Developing into an impeccable warrior general and a shrewd statesman, Ashoka went on to command several regiments of the Mauryan army. His growing popularity across the empire made his elder brothers wary of his chances of being favored by Bindusara to become the next emperor. The eldest of them, Prince Susima, the traditional heir to the throne, persuaded Bindusara to send Ashoka to quell an uprising in the city of Taxila in the northwest province of Sindh, of which Prince Susima was governor. Taxila was a highly volatile place because of the warlike Indo-Greek population and mismanagement by Susima himself. Different militias had formed, causing unrest. Ashoka complied with his father’s request and left for the troubled area. As news of Ashoka's visit with his army trickled in, the revolting militias welcomed him and the uprising ended without a fight (the province revolted once more during the rule of Ashoka, but this time the uprising was crushed with an iron fist).

Ashoka's success made his stepbrothers more wary of his intentions of becoming the emperor, and more pressure from Susima led Bindusara to send Ashoka into exile. He went into Kalinga (Orissa) and stayed there incognito. There he met a fisherwoman named Kaurwaki, with whom he fell in love; recently found inscriptions indicate that she went on to become his second or third queen