The Mauryas and Buddhism in Kashmir

Ashoka in Kashmir

• Kashmir came under Mauryan control. Kalhana says Ashoka (the Mauryan emperor, about 268 to 232 BCE) ruled Kashmir and built many stupas and Shiva shrines.
• Ashoka is said to have founded Srinagari (an early Srinagar) at Pandrethan (Puranadhisthana). Today's Srinagar was founded much later by Pravarasena II.
• He is credited with spreading Buddhism to Kashmir. Tradition says he sent the monk Majjhantika (Madhyantika) to Kashmir and Gandhara.
• Buddhist monks and scholars soon made the Valley a great centre of Buddhist learning.

Jalauka

• Kalhana also mentions Jalauka, son of Ashoka, as a Shaiva king who fought the Mlechchhas and built shrines. This detail is only in Kalhana, and historians treat it as doubtful.

After the Mauryas

• After Mauryan power broke up, Kashmir was ruled by local rulers and, for a time, by Indo-Greeks and Sakas.

Ashoka: more details

• Ashoka conquered Kashmir (about 250 BCE, as some notes give) and introduced Buddhism.
• He built the city Srinagari. Kalhana calls this capital Puranadhishthana ("old capital"), now identified with Pandrethan, about three miles from today's Srinagar.
• He built many viharas and temples, including a Shiva temple, and repaired an old Shiva temple, Vijayeshwara, at Bijbehara.
• After Ashoka, Kashmir was ruled by his son Jaluka, and after Jaluka by Damodara II.