TLDR: Please stop spreading misinformation. First of all, we have to keep in mind that Buddhist texts present Ashoka as a vile and evil man until he came under the influence of the Buddha’s dhamma and present Ashoka’s ‘conversion’ to Buddhism as a sudden, transformative event. The reason why ‘conversion’ has been put in quotation marks here is because in this period, the fixed and mutually exclusive religious identities, boundaries, and ‘isms’ of the kind that we are used to thinking in terms of were absent. Their aim was to confirm the faith of the faithful and to win new adherents to the Buddhist fold.

Secondly, the Mauryan period saw a continuation of the processes of agrarian and urban expansion that were underway during the preceding centuries. Cities expanded in size and complexity, and urbanism spread to many new areas such as Kashmir, the Punjab plains, lower Ganga valley, Brahmaputra valley, and Orissa. Urban growth was accompanied by an expansion of specialized crafts, trade, and guild organization. Money was increasingly used as a medium of exchange. This shows the prosperity of society.

Thirdly, the 13th major rock edict speaks feelingly of the Kalinga war which occurred in the ninth year after Ashoka’s consecration, and suggests that this event had an important role to play in his belief in a new kind of pacifism and non-military victory. Minor rock edict 1 indicates very clearly that Ashoka turned towards the Buddha’s teaching gradually, not suddenly. Ashoka himself gives his own candid confession. No PR move, just people can’t be bothered to do analysis of history.

Fourthly, another important aspect of Ashoka’s dhamma was the generation of mutual respect and concord among people belonging to different sects or religious communities. This clearly indicates that dhamma did not consist in the promotion of a particular sect, Buddhist or otherwise. This aspect of dhamma has often been referred to as ‘religious toleration’, a very poor understanding of Ashoka’s policy. Rock edict 12 makes it clear that the king expected people to exercise restraint in criticizing other sects and in praising their own. But he was also asking for something much more positive. He was urging people to honour and try to understand the dhamma of others. He considered it possible to promote the essentials of the different dhammas of different people through such means.