Patronage of Buddhist Monasteries in Eastern India (600–1300 CE) Page 1 of 29 Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Religion. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: OUP-Reference Gratis Access; date: 18 August 2022 Patronage of Buddhist Monasteries in Eastern India (600–1300 CE) Suchandra Ghosh, Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.811 Published online: 15 August 2022 Summary A region-wise study of patronage to Buddhist monasteries (mahāvihāra, vihāra, and vihārikā) in eastern India (Bihar and West-Bengal in India, and Bangladesh) in the early medieval period, is possible taking recourse to extant remains, epigraphical and textual mentions, and art historical representations. Scholars have extensively studied the major monasteries individually, where the issue of patronage was addressed along with other themes. However, the lifeline of these monasteries were benefactions from various categories of people, and so the issue of patronage becomes singularly important. These monasteries, particularly in south Bihar and north Bengal it seems, were connected in a network of relations that provided mobility between them. Since the region was under the single political rule of the Pālas, movement was easier. The donative records demonstrate that donors came from faraway places as well as from contiguous territories. The pattern of patronage that can be discerned from the study of the inscriptions of the Pāla rulers indicates that both the royalty and their subordinates were engaged in founding and then overseeing the upkeep of the Buddhist establishments. Patronage could be in the form of building the different categories of monasteries or other forms of structures within the precincts of a monastery. From the 9th to the 12th centuries CE a spurt of building activities took place. The religious merit that accrued from these donations was surely coveted by all, irrespective of their political and social position. With religious merit, the added attraction was recognition, prestige, and in some cases legitimacy. Keywords: patronage, mahāvihāra, vihāra, Nalanda, Vikramaśīla, Mainamati, Paharpur, Buddhism, monastery, subordinate rulers Subjects: Buddhism Nature of Patronage to Monasteries A defining feature of religion in early medieval India was the rapid expansion of Brahmanical religion. 1 Temples occupied a predominant position, and the temple acted as an institutional base for the bhakti movement. With the predominance of Brahmanical bhakti cults, Buddhism was relegated to the background in most of the regions, a significant exception being eastern India. Here Buddhism flourished, leading to the establishment of numerous monasteries of various sizes and scales. Eastern India includes the present regions of Bihar and West Bengal in India, and Bangladesh. Though the state of Odisha is taken to be a part of eastern India, the region of Orissa is not included here, as culturally and politically during early times northern and western Odisha were inclined more to central India, and southern Odisha more to Andhra Pradesh. Bihar and Bengal abounded in several mahāvihāras, vihāras, and vihārikās (Buddhist monasteries of different scales) during the early medieval period of Indian history (c. 600–1300 CE). Xuanzang Suchandra Ghosh, Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta 1