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"From the beginning of modern indological research, the dates of the Buddha have been recognized as having crucial importance for early Indian history. A symposium on "the date of the historical Buddha and the importance of its determination for historiography and world history" was convened under the auspices of the academy of science in Gottingen, Germany. The present volume represents an updated survey of the state of research in this field which is based largely on the results achieved at this symposium and incorporates some more recent investigations. The present volume concentrates mainly on those aspects which are directly relevant for the reconstruction of the early history of Buddhist chronology as well as for the understanding of related developments in India, in Sri Lanka, and in the countries of southeast Asian Theravada tradition. The volume contains papers by Heinz Bechert, Siglinde Dietz, Jens-Uwe Hartmann, Gustav Roth, Heinz Braun, Hajime Nakamura, Herbert Hartel, Hermann Kulke, Georg von Simson, Adelheid Mette, Oskar von Hinuber, Wilhelm Halbfass, Andre Bareau Heinrich von Steitencron, Cornelia Mallebrein, Petra-Kieffer-Pulz, Gunter Gronbold, Claus Vogel, Herbert Franke, and Klaus Rohrborn. The volume contains an exhaustive bibliography." 

Contents: I. Introductory essay: 1. Introductory essay: the dates of the historical Buddha--a controversial issue/Heinz Bechert. II. History of research: 1. The dating of the historical Buddha in the history of western scholarship up to 1980/Siglinde Dietz. 2. Research on the date of the Buddha: South Asian studies published in western languages/Jens-Uwe Hartmann. 3. Notes about the dates of Gautama Buddha's Parinirvana in Hindi writings/Gustav Roth. 4. The Buddhist era in the Malalankaravatthu/Heinz Braun. 5. Japanese research on the date of the Buddha/Hajime Nakamura. III. Cultural setting: 1. Archaeological research on ancient Buddhist sites/Herbert Hartel. 2. Some considerations on the significance of Buddha's date for the history of North India/Hermann Kulke. 3. The historical background of the rise of Buddhism and the problem of dating/Georg Von Simson. 4. The synchronism of the Buddha and the Jina Mahavira and the problem of chronology in early Jainism/Adelheid Mette. 5. Linguistic considerations on the date of the Buddha/Oskar Von Hinuber. 6. Early Indian references to the Greeks and the first encounters between Buddhism and the west/Wilhelm Halbfass. 7. Some considerations concerning the problem posed by the date of the Buddha's Parinirvana/Andre Bareau. 5. The Puranic genealogies and the date of the Buddha/Heinrich Von Stietencron. IV. Evaluation of the Indian and Theravada traditions.: 1. The dates of the Buddha and the origin and spread of the Theravada chronology/Heinz Bechert. 2. Inscriptional sources for the dating of the historical Buddha in India: the Bodh-Gaya inscription, dated 1813 A.N./Cornelia Mallebrein. 3. The dating of the historical Buddha in the Buddhist revival movement/Petra Kieffer-Pulz. V. Central and East Asian traditions: 1. The date of the Buddha according to Tantric texts/Gunter Gronbold. 2. Bu-ston on the date of the Buddha's Nirvana, translated from his history of the doctrine (Chos-'byun)/Claus Vogel. 3. On Chinese traditions concerning the dates of the Buddha/Herbert Franke. 4. The birth and death years of the Buddha in the Central Asian tradition/Klaus Rohrborn. Bibliography/Heinz Bechert.