Editing Sarnath (section)

===18th century: rediscovery and looting===
Very few Buddhists remained in India after their [[Persecution of Buddhists#Persecutions by Muslim Empires|persecution and expulsion]] at the end of the 12th century by the Ghurids. Buddhists from Tibet, Burma, and Southeast Asia continued to make pilgrimages to South Asia from the 13th to the 17th centuries, but their most common destination was [[Bodh Gaya]] and not Sarnath.{{sfn|Asher|2020|pp=21-22}} Sarnath continued to be a place of pilgrimage for Jains, however. A 17th-century [[Jain literature|Jain manuscript]] written in 1612 CE (the ''[[Vividha Tirtha Kalpa|Tirthakalpa]]'', by Jinaprabha Suri) describes a Jain temple in Varanasi as being located close to "a famous Bodisattva sanctuary" at a place called ''dharmeksā''. This Sanskrit word translates to "pondering of the law", and clearly refers to the Dhamek Stupa.{{sfn|Oertel|1908|p=60}}

India experienced an increase in visitation by European people in the late 18th century. In 1778, [[William Hodges]] became possibly the first British [[Landscape painting|landscape painter]] to visit India.<ref name=Nevile2009>{{cite news|author=Pran Nevile|title=India's past on canvas|newspaper=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|publisher=Tribune Trust|location=Chandigarh|date=3 May 2009|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090503/spectrum/main1.htm|access-date=2 January 2023|archive-date=2 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102202450/https://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090503/spectrum/main1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> While there, he made careful observations of the art and architecture he encountered. He published an illustrated book about his travels in India in 1794. In his book, he described mosques and other Islamic architecture, Hindu temples, and [[Classical order|Greek-inspired columns]].{{sfn|Hodges|1794|pp=59-77}} Hodges also briefly described the [[Dhamek Stupa]], although he mistook it to be a ruined Hindu temple.<ref>{{harvnb|Hodges|1794|p=62}} Quote: "Surrounding the city are many ruins of buildings, the effects of Mahomedan intolerance. One is a large circular edifice, having evidently been a Hindoo temple, or part of one; there are still vestiges of some of the ornaments; and on one part I found the Grecian scroll".</ref>{{sfn|Ray|2014|pp=78-79}}

In what is the first incontrovertible modern reference to the ruins at Sarnath, [[Jonathan Duncan (Governor of Bombay)|Jonathan Duncan]] (a charter member of the [[The Asiatic Society|Asiatic Society]] and later [[List of governors of Bombay Presidency|Governor of Bombay]]) described the discovery of a green marble [[reliquary]] encased in a sandstone box in the relic chamber of a brick stupa at that location. The reliquary was discovered in January 1794, during the dismantling of a stupa (referred to by [[Alexander Cunningham]] as stupa "K" or the "Jagat Singh stupa",{{sfn|Oertel|1908|p=65}} later identified as the Dharmarajika Stupa)<ref name=ASI2014>{{cite web|author=Archaeological Survey of India|authorlink=Archaeological Survey of India|title=Dhamek Stupa|work=Our Monuments|publisher=[[Archaeological Survey of India]] - Sarnath Circle|location=Sarnath, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh|year=2014|url=https://www.asisarnathcircle.org/dhamek-stupa.php|accessdate=1 January 2023|archive-date=17 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217172501/https://www.asisarnathcircle.org/dhamek-stupa.php|url-status=live}}</ref> by employees of [[Zamindar]] Jagat Singh (the [[dewan]] of [[Maharaja Chait Singh]], the [[Narayan dynasty|Raja of Benares]]).{{sfn|Oertel|1908|pp=61-62}} Duncan published his observations in 1799.{{sfn|Duncan|1799|pp=131-133}}{{sfn|Cunningham|1871|pp=118-119}}{{sfn|Asher|2020|p=22}} 

The reliquary contained a few bones and some pearls, which were subsequently thrown into the [[Ganges|Ganges river]].{{sfn|Sahni|1917|pp=17–20}} The reliquary itself has also disappeared, although the outer sandstone box was replaced in the relic chamber, where it was rediscovered by Cunningham in 1835.{{sfn|Oertel|1908|pp=61-62}} The bricks of the stupa were hauled off and used for the construction of the market in [[Jagatganj]], Varanasi.{{sfn|Sherring|1868|p=26}} Jagat Singh and his crew also removed a large part of the facing of the Dhamek Stupa, and removed several Buddha statues which he retained at his house in Jagatganj.{{sfn|Oertel|1908|pp=62-64}}