Buddhist homeland(s), memory and the politics of belonging in South Asia

ABSTRACT In recent centuries, the concept of an ‘original’ Buddhist homeland located in India and Nepal has come to mark the aspirations, identities, histories, and memories of diverse Buddhist communities and nation-states. In this Introduction to the Special Issue, we examine some of the ways Buddhist homeland narratives are used to (re)build ties to physical and imagined landscapes of belonging and how these discourses intersect with certain claims to identity, citizenship, and belonging in modern South Asia. Two themes are particularly evident in our analysis: the memory of place and geography, and the ongoing importance of religion in the sphere of politics.