The Gandhāran Buddhist Texts series presents text editions and studies of early Buddhist birch-bark scrolls in the Gāndhārī language, dating from about the first century BCE to the third century CE. These manuscripts, discovered in the ancient region of Gandhāra (modern Pakistan and Afghanistan), provide unprecedented insight into the early history of Buddhism as it was transmitted from India to Central Asia and China on its way to becoming a world religion. At the same time, as the earliest preserved manuscripts from South Asia, they are invaluable primary sources for the linguistic and literary history of the region.
Series editors: Stefan Baums, Ingo Strauch, and Richard G. Salomon
Funding for this book was provided by the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities under the auspices of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Herausgegeben im Auftrag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften).