Alexander Cunningham (1833-1885) and Buddhist Archaeology: A Study of Archaeological Geography and Buddhist Landscape with Reference to Ancient Bodhgaya. Buddhism has been one of the popular faith since its inception. It has provided scholars with one of the interesting topics for research since the eighteenth century. There have been several works on various facets of this religion and it continues to be one of the upcoming discipline (as a separate entity) of study. However, most of the works have been based primarily on literary data, which might be attributed to the ample availability of literary sources and translations, which initiated the early study of Buddhism since mid-eighteenth century. However, with the deciphering of Asokan inscriptions by James Prinsep and simultaneous surveys of Alexander Cunningham, a new vista was opened as it provided us with a wealth of archaeological and epigraphical data. The new discoveries changed the perceptions of the early history of India. The new archaeological discoveries of 1830’s and 1840’s were results of interests of certain persons who took the initiatives. These results influenced the government of the time to initiate a few steps to bring out the past of India. Between 1848-61, the Governor-General appointed a few Surveyors to conduct surveys in various regions and report on the remnants of the past in those regions. These surveys provided the groundwork for further researches as well as appointment of Cunningham as Archaeological Surveyor in 1861. Moreover, these developments changed the way in which history was to be studied afterwards. Objectives of the study: Alexander Cunningham was the father on Indian Archaeology and his contribution to the history of India is incomparable. There are very few among the early Indologists, whose contributions, both in respect of
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Alexander Cunningham (1833-1885) and Buddhist Archaeology: A Study of
Archaeological Geography and Buddhist Landscape with Reference to Ancient
Bodhgaya.
Buddhism has been one of the popular faith since its inception. It has provided scholars with one of
the interesting topics for research since the eighteenth century. There have been several works on various
facets of this religion and it continues to be one of the upcoming discipline (as a separate entity) of study.
However, most of the works have been based primarily on literary data, which might be attributed to the
ample availability of literary sources and translations, which initiated the early study of Buddhism since
mid-eighteenth century. However, with the deciphering of Asokan inscriptions by James Prinsep and
simultaneous surveys of Alexander Cunningham, a new vista was opened as it provided us with a wealth of
archaeological and epigraphical data. The new discoveries changed the perceptions of the early history of
India.
The new archaeological discoveries of 1830’s and 1840’s were results of interests of certain persons
who took the initiatives. These results influenced the government of the time to initiate a few steps to bring
out the past of India. Between 1848-61, the Governor-General appointed a few Surveyors to conduct
surveys in various regions and report on the remnants of the past in those regions. These surveys provided
the groundwork for further researches as well as appointment of Cunningham as Archaeological Surveyor
in 1861. Moreover, these developments changed the way in which history was to be studied afterwards.
Objectives of the study:
Alexander Cunningham was the father on Indian Archaeology and his contribution to the history of India is
incomparable. There are very few among the early Indologists, whose contributions, both in respect of
quality and quantity can compare favourably with Cunningham whose works became indispensable for all
time. Though the data collected by him has been used on a regular basis by scholars, his contribution and
achievements have not yet received their due. Keeping these facts in mind, I have decided to study the
works of Cunningham to study the past. The pertinent questions here are:
Why does Cunningham decide to focus on archaeology vis-à-vis Buddhism?
What were the objectives for such a study? The objectives have to be analysed at
two levels- firstly, on a long-term basis, how does this study affect the
understanding of early history of India and secondly, on a short–term basis, what
were his objectives while carrying out his surveys and excavations?
Fifty-three (1833-1885) years of his work primarily in north India set a new trend
of study. He has discussed in detail the discovery of various sites, their remains
and their growth in the 24 volume reports of ASI. He has also published detailed
monographs on major sites such as Bodhgaya, Bharhut, Sanchi etc. In his work
Ancient Geography of India, the Buddhist period, Including the Campaigns
of Alexander and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang (1871), he discussed the notion
of “Historical Geography”. It meant collection of information such as
geographical features, ancient names, details, remains and ruins of the places
about the ancient places, for which he relied exclusively on literary data. He also
gives a brief sketch of the historical background of the places. The main concern
of the book was archaeological identification of ancient places mentioned in a
variety of textual sources but principally in the account of Hwen-Thsang. He
described the major features of the places, gave an idea of the territorial units or
kingdoms of which these places were a part, and listed the distances and
directions involved in his movement from one place to another. This account
became the textual baseline of his ground investigations.1
The results of his study vis-à-vis his data set a new trend and provided
archaeology in India with a new method and a way to look at the past.
Apart from setting a trend for further researches, he provided the methodology
and basic data. His study on major sites led to the growth of archaeology as well
as Buddhism as themes of research. The surveys and excavations helped him in
the identification of twelve major ancient Indian cities and that was his prime
concern. Thus, the contribution of Cunningham needs to be studied.
The themes of researches in Buddhist studies have broadened and various new
concerns/questions have been raised. Therefore, can we use the data of
Cunningham to study these issues? At the same time, a comparative study of
present perceptions of Buddhist archaeology and that of Cunningham in the
nineteenth century will be useful in comprehending the past of India.
The ancient sites survived for a very long time, for which they needed resources.
These resources were the result of continuing interaction between the sites and the
settlement areas around them, rather than just the strategic location on the routes
and royal patronage. Therefore, a contextual analysis of the sites visited by
Cunningham such as Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali, Kosambi, Sravasti,
Sankissa, Mathura, Sarnath, and Taxila etc will form an important part of my
1 Dilip K. Chakrabarti calls it a case of text-aided archaeology, with the identification of places in historical terms being its only objective. (2001: p5)
research work. The rigorous study of epigraphical data as done by Upinder Singh
and Gregory Schopen has brought out new and interesting results that counter the
prevailing notion of growth of Sanchi in context of urban centres. The main
arguments of these two studies are the relative autonomy of the ancient religious
establishments from royal patronage and the endowments and donations recorded
at the sites (mostly private and less number of royal donations), the ‘Catchment
areas’ from where most of these came, and motives for such donations.
This study also counters the various notions within Buddhism and intends to
discuss the active role of laity in building up sites like Bodhgaya, Sanchi etc their
connections with the clergy and monastery and the pro-active role of clergy in
spreading the religion, their donations to the religious establishments etc. Thus,
the study intends to bring out the interaction between the laity and clergy vis-à-vis
the religion.
Lastly, a study of the site of Bodhgaya will be taken up vis-à-vis various issues
raised earlier in context of Buddhism. The reason for taking up the site of
Bodhgaya is its continuance over a long span of time. At the same time, this is
one of the most revered sites for the Buddhist pilgrims. Cunningham went to this
site and worked extensively at this site, including excavations and restoration of
the temple etc. He has also published an exclusive monograph on his works at this
site, where he informs about the remains – temple, sandstone and granite railings,
Bodhi-tree, Vajrasana, Asokan pillars, stupas and votive-stupas, railing stones,
Viharas, various sculptures and images, dedicatory inscriptions ranging from first
century BC to fourteenth century AD. We can only hope to understand the
symbolic meanings of these archaeological structures by viewing them in their
wider ritual context, i.e. the way they were made, used, and experienced by men.
