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The Buddha and the Sahibs: The Men Who Discovered India's Lost Religion
Today there are many Buddhists in the West, but for 2000 years the Buddha's teachings were unknown outside Asia. It was not until the late 18th century, when Sir William Oriental Jones, a British judge in India, broke through the Brahmin's prohibition on learning their sacred language. Sanskrit, that clues about the origins of a religion quite distinct from Hinduism began to be deciphered from inscriptions on pillars and rocks.
This study tells the story of the search that followed, as evidence mounted that countries as diverse as Ceylon, Japan and Tibet shared a religion which had its origins in India yet was unknown there. British rule brought to India, Burma and Ceylon a whole band of enthusiastic Orientalist amateurs - soldiers, administrators and adventurers - intent on investigating the subcontinent's lost past. Unwittingly, these men helped lay the foundations for the revival of Buddhism in Asia during the 19th century and its spread to the West in the 20th.
Charles Allen's book is a mixture of detective work and story-telling, as this acknowledged master of British Indian history pieces together early Buddhist history to bring a handful of extraoridinary characters to life.
387 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 20, 2003
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368 people want to read
About the author
Charles Allen
88 books111 followersCharles Allen is a British writer and historian. He was born in India, where several generations of his family served under the British Raj. His work focuses on India and South Asia in general. Allen's most notable work is Kipling Sahib, a biography of Rudyard Kipling. His most recent work, Ashoka: the Search for India's Lost Emperor, was published in February 2012.
Selected works:
Plain Tales from the Raj: Images of British India in the Twentieth Century (1975)
Raj: A Scrapbook of British India 1877–1947 (1977)
Tales from the Dark Continent: Images of British Colonial Africa in the Twentieth Century (1979)
A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Mount Kailas and the Sources of the Great Rivers of India (1982)
Tales from the South China Seas: Images of the British in South-East Asia in the Twentieth Century (1983)
Lives of the Indian Princes, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (1984)
Kipling's Kingdom: His Best Indian Stories (1987)
A Glimpse of the Burning Plain: Leaves from the Journals of Charlotte Canning (1986)
A Soldier of the Company: Life of an Indian Ensign 1833–43 (1988)
Architecture of the British Empire, Ed. R. Fermor-Hesketh (1989)
The Savage Wars of Peace: Soldiers' Voices 1945–1989 (1990)
Thunder and Lightning: The RAF in the Gulf War (1991)
The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History (1999)
India Through the Lens: Photography 1840–1911, Ed. Vidya Dehejia (2000)
Soldier Sahibs: The Men who Made the North-west Frontier (2000)
The Buddha and the Sahibs: The Men who Discovered India's Lost Religion (2002)
Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa (2004)
Maharajas: Resonance from the Past (2005)
God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad (2006)
Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling (2007)
The Buddha and Dr Führer: An Archaeological Scandal (2008)
The Taj at Apollo Bunder: The History of the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (2011)
Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor (2012)
Selected works:
Plain Tales from the Raj: Images of British India in the Twentieth Century (1975)
Raj: A Scrapbook of British India 1877–1947 (1977)
Tales from the Dark Continent: Images of British Colonial Africa in the Twentieth Century (1979)
A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Mount Kailas and the Sources of the Great Rivers of India (1982)
Tales from the South China Seas: Images of the British in South-East Asia in the Twentieth Century (1983)
Lives of the Indian Princes, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (1984)
Kipling's Kingdom: His Best Indian Stories (1987)
A Glimpse of the Burning Plain: Leaves from the Journals of Charlotte Canning (1986)
A Soldier of the Company: Life of an Indian Ensign 1833–43 (1988)
Architecture of the British Empire, Ed. R. Fermor-Hesketh (1989)
The Savage Wars of Peace: Soldiers' Voices 1945–1989 (1990)
Thunder and Lightning: The RAF in the Gulf War (1991)
The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History (1999)
India Through the Lens: Photography 1840–1911, Ed. Vidya Dehejia (2000)
Soldier Sahibs: The Men who Made the North-west Frontier (2000)
The Buddha and the Sahibs: The Men who Discovered India's Lost Religion (2002)
Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa (2004)
Maharajas: Resonance from the Past (2005)
God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad (2006)
Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling (2007)
The Buddha and Dr Führer: An Archaeological Scandal (2008)
The Taj at Apollo Bunder: The History of the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (2011)
Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor (2012)
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
November 10, 2023
How Buddhism Came To The West
Interest in Buddhism has grown dramatically in the West in recent years. Much of this growth is due to the increased availability of the Buddha's teaching, and to the spread of meditation practice. There is a wealth of books available on Buddhist teachings, including many translations of Buddhist Suttras and on meditation. but too little has been written on how the teachings of Buddhism were recovered so that people in the West (and, in fact, people in Asia as well) could learn from them.
