Bulletin of the Asia Institute

New Series/Volume 25

2011 [2015]

Published with the assistance of the Neil Kreitman Foundation (U.K.)

 Contents
Yishai Kiel and The Sabbath Was Made for Humankind: A Rabbinic and
Prods Oktor Skjrv Christian Principle in Its Iranian Context 1
Stephanie W. Jamison Avestan xuud: A Relic of Indo-Iranian Ritual Vocabulary 19
Dieter Weber Testing Food and Garment for the stndr: Two Unpublished
Documents from the Pahlavi Archive in Berkeley, CA 31
Nicholas Sims-Williams; A Bactrian Document from Southern Afghanistan? 39
with an Appendix by
tienne de la Vaissire
Zsuzsanna Gulcsi Picturing Manis Cosmology: An Analysis of Doctrinal
and Jason BeDuhn Iconography on a Manichaean Hanging Scroll from 13th/
14th-Century Southern China 55
C. Jullien La rvolte des chrtiens au Hzestn (551): modles narratifs
dune historiographie 107
Michele Minardi and The Central Monument of Akchakhan-kala: Fire Temple, Image
Gairatdin Khozhaniyazov Shrine or Neither? Report on the 2014 Field Season 121
Harry Falk A Bronze Tub with a Brhm Inscription from Swat 147
Peter Skilling Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns: Early Buddhism in Ujjain
and Malwa 157
Anya King Eastern Islamic Rulers and the Trade with Eastern and Inner Asia
in the 10th11th Centuries 175
Guitty Azarpay Richard Nelson Frye 19202014 187

Review
osmund bopearachchi. From Bactria to Taprobane: Selected
Works of Osmund Bopearachchi (Holt) 189

Books Received 191

Abbreviations 193

Color plates including images from Nicholas Sims-Williams

and Zsuzsanna Gulcsi and Jason BeDuhn follow p. 106 in
this volume.

v
 Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns:
Early Buddhism in Ujjain and Malwa
Peter Skilling
cole franaise dextrme-orient, bangkok
Buddhist remains from the area of Ujjain in cen-
tral India are not at all well known. General
works on Buddhism in early India give them at
best only passing mention, usually without illus-
tration. This article, based on field trips between
2010 and 2012, seeks to compensate for this ne-
glect by introducing two stpa sites: one at So-
danga, the other at Undasa.1
I. Artefacts from Sodanga
Sodanga (Soaga) is located in the ancient city of
Ujjain, on the banks of the Shipra (Kipr) River,
a tributary of the Chambal River which flows
north to join the Yamuna River. It is fifteen km
to the northwest of the modern city along the
Ujjain-Unhel road.2 Chakrabarti notes that des-
ultory excavations at Ujjain (193839, 195558,
196465) have never been properly published.3
He emphasizes Ujjains centrality as a commu-
nications hub, writing that Ujjain is important
not merely for its location on the routes leading
to the Deccan. The problem in this case is four-
fold: the alignments (1) between Ujjain and the
Narmada on the way to the Deccan, (2) between
Ujjain and Gujarat, (3) between Ujjain and Rajas-
than, especially Ajmer on the way to Delhi, and
(4) between Ujjain and Vidisa.4
In 1988/1989, Rahman Ali and Ashok Tripa-
thi of the Department of Ancient Indian History,
Culture and Archaeology, Vikram University,
conducted excavations at Sodanga. The results
were reported in Indian Archaeology 198889A
Review, published in 1993, and in Buddhist Re-
mains of Ujjain Region, published in 2004.5
157
A large stpa stood on the fringe of the walled
city overlooking the Shipra River. The remains of
foundations of monasteries were noticed towards
the west at a distance of about one hundred me-
ters, adjacent to a dried-up tank.6 At present the
mound is occupied by Sodanga village, and it is
difficult to distinguish the contours of the monu-
ment or to see much sign of the early remains
(fig. 1). The only visible antiquities are broken
and headless mediaeval Jain statues scattered in
an open area of the upper surface (fig. 2). These in-
dicate a later Jain occupation of the site, followed
by an assault on the Jain images, all of which, like
so much else, remain to be clarified.
The excavators identified four stages of devel-
opment, described as follows:
Period I. PradyotaMaurya period, ca. 600 to
200 b.c.e.;
Period II. Sunga, Kanva and Satavahana
periods, ca. 200 b.c.e to c.e. 75;
Period III. Ksatrapa-Satavahana period, ca. c.e.
76 to 300;
Period IV. Gupta, Aulikara and Huna periods,
300600.
The artefacts presented in this article belong to
Periods I and II. Thick deposits of ash noticed on
the entire mound led to the suggestion that the
site was perhaps destroyed in the sixth century
by the Huna invasion.7 Despite Sodangas evident
historical importance, no further excavation has
been done, and the site is untended. Published
data is insufficient to determine the relationship
between the stpa and the monastic settlements,
or between the monastic complex and the city,
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns

