An envoy of Asoka is sent to declare peace after the Kalinga War, 261 BC. According to legend Ashoka ventured out to roam the city of Kalinga after the war and all he could see were burnt houses and scattered corpses, this transformed the vengeful Ashoka to a stable and peaceful emperor and he became a patron of Buddhism. Ashoka or A?oka; died 232 BC. Ancient Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty. From Hutchinson's History of the Nations, published 1915.