Charles Allen's book, "The Search for the Buddha: The Men who Discovered India's Lost Religion" (2003) helps fill this void. Allen was born in India to a family with a long record of service to British India and has published several other books dealing with India. His book deals only lightly with Buddhist teachings and doctrines. The book's focus is the activities of a remarkable group of people who, beginning late in the 18th Century, discovered the languages, texts, sacred sites, and teachings of Buddhism and thus prepared the way for their study and recognition. These individuals worked in not only in India, but in Ceylon, Burma, Nepal, and Tibet as well.
The task of discovering Buddhism in India was not as easy as might be supposed since Buddhism had essentially been driven out of India centuries before the British empire. Many of the earliest discoveries of Buddhism were made by employees of the East India Company or the British Government who were amateurs in the study of religion and archaeology and who were sent to England for other reasons. Thus Dr. Francis Buchanan, who wrote early studies of Buddhism in Burma and Nepal was a surgeon with an interest in Botany. Sir William Jones, who established the Asiatic Society and became known as "Oriental" Jones was a Judge. The brilliant James Princep who unraveled a difficult Sanskrit script was trained as a scientist and also was a pioneer in the study of numismatics (coins). Csmoa de Koros was a Hungarian who made the wealth of Tibetan scriptures available to the West as a result of his quixotical notion that Tibetans constituted a sort of lost tribe of Hungarians.
These Orientalists made lasting discoveries about the history of Buddhist India, its languages and sacred sites. Mr. Allen documents their work with a great deal of detail, which I found confusingly organized at times. But there is no doubt of the significance of their endeavors.
The last chapters of the book discuss early students of Buddhism who were more familiar to me. These individuals include the notorious Russian founder of Theosophy, Madame Blavatsky and her one-time assistant Colonel Henry Olcott from the United States. Sir Edwin Arnold, a British newspaper editor composed a famous epic poem in 1879 about the Buddha, "The Light of Asia" which brought Buddhism to the attention of many people in Britain and the United States. Rhys Davis founded the Pali Text Society in 1881, and this group played an invaluable and still ongoing role in making early Buddhist texts available in translation. Dr Lawrence Waddell, a physician, wrote in 1897 an early, highly critical, book about Tibetan Buddhism and also made important archaeological discoveries.
I found the discussion of this latter group of pioneers in the study of Buddhism more accessible than the earlier part of the book, probably because I had some background in their work. But the entire book makes a fascinating study of how the basic facts of Buddhism were learned and organized and brought to the West. The book is replete with many photographs and drawings which help explain and give context to the text.
Allen writes with affection for Buddhism and with a high, if critical and nuanced regard, for the achievement of the British in India. This book will interest readers interested in the development of knowledge about Buddhism and readers interested in the history of the British in India.
Robin Friedman
Interest in Buddhism has grown dramatically in the West in recent years. Much of this growth is due to the increased availability of the Buddha's teaching, and to the spread of meditation practice. There is a wealth of books available on Buddhist teachings, including many translations of Buddhist Suttras and on meditation. but too little has been written on how the teachings of Buddhism were recovered so that people in the West (and, in fact, people in Asia as well) could learn from them.
Charles Allen's book, "The Search for the Buddha: The Men who Discovered India's Lost Religion" (2003) helps fill this void. Allen was born in India to a family with a long record of service to British India and has published several other books dealing with India. His book deals only lightly with Buddhist teachings and doctrines. The book's focus is the activities of a remarkable group of people who, beginning late in the 18th Century, discovered the languages, texts, sacred sites, and teachings of Buddhism and thus prepared the way for their study and recognition. These individuals worked in not only in India, but in Ceylon, Burma, Nepal, and Tibet as well.
The task of discovering Buddhism in India was not as easy as might be supposed since Buddhism had essentially been driven out of India centuries before the British empire. Many of the earliest discoveries of Buddhism were made by employees of the East India Company or the British Government who were amateurs in the study of religion and archaeology and who were sent to England for other reasons. Thus Dr. Francis Buchanan, who wrote early studies of Buddhism in Burma and Nepal was a surgeon with an interest in Botany. Sir William Jones, who established the Asiatic Society and became known as "Oriental" Jones was a Judge. The brilliant James Princep who unraveled a difficult Sanskrit script was trained as a scientist and also was a pioneer in the study of numismatics (coins). Csmoa de Koros was a Hungarian who made the wealth of Tibetan scriptures available to the West as a result of his quixotical notion that Tibetans constituted a sort of lost tribe of Hungarians.
These Orientalists made lasting discoveries about the history of Buddhist India, its languages and sacred sites. Mr. Allen documents their work with a great deal of detail, which I found confusingly organized at times. But there is no doubt of the significance of their endeavors.
The last chapters of the book discuss early students of Buddhism who were more familiar to me. These individuals include the notorious Russian founder of Theosophy, Madame Blavatsky and her one-time assistant Colonel Henry Olcott from the United States. Sir Edwin Arnold, a British newspaper editor composed a famous epic poem in 1879 about the Buddha, "The Light of Asia" which brought Buddhism to the attention of many people in Britain and the United States. Rhys Davis founded the Pali Text Society in 1881, and this group played an invaluable and still ongoing role in making early Buddhist texts available in translation. Dr Lawrence Waddell, a physician, wrote in 1897 an early, highly critical, book about Tibetan Buddhism and also made important archaeological discoveries.
