In the two centuries that followed the death of Tamerlane, Eurasia remained divided between the three civilized worlds we have explored so far, and a number of others, Buddhist and Hindu, that we have passed over in silence. There was little to show that their cultural differences were narrowing. If anything, the energetic state-building that was t

The Theravada system of practice prevails in South and Southeast Asia in the countries of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. This book deals with Theravada practice.

Excavations of Swedish jewellers’ workshops have revealed caches of garnets, imported as raw material from India and Sri Lanka. Elephant ivory perhaps travelled along a similar path, either through the Persian Gulf and then overland on the caravan routes or via the Red Sea to the Mediterranean ports. Roman jewellery and glass, as well as Byzantine