to my somewhat limited understanding… didn’t Ashoka stop the conquest of his neighbors more because his empire was getting too big to manage anyways- spending more time putting down the inevitable rebellions rather than invading new places. Remember, few places ever truly forget they were subjugated.

Regardless, his conversion happened after, and Buddhism definitely benefited from his prior conquest as he built shitloads of temples everywhere to “enlighten” the normies. perhaps it is my own bias, but I’m doubting that the people converting didn’t feel at least some coercion to it.