Map of early sites in Malwa and North-Central India. Pierre Pichard, EFEO, Bangkok.

ramparts and river. Artefacts from Sodanga are dis-
played in the Vikram Kirti Mandir, the on-campus
museum of Vikram University, Ujjain.
Pillar Capital and Elephant Statue
Possible Aokan relics from Sodanga include a
pillar capital and a stone elephant (fig. 3).8 The
capital (diameter 2.54 m, height 66 cm) is in the
shape of a downturned lotus with 48 flutings. The
elephant (length 123 cm, height 65 cm, width
50 cm: fig. 4) is masterfully sculpted in the round,
but it is scarred by what appears to be deliber-
ate mutilation. It was discovered in 1965 by V. S.
Wakankar, S. K. Shukla and M. L. Dalal; the lotus
capital was recovered in a subsequent survey.9

158
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns

Fig. 1. Sodanga (Dist. Ujjain, MP): view of the mound. (All photographs by Peter Skilling: 2010;
February 2011; March 2012 unless otherwise noted.)

Fig. 2. Sodanga village (Dist. Ujjain, MP) today: scattered Jain statues.

159
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns
Although they are abraded, both show evidence of
Mauryan polish.10 The capital and the elephant
were found on the west, adjacent to the stpa;
they are massive prestige objects that must have
been supported by a large pillar or large pillars
raised near the stpa.11 They can only have been
produced by a munificent and, probably, a royal
patron. It is quite possible that this patron was
Aoka.
The Sodanga elephant brings to mind a smaller,
but exceptionally fine, stone elephant from Sat
dhara (Dist. Raisen, MP: fig. 5). Satdhara is a major
early Buddhist complex in the vicinity of Sanchi,
one of the Bhilsa topes excavated by Alexander
Cunningham in the 1850s;12 the site appears to
have been largely abandoned by the start of the
Christian Era. Like the Sodanga elephant, the Sat-
dhara elephant is carved in the round, and has the
exquisite polish which is [the] hallmark of Maur
yan craftmanship.13 Like the Sodanga elephant,
it has been damaged by apparent vandalism, and is
broken in two. Retrieved in 19961997 during ASI
excavations and clearance, it was found within
the filling of the stone casing14; that is, it was
placed there with other rubble as filling when the
stpa was repaired after earlier damage.15
Three Inscribed Paving Slabs
Three large paving slabs or flagstones, each mea-
suring about 180 cm at the maximum point, were
recovered in the Sodanga excavations (fig. 6). Two
of the slabs are more or less intact; one is broken
into two parts. Like similar slabs at Sanchi Stpas
1 and 2, they would have paved the circumambu-
latory, the wide processional path that encircled
the stpa.16 Marshall speculated that the stone
flagging of the procession path of the Great Stpa
at Sanchi was one of the changestantamount
almost to a complete reconstructioneffected
under one of the (post-Puyamitra) uga kings,
about the middle of the second century b.c.17
Like some of the slabs at Sanchi, the Sodanga
slabs are inscribed.18 Each of the three slabs bears
a one-line dedication inscription in Prakrit. The
inscriptionswith eye-copies and line drawings
but no photographswere published by Narayan
Vyas in 2001. He dated the script to the second
century b.c.e., which seems reasonable. On the
basis of the size of the slabs, Vyas estimated that
the stpa might have been 35 feet in height and
18 feet in radius.19 The large early Brhm let-
tersbetween 0.5 to 0.10 cm in heightgive the
160
names of three sponsors of the paved circumam-
bulatory, all of them male. One of them, Pusara-
khita, (Slab No. 1) is identified as a monk. The
two others, Dharaka (Slab No. 2) and Ngasena
(Slab No. 3), do not have any markers of identity.
Sodanga paving slab No. 1 (fig. 7a)
Height: 180 cm. 1.8 cm across top. 0.87 cm
across bottom. 0.1 thick. The inscription is
0.53 m in length.
Inscription: pusarakhitasa bhikhuno dna.
Translation: Donation of bhikhu Pusarakhita.
The name Pusarakhita (Sanskrit Puyarakita)
most probably indicates that the donor was born
under the asterism Puya. The Sodanga donor Pu-
sarakhita is described as a monk (Prakrit bhikhu
= Pli bhikkhu, Sanskrit bhiku). At Sanchi
Stpa No. 2, a Pusarakhita, pupil of Aya, donated
a coping stone (pusarakhitasa dna ayasa
atevsino).20 That this Pusarakhita was also a
monk is clear from his status as antevsin, a tech-
nical term in the hierarchy of monastic training.
Another donor at Sanchi bears the same name,
but this Pusarakhita must have been a layman, a
married citizen of nearby Vidi. An inscription
at Stpa No. 1 records that a cross-bar was do-
nated by Ngadatt, wife of the asavrika Pusara-
khita of Vidi.21 The meaning of asavrika is
not clear; Lders interprets it as a cavellerist;22
Marshall/Majumdar interpret it as trooper.
Sodanga paving slab No. 2 (fig. 7b)
Height 180 cm. 1.08 across top, 0.85 across
bottom. 0.1 thick. The inscription is 0.30 m in
length.
Inscription: dharakasa dna.
Translation: Donation of Dharaka.
This name does not seem to be known elsewhere,
such as at Sanchi, Bharhut or Amaravati.
Sodanga paving slab No. 3 (fig. 7c)
Height 110 cm. The inscription is 0.53 m in
length.
Inscription: ngasenasa dna.
Translation: Donation of Ngasena.
The brief donative record does not give any clues
regarding the donors social position. It is possible
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns

