Société Européenne pour l'Etude des Civilisations de l'Himalaya et de l'Asie Centrale

The 
Mountain 
and 
the 
Lotus

an Archaeological Enquiry into the Features of Early Medieval Buddhism in Pakistan and Afghanistan

le vendredi 11 mars 2011 à 17 heures

Amphi 
Rataud, 
ENS,
 45
 rue 
d'Ulm
 75005 

Paris

Conférence donnée par Madame Anna Filigenzi Docteur en archéologie ÖAW / Università degli Studi di Napoli

The dearth of primary historical sources on pre-Muslim India makes archaeological documentation an essential key to expanding our knowledge. Nevertheless, material evidence is often patchy and difficult to assemble in a systematic synthesis. In particular, vestige of Buddhist settlements and ritual praxis of early medieval period is seldom preserved in the archaeological record. Whilst in Afghanistan archaeological remains —though of unclear interpretation —witness to a still intense season of Buddhist art and architecture, a severe decrease of the Buddhist settlements seems to have occurred in Pakistan after the 5^th century CE. This evidence apparently contradicts a firm literary tradition, which attests the persistent fame of Uḍḍiyāna (maybe to be intended as inclusive of an area broader than modern-day Swat, north-west Pakistan) as a cradle of teachings and teachers for Tibetan Buddhism and Bon. This contradiction represents an open question that the advancement of the studies in the last decades can now contribute to answer.

La conférence est publique

19/02/2011 00:47