Stupas? Hold on. Stupa. Could he have said that any more pretentiously? Stupas. So Ashoka built stupas, these mound-like monuments to the Buddha, all over his kingdom to show his devotion. And he also put up pillars all throughout his empire that proclaimed his benevolent rule and said he was going to rule through something he called dhamma, which according to one of the pillars went like this, proper behavior towards servants and employees, respect for mother and father, generosity to friends, companions, relations, brahmins and ascetics, and not killing living beings.