[Buddha-l] Ashoka, the realist

[Tim Cahill]

Hi all!

I've followed the highly informative thread  on the Muslim hegemony and 
violence reasonably closely.  Thanks to all the participants!

I would only like to contribute a small observation about the use of the 
term "Hindu" in some of the messages and especially within some of the 
material found in links. In the period just before the Delhi sultanate 
we can find well over a dozen terms specifying sectarian movements (or 
ideological groups) in India.  "Hindu" is not one of them.  Taking into 
consideration the competing interests of smartas, naiyayikas, 
vaishesikas, mimamsakas, pancaratrins, vaisnavas, and various saiva 
groups it is clear that they did not regard themselves as a single 
coherent entity. (In other words, quite different than the variety we 
find in Indian Buddhism.)  Control of temples may have been an issue for 
some of these groups, but others (like the lingayats) held temple-based 
religiosity in disdain. Differentiating between these groups would help 
us better understand the social & political tensions at play during the 
centuries before the Delhi sultanate. We should take account of the 
forces at work when a temple "transitioned" to a new affiliation among 
these groups. Some of the remarks listed on the web sites seem to use 
the term Hindu to indicate that there weren't any losers in the majority 
of these cases.

Regarding Ashoka, I agree with Dan that his case won't likely serve as a 
correlate to later Muslim iconoclasm. But without a lot more 
archaological research done in the area around Patna we won't know for 
sure.  My remark was more limited in intent --just really following up 
on an aspect of Artur's remark.  (That's why I gave it a new title in 
the Subject field.)  The reference to G. Verardi can be supplemented 
with his earlier article" "Religions, Rituals, and the Heaviness of 
Indian History" (Annali 56, 1996): 215-253.

Arriving in my mailbox around the time of the Buddha-l digest was this:

Buddhism and Iconoclasm in East Asia A History
by Fabio Rambelli and Eric Reinders

A study of Buddhism and iconoclasm in East Asia as part of a general 
theory of religious destruction.
  * Imprint: Continuum
  * Pub. date: 15 Nov 2012
  * ISBN: 9781441145093

I can't speak to how relevant the work is since I haven't read it but 
from the blurbs it does *not* appear to provide evidence arguing for a 
Buddhist correlate to Muslim iconoclasm in India.

best,
Tim Cahill