This site also has a Neolithic village (A.K. Prasad, 1990), recently excavated by
the Bihar circle of ASI. The location of Bakraur, Sujata’s village, on the other
side of the Falgu river, the survival of the ancient village Uruvila on the river
bank on this side, the extensive mound (about 1 sq km) which is clearly visible at
Bodhgaya and on the top of which most of the later constructions are located - all
these make the site of Bodhgaya one of the most important archaeological
settlements of India. It is unfortunate that there is no plan of long-term
excavations at the site and vandalisation of the site has continued.
Review of Literature:
Buddhism and study of Ancient History has grown over last two centuries with inclusion of
archaeological and epigraphical sources. Most of the works have based themselves on the literary sources
and the archaeological data has been used within the same frameworks or models. Similarly, the studies on
Buddhism, its origin, growth, popularity and spread to various regions have also been explained within the
framework of urbanisation and trade. This socio-economic model has not been able to utilize the wealth of
archaeological data available and these have just been used to corroborate such models.2
Another stereotype has been the study of Buddhism as the religion of monks and nuns. It is in this
context that the monasteries have been studied as the secluded retreat of the monks to conduct their
meditations and religious learning. Later it was also studied as one of the institutions, which promoted and
facilitated trade. The role of Monasteries in promoting agriculture in far-flung areas and bringing about the
integration of such areas has also been discussed. Moreover, Buddhism and trade in Early Historical India
have been perceived as promoting each other by various links.
The historiographical survey begins with the development of Buddhist studies since seventeenth
century and how the issues and concerns of scholars have changed over a span of two centuries.
The early studies of Buddhism were based mainly upon the studies of manuscripts in at least
four languages- Pali, Tibetan, Sanskrit and Chinese. The earliest known European to come to the East to
study Pali was the Danish scholar R. K. Rask who reached Ceylon in 1821 where he studied not only Pali
but also Sinhalese and acquired a rich collection of palm-leaf manuscripts. In 1824, Benjamin Clough made
a study of Pali grammar and vocabulary; following this, in 1826 was the publication of Essai sur le Pali in
French by Eugene Burnouf and Christian Lassen.3In 1837, George Turner published an English translation
of the first thirty-eight chapters of the Pali text Mahavamsa, which was the first such attempt. In
1855,Vincent Fuusboll of Copenhagen prepared an edition and a Latin translation of Dhammapada, which
2 In case of the studies on Buddhism, most of the studies have used the same framework and all the important phenomenon of the religion have been linked to it. The evolution and spread of religion has been studied within the framework of agricultural growth, role of surplus production and trade in Urbanization, and royal patronage. The rise of Buddhism has been portrayed as a reaction to the growing Brahamanical ritualism at one level. Another argued reason has been a social contest for supremacy between Brahmans and Kshtriyas. Secondly, a religion or faith system needs mass support base to sustain itself. For this support, the major works have found the support base in the two lower Varnas, and of course Kshtriyas. Then the money for the support came from urban centres from the lower Varnas and here it is invariably related to growing urbanization. This urban support base has tempted scholars to consider it as an urban religion. The growth of Buddhist sacred sites has been also linked to the presence of urban centres in the vicinity or the location of sites on trade routes.3 According to Burnouf, the first to mention Pali was Simon de la Loubere who visited Siam in 1687-88 as envoy of king Louis14th. In the last quarter of the eighteenth century, William Chambers and J.Ph. Wesdin published a few notices in Pali. The later in his Systema brahmanicum (1791) quoted an Italian translation of the Kammavaca made from original Pali in 1776.
was subsequently rendered into German in 1860. Between 1869 and 1880, a good number of texts
belonging to the Sutta and Vinaya category were edited and translated by various scholars. In 1875,
R.C.Childers published the Pali-dictionary, which was an important advance, followed by publication of
Milndpanho by V.Trenckner in 1880. In 1881, T.W.Rhys Davids founded the Pali Text Society. In his own
words: ‘The sacred books of the early Buddhists have preserved to us the sole record of the only religious
movement in the world’s history which bears any close resemblance to Christianity, and it is not too much
to say that the publication of this unique literature will be no less important for the study of the history and
especially of religious history than the publication of the Vedas has always been .’ The PTS brought about a
qualitative change in the study of Pali and Buddhism by publishing critical editions of texts and their
commentaries as well as their dependable English translations and a good number of journals containing
scholarly articles on Buddhism and on Pali language and literature.
In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, a modern critical study of Buddhism was introduced in
Asia by the Japanese scholar Tominage Chuki (1715-45) and Jiun Sonja (d.1803). Sonja studied Sanskrit
by himself in the pre-Meiji period, and having examined the fragmentary Sanskrit MSS of the Horiyuji and
other monasteries and having compared them with their Chinese versions, published the Sanskrit editions
of a number of Sutras. The early scholars had to depend on Tibetan and Chinese sources as no complete
canon of Sanskrit Buddhist works was found in India. At the dawn of Buddhalogical studies, there ensued a
controversy between the French scholar E. Burnouf and the Russian scholar V. Vasilev on the question
whether Buddhism could be better understood from the Indian or the Chinese or Tibetan sources.
According to the former, only Indian sources provided evidence on genuine Buddhism while the latter held
that Buddhism in the totality of its development could be understood from only from Tibetan and Chinese
sources. The study of Tibetan sources began with Francesco Orazio Della Penna, a Capuchin missionary
who lived in Lhasa from 1716 to 1732, who compiled a Tibetan dictionary and translated Tson-kha-pa’s
Lam-rim-chen-mo and Pratimoksa. The study of Chinese sources was inaugurated with the publication of
C.J. Neumann’s work (1833) on the Buddhist pilgrims who came to India, which was followed by A.
Remusat’s translation of Fa-hsien’s account (1836). Gabet and Huc’s publication of French translation of
Mongol version of Matanga’s Sutra came out in 1848 and St. Julian’s translation of Hiuen Tsang’s work
and that of the Chinese version of the Avadanas came out between 1853 and 1859. Texts from the Chinese
Buddhist canons were translated by S. Beal in a series of works done during the period between 1871 and
1878.
Apart from the textual studies which formed the substratum of all subsequent researches, the main
emphasis of the earlier writers of Buddhism was on clarifying various traditions, so different from one
another, in connection with the sources; on examining the distinction between the mythical and historical
elements contained in the legendary data in regard to the life and achievements of the Buddha; and on
distinguishing a primitive Buddhism from the doctrines supposed to have been grossly altered at a later
period. The growth of different Buddhist sects and their doctrines, the rise of Mahayana with its increasing
emphasis on the extreme form of philosophical idealism, and a corresponding mythological development to
this speculative approach were also brought to light. Attempts were also made to prove that early Buddhism
was by its nature opposed to Hinduism and that its followers formed a congregation, the object of which
was to realise a perfect life into which members were admitted only after the performance of certain vows
and rites and from which they could not return without becoming renegades.
