Buddhism and trade: Interpreting the distribution of rock-cut monasteries in the Western Ghats mountains, India using least-cost paths

Abstract

Trade is frequently cited as the primary influence on the florescence of rock-cut Buddhist monasteries in the Western Ghats mountains, India between 200 BCE and 400 CE. Yet the monasteries have been foci of art-historical scholarship without detailed investigation of archaeology and geography. The relationship between monasteries, trade routes, ports and urban centres are examined using GIS cost-surface analysis. Interpreted alongside inscriptions, the results demonstrate that not only merchants but craftspeople, royalty and members of monastic communities were important to monastic development. This diversity calls the monasteries' archetypal position for the study of Buddhism and trade into question.