I found the discussion of this latter group of pioneers in the study of Buddhism more accessible than the earlier part of the book, probably because I had some background in their work. But the entire book makes a fascinating study of how the basic facts of Buddhism were learned and organized and brought to the West. The book is replete with many photographs and drawings which help explain and give context to the text.
Allen writes with affection for Buddhism and with a high, if critical and nuanced regard, for the achievement of the British in India. This book will interest readers interested in the development of knowledge about Buddhism and readers interested in the history of the British in India.
Robin Friedman
November 29, 2022
This is a highly informative layperson's history of how Westerners discovered Buddhism, particularly Indian Buddhism, during the British Raj. Buddhism began in India 2600 years ago, and Westerners didn't know anything about it two hundred years ago. Englishmen (awkward... because colonialism) did archeological digs at places relevant to Buddhism, many of which I visited on pilgrimage. The book had the rather pleasant side effect of bringing me back to the pilgrimage in India and Nepal.
June 28, 2024
"The Buddha and the Sahibs" by Charles Allen tells the extraordinary story how India and whole world rediscovered Buddhism.
Today, Buddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers, but 200 years ago it was hidden in the shadow of the Hinduism. Nobody knew, what secrets keep huge barrows, which were scattered in the vast plains of Subcontinent. Maybe, it was a royal tombs, treasuries or just an ordinary hills. At that time Buddhism was completely forgotten religion, brutally attacked by the Brahmin iconoclasts in the eight and ninth centuries. In fact, there were no Buddhists left in India except at the fringes in Chittagong bordering Burma and in Ladakh bordering Tibet. And people did not have any inkling of Sarnath in Varanasi, the stupa in Sanchi, the Ajanta caves or Bodh Gaya, which have become bywords for tourist spots in India. The majestic monasteries and temples were abandoned and slowly disappearing, when local rulers reused its bricks for their mansions.
In India the obliteration of the past ended with the arrival of the British colonists. Thanks to men like William “Oriental” Jones, who established the Asiatic Society of Bengal; James Prinsep, who deciphered Ashoka texts; George Turnour, who translated Mahawansa from Pali to English; Alexander Cunningham, who discovered many of the Buddhist pilgrimage sites or John Marshall, who finally introduced proper methods of archeological excavation, Indians started to understand the richness of their heritage. Moreover, Anagarika Dharmapala refreshed the practise of meditation (and popularized it in the world), traditionally confined to monks, passed down from master to pupil by personal and private initiation.
C. Allen writes not only about the Asiatic Society of Bengal (its establishment, members, works and aims), archeological excavations of Stupas or other important places, political and religion situations in India and Shri Lanka, but also how Buddhism became a global obsession and how it transformed after the WWII (when Tibet was occupied by China). C. Allen is a writer, who can make hard core history seem like a top notch detective novel. So, I highly recommended this book.
Today, Buddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers, but 200 years ago it was hidden in the shadow of the Hinduism. Nobody knew, what secrets keep huge barrows, which were scattered in the vast plains of Subcontinent. Maybe, it was a royal tombs, treasuries or just an ordinary hills. At that time Buddhism was completely forgotten religion, brutally attacked by the Brahmin iconoclasts in the eight and ninth centuries. In fact, there were no Buddhists left in India except at the fringes in Chittagong bordering Burma and in Ladakh bordering Tibet. And people did not have any inkling of Sarnath in Varanasi, the stupa in Sanchi, the Ajanta caves or Bodh Gaya, which have become bywords for tourist spots in India. The majestic monasteries and temples were abandoned and slowly disappearing, when local rulers reused its bricks for their mansions.
In India the obliteration of the past ended with the arrival of the British colonists. Thanks to men like William “Oriental” Jones, who established the Asiatic Society of Bengal; James Prinsep, who deciphered Ashoka texts; George Turnour, who translated Mahawansa from Pali to English; Alexander Cunningham, who discovered many of the Buddhist pilgrimage sites or John Marshall, who finally introduced proper methods of archeological excavation, Indians started to understand the richness of their heritage. Moreover, Anagarika Dharmapala refreshed the practise of meditation (and popularized it in the world), traditionally confined to monks, passed down from master to pupil by personal and private initiation.
C. Allen writes not only about the Asiatic Society of Bengal (its establishment, members, works and aims), archeological excavations of Stupas or other important places, political and religion situations in India and Shri Lanka, but also how Buddhism became a global obsession and how it transformed after the WWII (when Tibet was occupied by China). C. Allen is a writer, who can make hard core history seem like a top notch detective novel. So, I highly recommended this book.
June 18, 2012
Amazing book and can be read at many levels. The book narrates the early archaeological expeditions and challenges in India that eventually led to the discovery of the nearly lost religion of Buddhism and its origins in India. A really fast paced book, it weaves history and narrative to a gripping tale. The book is so well written that I found hard to put down once I started reading this. The book starts with the expeditions of a Britisch EICo (East India Company) officer (who was a botanist/medical doctor at that time) but who quite extensively wrote about the lives of Indians, Nepalese and areas that he was entrusted to survey, then talks about William Jones and his life.
