A Proposal for a Serindian Culture Area Based on Research in Sanskrit Buddhist Documents of Mes Aynak

Abstract

The present author has had a chance to read manuscripts newly found in Mes Aynak, a site near Kabul in Afghanistan. Their paleography is the same as that of manuscripts from Gilgit （so-called Gilgit-Bamiyan type I）, and I tried to study both sets of manuscripts to discover a Serindia culture area, which would make it easier to understand the way Buddhism spread from India to China through Central Asia. Having referred to some previous studies of Buddhism and culture, e.g., those of Karashima and von Hinüber, I find not only that the cultures of the two regions share the same type of Buddhistic contents, but also that the many people from various areas mixed together in various ways. This means that North India, East Afghanistan and Central Asia in China might be considered as forming one culture area. This result leads us to recognize a route of Buddhism, in which we can see diachronic and synchronic differences because of various languages and cultures.