Early Buddhist transmission and trade networks : mobility and exchange within and beyond the northwestern borderlands of South Asia / by Jason Neelis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Neelis, Jason Emmanuel.

Series:

Dynamics in the history of religion ; v. 2.

Dynamics in the history of religion, 1878-8106 ; v. 2

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buddhist geography--Asia.

Buddhist geography.

Trade routes--Asia--History.

Trade routes.

Buddhists--Travel--Asia.

Buddhists.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (390 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This exploration of early paths for Buddhist transmission within and beyond South Asia retraces the footsteps of monks, merchants, and other agents of cross-cultural exchange. A reassessment of literary, epigraphic, and archaeological sources reveals hisorical contexts for the growth of the Buddhist saṅgha from approximately the 5th century BCE to the end of the first millennium CE. Patterns of dynamic Buddhist mobility were closely linked to transregional trade networks extending to the northwestern borderlands and joined to Central Asian silk routes by capillary routes through transit zones in the upper Indus and Tarim Basin. By examining material conditions for Buddhist establishments at nodes along these routes, this book challenges models of gradual diffusion and develops alternative explanations for successful Buddhist movement.

Contents:

Road Map for Travelers. Models for the Movement of Buddhism ; Merit, Merchants, and the Buddhist Sangha ; Sources and Methods for the study of Buddhist ; Transmission ; Outline of Destinations

Two Historical Contexts for the Emergence and Transmission of Buddhism within South Asia. Initial Phases of the Establishment of Buddhist Communities in Early India ; Legacy of the Mauryans: Asoka as Dharmaraja ; Migrations, Material Exchanges, and Cross-Cultural Transmission in Northwestern Contact Zones ; Saka Migrants and Mediators between Central Asia and South Asia ; Dynamics of Mobility during the Kusana Period ; Shifting Networks of Political Power and Institutional Patronage during the Gupta Period ; Cross-Cultural Transmission between South Asia and Central Asia, ca. 500-1000 CE

Trade Networks in Ancient South Asia ; Northern Route (Uttarapatha) ; Southern Route (Daksinapatha) ; Seaports and Maritime Routes across the Indian Ocean

Old Roads in the Northwestern Borderlands ; Environmental Conditions for Buddhist Transmission in Gandhara ; Gandharan Material and Literary Cultures ; Gandharan Nodes and Networks ; Routes of Buddhist Missionaries and Pilgrims to and from Gandhara ; Domestication of Gandharan Buddhism

Capillary Routes of the Upper Indus. Geography, Economy, and Capillary Routes in a High Altitude Environment ; Graffiti, Petroglyphs, and Pilgrims ; Enigma of an Absence of Archaeological Evidence and Manifestations of Buddhist Presence

Long-Distance Transmission to Central Asian Silk Routes and China. Silk Routes of Eastern Central Asia ; Long-distance Transmission Reconsidered

Alternative Paths and Paradigms of Buddhist Transmission. Catalysts for the Formation and Expansion of the Buddhist Sangha ; Changing Paradigms for Buddhist Transmission within and beyond South Asia.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

CC BY-NC-ND

Description based on print version record; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9786613119476

9781283119474

1283119471

9789004194588

9004194584

OCLC:

727951411

Publisher Number:

10.1163/ej.9789004181595.i-372 DOI

Access Restriction:

Open access Unrestricted online access