Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks

Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-90-04-18159-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 2, 371 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 239 mm, Gewicht: 748 g

Reihe: Dynamics in the History of Religions

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 sangha 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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Neelis, Jason

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Buddhismus
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte

Über Autor(innen)

Jason Neelis, Ph.D. (2001) in Asian Languages and Literature, University of Washington, is an Assistant Professor for South Asian Buddhism at the Wilfird Laurier University and a Research Fellow for Indian Religious History at Ruhr-Universität Bochum.