Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhāra
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The Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhāra project has been designed by Stefan Baums (Munich) and Ingo Strauch (Lausanne) and developed together with Jens‐Uwe Hartmann (Munich) and Harry Falk (Berlin). It consists of three areas of research (‘Gāndhārī Literature,’ ‘Gāndhārī Language’ and ‘Database’) and two phases (2012–25: editing of source texts and building of the database, and 2026–2032: completion of the Dictionary of Gāndhārī and preparation of a Historical Grammar of Gāndhārī, Paleography of Kharoṣṭhī, and History of Gandhāran Literature and of Buddhism in Gandhāra).

In their text editions, the project’s contributors focus on the Abhidharma (scholastic) and Mahāyāna literature of Gandhāra, representing the formative phase of two intellectual and religious currents that became foundational for the further development of Buddhism in South Asia and beyond. The editorial division of labor is as follows:

Stefan Baums: two commentaries on early Buddhist verses (NirdL1 and NirdL3); a commentary on the Saṃgītisūtra (SaṅgCm, in collaboration with the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project); four verse compositions in praise of the Buddha (StoB1, StoB2, StoL and BC 17); a scholastic treatise (AbhidhL2, in collaboration with the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project); and fragments of commentaries (AbhidhB1, AbhidhB2, AbhidhB3, AbhidhB4, AbhidhB5, AbhidhL1 and CmL2).

Harry Falk: early Buddhist verse collections (Arthp and DhpSp); the Perfection of Wisdom Mahāyāna sūtra (ASP); a verse composition on the life of the Buddha (SC 2); and a collection of religious stories (AvSp).

Jens‐Uwe Hartmann: Sanskrit manuscripts from Gandhāra.

Gudrun Melzer: a Buddhist abecedary (BC 5); a business document (BC 15); a doctrinal text on meditation (BL 26+29, in collaboration with the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project); and Gāndhārī manuscript fragments (BL 8, BL 11, BL 19, BL 21.1, BL 22, BL 24 and BL 27).

Andrea Schlosser: a Mahāyāna sūtra about the prophecy of becoming a buddha with one’s own buddha land (MSūB, in collaboration with Ingo Strauch); fragments of Mahāyāna texts (BC 4, BC 6, BC 11 and BC 19); and a treatise on statecraft (Rn, in collaboration with Ingo Strauch).

The Dictionary of Gāndhārī is jointly edited by Stefan Baums (Munich) and Andrew Glass (Seattle). In its first phase, the Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhāra project contributes to the completion of the Dictionary of Gāndhārī database, and in its second phase to the final redaction of the Dictionary. In the first phase of the project, Stefan Baums prepares a concise Working Grammar of Gāndhārī on the basis of the Dictionary database; in the second phase, this Working Grammar is completed and elaborated into a Historical Grammar of Gāndhārī. Also in the second phase of the project, the members of the project prepare a complete Paleography of Kharoṣṭhī (in collaboration with Andrew Glass) and contribute to a comprehensive History of Gandhāran Literature and of Buddhism in Gandhāra.

Stephen White (Venice) develops a digital research environment for the edition of manuscripts (Research Environment for Ancient Document) used by the project.