Transcending Boundaries

Transcending Boundaries: Premodern Cultural Transactions across Asia celebrates the scholarship of Osmund Bopearachchi, a pioneering scholar in the fields of art history and numismatics, whose work has impacted numerous other domains of history. Going beyond the traditional approach of cataloguing coins, Professor Bopearachchi has worked to link numismatics with sculptural and pictorial iconography. Across his decades-long career, he has transcended the boundaries of academic disciplines to carry out path-breaking research.

The chapters presented here consist of six themes related to Professor Bopearachchi's diverse interests: archaeology, material remains and archives form the first segment; the second relates to epigraphic and numismatic sources and interpretative histories; the third deals with texts and their contexts; the fourth deals with art and architecture; the fifth is on religious studies with a special focus on Buddhism; and the final section deals with varied aspects of cultural history and beyond. Through these broadly interconnected themes, the volume transcends boundaries to reflect different aspects of cultural history and the changing vignettes of society in the premodern era based on a study of empirical sources, art historical material and texts.