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Śramana, Vol 59, No. 4/October-December 2008
also that Abul Fazl finalized the books only after getting the contents approved personally by the Akbar, whose liberalism and curiosity about all the religions - not to exclude Buddhism - is well known, Abul Fazl's silence in regard to the Buddhists of Jodhpur is quite intriguing
In this way we are able to trace Buddhism in the Persian literature, the Dabistan-i-Mazahib and come to know about their presence in India in seventeenth century. Of course the information about Buddhism and the Tenets held by their followers, given in the
n literature, is brief and at times the author is caught on the wrong foot regarding some facts. At times we also observe that the author has presented an admixture of early Buddhism and later Buddhism.
One should bear in mind that the Persian literature under review is considered to be one of the most authentic sources of 17th century Mughal India. The book was written during a period when Buddhism was considered to have practically vanished from almost entire India. Additionally, the author must have faced the language barrier, for the materials on Buddhism were mainly available in Sanskrit and Pāli languages. However, more importantly, the bottom line is that the author has tried to make us believe that the followers of Buddhism were in India in 17th century, and he found Buddhism to be important - both historically and religiously - enough to be given appropriate attention as well. It bears testimony to the fact that the litterateur possessed a fairly wide spectrum of knowledge. Balancing everything, one may arguably say that the Dabistan-iMazahib is, indeed, a commendable work. References:
1. It is believed that as many as sixty-two sects, including
Buddhism, arose in the 6th century B.C. Many of these sects were based on regional customs and rituals practiced by different peoples living in northeast India. Of these sects,
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