The historical process through which the geographical expansion of Buddhism in and outside India was
possible was also understood to a considerable extent. In 1834, James Prinsep deciphered the Asokan
inscriptions, which had marked the beginnings of the studies in Indian paleography and epigraphy. The
Asokan inscriptions that were of great importance to the study of Buddhism were dealt with by Burnouf,
Kern, Cunningham, Senart, Buhler, and Hultzsch. The Annual Reports of Archaeological Survey of India,
which began to be published by Cunningham since 1871, and the Epigraphica India, which was started by
James Burgess in 1892, contained materials for Buddhist archaeology. In 1833, James Burgess published a
book under the title Buddhist Caves and Inscriptions. In 1910, H. Luders published a List of Brahmi
Inscriptions that documented the geographical distribution of the various sects of Buddhism. Similar works
were done by scholars like Sten Konow in his study on Kharosthi inscriptions and J.Ph.Vogel's study of
Nagajunikonda inscriptions. Such works contributed a great deal to the understanding of the sectarian
history of Buddhism as we come across in the later works of N. Dutt, M. Walleser, A. Bareau, E. Lamotte
and others. Studies in Buddhist archaeology were initiated by Sir Cunningham and his colleagues of the
archaeological survey of India and in Buddhist art and iconography by Ritter, Cunningham, Grunwedel,
Ferguson, Burgess and others.
In the case of Indological researches, certain ideals have always predominated over others not
because their historical validity is conclusively established but because they are popular and acceptable to
the modern mind. One such idea is that there was the malignant growth of Brahmanical ritualism and the
corrupt practices of the priestly class of the later Vedic age that created a social reaction out of which
evolved a new intellectual movement led by the sophists of that age known as the sramanas who rejected
the Vedas and the authority of the Brahmanas, ridiculed the complicated rituals and upheld the ideals of
personal purity, renunciation, asceticism and intuitional knowledge. The Buddha belonged to this new
movement of philosophy, and though apparently not the first, by far the most important and successful of
the Sramana schools was that founded by him.
This understanding of the rise of Buddhism has been widely accepted. To substantiate this view, its
supporters depended on the Upanishads in which they found sparks of a new intellectual revolution
sponsored by the Ksatriya kings and nobles who are supposed to have been disgusted with the Brahmanical
ritualism and sacrificial cults, and also on the post Asokan Buddhist and Jain texts which refer to the
wandering ascetics, the teachers and sophists engaged in conversational discussions on matters of ethics
and philosophy, and different schools of thought. But when the growth of this sramana culture in general
and Buddhism in particular is viewed in terms of a rationalistic philosophical movement arising out of the
irrationalism and commercialism of the existing Brahmanical tradition, the hypothesis cannot at once be
regarded as valid, so long as we do not make a thorough check-up of the real contents of the two traditions.
It should be pointed out that in most cases the vision of the historian is
circumscribed by the dominant outlook of his own age. The western scholars with the Christian
preoccupations wanted to see in the Vedic literature a transition from naturalistic Polytheism to a kind of
distinctive monotheism. So did their Indian counterparts who under the influence of Brahmanism and
various forms of neo Hinduism wanted to prove that Hinduism at all periods of its long history was
basically monotheistic, devotional and ethical. The vast ritualistic literature was considered to be a
tumourous overgrowth created by the Brahmana priestly class, solely for the purpose of exploiting people
in the name of religion, and it was against this priestly exploitation of the masses in the name of yajna that
the Upanishadic thinkers raised their voice that Krishna in the Bhagvad Gita formulated his devotional
religion and that the Buddha and Mahavira introduced new systems based on humanism and rationalistic
morality. All this sounds very well, but until today, nobody has been able to say what yajna was and what it
did really mean to its performers.
B.M. Barua had identified six distinct stages in the development of early
Buddhism as a religion, each of which was related to different phases in the evolution of the Sangha. He
did not deny the possibility that there was a lokottara or supra mundane conception of the Buddha from the
earliest period, which was meant for the layman. He has traced the Upanishadic sources of the Buddhist
ideas at great length and considered it as an anti-Brahamanic crusade.
Radhakrishnan's approach was categorical. He found no difference between the Upanishadic concept
of Brahman and the Buddhist concept of dharma, which he considered essentially an ethical value on the
empiric plane. According to him, "Buddhism helped to democratise the philosophy of the Upanishads,
which was till then confined to select few...It was Buddha's mission to accept the idealism of the
Upanishads at its best and make it available for the daily needs of mankind. Historical Buddhism meant the
spread of the Upanishadic doctrine among the people...such democratic upheavals are common features of
Hindu history." He held that the Buddha belonged to the group of Upanishadic teachers.
S.N. Dasgupta, on the other hand, though admitted in a general way
the influence of the Upanishads on Buddhism, subscribed to the general view of the historians that it was in
opposition to the Brahmanical sacrificial cults. According to him, the Upanishads prepared the ground for
intellectual freedom, which was cultivated with profit by the Buddha. For him, the original Buddhism was
based on sturdy universal rationalism and simple morality and it was only in the subsequent stages that the
mystic beliefs were added to the religion.
Vidhusekhar Bhattacharya tried to make an historical analysis of the earlier streams,
which influenced the teachings of the Buddha. He did not subscribe to the view that the Upanisadic
Brahmavidya was developed in the hands of the Ksatriya Princes who were opposed to Brahamanical
ritual. Nor he was ready to accept the view that the original purpose of Buddhism was to raise emphatic
protest against the contemporary bloody sacrifices. He held that the Buddhist polemics against the
sacrificial cult and priesthood were only of secondary importance. He pointed out that the Vedic yajnas had
their own logic and their special mechanism was meant for achieving definite external purposes, the social
importance of which could hardly be minimised. He was probably the first to point out that the Vedic
yajnas had an altogether different implication. The concept that god has no mastery of worldly objects and
is utterly incapable of bestowing them to the worshippers was probably borrowed by the Buddha from the
earlier ritualistic traditions. Vidhusekhar insisted on the role of the ascetics and free thinkers who
flourished before and during the age of the Buddha and also on the influence of the Upanishads and the
Sankhyas on the ideological formulations of the Buddha.
G.C.Pandey argues that at the very outset we have to realise that even the earliest available
collections within the Buddhist canon are of uncertain date and heterogeneous content. They contain within
themselves seeds of multi-form growth. From what we know about the Chinese Agamas, it appears safe to
draw a similar general conclusion about them. An historical approach to ancient Buddhism, therefore, most
certainly entails the stratification of the Nikayas and Agamas. An examination of the Bharhut and Sanchi
inscriptions shows that sometime before the second century BC, there was already a collection of Buddhist
texts, which were called Pitakas and was divided into five Nikayas, and that there were Suttas in which the
Dhamma was preached, that some of these agreed with those contained in our Triptika, and that Jatakas of
exactly the same kind as those contained in Triptika, already belonged to the stock of Buddhist literature. It
may therefore be asserted that the growth of Nikayas falls between the fifth and third century BC. He made
a stratification of Nikaya literature, as the stratification should appear as a sine qua non of future progress in
the direction of discovering ancient Buddhism. He made a distinction betweesn the earlier and later
portions of Vinaya and Nikayas in his own way on the basis of internal textual analysis, the general
ideological trends, interpolations, vocabulary and linguistic features, historical background and
geographical considerations.
