Buddhist-Inflected Sovereignties across the Indian Ocean draws
attention to the varied, historically contingent, and sometimes
competing, arguments for and about sovereignty that operated in the
Pali arena during the first half of the second millennium AD. It
was a time of expanding interaction within the Indian Ocean just
prior to Portuguese colonial presence in Southern Asia. Developing
a linked series of case studies and examining territories now
subsumed within the nation-states of Sri Lanka, Burma/Myanmar, and
Thailand, Blackburn examines sovereign arguments expressed
textually, as well as in the built environment, by persons with an
interest in the teachings and institutions associated with Gotama
Buddha. These cases show that no single model of Buddhist-inflected
sovereignty dominated the Pali arena during this time, and that
there was no stable vision of "Buddhist kingship." Rather, over
time, there was an accrual of possible models and pathways for
argumentation about how sovereigns could and should relate to
buddha-sāsana. Taking inspiration from diverse sources transmitted
through multiple forms and media, arguments for and about
sovereignty in the Pali arena were contested and rapidly changing.
As the Indian Ocean increasingly shaped the flow of people,
objects, and ideas, more peoples and territories participated in
the Pali arena, attracted by its intellectual and aesthetic
resources. Drawing on extensive scholarship and a wide range of
multilingual source materials from premodern Sri Lanka, Burma,
Thailand, and Cambodia, Anne M. Blackburn develops innovative
conclusions about the relationships between textuality,
sovereignty, maritime connectivity, and material culture in each of
these areas. The book contributes simultaneously to several fields
of study: the intellectual history of Southern Asia, literary and
historical scholarship on Buddhism, and historical studies of the
Indian Ocean. By offering accessible yet in-depth analysis,
Buddhist-Inflected Sovereignties across the Indian Ocean connects
research fields and introduces new interpretive possibilities for
the study of sovereignty, politics, premodern textual cultures, and
Buddhism.
General
Imprint: |
University of Hawaii Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
New Southeast Asia: Politics, Meaning, and Memory |
Release date: |
2024 |
Authors: |
Anne M. Blackburn
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152mm (L x W) |
Pages: |
277 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8248-9488-7 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-8248-9488-X |
Barcode: |
9780824894887 |
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