Role of the Archaeologists in the Revival of Indian Buddhism During 18th to 19th Century

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to study and analyze the basic role of the archaeologists in the revival of Buddhism after its declination. At present, Buddhism is the fourth religion prevailing in the whole world. Buddhism emerged from India and became extinct from India, while far-off countries have preserved it as a state religion. It is important to study the reasons behind this. Was Buddhism revived in truth or was Buddhism prevalent but in limited area and quantity? Archaeologists awakening interest in Buddhism and bypassing their main work and contributing to the revival of Buddhism are also indicators that whatever may have been the cause of the decline of Buddhism but there is a significant contribution of archaeologists behind the re-spread. It was not that foreigners did not have to work hard to rehabilitate Buddhism, because Hinduism or Vedic religion had regained its roots and people had almost forgotten Buddhism. The ethical teachings of Buddhism, Pancasila who was instrumental in building a strong society were not seen as long as many years. Foreign archaeologists were not so familiar with Indian values, due to this, the historical monuments had to face a lot of loss in the beginning, but after understanding their importance over time, their conservation work was done well. The 18^th  and 19^th Centuries were a time of subordination of India. In this situation, the credit of the work of the Indian archaeologists was also passed on to foreigners. Nevertheless, many such Indian archaeologists have contributed to the revival of Buddhism, some of the prominent names were Rajendra Lal Mitra, Bhagavan Lal Indraji etc.