2014/01/01 by Bryan Levman · 6 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography #Indian and Buddhist Studies #Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies #Gautama Buddha #Indigenous #Buddhism #Aryan race #Clan #Ethnic group #History #Worship #Syncretism (linguistics) #Anthropology #Religious studies #Politics #Ethnology #Ancient history #Sociology #Philosophy #Theology #Political science #Linguistics #Law #Archaeology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1558/bsrv.v30i2.145
openalex publication_date 2014/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
While the linguistic influence of India’s indigenous languages on the Indo- Aryan language (IA) is well understood, the cultural impact of the autochthonous Munda, Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman speaking peoples is much harder to evaluate, due to the lack of indigenous coeval records, and later historicization of the Buddha’s life and teachings. Nevertheless, there are cultural remnants of the indigenous belief systems discoverable in the Buddhist scriptures. In this article we examine 1) The longstanding hostility between the IA immigrants and the eastern ethnic groups, especially the Buddha’s Sakya clan. 2) The Sakyas’ socio-political organization, religious and cultural values which differ significantly from those of the immigrants. 3) The concept of the Mah?puru?a which was likely an historicization of an indigenous Indian belief. 4) Indigenous belief structures like serpent- and tree-worship and the culture of sacred groves, and 5) Indigenous funeral rites in the story of the Buddha’s parinibb?na.