lectures

Buddhist Archaeology and the Silk Roads

SOAS

November 28

Main Building

Event linkcalender

In this lecture, Michelle Wang examines the impact of colonial archaeology, particularly as practiced on the Indian subcontinent, upon Stein, and she traces the institutional networks within which he traveled.

The Central Asian expeditions led by Hungarian-British archaeologist and explorer Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943) from the Punjab into present-day Gansu Province and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region resulted in the collecting of tens of thousands of artifacts.

These manuscripts, textiles, paintings, prints, and sculptures – principally divided between the National Museum of India, the British Museum, and the British Library – are instrumental for our understanding of Buddhism during the medieval era and their acquisition is inscribed today within frameworks of collecting and plunder. In my paper, I examine instead the impact of colonial archaeology, particularly as practiced on the Indian subcontinent, upon Stein, and I trace the institutional networks within which he travelled. In this manner, we can not only draw parallels between Buddhist archaeology on the Indian subcontinent and Buddhist archaeology along the silk roads, but also understand the place of Buddhist material culture from the silk roads in mapping ideas concerning cultural contact, the Indo-European homeland, and more. 

Attending the event

This event is free and open to all. 

Sponsor and organiser

The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Lecture Series in Chinese Buddhism is kindly sponsored by the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation. It has been organised by the SOAS Centre of Buddhist Studies.