The Alkhan
The Alkhan

Author: Hans T. Bakker

Publisher: Barkhuis

Published: 2020-03-12

Total Pages: 143

ISBN-13: 9493194000

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This book is the first fascicle in a series that is designed as a reader's Companion to a Sourcebook that presents all written sources with regard to Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia from the 4th to the 6th centuries of the Common Era. Both these books are the outcome of an international research project, funded by the European Research Council, which aimed at collecting and exploring the texts regarding the Eastern, non-European Huns in more than a dozen original languages. The first fascicle of the Companion Series focuses on the history of Hunnic People in South Asia, where they are known as Hūṇa in Sanskrit literature or Alkhan according to their own coinage. These Alkhan entered the Subcontinent in the 4th century. The fascicle reconstructs the history of the Alkhan kings, Khiṅgila Toramāṇa, and Mihirakula, and the impact of their invasion and control of large parts of Northern and Western India on Indian history and culture, in particular on the Gupta Empire. This history is shown to be interrelated with historic developments within the Sasanian Empire and historic events to the north of the Hindu Kush. This first fascicle of the Companion and the Sourcebook (D. Balogh, ed.) are published simultaneously by Barkhuis, Groningen. In the coming years other fascicles in this series will appear, exploring the collected sources with a focus on the history of Hunnic Peoples in Central Asia.

The World of the Skandapurāṇa
The World of the Skandapurāṇa

Author: Hans Bakker

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2015-06-29

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9004277145

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The World of the Skandapurāṇa explores the historical, religious and literary environment that gave rise to the composition and spread of this early Purana text devoted to Siva. It is argued that the text originated in circles of Pasupata ascetics and laymen, probably in Benares, in the second half of the 6th and first half of he 7th centuries. The book describes the political developments in Northern India after the fall of the Gupta Empire until the successor states which arose after the death of king Harsavardhana of Kanauj in the second half of the 7th century. The work consists of two parts. In the first part the historical environment in which this Purāṇa was composed is described. The second part explores six localities in Northern India that play a prominent role in the text. It is richly illustrated and contains a detailed bibliography and index.

Holy Ground: Where Art and Text Meet
Holy Ground: Where Art and Text Meet

Author: Hans T. Bakker

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-12-16

Total Pages: 720

ISBN-13: 9004412077

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The 31 selected and revised articles in the volume Holy Ground: Where Art and Text Meet, written by Hans Bakker between 1986 and 2016, vary from theoretical subjects to historical essays on the classical culture of India. They combine two mainstreams: the Sanskrit textual tradition, including epigraphy, and the material culture as expressed in works of religious art and iconography. The study of text and art in close combination in the actual field where they meet provides a great potential for understanding. The history of holy places is therefore one of the leitmotivs that binds these studies together. One article, "The Ramtek Inscriptions II", was co-authored by Harunaga Isaacson, two articles, on "Moksadharma 187 and 239–241" and "The Quest for the Pasupata Weapon," by Peter C. Bisschop.

Aristotle’s Epistemology
Aristotle’s Epistemology

Author: Hans T. Bakker

Publisher: Barkhuis

Published: 2021-03-03

Total Pages: 68

ISBN-13: 9493194256

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The Greek philosopher Aristotle continued the tradition of his predecessors, Socrates, the Sophists, and Plato, who for the first time had made man the centre of philosophical reflection. However, Aristotle did not limit his thought to man alone; man, situated at the top of the Great Chain of Being, is an integral part of the encompassing nature. In his Treatise on the Soul (De Anima) Aristotle’s argument concerning the soul’s knowledge-generating faculties, in particular the dialogue with his predecessors, resembles in many respects the philosophical debate on the pramāṇas, ‘the valid ways of cognition’, which informed the classical Indian schools of thought. In Aristotle’s De Anima we possess a unique, coherent treatise that deals exhaustively with ‘valid ways of cognition’, a treatise that kept its prominent position until the Scientific Revolution of the 16/17th century. This book focuses on the concept of the hylomorphic soul and the process by which it actuates cognition, that means it is concerned with Aristotle’s epistemology. From his conception of the soul or psychẽ as the entelexeia of the body arises the ‘noetic problem’. The idea of a human mind, nous, that takes part in a supra-individual, semi-divine world of knowledge (epistẽmẽ) is apparently at odds with the basic principles of Aristotle’s philosophy. When the Philosopher avows that the mind is ‘separable’ in its true realization, the question is how it can still be part of the human soul. It is argued that the so-called ‘susceptible mind’ (νοῦς παθητικός) and its actual operation are two aspects of one and the same nous: the potency of the human mind to accommodate forms or ideas distinguishes it fundamentally from the divine ‘thinking of thinking’, the eternal, immutable state of the celestial mind.

Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia
Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia

Author: Dániel Balogh

Publisher: Barkhuis

Published: 2020-03-12

Total Pages: 469

ISBN-13: 9493194019

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This volume is a comprehensive compilation of primary textual sources pertaining to the history of Hunnic peoples in the vast area encompassing Central and South Asia. Sources in nearly a dozen languages have been carefully selected by scholars with a specialisation in the particular language and relevant research experience. Each excerpt in the chrestomathy is presented in the original language, accompanied by an authoritative translation into a modern European language to make it accessible to specialists of other fields. Many texts are, moreover, accompanied by a commentary highlighting crucial points of interest, problematic issues and connections to the information revealed in other sources. The Sourcebook is the outcome of an interdisciplinary workshop held at Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary) in August 2017, organised by the project Beyond Boundaries and funded by the European Research Council. The initial compilation of source texts was selectively presented, analysed and discussed at this workshop, culminating in the present volume, whose publication has also been supported by the ERC. The authors and the editor present the book to the community of scholars and enthusiasts in hopes that, by making pertinent primary sources accessible, it will serve as a solid foundation on which to base future research. The included commentaries are thus not intended to be exhaustive, but to instigate further enquiry. For in-depth discussion of many issues raised here, a Companion series is planned to follow the Sourcebook. The first companion volume, a study of the Alkhan by Hans Bakker, is released simultaneously by Barkhuis, Groningen.

The Vision of Vedic Poets
The Vision of Vedic Poets

Author: J. Gonda

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-05-02

Total Pages: 377

ISBN-13: 3110908921

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This book is primarily intended to be an Investigation into the Meaning and Religious significance of the important Vedic term dhi, which has been variously and often inadequately translated.