Origin and Nature of Ancient Indian Buddhism

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Problems of chronology. 3. Iron, urbanization, and Buddhism. 4. Ancient Indian Buddhism and Ahimsa. 5. Ancient Indian Buddhist attitude towards women. 6. Devadatta's position in ancient Indian Buddhism. 7. Social thought of ancient Indian Buddhism. Appendices: 1. Buddhist chronology. 2. Frequency of urban settlements in the Pali Vinaya and Sutta Pitakas. 3. Devadatta in the Jatakas. 4. Jataka Data on the Bodhisattas. 5a. Male personalities mentioned in the Pali Vinaya and Sutta Pitakas. 5b. Female personalities mentioned in the Pali Vinaya and Sutta Pitakas. 6. Frequency of rural settlements in the Pali Vinaya and Sutta Pitakas. Bibliography. Index.

"This book offers a serious exploration of the many different aspects of ancient Indian Buddhism. In the recent past controversy relating to date of the Buddha has been resurrected. The author has discussed this issue in detail and has suggested his own date for the Mahaparinibbana. Buddhist attitude towards women and ahimsa has also been analyzed from a new perspective. The book examines in detail the background to the origin of Buddhism especially the role of iron in it. The issue as to what extent Buddhism was an urban religion has also been discussed. Most of the arguments in the book have been based on extensive data collected from the Pali Tipitaka. This data is provided in the form of appendices at the end of the book." (jacket)