Regarding the question of the historical origins of Buddhism, Pande holds that in the
6th century BC the age of migrations and settlements was over, and that the territorial element had attained
preponderance over the tribes in the organisation of the state. A trial of strength was taking place between
the monarchies and also between the monarchical and non-monarchical forms of the government. The
contest plainly showed the decline of republics, the rise of absolutism and growing success of the
Magadhan imperialism. The growth of towns and commerce and the organisation of trade and craft into
guilds made the social landscape of the age quite distinct from that of the preceding period. The origins of
Buddhism and Jainism must have been linked with these changes. In the atmosphere of the town life much
of the symbolism of the older Vedic religion, derived from the natural phenomena and pastoral and
agricultural functions, would become dim, the gods less convincing, and the ritual obscure and even
pointless. A sharp contrast had developed between its prevailing tenancy, which was formalistic, ritualistic,
and quite worldly, and the new departure of the Upanishads, which tended increasingly in an esoteric and
ascetic direction. Ritualism was worsted in its struggle with ascetic renunciation and creed of a life of
virtue and devotion. Both Buddhism and Jainism derived their main impulses from this new trend. Pande,
however, holds that Buddhism and Jainism can hardly be looked upon as reforming movements.
Undoubtedly these systems were to a certain extent influenced by their contemporaries social changes, but
the latter could not have been the cause of their origins. As regards the question of the social origins of
Buddhism, the views of the scholars differ from one another. Certain passages found in the Buddhist texts
pertaining to the social equality and social justice led some historians, social and religious reformers and
even political activists view the Buddha as a social revolutionary, a crusader against Brahmanical ritualism
and an emanicipator of the oppressed. Such an approach is found in the writings of the 19th century Indian
intelligentsia. The theory, that Buddhism as a religion heralded a Ksatriya revolt against the Brahmanical
theology, metaphysics and ritualism was zealously supported by modern thinkers.
The origin of Buddhism has also been linked with the emergence of the trading
communities and the consequent rise of urbanism in the time of the Buddha. Among the followers of the
Buddha, there were many business magnates, besides the royal converts, who liberally financed the
monastic organisation.
DD Kosambi held that the Vaisyas and Sudras had the task of
producing the surplus, which the priests and the warriors took away by natural right,
originally for the good of tribes, but soon for the good of the upper castes. The Vedic
ritual was formulated in pastoral age where large herds, collectively owned, were the
main form of property. The new society had gone over to agriculture, so that the
slaughter of more and more animals at a growing number of sacrifices meant a much
higher drain upon producer and production, telling upon trading class and the new
economic set up. Herein lies the economic reason of the Buddhist and Jain emphasis on
non-killing or ahimsa. Truth, justice, not encroaching upon the property of others, and
similar values show that a totally new concept of private individual property had arisen.
The doctrine of karma was a religious extension of elementary concept of the agricultural
economy. Buddhism did not fight to abolish all castes from society even though the
Sramana himself renounced caste. However, the Buddhist monastic order functioned
along the lines of a tribal Sabha council, the Buddhist precepts were for a class society
far beyond the tribe, caste or cult.
The views of Kosambi were basically accepted and modified to considerable
extent by latter Marxist scholars like R S Sharma, D P Chattopadhya who sought to
explain the origin of Buddhism in the light of the great social transformation, the rise of
class society and state power, that took place during the life-time of the Buddha. R S
Sharma held that the material life of Bihar was revolutionised around 700 BC by the use
of iron. The use of iron initiated plough agriculture with iron ploughshare, and
consequently created a new social set-up, a class society marked by the rise of state
power, in which cattle in the form of private wealth, to be increased by commercial
activities, gained much importance, and senseless destruction for the purpose of non-
vegetarian food and also for the purpose of Brahmanical sacrificial cults came to be
discouraged. The voice of protest was addressed by the trading class and was given
theoretical and moral support by the Buddha and his contemporaries. The most emphatic
protest against animal sacrifice is registered in the early Pali texts. The Brahmanical
attitude towards trade was not helpful. The traders were not encouraged and they were
assigned a lower place in society. The Buddha took up the cause of these emergent
classes, having something new to contribute during its rise to power, that is why traders
of the first rank became his associates, and Buddhism lent all moral support to the
financial and other interest of the trading class.
AL Basham argues that it was the region of Bihar and UP where
heterodoxy flourished most strongly, as arrival of Aryan civilization was recent at the
time. The people were little affected by Aryan class system, and the influence of
Brahman was by no means complete. Equal attention was given to the local gods as the
deities of Aryan pantheon. Cities had arisen, where a class of well to do merchants lived
in comparative opulence while free peasants enjoyed a higher standard of living. The
development of organized states and advance of material culture were accompanied by
the rapid spread of new religious ideas which were soon to become fundamental to all
Indian thought. Another possible reason, for him, seems to be rise of pessimism in all
strata of society due to breakup of old tribes, and their replacement by kingdoms where
ethnic ties and sense of security which they gave were lost or weakened, thus leading to a
deep seated psychological unease affecting all sections of people. Another suggested
cause of change in outlook is the revolt of the most intelligent people of the times against
sterile sacrificial cults of the Brahmins. Buddhism rejected the Vedas completely and set
its own distinctive rules of conduct for winning salvation. Finally, he argues that no
explanation is wholly satisfactory, and we must admit our virtual ignorance of the factors
which led to this great change in the direction of religious thought.
The main sources for Uma Chakravarty’s work are the Vinaya Pitaka the first
four Nikayas of the Sutta Pitaka, i.e., the Digha Nikaya, Majjhima Nikaya, Samyutta
Nikaya, and the Anguttara Nikaya; and the Sutta Nipata. She has also occasionally used
the Jatakas, the commentaries on the Pali canons; and the later chronicles, but this is done
with the utmost caution and each instance of their use is specifically pointed out. The
factor of internal unity is the major clue to the dating of the texts. She has also used the
earliest body of inscriptions available, although they belong to the period 200BC to 200
AD, to substantiate the conclusions on social stratification derived from the early Pali
literature. The regional spread of the texts takes account mainly of eastern UP, Bihar and
central India, while the inscriptions were found scattered over central and western India.
An intimate connection between ideas and societies which give
rise to major writings on Buddhism would be readily conceded, there is a lacuna in
historical writing, especially in the field of social history dealing with the major concerns
of the Buddha, the society in which he lived, and the connection between the two. She
has attempted to place early Buddhism against the background of the socio-economic and
political changes occurring in India in the sixth century BC. She has argued that
Buddhism originated and was nurtured in a period characterised by an expanding
economy, political consolidation and the emergence of new socio-economic categories.
All these features were not only reflected in early Buddhism but were crucial to the
shaping of its ethos.