Fig. 3. Pillar capital and elephant from Sodanga, Vikram Kirti Mandir museum, Vikram Uni-
versity (Ujjain, MP). Photograph with Shri Mardan Singh, Conservation Assistant, Mandsaur
Subcircle ASI.

Fig. 4 (left). Stone elephant from Sodanga: side view. Vikram

Kirti Mandir museum, Vikram University (Ujjain, MP).

Fig. 5 (above). Stone elephant from Satdhara (Dist. Raisen, MP).

161
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns

Fig. 6. Three inscribed paving slabs from Sodanga stpa. Vikram Kirti Mandir museum, Vikram University (Ujjain, MP).

that this Ngasena was a monk, like the famous
Thera whose debates with the Indo-Greek king
Menander or Milinda are reported in a genre of
texts of which the Pli Questions of King Mil-
inda (Milinda-paha) is the most celebrated.
Another Ngasena, known from an inscription at
Amaravati in the South, was a paiiptikaa
monk who followed the ascetic practice of ac-
cepting almsfood only.23 On the other hand, at
Sanchi Stpa No. 2, a sehi (a layman of wealth,
a financier), named Ngasena dedicated a berm
rail.24 At Bharhut, we meet a female donor from
Paliputra named Ngasen,25 and in a Mathura
inscription a male Jain ascetic bears the name.26
A Terracotta ye dharmm Seal (fig. 8)
Another, much later, inscribed object from So-
danga is a conical terracotta seal. It bears the ye
dharmm formula in angular seventh to eighth
century letters in a Prakritic version.27 This adds
an element of mystery to the site. There does not
seem to be evidence of continued activity at So-
danga after the last centuries b.c.e., but the seal
testifies to a Buddhist presence, and the ritual
practice of making ye dharmm sealings, into
the seventh to the eighth centuries. The appear-
ance of this small object in the gap of centuries
shows how little we know about the site, and

162
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns

Fig. 7. Sodanga paving slab inscriptions: a (top): Sodanga paving slab No. 1: Pusarakhitasa bhikhuno dna; b (center): Sodanga
paving slab No. 2: Dharakasa dna; c (bottom): Sodanga paving slab No. 3: Ngasenasa dna.

how much it merits further excavation and sus-
tained attention. The present inhabitants of the
village, known as Anjana Thakurs, are agricul-
turalists who migrated from Gujarat four hun-
dred years ago. They worship a folk deity named
Deo-Narayan.28
In sum, the religious history of Sodanga can
only be painted in the broadest of brushstrokes.
We have a foundational Mauryan period of ven-
eration of the Buddha through his relics, which
continues into the tavhana period (that is,
the early Christian Era) with a possible Buddhist
presence up to the eighth or ninth century. Much
of this long stretch of time is blank in terms of
written or even artefactual data. Then there is a
Jain period, which is followed by the o
ccupation

163
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns

Fig. 8. Conical terracotta seal with ye dharmm formula. Above: side view of seal. Lower left: seal text (negative). Lower right: seal
text (positive). After Ali, Trivedi and Solanki 2004a: pl. 26.

of the site by the Thakurs and the worship of
Deo-Narayan.
II. The Stpas at Undasa
Two large stpas rise prominently from the fields at
Undasa, about 3 miles to the northeast of the pres-
ent city of Ujjain.29 Excavations were conducted
by the Department of Archaeology, Gwalior State,
in 19381939.30 Large bricks and punch-marked
coins were discovered, and the monuments were
pronounced to be Mauryan.
The larger stpa, popularly called Vaiya ekri,
is about 350 feet at its base and 100 feet high.
Nearby is a smaller stpa, called Kumbhr (or
Kumhr) ekri.31 Both are relatively undisturbed
(figs. 9, 10), except for the unfortunate fact that a
power line runs between them, and a giant pylon
squats rudely on Kumbhar Tekris shoulder. The
surrounding area is privately owned and under
cultivation, apart from a circle of 100 m owned
by the ASI. Between the two stpas is a small wet
area and a large well, which may point to an an-
cient water source. At present, there seems to be
no information about the relationship between
the two stpas, either in chronology or space, or,
for the surrounding area, about monastic, civic
or agricultural settlements or about irrigation
and communications. At the time of my visits,
Undasa seemed a pleasant site in the midst of
an expanse of undulating green fieldsbut on
the horizon huddle the buildings of an indus-
trial zone. There is a very real danger that sooner
rather than later this bucolic site may be engulfed
by the modern city of Ujjain.

