4 ann heirman and stephan peter bumbacher
Buddhist archaeological remains of the initial period of the Maurya
dynasty (ca. 320–ca. 185 BC) are found in the Buddhist “Middle
country” (madhyadea) at all places which the Buddha is said to have
visited or where he had lived, in Avanti in Madhya Pradesh and in
Mahrra.
Whereas the rst two kings of the Maurya dynasty (Candragupta
and Bindusra) seem to have supported the traditional Brahmans and
the Jainas, the third king, Aoka (r. 268–233 BC), is known as the most
important person responsible for the spread of Buddhism. He is also
on record as the rst ruler over almost the whole Indian subcontinent.
He left a series of edicts which he had engraved on rocks and pillars
and in which he recorded his conquests and achievements as well as
his opinions and wishes. He seems to have been specially inclined to
Buddhism as can be seen in his edict no. VIII. This Bhbhr edict
is addressed to the Buddhist community, and Aoka recommends
to monks and lay people the study of seven “sermons on the Law”
(dhammapa iyya). Also the inscription of Rummindei was written on
the occasion of Aoka’s pilgrimage to the birthplace of the Buddha in
the twentieth year of his reign. Also during Aoka’s reign, a Buddhist
council was held at Paliputra (now Patna, Bihar). On that occasion
decisions were made concerning Buddhist missionary activities which
became crucial for the spread of Buddhism and its development into
a world religion. Buddhism did not only spread throughout the whole
of Aoka’s empire, but according to the Sinhalese chronicles, the Thera
Moggaliputta sent missionaries to nine adjacent countries in order to
propagate the Buddhist doctrine. Tradition further emphasises that also
a son of Aoka, Mahinda, propagated Buddhism. He is said to have
brought it to Sri Lanka.
Buddhism did not remain in India though. Xuanzang who travelled
through India between 630 and 644 still reported the existence of
about 2,000 Hnayna and 2,500 Mahyna monasteries, but in some
regions the formerly rich monasteries already laid in ruins, abandoned
for economical reasons, or destroyed by rapacious invaders or even by
local rulers. The Sthaviravda schools retreated to the south, especially
to Sri Lanka. The early schools of Buddhism of mainland India, the
main centres of which had remained in Magadha and Northwest India,
were nally destroyed when the Muslims took power around 1200 AD,
thus putting an end to the great monastic universities in Bihar (Nland
and Vikramala) and Bengal. Among the laity, the Mantrayna or
“Vehicle of Spells” which continued in Magadha, Bengal and Orissa