Ashoka

A son of King Bindusara, he is said to have come to the throne after a struggle for the succession. Becoming a Buddhist after the conquest of Kalinga, he curbed hunting and animal sacrifice, planted trees and dug wells and rest-houses along the roads, and founded medical care for people and animals. He appointed officers of dharma (dharma-mahamatras) to teach it to his subjects. His edicts were deciphered in the 19th century, restoring the memory of a long-forgotten ruler; Buddhist tradition honours him as the ideal universal monarch (chakravartin).