Buddhism in India

‘The history of India is a history of the mortal conflict between Brahmanism and Buddhism.’—B.R. Ambedkar

Building on this premise, Gail Omvedt presents a radical new history of India. She rekindles the residual fire of Buddhism and shows us how—as the flame of enlightenment—it was a singular challenge to Brahmanic Hinduism. This pioneering work accounts for 2,500 years of the development of Buddhism, Brahmanism and caste in India. Brahmanism emphasised magic and ritual, rules and hierarchy, whereas Buddhism emphasised rationality and ethics, principles and individuality. Drawing on original sources from the Buddhist canon and recent literature, Omvedt chronicles Buddhism’s place in the development of Indian civilisation, and its role in the modern, industrial age.

With a Foreword by historian Uma Chakravarti.

Gail Omvedt (1941–2021) was a pioneering sociologist and historian. Born in Minneapolis, she moved to India in the 1970s as a PhD scholar. In 1983, she gave up her American citizenship and became an Indian citizen. Among her many books are We Shall Smash this Prison: Indian Women in Struggle (1980), Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India (1993), Dalits and the Democratic Revolution (1994), Ambedkar: Towards an Enlightened India (2004), and Seeking Begumpura: The Social Vision of Anticaste Intellectuals (2008) published by Navayana.