1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910169180103321

Autore

Neelis Jason Emmanuel

Titolo

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

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Leiden ; ; Boston, : Brill, 2011

ISBN

1-283-11947-1

9786613119476

90-04-19458-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (390 p.)

Collana

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

Disciplina

294.3/7209021

Soggetti

Buddhist geography - Asia

Trade routes - Asia - History

Buddhists - Travel - Asia

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

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.

Sommario/riassunto

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.