ERC DHARMA

This project aims at shining light on the socio-cultural, religious and political context in premodern South and Southeastern Asia. We examine three types of sources : inscriptions, manuscripts, archaeological remains. Inscriptions are crucial because most of our historical knowledge of early South and Southeast Asia is based on epigraphy. We explore, mine and diffuse these sources with the tools of digital humanities (rich mark-up of proper-names, technical terms, geodata, etc.). Our goal is to identify and to map regional and interregional patterns of patronage. The actors are varied: “lettrés”, holy men and priestly intermediaries, as well as their patrons, often grandees of the state; but also cenobitic communities with their statutes, their libraries, their educational activities, and their incipient bureaucracy. Through a comparative approach (concentrating on “Hinduism”, but also considering the so-called “heretic” religions Buddhism and Jainism), and in a broad range of regional contexts, we aim to uncover with unprecedented historical depth the complex interplay of religion, state and society in a formative period, the “Śaiva Age”, between the 6th and 13th centuries. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement n° 809994).