India on the Silk Route

Contents: Preface. I. The silk road and its significance: 1. Central Asian trade routes co-ordinated India-China cultures/S.K. Pathak. 2. The Silk road : in the footsteps of Xuanzang/Haraprasad Ray. II. The silk road and cultural exchanges: Indian connection: 3. Life of Kumarajiva (344-409 or 413)/Supriya Rai. 4. Fa-xian and the Chinese Agamas/Analayo. 5. On Xuanzang\'s contribution as translator to the development of Buddhism in China/Lalji \'Shravak\'. 6. Did Xuanzang eat Pana? Some new insights into Xuanzang\'s stay at Nalanda from 14 century Japan/Ineke Van Put. 7. Dynamics of cultural exchange: Eastern India and Silk Route (A.D. 600-A.D. 1200)/Rajiva Kumar Sinha. 8. Re-identification of the monastic site in \'Moholach\'a\' described by Xuanzang/Suraj A. Pandit. 9. The Chinese Buddhacarita/Charles Willemen. III. The silk road and Japan\'s links with India: 10. Bodhisena and the encounters of Indians and Japanese in 8 to 11 centuries/Charlotte von Verschuer. 11. The treasures of the Shosoin Treasure House: Japanese culture and the silk road/Kazuki Sugimoto. 12. Todaiji Temple and the Shosoi documents in the 8 century Japan/Eiichi Ishigami. 13. Hero Pada worship/Matsukubo Shuin. 14. Adoption of Indian culture in Japan : adoption and diffusion of the Buddhist Sutra "Maha-Prajna-Paramita-Sutra/Fujita Reio. IV. The silk road and source materials: 15. Some observations on the silk route in Jaina literature/Shashank Srivastava. 16. A review of the translation, organization and the study of most important Chinese historical materials on the history of Sino-Indian interactions/Nie Jingjie (Translated from Chinese by Kamal Sheel).

"The silk road presents historically the first instance of globalization. It witnessed not only exchange and flow of myriad forms of goods and ideas but also movement of traders, scholars and monks across the civilizations over a long period of time. It symbolized global cultural networking based on mutual interaction and incorporation. India was its significant part. Buddhism as well as its literature and art went from Gandharan area in India to China and Japan. This book puts together papers presented by European, Indian and Japanese scholars in an international seminar on "India on the Silk Road" held at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. Divided into four broad themes, its first two sections highlight the significance of Silk Road Studies for India and present some aspects of the Indian cultural connections to China through this route. The third section specifically focuses on the expansion of this cultural networking at the eastern most stretch of this route to Japan through introduction of artifacts in the Shosoin - the imperial treasure house on the grounds of the Todai Temple in Nara, as well as the process of absorption of Indian Buddhist sutras and rituals in Japanese society. Finally, a survey of recent Chinese sources and the introduction of the Indian Jaina sources provide useful starting point for further researches on the fascinating saga of this road." (jacket)