164
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns

Fig. 9. Kumbhar Tekri (foreground) and Vaiya Tekri (behind), Undasa (Dist. Ujjain, MP).

Fig. 10. Vaiya Tekri, Undasa (Dist. Ujjain, MP). Foreground: Shri Mardan Singh, Conservation As-
sistant, Mandsaur Subcircle ASI.

165
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns
III. Ujjain, Aoka and Panguraria
Ujjain was one of the important urban sites of the
protohistorical and early historical periods, prob-
ably the largest in Vindhyas.32 Chakrabarti states
that ancient Ujjayini ranks in importance with
Rajagriha, Kausambi, Taksasila and such other
cities of ancient India.33 Excavations of the mas-
sive mound along the Shipra have yielded rich
artefacts,34 and have shown that the site was
in continuous occupation from about 750 b.c. to
about a.d. 1400.35 To understand the historical
depth we need to take into account sites like
Mahidpur on the right bank of the Shipra, about
fifty km by road from Ujjain,36 or Nagda, about
35 miles to the Northeast on the east bank of the
Chambal,37 along with other evidence of early
and Chalcolithic activity in the region.38
According to the Sri Lankan chronicles, Aoka
was viceroy at Ujjain before his coronation. At
Vidi he met Dev, the daughter of a banker,
and she became his consort. At Ujjain, the cou-
ple had a son named Mahinda and a daughter
named Saghamitt, both of whom went on to
play crucial roles in the introduction of the Bud-
dhas Dhamma to Sri Lanka. They are credited
with establishing the male and female ordination
lineages to the island; this led to the erection of
monastic complexes and the development of a
monastic culture which made Anurdhapura one
of the great urban centres of early South Asian,
and, indeed, Asian Buddhism. Saghamitt and
Mahinda are also credited with importing from
Magadha a sapling of the Bodhi tree and a portion
of the Masters relics, which led to the erection
of a Bodhi-tree shrine and the building of a stpa,
both still under worship today. All of this was
done, according to the chronicles, under the pa-
tronage and through the diplomacy of Aoka him-
self. The narrative of Mahinda and Saghamitt
frames the entire epic of Sinhala Buddhism, and
to this day it is a potent force in the Sinhala Bud-
dhist identity. The story is not, however, known
in any non-Lankan or non-Theravdin sources;
that is, it is not a pan-Buddhist memory. The nar-
rative has recently been reinforced, however, by a
unique Aokan inscription from Panguraria (Dist.
Sehore, MP), first published in 1981 by D. C.
Sircar.39 Written in large and generally legible
Aokan Brhm letters on the western wall of a
rock shelter, the epigraph (fig. 11) reads: Piya-
dassi the Crown Prince, when he was living to-
166
gether with his (unwedded) consort, came to this
place on a pleasure tour.40
Below the rock shelter in which Aoka had his
proclamations inscribed are several large stpas
made of dressed stone (fig. 12). The shelter looks
out at the pleasing panorama of the broad Nar-
mada valley, and it lies on the route from the cen-
tral Malwa plateauwhether from Ujjain or from
Vidito the south.41 The main stpa is about
76 m in diameter. There are a dozen platforms
on the slope of the hill, each housing a stpa of
dressed stone, with diameters ranging from 2 to
16 m.42 Further up are twenty-one stpas.
IV. Monastic Networks43
Clearly Panguraria was a significant center of
early Buddhist monasticism. What was its sup-
port base? Panguraria is only 12 km from the
ancient mound at Ninnore (Dist. Sehore, MP),44
which has been described as a junction point
of trade routes during the Maurya and uga/
tavhana periods. Excavations conducted by
the MP State Archaeology Department between
1996 and 1999 uncovered a long and rich cultural
sequence from the pre-Mauryan period up to the
Paramra period and beyond.45 Hence Ninnore is
one likely candidate. The ancient city and some-
time capital of Maheswar (Mhimat, Pli Ma-
hissati) on Narmada is not far downstream, and
just across from Maheswar is the early urban site
of Navdatoli where there is an unfinished or dam-
aged stpa.
Pangurarias circle of monastic relations must
have included the rock shelters of Bhimbetka
(Dist. Raisen, MP) on the route across the central
Malwa plateau. The small Buddhist settlements
that are scattered among the caves may have been
way stations or retreat centers. At Talpura, a for-
midable site not far upstream along the Narmada,
two large stone-dressed stpas stand on the stone
platforms of a landscaped hillside. This is typical
of contemporary planning in Malwa.46
Across the river, somewhat to the south, was
the big stpa complex at Kasrawad.47 Further to
the east lay the recently discovered great stpa
and urban complex of Bhon (Dist. Buldana, Maha-
rashtra) on the right bank of the Purna River, and
beyond that the stpa at Pauni (Dist. Bhandara,
Maharashtra), with Brhm donative inscriptions
that are probably the earliest written records of
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns

