The Buddha's Tooth: Western Tales of a Sri Lankan Relic (Buddhism and Modernity)

**John S. Strong unravels the storm of influences shaping the received narratives of two iconic sacred objects.** Bodily relics such as hairs, teeth, fingernails, pieces of bone—supposedly from the Buddha himself—have long served as objects of veneration for many Buddhists. Unsurprisingly, when Western colonial powers subjugated populations in South Asia, they used, manipulated, redefined, and even destroyed these objects in an effort to exert control. In __The Buddha's Tooth__, John S. Strong examines Western stories, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, surrounding two significant Sri Lankan sacred objects, in order to illuminate and concretize colonial attitude towards Asian religions. First, he analyzes a tale about the Portuguese capture of a tooth identified as a relic of the Buddha in the mid-sixteenth century and its subsequent public destruction in Goa. Second, he switches gears to look at the nineteenth century saga of British dealings with another tooth relic of the Buddha—the famous Daḷadā enshrined in a temple in Kandy—from 1815 when it was taken over by English forces to 1954 when it was visited by Queen Elizabeth II. As Strong reveals, the stories of both the Portuguese Tooth and the Kandyan Tooth reflect nascent and developing Western understandings of Buddhism, realizations of the cosmopolitan nature of the tooth, and tensions between secular and religious interests. "Hair, teeth, fingernails, pieces of bone-bodily fragments supposedly from the Buddha himself have a complicated history. These relics have long served as objects of veneration for many Buddhists, and unsurprisingly, when Western colonial powers subjugated populations in South Asia, they used, manipulated, and even destroyed these relics to exert control. In this account of colonial Portuguese and British dealings with one of the most famous relics of the Buddha-the tooth relic-John S. Strong treats us to a masterful analysis of this relic's contested origins, its manipulation by colonial powers, and its multiple functions across several colonial contexts. Strong revisits two well-known stories about the West's encounter with Buddhism in South Asia. The first story concerns a tooth identified by the Portuguese as being a relic of the Buddha in the mid-sixteenth century. This tooth was taken by the Portuguese from Sri Lanka back to Goa where it was publicly crushed, burned, and thrown into a river as a display of colonial power. The second story concerns another tooth, also identified as a relic of the Buddha and first enshrined at the end of the sixteenth century. After the British conquered Kandy in the second decade of the nineteenth century, they realized the value of this tooth for furthering their colonial ambitions, and what followed was a long and complicated history of British interactions with the tooth up through Sri Lankan independence in 1948 and beyond. Through a meticulous study of these two encounters, Strong reveals the importance of multicultural cosmopolitan objects for understanding the history of Buddhism in South Asia"-- Provided by publisher John S. Strong unravels the storm of influences shaping the received narratives of two iconic sacred objects. Bodily relics such as hairs, teeth, fingernails, pieces of bone—supposedly from the Buddha himself—have long served as objects of veneration for many Buddhists. Unsurprisingly, when Western colonial powers subjugated populations in South Asia, they used, manipulated, redefined, and even destroyed these objects to exert control. In The Buddha’s Tooth , John S. Strong examines Western stories, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, surrounding two significant Sri Lankan sacred objects to illuminate and concretize colonial attitudes toward Asian religions. First, he analyzes a tale about the Portuguese capture and public destruction, in the mid-sixteenth century, of a tooth later identified as a relic of the Buddha. Second, he switches gears to look at the nineteenth-century saga of British dealings with another tooth relic of the Buddha—the famous Daḷadā enshrined in a temple in Kandy—from 1815, when it was taken over by English forces, to 1954, when it was visited by Queen Elizabeth II. As Strong reveals, the stories of both the Portuguese tooth and the Kandyan tooth reflect nascent and developing Western understandings of Buddhism, realizations of the cosmopolitan nature of the tooth, and tensions between secular and religious interests. Contents 8 Preface and Acknowledgments 10 Note on Usage 14 Introduction 16 Part I: The Portuguese and the Tooth Relic 32 One. The Tale of the Portuguese Tooth and Its Sources 34 Two. Where the Tooth Was Found: Traditions about the Location of the Relic in Sri Lanka 58 Three. Whose Tooth Was It? Traditions about the Identity of the Relic 88 Four. The Trial of the Tooth 124 Five. The Destruction of the Tooth 140 Conspectus of Part One: The Storical Evolution of the Tales of the Portuguese Tooth 160 Part II: The British and the Tooth Relic 166 Six. The Cosmopolitan Tooth: The Relic in Kandy before the British Became Aware of It 168 Seven. The British Takeover of 1815 and the Kandyan Convention 192 Eight. The Relic Returns: The Tooth and Its Properties Restored to the Temple 218 Nine. The Relic Lost and Recaptured: The Tooth and the Rebellion of 1817–1818 238 Ten. The Relic Disestablished: Missionary Oppositions to the Tooth 260 Eleven. Showings of the Tooth: The Story of the King of Siam’s Visit (1897) 282 Twelve. Showings of the Tooth: The Story of Queen Elizabeth’s Shoes (1954) 300 Summary and Conclusion 322 References 332 Index 354 Part One: The Portuguese and the Tooth Relic -- Chapter One: The Tale of the Portuguese Tooth and Its Sources -- Chapter Two: Where the Tooth Was Found: Traditions about the Location of the Relic in Sri -- Lanka -- Chapter Three: Whose Tooth Was It? Traditions about the Identity of the Relic -- Chapter Four: The Trial of the Tooth -- Chapter Five: The Destruction of the Tooth -- Conspectus of Part One: The Storical Evolution of the Tales of the Portuguese Tooth -- Part Two: The British and the Tooth Relic -- Chapter Six: The Cosmopolitan Tooth: The Relic in Kandy before the British Became Aware of -- It -- Chapter Seven: The British Takeover of 1815 and the Kandyan Convention -- Chapter Eight: The Relic Returns: The Tooth and Its Properties Restored to the Temple -- Chapter Nine: The Relic Lost and Recaptured: The Tooth and the Rebellion of 1817- -- Chapter Ten: The Relic Disestablished: Missionary Oppositions to the Tooth -- Chapter Eleven: Showings of the Tooth: The Story of the King of Siam's Visit (1897) -- Chapter Twelve: Showings of the Tooth: The Story of Queen Elizabeth's Shoes (1954)