The gods and the heretics : crisis and ruin of Indian Buddhism / Giovanni Verardi ; appendices by Federica Barba

• VerfasserIn: Verardi, Giovanni
• VerfasserIn von Zusatztexten: Barba, Federica
• Place / Publishing House: New Delhi : Aditya Prakashan, Buenos Aires : Fundación Bodhiyāna, 2018
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Language: English
• Classification: 11.93 - Buddhismus; 15.77 - Indischer Subkontinent
• Physical Description: 676 Seiten; Illustrationen, Karten, Diagramme; 23 cm
• Notes: Literaturverzeichnis Seite [547]-634; Preface: "This book was first published in 2011 by Manohar in New Delhi with the title 'Hardships and Downfall of Buddhism in India'"

This book is not so much about Buddhism, as about Indian history, a general knowledge of which is taken for granted. It is a kind of advanced history of India aimed at discussing the mechanisms that started to set in motion the events that, with increasing force, characterised the Indian middle age until the thirteenth century, and at examining the often elusive or disregarded evidence that document the weakening and collapse of Buddhism. The historical domain covered by this book is thus one where an antinomial model takes the shape of a religious system, Buddhism, which is bound, by ideology and violence, from within and without, to renegotiate continuously and dramatically its own antinomial position. In the course of the historical process, this resulted either in being suppressed or else in being cornered into a subaltern position.