One particular advantage Buddhist scriptures have is their global reach. From Afghanistan to Japan, Buddhism quickly spread over most of the known world then. People in all those regions were very curious and traveled to India to understand the religion, leaving behind precious clues. Chinese and Sri Lankan scholars were especially helpful in understanding India's culture then.
By having a global reach, Buddhism helps triangulate time periods even better. If Mahavamsam refers to one king preceding the other by 60 years and you know the time period of the latter king, you can guess the other one. However, Hinduism was not a global religion in that time period. Hinduism probably became dominant in SE Asia only after the dramatic global climactic events of 6th century AD (that also gave the rise of Islam).
Buddhists were also grand builders. Kanishka, Emperor Ashoka and the builders of Bamiyan buddha statues all left physical stuff for Archaelogists to date. The paintings of Ajantha gives more clues of the ancient Buddhist culture. This backs up their religious texts well (Ashoka put it all over his pillars everywhere he went). Until the arrival of Guptas in the north and latter Cholas in the south, Hindu structures were relatively small and we have none of the structures of the ancient Hindu kings of Bharata, Rama and other ancient kings of our epics. That means Hindu Puranas neither have archaeological backing nor have the global scholarship that Buddhism had. Hopefully, we find more evidence of ancient Hindu structures that connects with the epics.
By having a global reach, Buddhism helps triangulate time periods even better. If Mahavamsam refers to one king preceding the other by 60 years and you know the time period of the latter king, you can guess the other one. However, Hinduism was not a global religion in that time period. Hinduism probably became dominant in SE Asia only after the dramatic global climactic events of 6th century AD (that also gave the rise of Islam).
Buddhists were also grand builders. Kanishka, Emperor Ashoka and the builders of Bamiyan buddha statues all left physical stuff for Archaelogists to date. The paintings of Ajantha gives more clues of the ancient Buddhist culture. This backs up their religious texts well (Ashoka put it all over his pillars everywhere he went). Until the arrival of Guptas in the north and latter Cholas in the south, Hindu structures were relatively small and we have none of the structures of the ancient Hindu kings of Bharata, Rama and other ancient kings of our epics. That means Hindu Puranas neither have archaeological backing nor have the global scholarship that Buddhism had. Hopefully, we find more evidence of ancient Hindu structures that connects with the epics.
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