There were numerous kings who ruled our country. But there are only a few great kings who made their name in history and had ruled our country with great power and strength.
The two famous kings in our history, Akbar, and Ashoka share many similar features but their policies and strategies of ruling the country differ in many parameters.
Key Takeaways
- Akbar was a Mughal Emperor known for his tolerant policies and cultural advancements.
- Ashoka was a Mauryan Emperor who embraced Buddhism and promoted its spread.
- Both rulers left significant impacts on Indian history, with Akbar focusing on cultural unification and Ashoka on religious influence.
Akbar vs Ashoka
The difference between Akbar and Ashoka is the religion they believed in and followed. Akbar was basically a Muslim and believed in Islam while Ashoka was a follower of Buddhism. Initially, Akbar believed only in the Muslim religion but later on, he also encouraged the Hindu religion. Ashoka was initially considered a tyrant and later on, followed Buddhism.
Akbar, son of Humayun and grandson of Babur was ruling our country in the medieval period. He was a king with great principles, morals, and respected elders.
He was born a Muslim but encouraged all the religions in his country. He gave an equal contribution in building both temples and mosques. He encouraged and supported the lives of many artists and saints.
Ashoka, son of Bindusara and grandson of Chandragupta Maurya was ruling our country in the ancient period. Initially, he was a king of violence, had cruel policies in his kingdom, and has brutal punishments for people disobeying him.
However, he became a follower of Buddhism and understood his mistakes. He also gave up on the war.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Akbar | Ashoka |
|---|---|---|
| Period ruled | Akbar ruled the country during the medieval period and after the ruling of Ashoka. | Ashoka ruled the country during the ancient period and before the ruling of Akbar. |
| Religion followed | He followed both Islam and Hinduism. | He followed Buddhism. |
| Predecessor | He was the son of King Humayun and grandson of Babur. | He was the son of the great Emperor Bindusara and grandson of King Chandragupta Maurya. |
| Qualities possessed | He was a man of great principles, ethics, morals, and respected elders. | Initially, He was a ruthless, brutal king and believed in violence. |
| Sects | He started a sect called Din -i-Ilahi. | He started a sect called Dhamma. |
What is Akbar?
Akbar was a great and powerful king who ruled our country during the medieval period. He was a son of Humayun and grandson of Babur. Akbar possessed great ethics, morals, principles, respected and followed the advice of the elders of the nation.
He never believed in war and violence. He was a man of peace and wanted his kingdom to live a peaceful life.
Akbar was born as Islam and cultivated the morals of Islam. However, he started believing and showing interest in Hinduism because of his favorite courtier and friend, Birbal who was a Hindu.
Akbar always respected and admired Birbal’s honesty and hard work. Hence, he encouraged not only Hinduism and Islam but all the other minor religions in the country as well.
Akbar built numerous temples and mosques in his kingdom. He even visited the famous Hindu temple, the Meerabai. He encouraged and supported the lives of the poets, artists, and saints in his Kingdom.
He built a big empire by capturing many other adjoining small kingdoms. Akbar was a great ruler who treated everyone in his kingdom with equality.
Hence, Akbar is a powerful king about whom we still read in our lessons, and tales of Akbar and Birbal are quite popular in many regions of our country.
What is Ashoka?
Ashoka was another great and powerful king who ruled our country during the ancient period. He was the son of Bindusara and grandson of King Chandragupta Maurya.
Ashoka was known as one of the most powerful kings in our history and he enlarged the kingdom by capturing and doing wars with many adjoining or far kingdoms. He won many wars.
Initially, Ashoka was known as the cold-hearted and ruthless king who believed in strict rules, brutal punishments, violence, and war. He strongly believed in wars and fought many wars.
Ashoka was known as Chandashok because of his brutal quality. When the war of Kalinga broke out, it resulted in almost the death of 1,00,000 soldiers.
Ashoka successfully won the war with Kalinga and captured the kingdom of Kalinga. However, after the war of Kalinga, Ashoka realized his mistake and felt guilty for those lost lives.
He immediately gave up on war and violence. This transformation from Chandashoka into Dhammasoka made him a great ruler of Indian history. Later on, he followed the morals of Buddhism.
Ashoka ensured peace in his kingdom and implemented many liberal policies for the welfare of his people. He supported the growth of literature, artists, and poets. Hence, Ashoka was a great leader whom we still study in our history.
Main Differences Between Akbar and Ashoka
- Ashoka was a follower of Buddhism while Akbar was initially an Islam and then believed in both Hinduism and Muslim.
- Ashoka was initially considered a tyrant and then he became a man of peaceful life while Akbar from the beginning believed in peace and not in war.
- Ashoka won many wars, captured numerous kingdoms, and created a big kingdom in comparison to Akbar.
- Akbar developed many policies for the support of the lives of many artists and saints while Ashoka implemented many liberalists policies.
- Akbar was ruling our country in the medieval period while Ashoka ruled our country in the ancient period.
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=v_rEDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=akbar&ots=4T15j2AiXC&sig=qXybwfItNSLHY_ZRUJNTtGq7obM
- https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.4159/9780674915237/html
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
