Deciphering the Decline: Assessing the Medieval Buddhist Landscape in Eastern India

This paper adopts a microregional approach in challenging prevailing narratives surrounding the alleged decline of Buddhism in medieval India. Focusing on the Nalanda-Bihar-Sharif (NBS) region in southern Bihar, eastern India, it systematically critiques traditional explanations and offers an alternative model. Utilizing an interdisciplinary methodology, drawing strengths from art history, archaeology, history, and epigraphy, I examine the aftermath of the thirteenth-century expedition of the Delhi Sultanate in eastern India, often depicted as the ‘final deathblow’ to Indian Buddhism, in light of new material from my fieldwork.

In contrast to the conventional decline narrative which attributes the decline to factors like the withdrawal of royal patronage, Brahmanical persecution, Islamic invasion, internal corruption, and insufficient cultivation of laity, this paper elucidates the complexities of regional transformations, foregrounding diverse representations of regional traditions. It also investigates the eventual discontinuation of some of these aspects in a changing socio-political environment that facilitated the introduction of a distinct demography in the region, represented by the Sufis and the Jains. By emphasizing the socio-political context of Buddhism’s alleged decline, this study offers a nuanced perspective on the history of Buddhism in eastern India.

The early medieval period, spanning from the eighth and twelfth centuries CE, witnessed the rise of mega monasteries with extensive networks across Bihar and Bengal. The decline, disrepair, and abandonment of these institutions is often correlated with the ‘decline’ of Indian Buddhism. However, as evidenced by discoveries made by Arthur McKeown (2019), Arthur Waley (1932), and Shin’ichiro Hori (2018), Buddhism persisted beyond the discontinuation of these institutions, as indicated by findings from the fourteenth to fifteenth century CE in the Magadha region (present-day Bihar). These discoveries compel us to reassess the fate of Indian Buddhism in eastern India during the medieval period.

The medieval period, as defined in this paper, spans from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries CE. Historically characterized as the ‘Muslim period’ due to Turkic conquests in northern India, scant references to these conquests at Buddhist sites such as Odantapuri and Vikramshila were often construed as part of a broader phenomenon of the ‘Death’ of Indian Buddhism by the Islamic Sword. However, as previously noted, there is substantial evidence indicating the continued presence of Buddhism during this period. This paper aims to both address and challenge this period as one of ‘Late/Later Buddhism’ in eastern India.

The paper first establishes the chronology of key phases of monumental construction in the selected microregion, relying on dating from inscriptions, textual references, and art-architectural styles. It then presents new evidence challenging simplistic views of religious traditions and their spatial boundaries by highlighting overlaps in the built landscape across Buddhism, Brahmanism/Hinduism, Islam/Sufism, and Jainism. This research demonstrates how these traditions interacted within a changing socio-political environment during the period of the Delhi Sultanate’s control from the fourteenth century onward.

The Magadha region, particularly the frontier town of Bihar-Sharif, witnessed significant historical events during the medieval period. Control of the region oscillated between Delhi, Jaunpur, and the Bengal Sultanate, with local Hindu polities also intermittently shifting their allegiance, as evidenced by Sanskrit inscriptions and Tibetan accounts. This reflects a period of political instability in the region during the thirteenth century. Subsequently, when political stability was restored with direct control under the Delhi Sultanate, Magadha experienced major developments. Drawing from epigraphy, archaeology, and textual sources, this paper demonstrates how the new regime influenced the demography and built landscape of the region.

The built landscape of Bihar Sharif reflects the political and cultural milieu of the time. This paper analyzes the architecture of medieval constructions, emphasizing the geospatial factor to identify key patterns in construction from the thirteenth century onward. Arabic and Persian inscriptions attached to mosques and tombs, along with architectural styles, help date Islamic structures. Donative Sanskrit inscriptions from Brahmanical and Jain contexts provide another crucial dataset for discussing overlaps in the built landscape. This paper employs geospatial analysis to reimagine the interactions of existing Buddhist communities with other religious communities in the region.

The study presents an alternative framework grounded in material documented from extensive fieldwork. It argues that a significant gap in structural activities existed in the sacred landscape of the NBS region between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries CE, indicating a period of volatility until socio-political stability was restored. The newly stable environment seemed more conducive to the flourishing of newly introduced religious institutions such as Sufism and Jainism, while Buddhism and Brahmanism struggled to regain prominence. Furthermore, the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed a renewed wave of sacred construction, particularly in the form of new Hindu temples, while the twentieth century saw the Buddhist revival movement play a pivotal role in reclaiming the landscape.

This paper extends the argument to propose that the later activities of both Buddhism and Brahmanism differed significantly from their medieval forms, challenging the notion of one tradition continuing unhindered while the other declined. It is essential to move away from a binary view of religious traditions, as the ‘decline’ in medieval eastern India encompassed a broader cultural and diverse religious landscape. This milieu, characterized by diverse religious traditions and practices, underwent complex transformations, merging with newly introduced traditions and evolving under the patronage of a vastly different demographic.

In conclusion, this paper reevaluates the narrative of Buddhism’s decline in eastern India during the medieval period, presenting a more nuanced understanding based on interdisciplinary research and new archaeological findings. By highlighting the socio-political context and the complexities of regional transformations, it offers a fresh perspective on the history of Buddhism in this region, challenging existing interpretations and opening avenues for further research.

References:

Hori, Shin'ichiro. 2018. “In the Wake of a Buddhist Monk in 15th-Century Eastern India: The Manuscripts of Sanskrit Grammatical Texts Originally Owned by Vanaratna.” International Institute for Buddhist Studies of the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies. Issue 1: 45-60.

McKeown, Arthur. 2019. Guardian of a Dying Flame: Śāriputra (c. 1335–1426) and the End of Late Indian Buddhism. Cambridge: Harvard University.

Nath Prasad, Birendra. 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.” In Rethinking Bihar and Bengal History, Culture and Religion, 140–149. New York: Routledge.

Waley, Arthur. 1932. “New Light on Buddhism in Medieval India.” Melanges chinois et bouddhiques. Accessed 8 Feb. 2024. https://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-MEL/waley1.htm