Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka

The early second millennium was a pivotal moment in the history of Theravāda Buddhism. Religious reforms carried out at Poḷonnaruva, then-capital of Sri Lanka, shaped the latter course of Buddhism across South and Southeast Asia. However, our understanding of these reforms has been over-determined b...

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Hoofdauteur: Shirley, Bruno M.
Formaat: Online
Taal:Engels
Gepubliceerd in: Arc Humanities Press 2026
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Online toegang:ONIX_20260316T122831_9781802704532_5
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author Shirley, Bruno M.
author_browse Shirley, Bruno M.
author_facet Shirley, Bruno M.
author_sort Shirley, Bruno M.
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description The early second millennium was a pivotal moment in the history of Theravāda Buddhism. Religious reforms carried out at Poḷonnaruva, then-capital of Sri Lanka, shaped the latter course of Buddhism across South and Southeast Asia. However, our understanding of these reforms has been over-determined by retrospective accounts written by male monastics, who focused on the heroic deeds of male monarchs. This book offers a radical revision of this narrative. Drawing on textual, inscriptional, numismatic, and material evidence from within the period itself, it reveals how the intellectual and social histories of Buddhism, politics, and gender were inextricably intertwined in Poḷonnaruva. In particular, it argues that debates over what it meant to be a “good Buddhist king” were intrinsically debates about Buddhist masculinity and about the proper relationship of gender to power.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1735642026-03-19T13:18:46Z Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka Shirley, Bruno M. Poḷonnaruva Inscriptions Royal consorts Monarchy thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRF Buddhism The early second millennium was a pivotal moment in the history of Theravāda Buddhism. Religious reforms carried out at Poḷonnaruva, then-capital of Sri Lanka, shaped the latter course of Buddhism across South and Southeast Asia. However, our understanding of these reforms has been over-determined by retrospective accounts written by male monastics, who focused on the heroic deeds of male monarchs. This book offers a radical revision of this narrative. Drawing on textual, inscriptional, numismatic, and material evidence from within the period itself, it reveals how the intellectual and social histories of Buddhism, politics, and gender were inextricably intertwined in Poḷonnaruva. In particular, it argues that debates over what it meant to be a “good Buddhist king” were intrinsically debates about Buddhist masculinity and about the proper relationship of gender to power. 2026-03-19T13:18:45Z 2026-03-19T13:18:45Z 2026-03-16T15:49:20Z 2026 book ONIX_20260316T122831_9781802704532_5 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111706 9781802704532 9781802703092 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/173564 eng open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/111706/1/9781802704532.pdf Arc Humanities Press Arc Humanities Press f13fc637-eaa8-4720-b1fa-dafaccb9c6d2 9781802704532 9781802703092 Arc Humanities Press 280 Leeds open access
spellingShingle Poḷonnaruva
Inscriptions
Royal consorts
Monarchy
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRF Buddhism
Shirley, Bruno M.
Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka
title Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka
title_full Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka
title_fullStr Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka
title_full_unstemmed Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka
title_short Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka
title_sort religion gender and politics in medieval sri lanka
topic Poḷonnaruva
Inscriptions
Royal consorts
Monarchy
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRF Buddhism
topic_facet Poḷonnaruva
Inscriptions
Royal consorts
Monarchy
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRF Buddhism
url ONIX_20260316T122831_9781802704532_5
work_keys_str_mv AT shirleybrunom religiongenderandpoliticsinmedievalsrilanka