here are the most epic origin stories in history Ashoka it's the year 304 BC and the Moran Empire is welcoming a new Royal child lovingly held by his mother he's given the name Ashoka and the emperor a man named bindusara stands near and gazes at this newborn in this sun he sees a future of uh not much really see the emperor already has another son named sushima born from another one of his wives and he's actually his choice to become his heir to add to this ashoka's mom was a commoner whoops I mean how did
that happen while sushima was a noble so yeah Case Closed here but Ashoka is still a royal son and he's given a royal upbringing time passes Ashoka grows up and boy he does look like he's turning out to be a huge disappointment he's short kind of fat and is suffering some sort of weird skin condition which grosses his father out though he had already made up his mind that sushima was his guy now he's certain Ashoka is just way too ugly to be Emperor I mean come on look at him but what Ashoka lacked in
looks he made up for in Charisma and intelligence and like most kids who know they're not the favorite he grows to have a huge chip on his shoulder he schooled in all the things a royal son should learn and once he's of age his father begins to send him out to govern parts of his kingdom and to quell rebellions ashoka's first assignment was to govern the area of uan where he proved to be a master of governmental policy and and later he was put in charge of quelling rebellions in taxila where he demonstrates a natural
ability to command a military it becomes obvious that Ashoka is talented enough to rule the Empire and this doesn't go unnoticed by the emperor's ministers they try to tell the emperor but their opinions don't really matter because bindusara had already made up his mind sushima was to be his Heir but in 273 BCE the emperor Falls ill and is quickly on his deathbed sushima is off fighting a rebellion so he sends for him to return home quickly so he can be crowned Emperor but by this point in time the ministers have decided they like Asoka
way better they think sushima is a spoiled brat and they've watched Ashoka kill it both governing and on the battlefield so they lie to the emperor and say that ashoka's sick and can't go and that maybe he should just make a shoke of the emperor temporarily while he's waiting for sushima to return the emperor is like did I [ __ ] stutter at which point Legend says Ashoka proclaims if the throne is right mine the gods will Crown me as the next Emperor and just like that bindusara dies instantly and Ashok is made Emperor how
convenient when sushima returns back to the capital he's led by the ministers into a trap and falls into a pit of charcoal and dies an agonizing death Ashoka then goes off and kills every single one of his other brothers except one he kind of liked to ensure he would have no competition and so in 268 BCE Ashoka is crowned Emperor and he quickly proves all of his father's ministri were completely wrong and becomes an unhinged Tyrant who rules with fear and Terror his atrocities are too many to list but here are some of his Greatest
Hits he once gave his ministers the impossible task to cut down every flowering or fruiting tree and when they failed he chopped off all their heads himself oh my God we should have totally gone with sush this other time while walking through a park with his concubines he sees a beautiful Ashoka tree which puts him in the mood for some Afternoon Delight the concubines are so grossed out having to touch his gross skin that as soon as Ashoka fell asleep they go and chop all the flowers off the tree to make sure it won't happen
again which I find hilarious but when Ashoka wakes up and finds out what they did he has them all burned to death and perhaps as P the resistance he constructed a beautiful palace which he then fills with the most evil torture devices imaginable burning pits fire Chambers molten metal for pouring down throats spiked walls and ceilings for impaling rotating blades for ch off body parts and iron hooks for hanging were all said to be found within the walls of this Palace that's given the name Asoka hell no one who enters the palace ever comes out
alive it did evidently have a beautiful garden in front of it though now at this point you may be wondering why are you even talking about this psychopath anyway well it's because believe it or not he's often referred to today as aoka the great one of the greatest and most beloved rulers in the history of India and his Redemption Arc begins in 262 2 BCE Ashoka has dreams of surpassing his grandfather and father who had successfully grown the Moran Empire to Encompass nearly the entire Indian subcontinent modern-day Afghanistan and Bangladesh for his first Conquest he
sets his sights on the kingdom of Kalinga an unconquered area located on the eastern coast of India that his grandfather had once tried to take but failed the Kalinga were a proudly independent people who had wealth trading ports and a well-trained military and defeating them would be a great first step to show he'd surpassed his forefathers so Ashoka takes an army of 600,000 infantry 30,000 Cavalry and 9,000 war elephants and attacks Kinga with the entire might of the Moran Empire the Kinga though heavily outnumbered refused to surrender and fight bravely to the end in A
