Books by Birendra Nath Prasad
Routledge London and Manohar Delhi, 2021
This book is a collection of some of the published papers of the author, published mostly abroad,... more This book is a collection of some of the published papers of the author, published mostly abroad, and unravels some significant yet hitherto neglected aspects of history, culture and religion of Bihar and Bengal: two areas that were connected through an intricate network of rivers. Themes looked into are: early historic urbanisation in the Mithilā plains of North Bihar; the social history of Brahmanical religious institutions (temples and Ma_ thas) in early medieval Bihar and Bengal; the social history of Buddhist monasticism in early medieval Bihar and Bengal; the integration of a local goddess into the institutional fabric of Mahayana Buddhism; the survival of Buddhism in the thirteenth and fourteenth century AD; pilgrimage from Central India and Deccan to a Hindu pil grimage centre of Bihar in the medieval period; and the debate on the Islamisation of medieval eastern Bengal.
Religion in Society: Social Dimensions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism in India, 2023
Through an analysis of archaeological and literary data, this book explores two interrelated them... more Through an analysis of archaeological and literary data, this book explores two interrelated themes: the socio-economic and cultic processes that resulted in the decline of Indian Buddhism in its last strongholds – Bihar and Bengal – towards the end of the early medieval period, and the patterns of revival of Buddhism in the neighbouring province of Uttar Pradesh, c. 2005-2011 CE. These themes have been explored by undertaking an analysis of the developments in the social histories of other competing religions: Hinduism, Jainism and Ājīvika-dharma. By placing emphasis on the religious praxis and behaviour of the non-elite segment of population, this book offers some significant ‘from below’ perspectives on the social histories of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Ājīvika-dharma in eastern and northern India.
Contents:
Preface
1. Introduction
2. Cultic Relationships between Buddhism and Brahman¬ism in the ‘Last Stronghold’ of Indian Buddhism: An Analysis with Particular Reference to Votive Inscriptions on the Brahmanical Sculptures Donated to Buddhist Religious Centres in Early Medieval Magadha
3. Merchants and Their Family Members as Donors of Inscribed Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in Early Medieval Bihar and Bengal
4. Women as Donors of Inscribed Buddhist Sculptures in Early Medieval Bihar and Bengal
5. Monarchs, Monasteries and Trade on an ‘Agrarian Frontier’: Early Medieval Samataṭa– Harikela, Bangladesh
6. Jaina and Brahmanical Temples and Political Processes in a Forested Frontier of Early Medieval South-Western Bengal: A Study of Purulia
7. Buddhist Revival in Contemporary Uttar Pradesh, c. 2005-2011 CE: Some Aspects of Ambedkarite and Ājīvika Discourses on Buddhism and Hinduism in Hindi Print Media
Bibliography
Index
Research India Press, New Delhi, 2022
Archaeology of Religion in South Asia Buddhist Brahmanical and Jaina Religious Centres in Bihar and Bengal, c. AD 600-1200, 2021
Papers by Birendra Nath Prasad
Pilgrimage to Gayā, c.1200 ce-1550 ce: A Study of Some Sanskrit Inscriptions Discovered at Gayā
Rethinking Bihar and Bengal, 2021
A ‘Nālandā Monk’ in the Late Thirteenth–Early Fourteenth Century India, Tibet, China and Korea: A Note on the ‘Poetic Inscription’ on a Korean Stūpa Erected in the Memory of Dhyānabhadra
Rethinking Bihar and Bengal
Social Bases of Patronage to Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jaina Religious Centres: A Study of Dedicatory Inscriptions on Sculptures
Archaeology of Religion in South Asia, 2021
The Social Bases of Patronage to the Vikramaśilā Mahāvihāra: An Epigraphic Enquiry*
