefore net movement of water toward the solute). Both of these notions have
been conclusively refuted.