February 22, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed this treasure of a historical book around the first Europeans - all men with the exceptions of Alexandra David-Neel - who were pioneers in learning the East Asian languages as well as studying & translating Sanskrit and Pali scriptures and allowed the spread of the Buddhist wisdom and way of living to all continents.
Read
September 1, 2016I learned a lot about British, European and Indian interest in Buddhist history. The British attitudes toward Buddhism range from fascination to condemnation; but we find similar views among Indians. I was unfamiliar with the non-Muslim persecution of Buddhists in India, but Charles Allen has given some evidence to ponder on that issue.
May 25, 2010
A very interesting book on an area of history I knew nothing about. Buddhism in India had completely disappeared, until a series of (mostly) British officials uncovered its history and monuments. It's a story of passionate amateurs.
January 15, 2015
Interesting topic, but ultimately it's a fairly dry history book about the discovery of the origins of Buddha by 18th and 19th century British colonials in India. This book is for serious historians.
October 30, 2011
Fascinating look at the archaeology of Buddhism and the recovery by Europeans of Buddhist roots...
April 24, 2013
A fascinating account of how Buddhism became known to the West, especially concerning the lives of the British Orientalists.
June 20, 2021
In a world where the most popular reads on South Asian history from before the partition, writing this book sounds like a brave endeavor, from a commercial point of view at least. Charles Allen tells a fascinating tale of How Buddhism was re-discovered after Hindu Brahmins had erased the religion from the land of its origin. Allen starts off with an acknowledgement of Said’s orientalism, but then questions where the history of Buddhism be, if British officers from the East India Company did not take the lead in rediscovering lost languages and scripts which ultimately retold the history of Buddhism in India, lost to locals. I do think this was a bit of a stretch, its one thing to state the fact that Buddhism had not been rediscovered until the British managed to do so, and another to suggest that this was only possible the way it actually unfolded.
(An interesting aside, I recently learned that the province of India where my grandparents originate from, Bihar, means ‘Land of the Buddha’ because Gautama spent most of his life there. Interesting coincidence, one that my family, now thoroughly Shiite Muslim, neither knows nor ever bothered to relate to).
Fun and interesting to read, a part of history that I had absolutely no knowledge of before. Rating: 5 of 5 stars
November 14, 2018
A great book for those who are interested in Indian History. This book has an element of adventure and mystery which makes it very readable and interesting. The Buddha and the Sahibs tells us how the Ancient Indian past was revived by "Sahibs". One also finds in this book inspirational stories of personalities which helped in the discovery of our Indian past. As a student of History, this book is very important for me because it tells me how our past which was lost for 2000 years was rediscovered by dedicated men who were foreigners but dedicated there lives for the recovery of our past. I am very grateful for these men who worked zealously to uncover the mysteries of our past so that we can read and debate about it today.
December 10, 2018
I am not a believer of a benevolent colonialism as per the likes of Niall Ferguson or John Keay. However I also do not believe in the pure evilness of the British colonial enterprises as well. Like everything I think there is a big grey area in between which defines this rule. There are positives and there are negatives.
Charles Allen has been a favorite author for telling the stories of the erstwhile Raj from the days of reading 'Ashoka'. He tries to walk this grey part of the history without being judgmental and that's what makes this book fascinating.
I've read the stories about James Prinsep, Alexander Cunningham, "Oriental" Jones and quite a few of the interesting individuals who came here to conquer and ended up uncovering a large portion of Indian history which was neglected and unknown for reasons which are not relevant here.
'Buddha and the Sahibs' tells the story of the re-discovery of Buddhism in India in the late 18th and 19th centuries and the people who did that. The book reads like a detective fiction and expertly puts together the pieces of the discovery.
The story of Buddhism is an inspiring one and above all, the story of the King 'Devanampiya Priyadasi' - the most humane of all kings ever ruled otherwise known as Ashoka is another that defies belief. And what is more amazing is the way the king was identified after the masterly deciphering of the Ashoka Brahmi script by James Prinsep. This is a story that can be read again and again.
More than my infatuation with Ashoka, the book introduces a host of characters who are unbelievable to start with and astoundingly curious and meticulous to the end. James Prinsep who started as the assay master in the Benaras Mint and ended up deciphering the Ashoka Brahmi and identifying the King Ashoka as the Devanampiya Priyadasi of the inscriptions and dying by his 40. Alexander Cunningham - in between his constant part in the frontier wars - manages to trace the entire travel route of Huan-Tsang and identify a host of lost cities and write a long series of books as well.
They may be the product of the imperial era and may have had their prejudices (which are common to that era) but like William Jones - who founded the Asiatic society and be a judge as well - are all driven by the scientific curiosity of the day and there is no just reason for not being thankful to them at all. It is not just those who are named here, I actually went through a collection of the Journal of Asiatic Studies (JAS) published by the Asiatic society founded by Jones and most of those who wrote about the flora and fauna of the country or the ruins of some regions are all local tax collectors and soldiers with some regiments. It is a testament to their interest that they not only observed what was around them, they recorded them as well.
