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On the other hand, the Buddhist sources depict Ashoka’s conversion as more sudden and the result of immediate enlightenment. Although the sources may diverge on the process that brought Ashoka to Buddhism, they both seem to point to the pivotal and bloody war against the kingdom of Kalinga as a turning point.

[[File: Maurya_Empire.png|300px|thumbnail|left| Map of the Mauryan Empire after the Reign of Ashoka]]

The dynasty and empire that Ashoka ruled over are known for its founder, Chandragupta Maurya (reigned 324-300 BC). Chandragupta, who was known by the Greeks as “Androcottus,” established the empire in 321 BC by taking lands in northwest India that were left vacant as a result of Alexander the Great’s failed attempts to conquer that region. <ref> Thapar, Romila. <i>Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.</i> (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002), pgs. 175-6</ref> Once the Mauryan Empire was established, it served as a bridge between the east and west.