Fig. 11. Left: Panguraria inscription of Piyadassi the Rkumra. Right: Panguraria inscription of Piyadassi the Rkumra: tracing
after Falk 1997: 117.

ancient Vidarbha. Another route led up the Nar-
mada to Jabalpur, then northwards past Rup-
nath (Dist. Jabalpur, MP), site of an Aokan rock
edict,48 further past the Bharhut and Deorkothar
stpa complexes, and on to Prayga, Kosambi
or the Magadha heartland. South from Pangura-
ria the transriverine routes led to the Ajanta and
other caves and the city of Paithan (Pratihna).
To the west, there is a uga period stpa site
at Azad Nagar on the bank of the river Khan, a
tributary of the Shipra in Indore,49 and the Nar-
mada leads to Bharuch (ancient seaport of Bharu-
kaccha, in present-day Gujarat) on the right bank
near the mouth of the river,50 or southward along
the coast to Sopara, where fragments of Aokan
Rock Edicts were found by Bhagwanlal Indraji in
the 1880s.51 Further down the coast, on the isle of
Elephanta famous for its massive aivite sculture,
there are remnants of a 10 m high brick stpa sur-
rounded by seven small stpas as well as several
Buddhist caves.52
V. Aoka, Malwa and Nuns
The short Panguraria inscription confirms the
presence of Aoka in Malwa when he was a
prince. The Rock Edicts at Gujarra (Dist, Datia,
MP)53 and the Sanchi pillar (Dist. Raisen, MP) at-
test to Aokas sustained interest in the area.54
Given the marks of his presence in the neigh-
borhood, I do not find it unlikely that, at such
an important site as Ujjain, Aoka should have
had pillars erected, or have had edicts engraved.
Perhaps it would even be odd if he had not done
so. Chinese scholar-pilgrim Xuanzang apparently
visited Ujjain in the seventh century. His Record
states simply that not far from the city is a stpa
built to mark the place where King Aoka made
a hellish prison.55 This possibly refers to one of
the legends about Aoka the Cruel, before his
moral transformation and conversion to Bud-
dhism. It does not help us to identify the stpas
of Ujjain or their history.

167
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns

Fig. 12. Panguraria rock shelter (Dist. Sehore, MP), seen from the stpas below. The shelter is at the middle of the large platform.

Saghamitts career as a nun and her con-
nections with Ujjain and Malwa cannot be con-
firmed with the sources available at present. The
use of the term savsa for the relationship be-
tween Dev and Aoka in the Lankan chronicles
(Dpavasa 6: 17; Mahvasa 13: 910) and the
use of savsamne in the Panguraria inscrip-
tion is intriguing.56 Aokas inscriptions do make
it clear, however, that he regarded the bhiku-
saghathe nuns orderas integral to the Bud-
dhist establishment,57 and there is ample evidence
for the strength of the nuns order during and af-
ter his time, especially, perhaps, in the Ujjain re-
gion. This was a peak period for the order of nuns,
when they were significant players, and possibly
even equal partners, in the construction of an ex-
panding Buddhism across India. Roys analysis
of donative inscriptions from Sanchi reveals the
participation not only of nuns but also females in
general in the (re)construction of the Great Stpa.
She writes that in some instances, women out-
number the male donors from the same area, as
for example, Ujjain, from where there are twenty-
seven lay women and only ten lay men and nine
nuns as opposed to two monks.58 Nuns joined
together to donate an octagonal pillar and a large
and finely crafted stone parasol to one of the main
stpas at Panguraria itself.59 It is logical to con-
clude that there were nunneries in Malwaat
Ujjain, Sanchi or other Bhilsa topes, or even at
Pangurariabut none have been identified. This
is part of a greater problem for India as a whole:
one of the gaps in our information is the fact that
although the epigraphic record amply attests to
the activities of nuns, so far we have no evidence
of early nunneries beyond that given in literary