Rethinking Bihar and Bengal
Urbanization in Early Historic Vaiśālī, c. 600 BCE-400 CE
Rethinking Bihar and Bengal
A Folk Tradition Integrated into Mahāyāna Buddhism: Some Observations on the Votive Inscriptions on the Sculptures of Puṇḍeśvarī/Pūrṇeśvarī/Puṇyeśvarī Discovered in the Kiul-Lakhisarai Area, Bihar
Rethinking Bihar and Bengal
Archaeology of Religion in South Asia
Evolution of the Patterns of Cultic Encounters between Buddhism and Brahmanism in the Religious Space of Some Excavated Buddhist Religious Centres of Early Medieval Bihar and Bengal: A Study Based on an Analysis of the Published Archaeological Data
Religions of South Asia
Through an analysis of published archaeological data, this article attempts to understand the evo... more Through an analysis of published archaeological data, this article attempts to understand the evolution of patterns of cultic encounters between Buddhism and Brahmanism in the religious space of Buddhist monastic centres of early medieval (c. 600-1200 ce) Bihar and Bengal. This article argues that the regular findings of sculptures of Brahmanical deities in the religious space of Buddhist monastic centres of this area was a manifestation of the 1 E 4 5 attempts of the Buddhist Sa gha to induce a subordinate integration of these deities to 1 E 4 5 Buddhism. This attempt, however, did not evolve in the way desired by the Sa gha. 1 E 4 7 1 E 0 D Brahmanical deities did not remain confined to the 'outer mansions of the ma alas'. They, rather, impacted the character of major Buddhist deities fundamentally. The non-monastic devotees, most of whom did not have any fixed religious identity, interpreted these developments as a blurring of ritual and institutional boundaries between Buddhism and Brahmanism. The end result was not the Buddhist integration of Brahmanical deities in a manner of subordinate union, but Brahmanical appropriation of Buddhism in the long run.
Brahmanical Temples, Maṭhas, Agrahāras and a Buddhist Establishment in a Marshy and Forested Periphery of Two ‘Frontier’ States: Early Mediaeval Surma Valley (Sylhet and Cachar), c. 600 CE–1100 CE
Religions of South Asia, 2012
This article aims to understand the socio-economic and religious changes in early mediaeval Surma... more This article aims to understand the socio-economic and religious changes in early mediaeval Surma valley, and the role of Brahmanical and Buddhist religious institutions in effecting them. This valley was the most forested and marshiest part of Bengal. It received very heavy rains and was under substantial tribal influence. At the beginning of the period under study, it was a peripheral part of two fringe states. By the eleventh century ce a local state evolved, resulting from centuries of agrarian expansion. Brahmanical religious institutions played a very important role in effecting this transition. Well before the arrival of Islam in the eastern/north-easternmost sector of the Bengal delta, local society had devised its own ways to tame the jungle, cope with fluvial volatility, and cultivate rice, even in the marshy areas. These developments force us to question those historiographical models which explain the Islamization of eastern Bengal in terms of Islam being the ‘religion of the plough’ and ‘the harbinger of rice revolution’ in the region.
Distribution Pattern and Spatial Contexts of Support Systems of Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jaina Religious Centres in Early Medieval Bengal
Archaeology of Religion in South Asia
Monasteries Shrines and Society: Buddhist and Brahmanical Religious Institutions in India in their Socio-Economic Context
Edited with an Introduction by Birendra Nath Prasad Manak Publications, New Delhi, 2011. ISBN Num... more Edited with an Introduction by Birendra Nath Prasad Manak Publications, New Delhi, 2011. ISBN Number: 9788178312316.
