Ashoka fought a war in the quest to conquer Kalinga (present-day Orissa). But the violence and bloodshed in the war touched him and he became the only king who gave up conquest forever after winning a war. Famous Mauryan ruler, Ashoka was the first ruler who tried to take his message to the people through inscriptions. These inscriptions were in Prakrit and written in the Brahmi script. Kalinga was the ancient name of coastal Orissa. Ashoka fought a war to conquer Kalinga. He was horrified when he saw the violence and bloodshed and so decided not to fight any more wars. He is the only king in the history of the world who gave up conquest after winning a war. Ashoka’s duty was to solve these problems. He appointed officials, known as the dhamma mahamatta, who went from place to place teaching people about dhamma. His messages were inscribed on rocks and pillars. He instructed his officials to read his message to those who could not read it themselves.