Editing Ashoka (section)

=== Daughters ===
According to Sri Lankan tradition, Ashoka had a daughter named Sanghamitta, who became a [[Bhikkhunī]].{{sfn|Guruge|1995|p=49}} A section of historians, such as [[Romila Thapar]], doubt the historicity of Sanghamitta, based on the following points:{{sfn|Thapar|1961|pp=23–24}}
* The name "Sanghamitta", which literally means the friend of the Buddhist order ([[sangha]]), is unusual, and the story of her going to Ceylon so that the Ceylonese queen could be ordained appears to be an exaggeration.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=23}}
* The ''Mahavamsa'' states that she married Ashoka's nephew Agnibrahma, and the couple had a son named Sumana. The contemporary laws regarding exogamy would have forbidden such a marriage between first cousins.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=24}}
* According to the ''Mahavamsa'', she was 18 years old when she was ordained as a nun.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=23}} The narrative suggests that she was married two years earlier, and that her husband as well as her child were ordained. It is unlikely that she would have been allowed to become a nun with such a young child.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=24}}

Another source mentions that Ashoka had a daughter named Charumati, who married a [[kshatriya]] named Devapala.{{sfn|Thapar|1961|p=30}}