Merchants and Their Family Members as Donors of Inscribed Sculptures in Early Medieval Bihar and Bengal
Through an analysis of dedicatory inscriptions on Buddhist and Brahmanical sculptures donated by ... more Through an analysis of dedicatory inscriptions on Buddhist and Brahmanical sculptures donated by merchants and their family members in early medieval Bihar and Bengal, this paper explores the nature of mercantile patronage of Buddhism and Brahmanism in this area. An overwhelming percentage of such reported inscriptions record mercantile patronage through donation of a Buddhist image, indicating that merchants and their families sought social mobility primarily through their patronage of Buddhism
Evolution of the Patterns of Cultic Encounters between Buddhism and Brahmanism in the Religious Space of Some Excavated Buddhist Religious Centres of Early Medieval Bihar and Bengal A Study Based on an Analysis of the Published Archaeological Data
Religions of South Asia, London, 2018
Through an analysis of published archaeological data, this article attempts to understand the evo... more Through an analysis of published archaeological data, this article attempts to understand the evolution of patterns of cultic encounters between Buddhism and Brahmanism in the religious space of Buddhist monastic centres of early medieval (c. 600-1200 ce) Bihar and Bengal. This article argues that the regular findings of sculptures of Brahmanical deities in the religious space of Buddhist monastic centres of this area was a manifestation of the 1 E 4 5 attempts of the Buddhist Sa gha to induce a subordinate integration of these deities to 1 E 4 5 Buddhism. This attempt, however, did not evolve in the way desired by the Sa gha. 1 E 4 7 1 E 0 D Brahmanical deities did not remain confined to the 'outer mansions of the ma alas'. They, rather, impacted the character of major Buddhist deities fundamentally. The non-monastic devotees, most of whom did not have any fixed religious identity, interpreted these developments as a blurring of ritual and institutional boundaries between B...
Journal of the Oxford Centre For Buddhist Studies, Dec 11, 2014
In this paper, an attempt has been made to trace the evolving social bases of patronage to the Bu... more In this paper, an attempt has been made to trace the evolving social bases of patronage to the Buddhist monastic establishment of Kurkihar in early medieval Magadha through the prism of dedicatory inscriptions on sculptures donated to the same. I have argued that this monastic establishment attracted patronage from diverse sections of society till the end of the eleventh century CE. The twelfth century witnessed a shrinking of its patronage base.
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Books by Birendra Nath Prasad
Contents:
Preface
1. Introduction
2. Cultic Relationships between Buddhism and Brahman¬ism in the ‘Last Stronghold’ of Indian Buddhism: An Analysis with Particular Reference to Votive Inscriptions on the Brahmanical Sculptures Donated to Buddhist Religious Centres in Early Medieval Magadha
3. Merchants and Their Family Members as Donors of Inscribed Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in Early Medieval Bihar and Bengal
4. Women as Donors of Inscribed Buddhist Sculptures in Early Medieval Bihar and Bengal
5. Monarchs, Monasteries and Trade on an ‘Agrarian Frontier’: Early Medieval Samataṭa– Harikela, Bangladesh
6. Jaina and Brahmanical Temples and Political Processes in a Forested Frontier of Early Medieval South-Western Bengal: A Study of Purulia
7. Buddhist Revival in Contemporary Uttar Pradesh, c. 2005-2011 CE: Some Aspects of Ambedkarite and Ājīvika Discourses on Buddhism and Hinduism in Hindi Print Media
Bibliography
Index
Papers by Birendra Nath Prasad
Contents:
Preface
1. Introduction
2. Cultic Relationships between Buddhism and Brahman¬ism in the ‘Last Stronghold’ of Indian Buddhism: An Analysis with Particular Reference to Votive Inscriptions on the Brahmanical Sculptures Donated to Buddhist Religious Centres in Early Medieval Magadha
3. Merchants and Their Family Members as Donors of Inscribed Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in Early Medieval Bihar and Bengal
4. Women as Donors of Inscribed Buddhist Sculptures in Early Medieval Bihar and Bengal
5. Monarchs, Monasteries and Trade on an ‘Agrarian Frontier’: Early Medieval Samataṭa– Harikela, Bangladesh
6. Jaina and Brahmanical Temples and Political Processes in a Forested Frontier of Early Medieval South-Western Bengal: A Study of Purulia
7. Buddhist Revival in Contemporary Uttar Pradesh, c. 2005-2011 CE: Some Aspects of Ambedkarite and Ājīvika Discourses on Buddhism and Hinduism in Hindi Print Media
Bibliography
Index