Fw: H-ASIA: Member Publication: Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Field" <shanghaidrew@GMAIL.COM>
To: <H-ASIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2011 5:56 AM
Subject: H-ASIA: Member Publication: Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade
Networks

H-ASIA
Jan 25 2011

Member Publication: Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks
********************************
From: Jason Neelis <neelisja@uw.edu>

Dear H-Asia List,

With excuses for self-promotion and possible cross-posting, I would
like to
announce this recent publication, which will be of interest to audiences
with interests in early South Asian and Central Asian history, as well
as
the history of Buddhism.

Thank you,

Jason Neelis
Religion and Culture
Wilfrid Laurier University
jneelis@wlu.ca

Jason Neelis. *Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks:
Mobility and
Exchange within and beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia*.
Dynamics in the History of Religion, vol. 2. Leiden; Boston, Brill:
2011.
ISSN 1878-8106; ISBN 978 90 04 18159 5

http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=41872

Description: 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 historical 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.

Table of Contents

* *

Chapter 1:* Introduction: Road Map for Travelers*

Models for the Movement of Buddhism

Merit, Merchants, and the Buddhist *Saṅgha*

Sources and Methods for the study of Buddhist Transmission

Outline of Destinations

Chapter 2: *Historical Contexts for the Emergence and Transmission of
Buddhism within South Asia*

Initial Phases of the Establishment of Early Indian Buddhist Communities

Legacy of the Mauryans: Aśoka as *Dharmarāja
*

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 Kuṣāṇa Period

Shifting Networks of Political Power and Institutional Patronage
during the
Gupta Period

Cross-Cultural Transmission between South Asia and Central Asia, ca.
500-100
CE

Conclusions

Chapter 3:* Trade Networks in Ancient South Asia*

Northern Route (*Uttarāpatha*)

Southern Route (*Dakṣiṇāpatha*)

Seaports and Maritime Routes across the Indian Ocean

Conclusions

Chapter 4:* Old Roads in the Northwestern Borderlands*

Environmental Conditions for Buddhist Transmission in Gandhāra

Gandhāran Material and Literary Cultures

Gandhāran Nodes and Networks

Routes of Buddhist Missionaries and Pilgrims to and from Gandhāra

Domestication of Gandharan Buddhism

Conclusions

Chapter 5:* 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

Conclusions

Chapter 6:* Long-Distance Transmission to Central Asian Silk Routes and
China*

Silk Routes of Eastern Central Asia

Long-distance Transmission Reconsidered

Conclusions

Chapter 7:* Conclusions: Alternative Paths and Paradigms of Buddhist
Transmission*

Catalysts for the Formation and Expansion of the Buddhist *Saṅgha*

Changing Paradigms for Buddhist Transmission within and beyond South
Asia

******************************************************************
To post to H-ASIA simply send your message to:
<H-ASIA@h-net.msu.edu>
For holidays or short absences send post to:
<listserv@h-net.msu.edu> with message:
SET H-ASIA NOMAIL
Upon return, send post with message SET H-ASIA MAIL
H-ASIA WEB HOMEPAGE URL: http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/