The transition from the pastoralism of an earlier era to a surplus producing agrarian economy
generated the second phase of urbanisation in India and represented a process of considerable change. In
this process, the gana-sanghas, which had a productive system centering on the communal holding of land,
began to collapse one by one. The gana- sanghas gave way not merely to a process of political
consolidation but to the expanding economy and an agrarian system based on the private control of land.
The productive system of the gana-sanghas was organised around the clans and the labour performed by the
dasa - karmakaras. The social and economic system of the gana-sanghas was comparatively simple, so in
contrast to an economy based on the individual holding of land and organised around the gahapati who
played a crucial role in the expansion of the economy elsewhere. The emergence of the gahapati as a
significant social category was a special feature of this period and was as important as the collapse of the
gana-sanghas. The two developments must be seen together as they are inter-related and constitute two
aspect of the same phenomenon.
The social milieu of the 6th century BC was also reflected in the social origins of the early
Buddhists. The early Buddhists drew most of its support from the higher varnas, although it also drew some
support from occupational categories that had a low status in the Buddhist system of stratification. The
significant conclusion that emerges from the analysis of the background of the early Buddhists was the
absence of gahapatis from the Sangha and their prominent representation among the lay supporters of
Buddhism. She also argued that Buddhist recognition of the gahapati's high status is also a recognition of
the significant economic function as being basic to any society, despite Buddhism's advocacy of
renunciation as a means to salvation. The gahapatis's support was vital for the sustenance of the sanghas.
Thus, she tried to examine the principles on which the Buddhist system of social stratification was based
and changing position of the gahapatis. In addition, she also analysed the role of power and the
conceptualisation of the ideal socio-political system as envisaged in Buddhism.
V P Verma has worked comprehensively on the origins of Buddhism. He held that the
Buddha’s movement was primarily ethical and religious though it had its social, political and economic
consequences. According to him, it is true that the Buddha obtained some deep and profound illumination
in state of mystic absorption. But the philosophical formulation of the Buddhist teachings can only be
studied with reference to the various currents and crosscurrents of India's religious history from about 10th
century BC onwards.
Verma holds that the stress on the situational background of a big religious movement does not imply
that we should neglect the determining influence of the world-moving personality of the Buddha on the
genesis of early Buddhism. But the study of the situational background helps us to appreciate the forces
amidst which a great religious personality flourishes and with reference to which his teachings are oriented.
Hence, along with the study of the philosophy and ethics of early Buddhism, the historical evolution of
ancient Indian religion should also be shown true. According to Verma, it is essential to apply the historical
method to the study of the growth of moral, philosophical and religious concepts and propositions from the
Vedic periods onwards; Second, textual study of the early Buddhist scriptures for the determination of the
successive layers of the contents of the books; and third, application of the historical method to early
Buddhism for analyzing the entire social, political and economic background of the movement and for
discovering the forces which helped to determine the crystallisation and growth of Buddhism as a religious
association and movement.
Buddhism has been represented as a revolt against the tradition of the Vedas,
the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. For Verma it is a mistake to represent early Buddhism as a
philosophical tradition carrying forward the streams of Upanishadic thought. Buddha was an ethical teacher
who stressed dhyana, samadhi and nirvana but he also challenged some of the essential propositions of
Brahmanism. Although early Buddhism was critical in its attitude to contemporary Brahmanism, it had
solid positive teachings of its own. The ethical and pietistic element was dominant in its teachings. He
refused to accept Buddhism as another branch of the Upanishadic thought.
Narender Wagle followed a new methodology to analyse the social structure
of the Buddha's time from the works of a relatively late period. He analysed the terms of address used by
different members of the society and thus outlined social groupings and rankings. Based on certain terms of
habitation, he tried to explain the patterns of settlement and economic life of the period.
Richard Gombrich has worked extensively on Buddhism where he has used a variety of sources,
including ethnographical data from contemporary Buddhism of Sri Lanka. He has dealt with various issues
of early Buddhism at great length, such as origin of the faith, contribution of the Buddha, social aspects and
socio-religious background etc. The period of Buddha saw urbanisation, beginnings of states, first use of
money and beginnings of organised trade. All these could arise when there was agricultural surplus. The
contentious issue is what produced this surplus. He counters the Iron-theory of Kosambi on account of lack
of archaeological evidence. Moreover, there are just a few references to iron tools in the texts of the period,
though they cannot be very precisely dated and give no clue to the prevalence or quality of iron. RS Sharma
also supported Kosambi’s theory by arguing that there is evidence for use of iron in Bihar and Eastern UP
from c.700B.C. But so far no ploughshare has been found, and iron tools for agriculture are not in good
numbers, for which Sharma cites ecological reasons, like the acid, humid, warm alluvial soil of the region
was highly corrosive. Gombrich holds that it may indeed be that we find few iron tools of the period
because they have all rusted away, but this does make iron a friable foundation on which to build a whole
theory of cultural change.
A Ghosh has also argued against this theory as he says that urbanisation can occur even without
any iron. Jungles can be cleared by burning, though Sharma objects that one still has to dig out the stumps,
which are not impossible with copper-bronze tools. Sharma’s argument of wet paddy cultivation as
agricultural base of the new economic surplus has been supported by a few Buddhist texts. However, his
theory of beginning of transplantation in Buddha’s day seems to be a guess. Gombrich writes that we
gather from Sharma himself, though he never spells out this conclusion, that the main reason for the
production of surplus was probably not a technical discovery but simply the spread of population into a
region with better ecological conditions for agriculture {p52}. Towns and cities arise primarily as
settlements of people whose main livelihood is not derived directly from agriculture. They are political and
commercial centres. There can be no trade without an economic surplus, but though trade seems to be a
necessary condition for the creation of town, it is not a sufficient one. On the other hand, it is easily
forgotten that commerce itself depends on organization: on an infrastructure of communications and a
certain level of legality and security, both products of stable political conditions. The picture presented in
literary sources of cities in Buddha’s time is quite different from the one presented by archaeological
sources (meager evidences, earliest cities are Kausambi and Ujjain of 600 BCE).
There is some evidence that the Buddha’s message appealed especially to town dwellers and
the new social classes. BG Gokhale has analysed the social composition of the early Sangha, basing
himself on two canonical collections of religious poems, the Thera- and Theri-gatha, which are ascribed to
monks and nuns respectively .It is the commentary on these texts which makes the ascriptions of
authorship; in most cases it goes on to supply such biographical details as where the author was from and to
which varna he or she belonged. The commentary which we have dates only from the fifth century CE, but
we know that it rests on a far older tradition, so may be its information is authentic. We thus have plausible
information on a sample of over 300 monks and nuns. Half of them were from wealthy or powerful houses.
The Brahmin recruits were not the traditional priests but rather upper class urbanites (large towns-200, 172
from 4 major cities of this time / Religious data: Brahmin-134, Ksatriya-75, Vaisya-98, Sudra-11,
Outcastes-10). If these figures have any foundations, they show that Buddhism, though it admitted anyone
to sangha, was not primarily a religion of downtrodden.
