Historian of Asia & Buddhism. Visiting Prof in Durango. Hon. Research Associate at @UBC. Teaching global history, India, colonialism. Always thinking mountains
Joined January 2013
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Pinned Tweet
3 Mar 2023
Self-promotion on Twitter has never been my strong suit but I'm excited to announce the publication of my book, Dust on the Throne: The Search for Buddhism in Modern India with @navayanabooks and @stanfordpress
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4 Sep 2025
Very late to the game on this one (seems to be my MO on X!) but I couldn't agree more that it would be a great episode for @EmpirePodUK: what say you, @DalrympleWill? My argument on Buddhism in India post-1500 remains the most contested part of my book but is also a good story
5 Jan 2025
While this article has problems (but not Sinclair's essay it references), none comes as surprise. Just read Douglas Ober's Dust on the Throne for thorough discussion of Buddhism's afterlives in post-1500s India, including Buddhaguptanatha. Need an episode with him on @EmpirePodUK
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4 Sep 2025
Love the new cover--thank you @navayanabooks for all your work in getting Dust on the Throne into a paperback edition.
17 May 2025
Learn all about the history of the contested ownership of the Mahabodhi Temple in this Cundill Prize shortlisted account of the history of Buddhist 'revival' in India.
Buy: navayana.org/products/dust-o…
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4 Sep 2025
For those interested in the background to T.V. Wylie, creator of the Wylie transliteration system and founder of the first Tibetan studies program in the US, check out my recent piece for the @Durangoherald durangoherald.com/articles/f…
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4 Sep 2025
Thank you @JigmeYesheLama for the review! Very happy to hear you found the book to be illuminating
28 Aug 2025
My review of @cascadechild’s wonderful book, ‘Dust on the Throne: The Search For Buddhism in Modern India’ has been published.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs…
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Douglas Ober retweeted
29 May 2025
🧵 Radio Free Asia was born after Tiananmen to report where dictators silence truth. In Burmese, Uyghur, Mandarin, and more — we’ve delivered uncensored news across Asia.
But on March 15, 2025, the U.S. government abruptly terminated our funding.
#RFA #journalism
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Douglas Ober retweeted
21 Feb 2025
'Hindu–Buddhist Bhai Bhai'? The Politics Behind the RSS-Buddhist Alliance at the Kumbh Mela
Douglas Ober✍️
thewire.in/religion/hindu-bu…
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3 Feb 2025
Very honored to be on this list! That is some stiff competition! Thank you @karwaanheritage!
Big congratulations to all the brilliant authors long-listed for the Karwaan Book Award 2024! Your works inspire and illuminate. The shortlist drops soon, and the winner will be revealed shortly after. Stay tuned as we celebrate the finest voices in literature!
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Douglas Ober retweeted
Big congratulations to all the brilliant authors long-listed for the Karwaan Book Award 2024! Your works inspire and illuminate. The shortlist drops soon, and the winner will be revealed shortly after. Stay tuned as we celebrate the finest voices in literature!
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Douglas Ober retweeted
23 Oct 2024
Dear Friends, Prof. Adeana McNicholl @AdeanaMcN and I are co-coordinating a NEW project:
The Buddhism and Caste Initiative
If you support this critical work, do sign up for our first speaker series ('24–'25) via QR code below and share poster widely!
#BuddhismAndCaste
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24 Jul 2024
Thank you @mauracunningham & @AASAsianStudies for your delightful questions and interview about my book, Dust on the Throne! Your support has been as enriching as it is enduring. I am grateful for the many years of intellectual nourishment provided by AAS #AsianStudies #AsiaNow
26 Jun 2024
New #AsiaNow post: editor @mauracunningham interviews historian Douglas Ober @cascadechild about his @stanfordpress book, DUST ON THE THRONE: THE SEARCH FOR BUDDHISM IN MODERN INDIA, which was shortlisted for the 2023 @CundillPrize.
asianstudies.org/dust-on-the…
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Douglas Ober retweeted
26 Jun 2024
New #AsiaNow post: editor @mauracunningham interviews historian Douglas Ober @cascadechild about his @stanfordpress book, DUST ON THE THRONE: THE SEARCH FOR BUDDHISM IN MODERN INDIA, which was shortlisted for the 2023 @CundillPrize.
asianstudies.org/dust-on-the…
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24 Jul 2024
when I read this review of Dust on the Throne, I felt a huge sense of relief to see someone reading the book in this manner. Kudos to Upayadhi Luraschi for her generous words and sharp insights, conveyed with a beauty that far exceeds my own literary talents.
28 Jun 2024
@cascadechild 's "Dust on the Throne" was reviewed in the Journal of Global Buddhism.
Read: globalbuddhism.org/article/v…
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Douglas Ober retweeted
28 Jun 2024
@cascadechild 's "Dust on the Throne" was reviewed in the Journal of Global Buddhism.
Read: globalbuddhism.org/article/v…
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24 Jul 2024
Thank you Chandrabhan Yadav and @TheIndiaForum for this kind review of Dust on the Throne. Glad to see it continue generating conversations across different domains. @navayanabooks @stanfordpress
20 Jul 2024
Reports of the death of Buddhism in precolonial India were greatly exaggerated. The many Buddhisms promoted by ideologies across the spectrum in modern times came to distinctively shape South Asia. Chandrabhan Yadav on @cascadechild's book @stanfordpress
buff.ly/3LCaqmx
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Douglas Ober retweeted
20 Jul 2024
Reports of the death of Buddhism in precolonial India were greatly exaggerated. The many Buddhisms promoted by ideologies across the spectrum in modern times came to distinctively shape South Asia. Chandrabhan Yadav on @cascadechild's book @stanfordpress
buff.ly/3LCaqmx
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17 Apr 2024
These are all great sources on the subject (although I’m obviously very bias regarding my own contributions). So much of the scholarship is scattered in bits and pieces but I’d also add DC Ahir, Eleanor Zelliot, G. Aloysius who have classic essays/books. A reading list is needed!
14 Apr 2024
I’m developing my reading list of must read books on Buddhism in modern India. Looking at Upinder Singh, Lal Man Joshi, Douglas Ober, Gitanjali Surendran, David Geary. Anyone know these scholars? Worthwhile? Recommendations? Or warnings?
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14 Mar 2024
Excited to be in my old home Seattle for @AASAsianStudies. If interested in India or Buddhism, please join tonight’s roundtable for my book where I’ll be joined by an intimidating panel of experts on all periods of South Asian history, politics, religion, and literature #AAS2024
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Douglas Ober retweeted
4 Mar 2024
@cascadechild Douglas Ober's Dust on the Throne is a must read for Indian Buddhists.
4 Mar 2024
"..One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.." - JRRT
The Maha Sabha’s..service to widows.. shudras and untouchables although, again, without changing their status—were supposed to reflect the unity and consensus of modern Hinduism. -Ober
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Douglas Ober retweeted
16 Feb 2024
Bhadrajee S. Hewage reviews Douglas Ober, Dust on the Throne: The Search for Buddhism in Modern India onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…
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Douglas Ober retweeted
16 Feb 2024
It's still the season of Losar, so I'm trying to translate a few more songs. This ditty is catchy, the lyrics are simple (like so many holiday songs in English), and the video is stunning youtube.com/watch?v=74G1OA1Z…
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