The discovery of Buddhism in the Indian main land by all these people and the discovery of the ruins and location of the holy sites makes for very interesting reading. Charles Allen goes through the steps and the way the entire story unfolded with exciting discoveries. The various events and the unlikely heroes (Hastings or Curzon, anyone?) and of course, M.K.Gandhi and Ambedkar make a cameo as well.
The one part that I find missing is the how Buddhism was obliterated in the country where it was born and how the holy sites were laid waste or taken over by the local Mahants. That is a story that gets mentioned in the passing - like the story of the discussion between the Lama and the Shankaracharya - but is not pursued. I thought that would've made the book more complete.
Overall, a very interesting book..
Charles Allen has been a favorite author for telling the stories of the erstwhile Raj from the days of reading 'Ashoka'. He tries to walk this grey part of the history without being judgmental and that's what makes this book fascinating.
I've read the stories about James Prinsep, Alexander Cunningham, "Oriental" Jones and quite a few of the interesting individuals who came here to conquer and ended up uncovering a large portion of Indian history which was neglected and unknown for reasons which are not relevant here.
'Buddha and the Sahibs' tells the story of the re-discovery of Buddhism in India in the late 18th and 19th centuries and the people who did that. The book reads like a detective fiction and expertly puts together the pieces of the discovery.
The story of Buddhism is an inspiring one and above all, the story of the King 'Devanampiya Priyadasi' - the most humane of all kings ever ruled otherwise known as Ashoka is another that defies belief. And what is more amazing is the way the king was identified after the masterly deciphering of the Ashoka Brahmi script by James Prinsep. This is a story that can be read again and again.
More than my infatuation with Ashoka, the book introduces a host of characters who are unbelievable to start with and astoundingly curious and meticulous to the end. James Prinsep who started as the assay master in the Benaras Mint and ended up deciphering the Ashoka Brahmi and identifying the King Ashoka as the Devanampiya Priyadasi of the inscriptions and dying by his 40. Alexander Cunningham - in between his constant part in the frontier wars - manages to trace the entire travel route of Huan-Tsang and identify a host of lost cities and write a long series of books as well.
They may be the product of the imperial era and may have had their prejudices (which are common to that era) but like William Jones - who founded the Asiatic society and be a judge as well - are all driven by the scientific curiosity of the day and there is no just reason for not being thankful to them at all. It is not just those who are named here, I actually went through a collection of the Journal of Asiatic Studies (JAS) published by the Asiatic society founded by Jones and most of those who wrote about the flora and fauna of the country or the ruins of some regions are all local tax collectors and soldiers with some regiments. It is a testament to their interest that they not only observed what was around them, they recorded them as well.
The discovery of Buddhism in the Indian main land by all these people and the discovery of the ruins and location of the holy sites makes for very interesting reading. Charles Allen goes through the steps and the way the entire story unfolded with exciting discoveries. The various events and the unlikely heroes (Hastings or Curzon, anyone?) and of course, M.K.Gandhi and Ambedkar make a cameo as well.
The one part that I find missing is the how Buddhism was obliterated in the country where it was born and how the holy sites were laid waste or taken over by the local Mahants. That is a story that gets mentioned in the passing - like the story of the discussion between the Lama and the Shankaracharya - but is not pursued. I thought that would've made the book more complete.
Overall, a very interesting book..
November 17, 2020
This is a very well written historical-chronology of the following events:-
1) How the Hindu-Brahmins got rid of Buddhism from its land of origin & they don't care/acknowledge the civilizing effect it hand on South-East Asia, Afghan, Tibet, China, Japan and Korea/Mongolia?
2) How the EIco (East India Company) British officers took the lead in the 18th century to discover the lost languages (Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit) and lost scripts (Gupta Brahmi) from Indian excavations (Sanchi, Bharhut, Guntur (Amravati), Nalanda (Patna), Taxila, Borobudur (Indonesia) Bamiyeh (Afghan) Tibet and China and Ceylon.
3) How they (Britishers and Germans & Russians & a lone Hungarian) studied the modern languages Bengali, Tamil, Tibetan and how the first print-set book of Bangla was published & the first Tibet-to-English dictionary was published.
4) How the ASI (Archeological Survey of India) was created around Asiatic Society and how the lost-Buddhist-Emperor Ashok was re-discovered (He is printed as Priyadashi in all old Ashokan pillars and stupas that he erected in his life and later Mauryan Empire.
5) How the cave paintings of Ajanta and the travels of Chinese Heun Tsang and Fa Hein, and the records kept by the Burmese & Ceylon literature, was corroborate to spot the modern locations of the important places key to Buddha's life - Lumbini (Nepal) KushiNagar (Nepal/India border- claimed by both- where Buddha grew up) Gaya/Sarnath/Vaishali.
A must read for any Buddhist and Indian History afficiado.
1) How the Hindu-Brahmins got rid of Buddhism from its land of origin & they don't care/acknowledge the civilizing effect it hand on South-East Asia, Afghan, Tibet, China, Japan and Korea/Mongolia?