Gombrich counters the notion which considers Buddhism and Hinduism as entities precisely
on a par with the monotheistic religions and consequently to regard Buddhist and Hindu as total and
mutually exclusive identities. Another notion he counters is that of seeing the Buddha as a social reformer.
Certainly in consenting to preach and then in establishing an order of monks to do likewise, he showed his
great compassion and concern for mankind. Moreover, he was supremely kind and understanding towards
everyone. However, his concern was to reform individuals and help them to leave society forever, not to
reform the world. Life in the world he regarded as suffering, and the problem to which he offered a solution
was the otherwise inevitable rebirth in the world. Though it could well be argued that the Buddha made life
in the world more worth living that surely was an unintended consequence of his teaching. To present him
as a sort of socialist is a serious anachronism. He never preached against social inequality, only declared its
irrelevance to salvation. He tried neither to abolish the caste system nor to do away with slavery. But there
was no caste or other form of social ranking within the order itself.
RA Ray has also countered the two-tiered model of Buddhism where the religion is seen
as divided between the monastic and lay folk. He has tried to bring in three-tiered model for a balanced
understanding of Indian Buddhism where there is constant interaction between the three types of forest -
renunciant, settled monastic renunciant and the layperson. He has tried to bring out the interdependence of
the three and look at their respective needs of wealth for the settled monastics, basic essentials for the forest
renunciant and spiritual guidance for the layperson. The forest renunciant invokes more respect due to their
power, unpredictability, charisma, and meditational attributes, and there is a kind of sanctity and aura
around them. They give teachings as well as meditational instructions. The laity’s access to the unbounded
charisma of the saints is symbolised by the importance of blessings given by them and by the veneration of
objects that embody their charisma. The spread of Buddhist stupa-worship has been linked to the
enshrinement of remains of monks and their veneration by lay folk. The inter-relation and interaction
between laity and monks comes out very clearly in this study.
A number of scholars have taken up the study of inscriptions at various Buddhist sites to
look into issues such as extent of royal patronage into construction of sites, locational analysis, and
development and continuance of religious establishments over a long span of time.
Upinder Singh in her paper on Sanchi inscriptions has tried to point out the shortcomings of the
early studies. She argues that less rigorous analysis of Sanchi inscriptions have led to impressionistic
conclusions instead of accurate. Sanchi has large collection of inscriptions, more than 800, which cover
around twelve centuries. The majority of them belong to a period between Second century BC to First
century AD. The Pali texts, including Triptika, were written in the same period. Thus, there is some degree
of overlap between the earliest sacred texts of the Buddhists and Sanchi inscriptions. Therefore the analysis
of the available data will help locate correspondences and divergences between the literary and
epigraphical evidences, keeping in mind the problems of dating the textual tradition precisely and also the
differences in the nature of the two sources juxtaposed – one canonical and prescriptive, the other a record
of the faith and monetary endowments of hundreds of individuals who financed the building of the Sanchi
monuments. The reason for taking up Sanchi is it being one of the sites located on a trade route and was an
important political cum administrative centre. In this period it was capital of Sunga dynasty, who are
supposed to be anti-Buddhist and ardent supporters of Brahmanism. How is it possible for a Buddhist
centre to come up on such a large scale without the support of local ruling dynasty? Another fact to be
noted is continuance of the site despite the decline of Vidisa - the urban centre near by, which supposedly
led to the coming up of the site. The questions raised in the paper are about the extent and importance of
royal patronage in construction and continuance of the site in the context of political patronage and
religious establishments in ancient India. The number of private endowments is very high in comparison to
royal ones and out of 846 inscriptions of the main period, only two are imprecatory and rest are votive in
nature. Keeping these facts in mind, she argues for the relative autonomy of the many ancient religious
establishments from royal patronage. The value of several arguments made on the basis of religious
predilections of kings in the ancient past becomes somewhat dubious. Thus, apart from its inception (role
of king Asoka), the growth of Sanchi Buddhist complex had little to do with kings and courts.
Gregory Schopen in his study on Sanchi inscriptions has
looked at issues such as the funding for the construction of the site, patterns of the
patronage at the site and something about the donors. Another issue of importance has
been to determine the “catchment area”, or the geographical area served by the monastic
complex at Sanchi, and to establish links between Sanchi and other sites. Sanchi also
provides enough evidence that the monks and nuns themselves acted as donors and
financed the construction and decoration of stupas, which is in contravention to the
position in Buddhist texts.
He attempts at ‘onomastic change’ to determine something about local
history and the degree of penetration of Buddhism in various parts of early India. He tries
a name analysis at Sanchi stupa 2, where only limited number of men had distinctly
Buddhist names and even a smaller number of women had such names. The number of
distinctly Buddhist names --- only about one-fifth of the total --- at Sanchi stupa 2 is
comparatively small and may indicate that the Buddhist presence in Central India at the
time of these records was neither very old nor extensively rooted, although it must have
already been a presence for at least a generation. Such a study may also show that a
significant number of individuals may have made donations to Buddhist establishments
without, however, ever being “Buddhist” to the degree that they had been given or took
Buddhist names; Buddhism, in other words, may never have been a significant
component of these individuals’ self-identity. It can also provide us with some indication
of a local Central Indian conception of the Buddha, as opposed to the textual conceptions
provided and presented by canonical literature.
He has also attempted to determine how the donors might have understood the
value of their owns records immediately. A placement analysis of inscriptions is done to
determine the intended readership of these records and a large number of these were
never intended even to be seen, leave alone to b e read. Then why so many donative
inscriptions were written and placed at the site? The explanation given by Schopen for
the above is that the people wanted to be placed near a powerful religious objects as it
must have placed the person there as well, regardless of whether that person was
otherwise occupied, absent, or dead. This is precisely the purpose behind the early
donative inscriptions at Sanchi when seen from the point of the view of the donor. They
did not intended to leave a record so it did not much matter whether it could be seen, or
read, or understood. They wanted only, it seems, to leave their presence in close
proximity to another more powerful presence, and in this, again it seems, they succeeded
– they have all been dead for almost two thousand years, and yet are still encountered at
modern Sanchi surrounding that other presence that we can only vaguely sense.
Therefore, the review of literature brings out various trends within which Buddhism has
been studied. There is a socio-economic model, which looks at the growth of the faith in
terms of economic development in early historic India. There are others who have looked
from philosophical perspective. Most of these are based on literary texts, where as the
studies of epigraphical data points to an entirely different picture. The contrast outcomes
of such studies necessitate a detailed study. This is where archaeology can help as it
brings out what really existed on the ground. The interaction between the people and the
religious establishments is reflected in the remains at the ground. Thus, A study of
archaeological sources has been taken up here.
Beginnings of Archaeology, and Cunningham:
Colin Mackenzie made a beginning of the study of antiquities in South India through his collection of
inscriptions and manuscripts. However, it was not published. By the early 1830’s, James Prinsep became
the general secretary of Asiatic Society and played a major role in the initiation of field research. His
contribution to the history of India was immense as he deciphered two most important historical scripts of
India- Brahmi and Kharosthi. Before him, Charles Wilkins had deciphered the ninth century eastern Indian
inscriptions in the late eighteenth century based on his knowledge of medieval manuscripts of the region,
and then it became a case of proceeding ‘known from the unknown’. Thus, with the progress in the field of
epigraphy and numismatics studies, a proper understanding of the chronology of historical sites developed.