desperate But ultimately failed attempt to defend their Homeland the war does not last long but is literal hell on Earth and the death and destruction are at levels unseen until World War II the morans win the war but at a heavy cost and when Ashoka goes to the battlefield to bask in his greatness he's instead horrified by what he sees the bodies of over 100,000 dead Kinga soldiers litter the ground every step he takes is into a pool of festering blood the stench of Rotting Flesh is unbearable and the swarm of flies feasting on the
corpses is deafening he sees women young and old searching for their husbands their fathers and their children amongst the rotting bodies some are unlucky enough to find their loved ones and their howling cries burn ashoka's ears he was not the first nor the last ruler to be confronted by the harsh realities of War but in this moment he's perhaps one of the few rulers in history who was filled with a deep sense of remorse was this the greatness he was seeking Ashoka leaves the battlefield a changed man he will no longer seek Glory through war
and he invests himself wholly in the study of Buddhism he begins to erect pillars throughout his kingdom with edicts on how he wishes for his people to live peacefully with respect for one another no matter their cultural or religious background for the rest of his Reign he goes on no further Conquest his only goal was peace and the betterment of the lives of everyone living within his Empire he begins to use the Empire's treasury to erect shelters for travelers plant fruit bearing trees along the main roads to feed the needy and digs irrigation systems to
provide clean water for everyone through his efforts Moria grows prosperous and enjoys peace that lasts for decades he funds Buddhist missions out of India in an attempt to Foster world peace and his effort spreads the philosophy throughout Asia when India regained its independence from British rule in 1947 Ashoka Shakra was chosen as the central icon of the country's flag Cyrus the Great it's 600 BCE and a king named aages is lying awake in bed troubled by a strange dream in his vision he saw an ocean of water flowing from his daughter that swept through not
only his kingdom of media but flooded all of Asia as well the next morning he's still troubled by this dream and he seeks counsel from his Magi whose interpretation chills him to the Bone the dream was an omen that The Offspring of his daughter would one day challenge him for the rule of his Empire to prevent this he quickly marries her off to a mild-mannered Persian king named kisis the first pH ain't no way any great conqueror is going to come from Persia but just a year after the marriage aages has another dream this time
his daughter stands before him and Vines suddenly begin to grow from her back The Vines grow so large that they entangle all of Asia aages is again freaked out and again he goes to see his Magi who confirms his worst fears the son of his daughter will Dethrone him and go on to rule an Empire that stretches to the four corners of the world the words of his Magi scare the crap out of aages and he decides then and there that he'll do everything he can to ensure this prophecy never comes true but before he
can even think of a plan his daughter becomes pregnant and gives birth to a boy aages or orders his most trusted General a man named harpagus to immediately travel to Persia and kill the child loyal to his King the general makes the journey rips the infant from the hands of its mother and walks away as she begs for him to stop harpagus carries the baby out of the city but as he looks down at the newborn he finds he just doesn't have it in him to take the life of an infant so instead he gives
the baby to a shepherd and tells him to go leave it in the woods to die as ordered the shepherd takes the baby and carries it off into the woods but unknown to harpagus the wife of the shepherd had just given birth to a stillborn child as he walks into the wood he stares into the eyes of the infant and he can't help but to think of his own child and what could have been the shepherd decides to disobey harpagus and brings the baby home and he and his wife decide to secretly raise him as
their own they name the boy agriades and the shepherd buries their own stillborn son and gives harpagus the location of the body as far as everyone else knows the matter settled the Royal infant is dead so agades is raised in the country side away from the royal family completely unaware of his lineage and he grows into a strong charismatic boy one day at the age of 10 he's playing with some other kids and in their game he gets named the king as king he orders around the other boys and they all play along except this
one kid who was the son of a median Noble when the kid refuses to listen agriades orders the other boys to rough him up to teach him a lesson for not listening to their King the noble boy goes home crying and tells on aures and the boy's dad can't stand the Justice and he immediately goes to AES to complain to get this Shepherd boy punished agades and his Shepherd father are brought to the throne room in media and at first look aages is immediately suspicious this boy looks exactly like him and is the same age
his dead grandson would be and on top of all this he speaks and conducts himself with class far above a commoner he turns to the shepherd and demands the truth who is this boy the shepherd defends that this is his son until a steese threatens him with severe punishment if he's lying at which point he reveals everything the king is furious not so much at the shepherd but at his most trusted General who had failed him harpagus is summoned to the throne room and as he enters he sees the shepherd and the boy and immediately