2) How the EIco (East India Company) British officers took the lead in the 18th century to discover the lost languages (Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit) and lost scripts (Gupta Brahmi) from Indian excavations (Sanchi, Bharhut, Guntur (Amravati), Nalanda (Patna), Taxila, Borobudur (Indonesia) Bamiyeh (Afghan) Tibet and China and Ceylon.
3) How they (Britishers and Germans & Russians & a lone Hungarian) studied the modern languages Bengali, Tamil, Tibetan and how the first print-set book of Bangla was published & the first Tibet-to-English dictionary was published.
4) How the ASI (Archeological Survey of India) was created around Asiatic Society and how the lost-Buddhist-Emperor Ashok was re-discovered (He is printed as Priyadashi in all old Ashokan pillars and stupas that he erected in his life and later Mauryan Empire.
5) How the cave paintings of Ajanta and the travels of Chinese Heun Tsang and Fa Hein, and the records kept by the Burmese & Ceylon literature, was corroborate to spot the modern locations of the important places key to Buddha's life - Lumbini (Nepal) KushiNagar (Nepal/India border- claimed by both- where Buddha grew up) Gaya/Sarnath/Vaishali.
A must read for any Buddhist and Indian History afficiado.
October 14, 2024
Abandoning this book after about 40%. Although this book tries to present a good historical plot, the writing is horrible. Every few lines the author digressess into references to names and things which are counter to the plot and makes it hard to keep a train of thought. I struggled and tried to continue several times, but just could not keep through it. I really wanted to get to the meat of things and that's why I got this book. Unfortunately, it is more like getting lost in footnotes.
January 28, 2010
What a terrific book this is! For anyone interested in Buddhism or India, the story Allen tells fills in a lot of gaps not only about the rediscovery of Buddhist sites and texts in India but also about the growth of interest in the religion. Very detailed but also plenty of conflict and suspense to keep it interesting.
August 22, 2023
Amazing...!
It is a beautiful, charming and an insightful book....well researched and eminently readable. It is a joy to read, and would be a revelation to even most Indians, who will often find that they have so much to learn about their own past.
It is a beautiful, charming and an insightful book....well researched and eminently readable. It is a joy to read, and would be a revelation to even most Indians, who will often find that they have so much to learn about their own past.
October 18, 2024
Another masterpiece just like his other book " Ashoka"
July 2, 2025
This book is about the British colonial administrators in India, who wanted to engage with the local customs ( while considering theirs superior, of course) and all their work at uncovering, documenting and preserving India’s ancient history, over centuries of iconoclasm ( by all India’s rulers. Not merely the vilified usual suspects). It starts with in the lat 18th Century, before British Rule, when it was still the East India Company establishing a foothold here, and takes you all the way till the 20th Century. You meet an incredible cast of characters, and cities-men who had day jobs as doctors, chemists, soldiers, financiers; none of them were trained archaeologists. They were all undeniably colonialists, I think there’s space to also appreciate the work done towards their efforts at documentation and chronicling the past, and making it accessible to a wide section of the populace. They didn’t always get it right, several were influenced by ideas of trying to link the Buddha with the Middle East ( as was attempted for the Great Zimbabwe too), influential scholars tried to undermine the work of others (HH Wilson, for instance, refused to acknowledge anything about Buddhism apart from the doctrine of it being a heresy, but also a part of Hinduism), careless excavations and building projects that damaged ancient structures. Their achievements are incredible, though, from deciphering Pali to using multiple sources to piece together the story of the Buddha, and Emperor Ashoka, disproving the claim that Buddhism was a minor heretical offshoot of Hinduism that was quickly forgotten-active iconoclasm was undertaken to make people forget, and future faith movements used the basic tenets of Buddhism to attract more followers. It’s also an interesting look at how the country was administered, and how the EIC set up a quasi-government of its own to open up India to trade ( or economic plunder, as the case may be). Many of them battled terrible health conditions that claimed their lives, in several instances. They continued though-corresponding with monks in Sri Lanka, translating their histories, collecting sources from Burma (then Ava), cross-verifying that with Indian oral histories and the Puranas , using markings on coins to decipher lost scripts (the chapter on Prinsep and Pali alone is worth reading this book for). The methods used to date these archaeological finds are compelling, with contemporaneous historiagraphies used. I loved the chapters on the amateur historians using Fa-hien and Xuanzang’s travelogues as guides-you learn of them visiting India, but only after reading this book did I understand just how important they were to understanding what India was like then. It’s almost moving to read of this ancient religion that was so popular, and tried to be so inclusive, getting a new lease of life 2000 years after its founder had died.
October 2, 2019
An absorbing history of how a few British military men, civil servants, and men of genius "discovered" India's Buddhist past, which had largely been forgotten by Indians themselves.
Allen begins with a nod to Edward Said's concept of Orientalism, the colonialist and often wildly inaccurate way in which Europeans viewed non-European cultures. While acknowledging the truth of Said's critique, Allen asks the question of where the history of Buddhism would be without the work of some remarkable "Orientalists" serving during the British Raj.
