This inderdisciplinary inquiry seeks to uncover how Buddhism was expressed during the waning years of indigenous political power in Asia's oldest continuing Buddhist culture. It focuses on King Kirti Sri Rajasinha and how he successfully revised Sinhalese Theravada Buddhism.

In this interdisciplinary inquiry, John Clifford Holt seeks to uncover how Buddhism was understood and expressed in Sri Lanka, Asia's oldest continuing Buddhist culture, during the advent of European colonialism. Holt focuses on King Kirti Sri Rajasinha, who ruled in the waning years of indigenous Sri Lankan rule, and how he successfully revived Sinhalese Theravada Buddhism despite persistent Dutch colonial threats and a deeply suspicious Kandyan Buddhist Sinhalese aristocracy.

This wide-ranging and beautifully produced account is fascinating and enjoyable reading...this impassioned and original study, by a mature scholar trying to make holistic sense of a troubled society he knows and loves, will be of interest to scholars and students alike.