168
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns
sources.60 But this too is part of another problem.
The ruins of monasteries are scattered across
India, but the names of only a few monasteries,
or sites themselves, have been retrieved. For the
most part, the map of early Indian monasticism
consists of anonymous ruins.61
The excavations at Sodanga only scratched the
surface of a huge mound and centuries of occupa-
tion with a few trenches. The circumambulatory
slabs, the elephant and the capital eloquently at-
test to the significance of the site, which remains
encroached upon and neglected. If the stpa was
completed, and the erection of a pillar topped by
a majestic elephant suggests that it was, it would
have taken many more pavement slabs than those
recovered to complete the circumambulatory. It is
possible that more flagstones and other artefacts
lie underground, waiting to be unearthed.62 The
Undasa stpas, of which the Vaiya Tekri is as
large as the great stpa of Sanchi, remain to be se-
riously excavated. Together, the Sodanga and Un-
dasa stpas join other large Buddhist monuments
that remain unprotected and neglected, such as the
large stpas at Tumain (Dist. Ashoknagar, MP) and
Asandh (Dist. Karnal, Haryana).63 Early Buddhist
archaeology can scarcely be described as a growth
industry. Only sites slotted as destinations for
the pilgrimage and tourism industries receive seri-
ous attentionwith the attendant risk of archae-
ological and sacred sites being turned into theme
parks or viewed only in terms of profit.64 With In-
dias accelerating development, these monuments
of the Buddhist past may soon be effaced. Develop-
ment is necessary, and indeed inevitable. But need
it be at the cost of the obliteration of the traces of
the past? This is a dilemma for Indian history in
general, and it is a tragedy for Buddhist history and
Buddhist heritage.
Abbreviations
ASI Archaeological Survey of India
IAR Indian ArchaeologyA Review. New
Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India
MP Madhya Pradesh
Notes
1. My first trip was in winter 2010, my second on 9
February 2011, and my third on 2 March, 2012. I thank
N. Taher (Superintending Archaeologist, ASI Bho-
169
pal Circle), J. Manuel (ASI Archaeological Museum,
Gwalior), Dr. I. A. Hashmi and K. K. Verma (both ASI
Bhopal Circle), Mardan Singh (Conservation Assistant,
ASI Mandsaur Subcircle) and other ASI officers, along
with the faculty of Vikram University, for their gener-
ous assistance. It is a pleasure to express my deep grati-
tude to Dr. Gautam Sengupta (then Director-General
of ASI), for his unfailing support, and to Dr. Meera
Dass (then with INTACH, Bhopal), from whom I first
learned of the Undasa stpas, for her inspiration. I
thank J. Manuel for comments and information, Max
Deeg for clarification of Xuanzangs report, Songwut
Boonmak for editing the photographs and Pierre Pich-
ard for preparing the map.
2. For the antiquity of Ujjain and its sanctity be-
cause of the jyotirliga of Mahklevara at the centre
of the city, which is itself held to be the centre of India,
see Eck 2012: 23642.
3. Chakrabarti 2005: 105.
4. Chakrabarti 2005: 106. For the routes see also
Chakrabarti 2006: 2324; Neelis 2010: chap. 3, esp. pp.
20528 for the Southern Route and the seaports; Gupta
2008: 2632.
5. IAR 19881989: 4546. The site was noticed
earlier on by V. S. Wakankar and S. S. Nigam: see Ali,
Trivedi and Solanki 2004a: 9, 13.
6. Ali, Trivedi and Solanki 2004a: 36. No further
details are given.
7. IAR 19881989: 46. The explanation looks a bit
like it was plucked out of a hat.
8. These are not included in Falk 2006, either as
genuine or possible Aokan artefacts. The author was
aware of the artefacts, but was unable by the time of
writing to see them or to obtain photographs from the
pertinent authorities (personal communication).
9. One only hopes that more detailed records are
preserved. For now, this is the only published informa-
tion that I have seen.
10. Ali, Trivedi and Solanki 2004a: pp. 11415 and
pl. 11. Mauryan polish is a subjective term that calls
for caution.
11. Ali, Trivedi and Solanki 2004a: 114, though the
shaft of the pillar is missing yet some more pieces of
polished stone have been collected. No more details
are given, and regrettably the stone fragments are not
inventoried or illustrated.
12. Cunningham 1997: 32326; Willis 2000: pp. 80
83 and figs. 7281.
13. Rediscovering India 2012: cat. no. 142 (with ac-
companying color photograph). The Reg. no. is SAT-1
(I & II)/2011; the dimensions are I (body)20.5 31.7
19 cm; II (head)14 13.5 10.6 cm.
14. IAR 19961997: 6566. The excavation report is
yet to be published.
15. For the problem of vandalism, especially that con-
nected with the reign of the first uga ruler Puyamitra,
see Manuel 2014: pl. 2; Manuel 20112012: 9091.
The question of whether or notor how and to what
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns
egreePuyamitra persecuted Buddhists and attacked
d (summary of ASI excavations conducted between 1955
