He ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 268 to 232 BCE. He was the grandson of the founder of the Maurya Dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya, who had created one of the largest empires in ancient India and then, according to Jain sources, renounced it all to become a Jain monk. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka expanded Chandragupta's empire, and reigned over a realm that stretched from present-day Afghanistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east. It covered the entire Indian subcontinent except for parts of present-day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
