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Full Description
The early second millennium was a pivotal moment in the history of Theravāda Buddhism. Religious reforms carried out at Poḷonnaruva, then-capital of Sri Lanka, shaped the latter course of Buddhism across South and Southeast Asia. However, our understanding of these reforms has been over-determined by retrospective accounts written by male monastics, who focused on the heroic deeds of male monarchs.
This book offers a radical revision of this narrative. Drawing on textual, inscriptional, numismatic, and material evidence from within the period itself, it reveals how the intellectual and social histories of Buddhism, politics, and gender were inextricably intertwined in Poḷonnaruva. In particular, it argues that debates over what it meant to be a "good Buddhist king" were intrinsically debates about Buddhist masculinity and about the proper relationship of gender to power.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Conventions
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Building Blocks of Kingship: Sanskrit, Pali, Sinhala, and Tamil Political Thought
Chapter 2. Establishing Kingship: The Rise of Vijayabāhu I (1070-1110)
Chapter 3. Contesting Kingship: The Interregnal Period (1110-1153)
Chapter 4. Kingship Overlooked: The Courts of Vikramabāhu (1111-1132) and Gajabāhu II (1132-1153)
Chapter 5. Unifying Kingship: The Reign of Parākramabāhu I (1153-1186)
Chapter 6. A Stranger Kingship: The New Dynasty of Niśśaṅka Malla (1187-1196)
Chapter 7. Gendering Kingship: The Politics of Royal Women (1187-1215)
Conclusions: Locating Poḷonnaruvan Kingship
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