Some of the rich characters in this history:
—Dr. Francis Buchanan, a botanist charged with the statistical survey of Bengal in the 1790s, who during a visit to Burma visited temples dedicated to "Boodh." He subsequently wrote a survey of Burmese religion and literature which included the first serious English account of Buddhism.
—Charles 'Hindoo' Stuart, a pioneer collector of Hindu art, known for his love of Indian culture and his comment that English women should "throw away their whalebone and iron in favor of the saree".
—the extraordinary genius William 'Oriental' Jones, the polyglot master of Latin, Greek, Arabic, Persian, and, soon after his arrival as a judge in Bengal in the late 1700s, Sanskrit. His Sanskrit studies led him to discover its kinship with Latin and Greek and thus the Indo-European language pool. Almost singlehandedly founded the study of comparative philology. Died tragically young in 1794. He mistakenly contended that Gautama was Ethiopian or Egyptian; a contention demolished by Buchanan.
—James Prinsep, son of an East India Company civil servant who made and lost several fortunes, who decoded the Brahmi and Karasthi scripts. Along with scholarship, he was an able administrator who build a tunnel that drained a miasmic swamp in Benares and built a bridge, both efforts earning him the gratitude of the Indians. They gave him a piece of land in gratitude, which he promptly gave back to them as a bazaar.
I find it difficult to listen to audiobooks on history—I prefer to read and take notes—but the story of how these "sahibs" pieced together the truth of the Buddha's origins and legacy in India was so well-written and the reader so lively, I listened avidly. I intend to purchase the hardcover, The Buddha and the Sahibs, and read it.
Allen begins with a nod to Edward Said's concept of Orientalism, the colonialist and often wildly inaccurate way in which Europeans viewed non-European cultures. While acknowledging the truth of Said's critique, Allen asks the question of where the history of Buddhism would be without the work of some remarkable "Orientalists" serving during the British Raj.
Some of the rich characters in this history:
—Dr. Francis Buchanan, a botanist charged with the statistical survey of Bengal in the 1790s, who during a visit to Burma visited temples dedicated to "Boodh." He subsequently wrote a survey of Burmese religion and literature which included the first serious English account of Buddhism.
—Charles 'Hindoo' Stuart, a pioneer collector of Hindu art, known for his love of Indian culture and his comment that English women should "throw away their whalebone and iron in favor of the saree".
—the extraordinary genius William 'Oriental' Jones, the polyglot master of Latin, Greek, Arabic, Persian, and, soon after his arrival as a judge in Bengal in the late 1700s, Sanskrit. His Sanskrit studies led him to discover its kinship with Latin and Greek and thus the Indo-European language pool. Almost singlehandedly founded the study of comparative philology. Died tragically young in 1794. He mistakenly contended that Gautama was Ethiopian or Egyptian; a contention demolished by Buchanan.
—James Prinsep, son of an East India Company civil servant who made and lost several fortunes, who decoded the Brahmi and Karasthi scripts. Along with scholarship, he was an able administrator who build a tunnel that drained a miasmic swamp in Benares and built a bridge, both efforts earning him the gratitude of the Indians. They gave him a piece of land in gratitude, which he promptly gave back to them as a bazaar.
I find it difficult to listen to audiobooks on history—I prefer to read and take notes—but the story of how these "sahibs" pieced together the truth of the Buddha's origins and legacy in India was so well-written and the reader so lively, I listened avidly. I intend to purchase the hardcover, The Buddha and the Sahibs, and read it.
December 16, 2019
The Buddha and the Sahibs as narrated by Sam Dastor was an interesting listen. This is the story of the rediscovery of Buddhism by a few men who took an interest in the pursuit of the knowledge rather than wealth of the land that they ruled over. I found the most colourful character to be the Transylvanian Bodhisattva - Sándor Csoma de Kőrös.
But what irked me most was the mispronunciation of lot of words not native to Sam Dastor; it is evident that the narrator nor the producers of this audio book take any effort in getting it right and it is rather unfortunate. Despite this, I would recommend this book for anyone who loves history and the work of the orientalists.
But what irked me most was the mispronunciation of lot of words not native to Sam Dastor; it is evident that the narrator nor the producers of this audio book take any effort in getting it right and it is rather unfortunate. Despite this, I would recommend this book for anyone who loves history and the work of the orientalists.
February 1, 2024
The narrative is presented in an engaging manner. I particularly enjoyed the sections about deciphering of Brahmi and the many tussles of Cunningham. This book presents the effort of the European 'Orientalists' quite positively and I agree that the fields of history, culture and archaeology owe much to these gentlemen.
What is omitted is the names of the Indians collaborating with these people, while Allen finds Said's criticism of Orientalism lacking, it cannot be denied that many of these Europeans brought their own lenses to Indian and South Asian Culture. 3.75/5
What is omitted is the names of the Indians collaborating with these people, while Allen finds Said's criticism of Orientalism lacking, it cannot be denied that many of these Europeans brought their own lenses to Indian and South Asian Culture. 3.75/5
February 19, 2019
An engrossing tale of how few Britishers strived to re discover the great past of India - Buddhism and Mauryan Kingdom and many centuries of history buried under multiple invasions. Great anecdotes and great characters across the book. What we take as Indian history for granted today was not even known 300 years ago. Makes you wonder how much of our past we don’t know today!!
