<prompt> Translate the following text to EnglishIndia ya Kusini ilibaki huru, lakini Ashoka alikuwa na mikono yake kamili na milki kubwa ambayo sasa ilienea kaskazini hadi Kashmir na mashariki hadi Bengal.  <response>: Southern India remained independent, but Ashoka had his hands full with a large empire that now extended as far north as Kashmir and east to Bengal. 