03 Accession and Consecration

Aśoka’s accession (c.273 BCE) was marked by a fratricidal war killing 99 half-brothers, earning him the name Candāsoka (Cruel Asoka). Consecration came four years later (c.269 BCE). He appointed his brother Tissa as sub-king. He had multiple queens: Asandhimittā (chief consort), Kāluvākī (mentioned in inscriptions), Padmāvatī, and later Tiṣyarakṣitā. He continued his father’s practice of feeding Brahmans but began critically evaluating religious traditions, searching for spiritual inner essence.