What are the causes of kalinga …

When Ashoka, the son of the Mauryan emperor Bindusara and the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, the first Mauryan Emperor, ascended the throne of Magadha in 273 BC, he also wanted to follow the footsteps of his father and grandfather and set out to expand his empire to become a great conqueror. Kalinga was a part of Magadha Empire during the time of the Nandas. When the Nandas were defeated by Chandragupta Maurya, Kalinga was an independent state. While Chandragupta Maurya and Bindusara initially wanted to re-conquer it, they could not succeed. It was Ashoka who came forward to conquer it again. Also, historians reveal that Kalinga had already expanded its military power and had huge material prosperity due to its trade relations with Java, Malay, and Ceylon, right from the time of Chandragupta to that of Ashoka, and Ashoka could not neglect the importance of Kalinga for the Mauryan Empire. I think it was mainly the vast military strength, wealth and power of Kalinga that caused jealousy for the Magadh Empire and so, Ashoka wanted to re-establish the Magadh power in this state. During Ashoka's reign, he sent a message to the ruler of Kalinga to surrender his empire to the Mauryas. However, Kalingaraj or the ruler of Kalinga refused to submit to the Mauryan Empire. Thus, followed a huge war between the two rulers in 261 B.C. At least this is the theory most believe.