their monuments has been controversial for more than
a century. N. N. Ghosh 1945: 21017 responds to posi-
tions taken by Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri (18921957,
in his Political History of Ancient India, 1923) and Ha-
raprasad Sastri. Lamotte 1958: 8591, 42431 gives an
overview based on a range of sources. Verardi 2011 deals
more with later periods, but his first chapter, Historical
Paradigms, lays out the issues clearly. For Karnataka,
see Nagarajaih 2014: 4975.
16. See Ali, Trivedi and Solanki 2004a: pl. 6, for a
plan showing paved floor.
17. Marshall, Foucher and Majumdar 1983: vol. 1,
p. 29.
18. For the inscribed paving slabs at Sanchi, see Mar-
shall, Foucher and Majumdar 1983: vol. 1, pp. 34346
(Stpa 1); 370 (Stpa 2); 37678. For example, one of
the Sanchi slabs reads bodhiy dna, donation of [a
woman named] Bodhi.
19. Vyas 2001: vol. 1, pp. 12628.
20. Marshall, Foucher and Majumdar 1983: no. 634,
p. 363 and pl. 136, 4.
21. Marshall, Foucher and Majumdar 1983: no.
321, p. 332, vedisikaya pusarakhitasa asavrikasa
pjavatiya ngadatya dna.
22. Lders 1915: no. 381, p. 44.
23. Burgess 1996: pl. XXXI, p. 6; Sivaramamurti
1977: no. 103 (p. 298), IV C, 9; pl. LXV, 8; Tsukamoto
1996: Amarvat 154.
24. Marshall, Foucher and Majumdar 1983: vol. 1,
no. 710, p. 371; vol. 3, pl. 137, 9 (apparently first re-
ported in Hamid, Kak and Chandal 1982: 2627.
25. Tsukamoto 1996: IV Bhar 34.1, paliput
ngasenya koiyniy dna.
26. Lders 1915: no. 42.
27. Ali, Trivedi and Solanki 2004a: pp. 9091 and
pl. 26. It is hard to read the small letters. It seems to
open ye dharmm hetuprabhav tesa hetun: that
is, it uses dharmm and prabhav but Prakrit tesa
rather than Sanskrit te. The letters are difficult to
distinguish, and it seems as if some are missing in line
2. The formula is not in Pli, as the transcription in Ali,
Trivedi and Solanki 2004a: 91 suggests.
28. Ali, Trivedi and Solanki 2004a: 1112.
29. R. K. Sharma 1998: vol. 1, p. 259.
30. The reference is to Annual Administration Re-
port, Department of Archaeology, Gwalior State, in
19381939 (not seen): information from R. K. Sharma
1998: vol. 2, p. 427.
31. ekri means mound: the merchants mound
and the young mans or princes mound.
32. For an overview of the general history of Uj-
jain, see Verma and Guru 1982: chap. 2, and also pp.
36780. For literary references to Buddhism in Ujjain
and neighbouring towns, see Chaudhury 1982: 18287;
Gokhale 1982: 1516. For the archaeology of Ujjain, see
Y. D. Sharma 1953: 15960; N. R. Banerjee 1960: 7486
170
and 1958); A. Ghosh, 1989: vol. 2, pp. 44749; 1997:
14144; R. K. Sharma 1998: vol. 1, pp. 25961.
33. Chakrabarti 1998: 223.
34. IAR 19551956: p. 19, pls. XXB, XXVIXXVII;
IAR 19561957: pp. 2028, pls. XXVIXXXV; IAR
19571958: pp. 3236, pls. XXXVIIIXLIV; R. K. Sharma
1998: vol. 1, pp. 25961.
35. N. R. Banerjee 1960: 77.
36. For the excavations at Mahidpur (Dist. Ujjain)
see Ali, Trivedi and Solanki 2004b.
37. For Nagda see A. Ghosh 1989: vol. 1, pp. 303.
38. IAR 19551956: pp. 1119, and pls. XXA,
XXIXXV.
39. Falk 2006: 10910. Sircars reading was published
in Epigraphia Indica 39, 1971/1972, issued in 1981.
40. My translation: I follow Falks reading and in-
terpretation, which supersedes the earlier readings of
Sircar and others. See Falk 1997: 10721 (summarized
at Falk 2006: 10910).
41. Traces of Buddhism are few along the Narmada
valley, perhaps because of inevitable shifts in the nodes
of power and trade and of increasing Puric religious
devotion along the course of the river, which is sacred
in its own right (see Eck 2012: 17075).
42. K. D. Banerjee 20062007: pp. 34647 and pls. I
A, B; IXB, XA.
43. Dr. Johnson defined network as any thing re-
ticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with inter-
stices between the intersections. It seems he did not
know that of necessity the nodes of natural human net-
works cannot possibly be equidistant.
44. See Mathur, Singh and Misra 2007: 36378.
45. Sharma and Misra 2001: 7787.
46. Talpura is little published. See K. D. Banerjee
2006: esp. p. 351 and pls. II, III.
47. For Kasrawad, see Diskalkar 20062007: 463
84. The Brhm letters of the Ujjain slab inscriptions
and those of the inscribed sherds from Kasrawad are
roughly contemporary.
48. Falk 2006: 9394.
49. Sharma and Misra 2001: 1113. It is said that at
present not much remains at the site.
50. For Bharuch, see A. Ghosh 1989: vol. 2, p. 67 (en-
try by R. N. Mehta), and IAR 19581959: 69; IAR 1959
1960: 19. Little archaeological information is available,
doubtless because, as Mehta notes, the site is heavily
populated so that it is not possible to excavate in larger
areas for a detailed study.
51. For Sopara, see Falk 2006: 13638; Desai 2013:
12433; Dhavalikar 2015: vol. 1, pp. 16.
52. Mitchell 2002: 91.
53. Falk 2006: 7577.
54. For Sanchi, see Falk 2006: 2035. Manuel 2011
2012: 90 points out that the pillar must have already
been toppled by the time that the shell-script inscrip-
tions were written.
 s k i l l i n g : Stpas, Aoka and Buddhist Nuns