In the same period, the Buddhist stupas in the north-west part of India and Afghanistan were discovered
along with Indo-Greek coins and sculptures by European generals- Lieutenant Alexander Burnes and
Charles Masson. The Sikh regiment also excavated the site of Manikyala stupa in Punjab. The military men
in active duty in these areas generally amused themselves by getting ancient sites dug up and acquiring the
so-called Grecian remains.4 Certain settlement sites in north India were studied and reports on antiquities
began to increase, as was the case of Kukrihar, dug up by Markham Kittoe or megalithic sites of Deccan by
Captain Meadows Taylor who also published the results of his excavations with sections.
Cunningham, a Military engineer, came to India in June 1833 and started surveying and excavating
sites in 1834 out of his interest in Indian antiquities Between 1834-36, he conducted his first excavations at
Sarnath. He published his first study in 1843 on the identification of Samkassam near Farrukhabad in UP,
where he used the account of Fa-Hsien to determine the bearing of the site in relation to Mathura. This was
followed by studying various historical-geographical issues in Kashmir and the northwest in 1848. The
investigation of the “Bhilsa topes”, his first substantive field-investigation, was reported in 1852 and 1854.
His first major architectural study was in the context of Kashmir in 1848. Between 1854-1861, he did not
publish anything as he was on duty at Burma (1856-1858). He was a well-grounded scholar in
numismatics, epigraphcal, architectural and historical-geographical studies. Before 1861, whatever he did
was on his own initiative, but he was appointed Archaeological Surveyor by Lord Canning to work for
Indian Archaeology. Lord Canning laid out the objectives for the proposal by Cunningham:
“What is aimed at is an accurate description, illustrated by plans, measurements,
drawings or photographs, and by copies of inscriptions, of such remains as most deserve
notice, with the history of them so far as it may be traceable, and a record of the
traditions that are preserved regarding them”
There was a hiatus between 1866-1870 as he was posted as Director of Delhi and London Bank in
London. He took over as Director-General of ASI in 1871 and worked until September 30 th 1885. In
retirement in London from October 1885 to his death on November 30th 1893, he published many of his
works including the one on Bodhgaya.
4 Chakrabarti, DK., 1999, pp 7.
Objectives of Cunningham for taking up Buddhist Archaeology:
The objectives have to be seen at two levels – why does he decide to work on Indian archaeology and how
does he go about it. He has listed various reasons for taking up Indian archaeology from his interest to
opportunity. He begins by writing:
“I have selected the Buddhist period or Ancient Geography of India, as the subject of the present
enquiry, as I believe that the peculiarly favorable opportunities of local investigation which I enjoyed
during a long career in India, will enable me to determine with absolute certainty the sites of many of the
most important places in India”. (Preface, Ancient geography in India, 1871)
The basic argument was that the Hindu texts were silent about Buddhism and thus the
publication of Buddhist antiquities would be as important for the reconstruction of the
political and religious history of India as the printing of the Vedas and Puranas. In 1848,
while putting his first proposal for archaeological survey with the government’s help, he
writes:
“The discovery and publication of all the existing remains of architecture and
sculpture, with coins and inscriptions, would throw more light on the ancient history of
India, both public and domestic, than the printing of all the rubbish contained in 18
Puranas.”
He does not discount the study of literary sources such as Puranas, but all his outbursts were because
archaeology was not getting its due share in scheme of things. Moreover, as he got his chance of going to
the field in search of the historical remains of India, he was honest enough to acknowledge the role of
textual scholarship in the understanding of the sites of ancient India. The architectural remains on the
ground also attracted the contemporary scholars including Cunningham. He writes:
“It is a duty which the government owe to this country. The remains of architecture and sculpture are
daily deteriorating, and inscriptions are broken and defaced; the sooner, therefore, the steps are taken for
their preservation, the more numerous and consequently the more valuable these remains will be.”
He also writes with the broader issue of British supremacy while proposing this survey in 1848:
“An undertaking of vast importance to the Indian government politically, and to the British public
religiously. To the first body it would show that India had generally been divided into numerous petty
chieftains, which had invariably been the case upon every successful invasion; while, whenever she had
been under one ruler, she had always repelled foreign conquest with determined resolution. To the other
body it would show that Brahmanism, instead of being an unchanged and unchangeable religion which had
subsisted for ages, was of comparatively modern origin, and had been constantly receiving additions and
alterations; facts which prove that the establishment of the Christian religion in India must ultimately
succeed”.
After a study of his objectives, it is imperative to study the way in which Cunningham
went on with his mission. He prepared a framework to work out his field-researches. He
divides the geography of early India into distinct sections (based on) each broadly named
after the prevailing religious and political character of the period, which it embraces as
the Brahamanical, the Buddhist and the Muhammdans.
The Brahamanical period traces the gradual extension of the Aryan race over the Northern India, from
their first occupation of the Punjab to the rise of Buddhism, and comprise whole of the pre-historic, or
earliest sections of history, during which time the religion of the Vedas was the prevailing belief of the
country.
The Buddhist period traces the rise, extension, and decline of the Buddhist faith from the era of Buddha,
to the conquest of Mahmud of Ghazni, during the greater part of which time Buddhism was the dominant
religion of the country.
The Muhammdan period or the Modern Geography of India would embrace the rise and extension of
the Muhammdan power from the time of Mahmud Ghazni to the battle of Plassey, or about 750 years,
during which the Musalmans were the paramount sovereigns of India.
The sources for this study were the campaigns of Alexander in the 4 th century BC,
the accounts of Ptolemy and the travels of the Chinese pilgrim Hwen-Thsang in 7th
century AD. The Chinese pilgrim Fa-hian was a Buddhist priest, who traveled through
India from the banks of the Upper Indus to the mouth of the Ganges, between the years
399 and 413 A.D. Unfortunately his journal is very concise, and is chiefly taken up with
the description of the sacred spots and objects of his religion, but as he usually gives the
bearings and distances of the chief places in his route, his short notices are very valuable.
The travels of the second Chinese pilgrim, Sung-Yun, belong to the year 502 A.D., but as
they were confined to the Kabul valley and north-west Punjab, they are of much less
importance, more especially as his journal is particularly meagre in geographical notices.
The third Chinese pilgrim, Hwen Thsang, was also a Buddhist priest, who spent
nearly fifteen years of his life in India in studying the famous books of his religion, and in
visiting all the holy places of Buddhism. Alexander Cunningham used M. Stanislas
Julien’s translation, who with unwearied resolution devoted his great abilities for no less
than twenty years to the acquirement of the Sanskrit and Chinese languages for this
special purpose (Max Muller’s “Buddhism and Buddhist pilgrim”, p.30).
There were others also who conducted surveys in eighteenth century India.
