The Narratives on the Bāmiyān Buddhist Remains in the Islamic Period
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Minoru Inaba
Abstract
Recent scholarship has revealed that the early Muslim iconoclastic narratives by conquerors, such as Maḥmūd of Ghazna, were often magnified through inflated reports of the triumph of Islam over the infidel (kāfir). Yet, this does not explain all Muslim encounters with non- Muslim communities or with “idols.” This paper explores the case of the Bāmiyān Buddhist statues to see how those statues appear in the Muslim literature of the premodern period. This reveals the curiosity of Muslim visitors to the Bāmiyān site and demonstrates various aspects of early Muslim perceptions of Buddhism, especially in the frontier regions where various cultures have been in contact.
Abstract
Recent scholarship has revealed that the early Muslim iconoclastic narratives by conquerors, such as Maḥmūd of Ghazna, were often magnified through inflated reports of the triumph of Islam over the infidel (kāfir). Yet, this does not explain all Muslim encounters with non- Muslim communities or with “idols.” This paper explores the case of the Bāmiyān Buddhist statues to see how those statues appear in the Muslim literature of the premodern period. This reveals the curiosity of Muslim visitors to the Bāmiyān site and demonstrates various aspects of early Muslim perceptions of Buddhism, especially in the frontier regions where various cultures have been in contact.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction: Situating the Encounter between Buddhist and Muslim Communities in South Asia 1
- The Power of the Islamic Sword in Narrating the Death of Indian Buddhism 14
- Reassessing the Muslim Attacks and the Decline of Buddhist Monasteries in the Thirteenth Century Magadha 48
- The Narratives on the Bāmiyān Buddhist Remains in the Islamic Period 75
- Ibn Baṭṭūṭa’s Buddhists: Monuments, Memory, and the Materiality of Travel 97
- Buddhism and Islam in Kashmir as Represented by Rājataraṅgiṇī Authors 128
- The Avatāra in Medieval South Asian Contexts: Dynamic Translation Across Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic Traditions in the Ghaznavid Period 161
- Buddhists, Hellenists, Muslims, and the Origin of Science 177
- Medieval Endowment Cultures in Western India: Buddhist and Muslim Encounters – Some Preliminary Observations 203
- List of Contributors 219
- Index 220
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction: Situating the Encounter between Buddhist and Muslim Communities in South Asia 1
- The Power of the Islamic Sword in Narrating the Death of Indian Buddhism 14
- Reassessing the Muslim Attacks and the Decline of Buddhist Monasteries in the Thirteenth Century Magadha 48
- The Narratives on the Bāmiyān Buddhist Remains in the Islamic Period 75
- Ibn Baṭṭūṭa’s Buddhists: Monuments, Memory, and the Materiality of Travel 97
- Buddhism and Islam in Kashmir as Represented by Rājataraṅgiṇī Authors 128
- The Avatāra in Medieval South Asian Contexts: Dynamic Translation Across Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic Traditions in the Ghaznavid Period 161
- Buddhists, Hellenists, Muslims, and the Origin of Science 177
- Medieval Endowment Cultures in Western India: Buddhist and Muslim Encounters – Some Preliminary Observations 203
- List of Contributors 219
- Index 220