55. Li Rongxi 1996: 344, see also the Biography, in lization (Special Number), ed.
Li Rongxi 1995: 123 not far from the city was a stpa, S. K. Bhatt. The Journal of
built at the place where King Aoka had made a hell. Academy of Indian Numis-
56. See Falk 1997: 11215. matics and Sigillography, vol.
57. See Skilling 2001: 24143. 2122, pp. 34561. Indore.
58. Roy 2010: 42. See Appendix 2A, pp. 5152, for N. R. Banerjee 1960 N. R. Banerjee The Excava-
tabular statistics. These may be misleading because the tions at Ujjain. In Indologen
first two columns, for female and then male lay persons Tagung 1959: Verhandlungen
are labeled upsik and upsaka, but these terms der Indologischen Arbeit-
are in fact very rare in early donative inscriptions. The stagung in Essen-Bredeney,
author has apparently used the terms for laywomen Villa Hgel, 13.15. Juli 1959,
and laymen, but upsik and upsaka appear to have ed. E. Waldschmidt, 7486.
been used not by or for any male or female supporter, Gttingen.
but only by and for certain individuals to express a high Burgess 1996 J. Burgess. The Buddhist Stu-
degree of commitment and practice. pas of Amaravati and Jaggaya-
59. For the chattra, now in the storage of the Sanchi peta. Archaeological Survey of
museum, see K. D. Banerjee 20062007, esp. p. 359 and Southern India, vol. 6. London,
pls. X A (chattra just after excavation), B (close-up of 1887; repr. New Delhi, 1996.
parasol), C (estampage of inscription). For the inscrip- Chakrabarti 1998 D. K. Chakrabarti. The Archae-
tion, see Shah 2001: 13132; Falk 2006: 90. ology of Ancient Indian Cities.
60. For nunneries the sole exception for the early Delhi, 1995; repr. 1998.
period seems to be the bhikhuni-upasaya in the city Chakrabarti 2005 .The Archaeology of
mentioned in an inscription at Junnar but not identi- the Deccan Routes: The An-
fied. For the later period, several vihras were gifted cient Routes from the Ganga
to nuns under the Maitrikas at Valabhi in modern Gu- Plain to the Deccan. New
jarat. The identification of a monastic site at Sirpur in Delhi.
Chhattisgarh as a nunnery because bangles were found Chakrabarti 2006, .Relating History
in some of the cells is not only fanciful but illogical, to the Land: Urban Centers,
since nuns did not wear bangles any more than did Geographical Units, and Trade
monks. Routes in the Gangetic and
61. Monasteries of later periods, especially in the Central India of ca. 200 BCE.
Northeast, are increasingly identified by clay monastic In Between the Empires: So-
sealings and, sometimes, stone inscriptions. ciety in India 300 BCE to 400
62. This is an optimistic viewpoint. Narayan Vyas CE, ed. P. Olivelle, 531. Oxford.
(2001: 126) writes that the big mound was destroyed Chaudhury 1982 B. N. Chaudhury. Buddhist
and levelled by brick robbers, and only the three large Centres in Ancient India.
slabs remained. Calcutta: Sanskrit College.
63. For these and other sites, see Skilling 2014: 77 Calcutta Sanskrit College Re-
122; Skilling forthcoming. search Series, no. 70.
64. The ASI deserves full credit for its careful man- Cunningham 1997 A. Cunningham. The Bhilsa
agement of great sites like Sanchi, and for striving to Topes; or, Buddhist Monu-
maintain the ever precarious balance between integrity ments of Central India:
and accessibility. Comprising a brief historical
sketch of the rise, progress,
and decline of Buddhism with
an account of the opening and
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