History of Central Asia

The remainder of the Umayyad period over the ensuing years of the first half of the eighth century saw a bewildering frequent change of alliances as even more powers entered the fray for control of West Turkistan and the Silk Route. Through a review of the main events, it will...

The Establishment of the Jurchen Empire The Jurchen were a Tungusic Manchu people whose homeland was in northern Manchuria and the adjacent region of southeastern Siberia across the Amur River. They were for­est dwellers whom the Khitans conscripted for their ritual hunts....

The Initial Military Drive across Northern India In 1148, Ala-ud-Din of the nomadic Guzz Turks from the mountains of Afghanistan conquered the region of Ghur in eastern Iran, which gave its name to his Ghurid Empire (1148 – 1215). He proceeded to take Bactria from the...

This bibliography, compiled in 1996, contains materials for supplementing "The Historical Interaction between the Buddhist and Islamic Cultures before the Mongol Empire" from the previous Berzin Archives website with further parts on the Mongol and Post-Mongol Periods.]...

The Kalachakra depiction of the non-Indic prophets and its prophecies of a future war with their followers must be understood in its historical and cultural context.

People know of the Muslim concept of jihad or holy war or the Crusades of Christianity, but do not usually view Buddhism as having anything similar. A careful examination of the Buddhist texts, however, particularly “The Kalachakra Tantra” literature, reveals both external and...

For those who have the opportunity to receive the Kalachakra Initiation, it is important to take advantage of the opportunity to gain as much as possible from the experience by having knowledge of the Kalachakra practice and the background of the empowerment.

Buddhism flourished along the Silk Route in East Turkistan (present-day Xinjiang in the People’s Republic of China) from the 1st century BCE until the 14th century CE and is present even today among the Kalmyk Mongols in the north of the province.

External Kalachakra presents the external cycles the universe goes through and includes the teachings on world systems, astronomy, astrology, the motion of the planets, the calendar and history.

During the first millennium CE, Muslims were interested to learn of the beliefs of the peoples they had conquered and now ruled, including Buddhism, while Buddhists were interested in other beliefs only when they were vying with them in debate for royal patronage and that...