Religion in Society

Social Dimensions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism in India
By placing emphasis on the religious praxis and behaviour of the non-elite segment of population, this book offers some significant ‘from below’ perspectives on the social histories of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Ajivika-dharma in eastern and northern India.
Through an analysis of archaeological and literary data, this book ex­plores two interrelated themes: the socio-economic and cultic processes that resulted in the decline of Indian Buddhism in its last strongholds – Bihar and Bengal – towards the end of the early medieval period, and the patterns of revival of Buddhism in the neighbouring province of Uttar Pradesh, c. 2005-2011 ce. These themes have been explored by undertaking an analysis of the developments in the social histories of other competing religions: Hinduism, Jainism and Ajivika-dharma.