Chapter Three. Trade Networks In Ancient South Asia

Abstract

[ This introductory chapter provides a to theoretical models of religious mobility, critical issues in the study of religion and economics, and methodologies for analyzing primary sources. It discusses a brief treatment of different metaphors and paradigms for understanding patterns of Buddhist movement widens the range of perspectives by exploring possible alternatives to the typical view of the spread of Buddhism by gradual diffusion. The chapter highlights linkages between Buddhist networks and trade exchanges after engaging with debates over relationships between economics and religions. It also provides an overview of relevant literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources and a guide to methods of interpretation, which is intended to familiarize readers with recent discoveries of manuscripts, inscriptions, and other materials. A synthesis of texts, inscriptions, and archaeological materials reveals patterns of Buddhist transmission which stand out in sharper relief when multiple sources are utilized for interpretation. Keywords:Buddhist transmission; religious mobility; road map , Before mapping regional routes in the northwestern borderlands, it is necessary to demarcate topographical features and the broader cultural extent of Gandhāra in order to discern significant patterns in the distribution of Buddhist establishments. In this chapter, networks that connected the core areas of ancient Gandhāra with Swat and Bajaur to the north and with ancient Bactria across the Hindu Kush further to the northwest are discussed in more depth than links with Taxila and the upper Indus. Multiple nodes of Buddhist transmission within Gandhāra belonged to a complex network with many itineraries for connecting the cosmopolitan frontier with the major arteries of South and Central Asia. The Chinese accounts reflect processes of domestication whereby local Buddhist inhabitants adopted previous lives of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and relics of Śākyamuni Buddha to local settings in the regional landscape of the northwestern borderlands. Keywords:Buddhist transmission; domestication; Gandhāra; northwestern borderlands; regional routes ]