Buchanan Hamilton’s survey of the country was much more minute, but it was limited to
the lower provinces of the Ganges in Northern India and to the district of Mysore in
Southern India. Jacquemont’s travels were much less restricted; but as that sagacious,
Frenchman’s observations were chiefly confined to Geology and Botany and other
scientific subjects, his journeys in India have added little to our knowledge of Geography.
Then he discusses about his own travels and what all he has done in last 4 years
when he was employed as archaeological surveyor between 1861-1865 by the Govt. of
India to examine and report upon the antiquities of the country. He visited whole of
Northern India, Bombay (caves of Elephanta and Kanheri) in Western India and nothing
in Southern India. For first thirty years, early History and Geography of India formed the
chief study of his leisure hours. He goes on to record his findings of major ancient Indian
The sources for the above study comprise 24 volumes of reports of field surveys between
1861-1885 by Alexander Cunningham and his assistants. Cunningham has also published
various other books, articles and monographs based on his excavations and survey works
at various sites. Numerous papers of Cunningham published in the Journals of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal and Royal Asiatic Society will be used for the study.
The sites visited by Cunningham have been subsequently worked upon by various
archaeologists in the 20th century and reports have been published in Memoirs of
Archaeological Survey of India (1900-1930), Ancient India (1950-1962) and Indian
Archaeological Review (1953-1995).
There have been a number of works on Bodhgaya and the prominent scholars
have been Alexander Cunningham (1861-92), R.L. Mitra and J. Beglar (1871), J.
Fergusson (1876), T. Block (1908-09), B.M. Barua (1931-34), J. Marshall (1922), L.
Bachofer (1929), A. Coomaraswamy (1935), P. Stern (1954) and Chandra (1971). All
these scholars have primarily worked based on architectural and archaeological remains.6
It will be interesting here to examine the different approaches of these scholars in dealing 6 Cunningham, Bloch etc. were involved in the excavation of the site, White Mitra, Beglar etc. wre
involved in the restoration of the temple and other structures. Here it is necessary to point out the incomplete excavation of Bodhgaya.
with various issues concerned with the study. An examination of available research
studies by various scholars on related issues will provide us with new perspectives.
CHAPTERISATIONS:
Chapter One will discuss the contribution of Cunningham through his surveys. It will also
try to analyse the method adopted by Cunningham in conducting surveys and his goals
and the result of them.
In chapter two, the archaeological geography and sites excavated by Cunningham will be
discussed. It will also discuss details of the sites, remnants and results of his works.
Cunningham attempted to collect geographical data from the texts, which were followed
by his surveys at the sites. It helped him in placing the sites in their wider context and he
further conducted his researches based on these details. He has reported all the remains,
ruins and location of the sites vis-à-vis major markers.
Chapter Three will discuss subsequent archeological works at major sites visited by
Cunningham such as Sanchi, Sravasti, Bharhut, Sarnath, Vaisali and Bodhgaya to name a
few.
Chapter Four, will discuss the archaeological geography, resource base and settlement
pattern of Bodhgaya. The site has a long history, beginning from Neolithic to present. A
survey of the site will help in bringing out smaller sites. A record of smaller sites is
necessary as there is no complete description of the site available. Moreover, these are
destroyed on mass scale due to population growth and agricultural intensification.
Therefore the site will be studied vis-à-vis its location, then historical linkages to
different areas, problems of ancient political geography5, and the major routes passing
through the area. The study of settlement hierarchy around the place will also be taken up
as it provides the nature of the site and its occupation. The interaction between site and
people comes out through a study of settlement hierarchy, locational factors, routes,
landuse, economic occupations, for which an analysis of locations of settlements and
scatter of artifacts is must.
In chapter Five, the notion of sacred geography vis-à-vis Buddhism will be discussed.
The purpose of raising this issue of sacred geography is to examine the nature of the
5 Political geography means applicability of the ancient political boundaries and territorial names validated by the study of the actual archaeological evidence of settlements in the area .
remains at the site and to see if that brings out the involvement of the lay people in the
growth of the site as well as with the religion. The analysis will also help in setting these
sites within their wider archaeological context. The growth of the sites vis-à-vis
monuments and structures must have led to the development of a sacred complex.6 The
analysis of the sacred landscape helps in situating the sacred/ritual site within their broad
socio-political setting. The entire landscape has to be examined in order to bring out a
clear picture. It has to look at in its totality and focus on the total area rather than the
existing monuments. Therefore, it is necessary to look at other substantial, albeit
fragmentary, remains and structures. We shall also try to examine the issue of visual
experience, and in particular inter-visibility within a site, as an important consideration in
examining ritual monuments within the landscapes. We can only hope to understand the
symbolic meanings of the archaeological structures by viewing them within their wider
ritual context, i.e. i.e. the way they were made, used and experienced by man. There have
been attempts to explore the nature of the relics deposited in stupas and the rituals that
surround them. The works have helped to dispel the idea that the veneration of relics was
the exclusive concern of the Buddhist laity. Trainer (1996: 18-35) has discussed the way
in which a monument can, through the force of ritualisation mould, the way in which
people move around and ‘read’ its various parts. This brings in archaeology, which
‘offers a perspective on what people actually did, as opposed to what they were supposed
to do. Julia Shaw recommends that there is a need to reconsider these monuments from a
phenomenological angle, applying what can be gleaned from texts and inscriptions to
what can be found on the ground at specific places. The enquiry she envisages goes
beyond scriptural texts and archaeological remains per se and attempts to make a
‘somatic’ assessment of the ways in which people in the past respond to and interacted
with their surrounding. Thus, the focus of the enquiry here will be to recover the ritual
dynamics at the site and the landscape in which they were set in. The issue of pilgrimage
and votive remains indicating the religious nature of site, in an archaeological context,
will bring out the continuing interaction between the laity and the monastic
6The sacred complex helped to propagate the power of the Buddhist religion (dharma) across the landscape, and it also indicated a preoccupation with the protection of Buddhist relics and the control of the monuments in which they were deposited. On an intra-site level, the importance of vision, surveillance and availability of services (Pooja, medical treatment etc.), may have been manifested in spatial terms within sacred complex.
establishments, which contributed to the continuance of this religion for more that
twenty-five hundred years.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
Agrawala, V.S. - Sarnath, (New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 1980).
Annual Reports of Archaeological Survey of India, 1900-1930.
Ansari, A.Q., Archaeological Remains of Bodhgaya (New Delhi: RV Bhawan, 1990).
Beal, Samuel Travels of Hiuen - Tsang (4 Vols.).
Cunningham, Alexander, Inscriptions of Asoka, (Varanasi: IBH, 1961).
------------, Ancient Geography of India, (Varanasi: IBH, 1965 {1871}).
------------, The Bhilsa Topes or Buddhist monuments of central India: Comprising a brief historical sketch of the rise, progress and decline of Buddhism; with an account of the opening and examination of the various groups of Topes around Bhilsa, (Varanasi: IBH, 1966 {1854}).
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Abbreviations
ARASI – Annual Report of the Archeological Survey of India.
HR – History of Religions.
IAR _ Indian Archeological Review.
IESHR – Indian Economic and Social History Review.