knows he's fed harpagus knows there's no use in lying so he tells the truth but surprisingly the king seems to keep his cool he tells harpagus that he had often felt bad about you know killing his grandson and he's actually somewhat relieved that he's still alive tell you what let's celebrate his return tonight come back later and oh could you please send your 13-year-old son a little earlier so my grandson will have a companion harpagus is relieved and goes home and tells his wife and kid what's going on he sends his son to the Palace
early not thinking anything of it and starts to get freshened up for the feast when his son arrives at the palace AES orders his soldiers to kill him and chop him into pieces some parts of the boy are then roasted and other parts are boiled these cooked pieces of human flesh were then placed on Silver platters for later in the evening at the Royal Feast harpagus is seated with other Nobles and mutton is served to everyone harpagus is mutton looks a little different but the king seems to be in a good mood so they all
eat up once everyone's stuffed aages asks harpagus for a little help he calls for his attendants who bring in a basket and places it directly in front of harpagus he orders him to lift the basket hesitantly he follows the king's commands and is horrified to see the head and and hands of his son aages with an evil grin then asks harpagus if he enjoyed his meal a little gamey perhaps harpagus comes to the sickening realization that he had just eaten his own son for dinner Against All Odds he maintains his composure and simply States whatever
my king does pleases me he asks to keep the remains of his son which he calmly takes and buries at home but secretly he never forgives the king and will spend the rest rest of his life plotting his revenge feeling pretty proud about the way he dealt with that idiot harpagus AES now has to figure out what to do with this grandchild he had feared I mean he could just kill him and get it over with but instead he seeks the counsel of his Magi again who tells him that technically the prophecy had come true
the boy had become a king in the game he was playing so now he doesn't pose any threat relieved aages apologizes to the boy and sends him to be raised in Persia by his biological parents who are both confused but also happy that their son they thought was dead for 10 years is somehow still alive they rename him Cyrus II after his Persian grandfather well in Persia Cyrus grows to be a strong and capable leader and when kisis passes away he assumes the throne and begins setting his sights on larger conquests he soon realizes that
the greatness he desires will be impossible if he's still under the thumb of his grandfather and he begins plotting ways to regain Persia's Independence back in media harpagus gets wind that Cyrus May have higher Ambitions and he sends him a secret message in his letter he reminds Cyrus of how his grandfather wanted him killed and that if Persia were to lead a rebellion against media he would turn his forces against the stees and fight alongside him this sounds like a pretty good deal but Cyrus has one last problem Persia is less of a kingdom and
more of a scattering of tribes that kind of tolerate a ruler if he wants to have any success against his grandfather he first needs to unite these tribes to fight as a unified Army as the new ruler of Persia he orders men from across his lands to a forest and orders them to clear it within a day not knowing what kind of ruler Cyrus is going to be the men begrudgingly do so and by the end of the day are completely exhausted the next day Cyrus again calls them back to the same spot the aching
men head back to the forest thinking this Cyrus guy might need to be taken care of quickly if he keeps this up but when they arrive they're shocked to find Cyrus with an incredible Feast laid out in the clearing he invites them to eat and instead of working the men spend the whole day relaxing drinking and eating the most delicious food they've ever tasted as the sun begins to set Cyrus stands before them and says Persians you have the power to shape your own future if you follow me you will enjoy days like today and
even better ones without having to endure hard labor but if you go against my plans you will face hardships worse than what you experienced yesterday I speak to you as a voice of Freedom it seems that Providence has chosen KN to bring prosperity to you you are just as capable and brave as the mes knowing this refuse to continue obeying aiges the men erupt into cheers finally a true leader has come to save them from the tyranny of the median Empire with full support of all the clans in Persia Cyrus quickly raises an army and
leads an allout assault against his grandfather's forces a stees orders harpagus to command his army to defend his lands and stop this Revolt but when the two armies meet on the B Battlefield harpus does as he promised turns his men and begins attacking the remaining median soldiers his revenge against the steese has begun Cyrus with the help of harpagus goes on to Dethrone his grandfather and establishes what will be known as the accented Empire exactly as the stei saw in his dreams this new Empire quickly grows and at its peak stretches from the Mediterranean to
the indis river the largest Empire the world had ever seen to this point and unlike his grandfather Cyrus rules with Fair fairness and equality he's loved by everyone in his land throughout his Reign and long after he dies so much so that he even snags an honorable mention in the Bible for being a cool guy
