[Buddha-l] Re: Buddhist Intolerance?

[jkirk]

Just to note that I brought up this Persian ms. in a discussion the list was having back in 2002 about depiction of the Buddha's birth. In this Persian account, he falls out from between his mother's legs head first.  It's a unique concept as compared with contemporary popular depictions of the birth of the Buddha. 

Joanna Kirkpatrick
========================================================

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Piya Tan 
  To: Buddhist discussion forum 
  Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 8:03 AM
  Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Re: Buddhist Intolerance?


  Canby's interesting article can be downloaded from

  http://archnet.org/library/documents/one-document.tcl?document_id=3931 


  If you have a problem, let me know, I can send it to you, or perhaps Dan.

  Piya

   
  On 10/20/06, Dan Lusthaus <dlusthau at mailer.fsu.edu> wrote: 
    Now, by way of contrast, here is an actual example of persecution. Notice
    this is not about "raising voices" but destructive actions. 

    Buddhism, as we all know, had a major presence in Central Asia, into Iran
    and further west, though its fortunes fluctuated with the advent of Islam.
    The decisive turning point, from which Buddhism never recovered, is 
    described thus:

    "The lack of Buddhist monuments and images from Mongol Iran is directly
    connected with Ghazan Khan's conversion to Islam in 1295. Apparently Ghazan
    Khan was convinced by one of his generals, a Muslim called Nauruz, of the 
    expediency of adopting Islam. At the time Ghazan was battling his cousin
    Baidu for the throne and control of the Ilkhanid lands. The value of leading
    Muslim troops as a Muslim and defeating "the last non-Muslim leader" of Iran 
    was not lost on Ghazan. By the fall of 1295 Ghazan had captured and executed
    Baidu and had taken full control of the empire. Despite his Buddhist
    upbringing and the Buddhist temples he had erected in Khurasan, Ghazan's 
    first royal decree was for the destruction of all churches, synagogues, and
    Buddhist temples in Tabriz, Baghdad, and throughout the realm. Because of
    the good favor they had earlier enjoyed, the Buddhists were the hardest hit 
    by this proclamation. Many converted to Islam or fled eastward toward
    Central Asia, China, and Tibet. Even so, textual and artistic sources lead
    us to assume that the Buddhist community of Tabriz did not disappear all at 
    once, but dispersed in the years following Ghazan Khan's decree." (p. 299)



    Sheila B. Canby, "Depictions of Buddha Śākyamuni in the Jami' Al-Tavarikh
    and the Majma' Al-Tavarikh," _Muqarnas_, v.10, Essays in Honor of Oleg
    Grabar, 1993, 299-310.



    Ghazan remains a celebrated hero in the Islamic world (you can purchase
    posters of him on Amazon.com).



    >From that point on, Buddhism quickly disappeared from Central Asia and most
    of India, except in certain islands exempt from the advance of Islam, such
    as Tibet.



    Incidentally, the reason the Nestorians came to China in the 7th century was 
    precisely to get away from this sort of mistreatment by fledling Islam in
    their native lands.



    Dan Lusthaus


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