The Problem of the Number and Historiography of Buddha Relics: A Comparative Study of the Impacts of Religious, Political, and Sectarian History from King Ashoka to King Kanishka.

ABSTRACT The sacred relics of the Buddha serve as profound symbols of faith in Theravada Buddhism and significant artifacts in the historical record. However, a persistent discrepancy exists between the traditional narratives found in Theravada scriptures—which strictly limit the number of specific relics, such as the four sacred tooth relics—and modern archaeological findings. This gap suggests that the recorded number of relics should be viewed not merely as an isolated historical fact, but as a historiographical construction influenced by religious authority and political power. This research aims to analyze the role of sectarian historiography in shaping relic narratives, examine the impacts of political patronage from the reign of King Ashoka to King Kanishka I, and perform a comparative analysis between traditional literature and empirical archaeological evidence. Employing a Qualitative Documentary Research design, this study critically synthesizes data from primary Pali texts, such as the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta and Dāṭhāvaṃsa, alongside archaeological reports from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), colonial-era archives from the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum, and scientific data from the Hswagata Buddha Tooth Relics Preservation Museum. The findings reveal that the strict limitation to "four tooth relics" in Theravada texts was a historiographical image constructed to centralize religious authority within the Mahavihara tradition of Sri Lanka. In contrast, historical reality shows a massive redistribution and expansion of relics driven by Emperor Ashoka’s state-building strategies and the later expansion of Mahayana ideals under King Kanishka. Epigraphical evidence, accounts from Chinese pilgrims like Faxian and Xuanzang, and modern museum records corroborate a much wider distribution of authentic relics than the traditional narrative suggests. In conclusion, the problem of the number of Buddha relics is a result of the dynamic intersection between sectarian interests and imperial politics. This study does not seek to diminish traditional faith but provides a rigorous, evidence-based academic framework to bridge the gap between doctrinal belief and archaeological reality, contributing a new objective perspective to the field of Buddhist historical studies in Myanmar. Keywords: Buddha Relics, Historiography, Archaeological Evidence, Political Patronage, Sectarian History, Tooth Relics.