April 19, 2022
The discovery of the Buddhist history of India by the West (primarily Britain and France.) For a Western Buddhist reader it provides some interesting detail on the development of Mahayana Buddhism and Theravedan Buddhism. The book is more focused on the record of the mostly part-time explorers who pieced together this history.
July 9, 2018
Was interesting, covered much more than the rediscovery of the Buddhist heritage on the Indian subcontinent. Many nuggets about life & attitudes in British India. The later chapters got somewhat detailed about various dig sites, bit overtaken enjoyable👍
January 15, 2022
let down….
I took up this book with great enthusiasm. Sorry to note I felt let down. It seems to be a reference book for historians and not for general readership. It’s too detailed, meanders to and fro, …. The ultimate result for me was a feeling of being lost.
I took up this book with great enthusiasm. Sorry to note I felt let down. It seems to be a reference book for historians and not for general readership. It’s too detailed, meanders to and fro, …. The ultimate result for me was a feeling of being lost.
January 4, 2025
Like a reference book
November 3, 2025
Really interesting. Learnt a lot.
August 9, 2024
When the British came to India in the 17th century, knowledge of Indian history was at an abysmal level. Beyond the Islamic chronicles, there were no authoritative records. Puranas were all that the Hindus could show for history. These chronicles were not reliable as per modern standards. So authoritatively nothing was known about Indian history beyond the 10th century.
The British who came to India had inherited the tradition of Enlightenment. Their endless curiosity, scientific method of enquiry and crucially international networks enabled them to unravel Indian history.
To begin with from the Greek sources, the British knew that in BC 326, Alexander had visited India. They started searching for the fabulous kingdoms mentioned in the Megasthanes' (Greek Ambassador to India) Indica. This ultimately resulted in the discovery of the Maurya Empire and exploration of Pataliputra near modern Patna.
James Princep, a lowly British official, cracked the Brahmi script, the earliest known Indian script. Soon identical edicts were being found deciphered from the far corners of India. Cross verification of the contents of these edicts with Ceylonese Pali texts resulted in the rediscovery of Ashoka.
Soon the details of the life of Buddha along with the major places associated with his life were identified. All the principal Buddhist sites were first explored by the British orientalists. These include, Sarnath, Buddha Gaya, Amravati, Sanchi, Kapilavastu Ajanta and Ellora.
Apart from the rediscovery of Ashoka and Buddhism, the orientalists traced the roots of the Vedas to a proto-Indo European people. Then through the discovery of the Indus valley civilisation, India's history was pushed back by 2000 years.
It is ironic that Ashoka and Buddha, the great sources of pride for any Indian had all had but been forgotten till the middle of the 19th century until the British discovered India’s Buddhist heritage. The exploration of Saranath resulted in the discovery of Ashoka’s lion capital. now the emblem of modern Indian Republic.
The Orientalist re-discovery of India’s past reads like a whodunnit. No one tells this story better than Charles Allen. He has narrated it in several of his books. Whaterver be the faults of the British Empire, Indians owe the British a deep debt of gratitude for mapping our past.
The British who came to India had inherited the tradition of Enlightenment. Their endless curiosity, scientific method of enquiry and crucially international networks enabled them to unravel Indian history.
To begin with from the Greek sources, the British knew that in BC 326, Alexander had visited India. They started searching for the fabulous kingdoms mentioned in the Megasthanes' (Greek Ambassador to India) Indica. This ultimately resulted in the discovery of the Maurya Empire and exploration of Pataliputra near modern Patna.
James Princep, a lowly British official, cracked the Brahmi script, the earliest known Indian script. Soon identical edicts were being found deciphered from the far corners of India. Cross verification of the contents of these edicts with Ceylonese Pali texts resulted in the rediscovery of Ashoka.
Soon the details of the life of Buddha along with the major places associated with his life were identified. All the principal Buddhist sites were first explored by the British orientalists. These include, Sarnath, Buddha Gaya, Amravati, Sanchi, Kapilavastu Ajanta and Ellora.
Apart from the rediscovery of Ashoka and Buddhism, the orientalists traced the roots of the Vedas to a proto-Indo European people. Then through the discovery of the Indus valley civilisation, India's history was pushed back by 2000 years.
It is ironic that Ashoka and Buddha, the great sources of pride for any Indian had all had but been forgotten till the middle of the 19th century until the British discovered India’s Buddhist heritage. The exploration of Saranath resulted in the discovery of Ashoka’s lion capital. now the emblem of modern Indian Republic.
The Orientalist re-discovery of India’s past reads like a whodunnit. No one tells this story better than Charles Allen. He has narrated it in several of his books. Whaterver be the faults of the British Empire, Indians owe the British a deep debt of gratitude for mapping our past.
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