Richard G. Salomon is the William P. and Ruth Gerberding University Professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington.
Salomon is a Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit-languages scholar, known for his studies on Indian epigraphy. He is also a specialist in early Indian Buddhism studies.
Education
Salomon received his Ph.D. in Sanskrit (with Distinction) from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975 and a B.A. in Oriental Studies (minor in Religion) from Columbia University in 1970.
Honors and awards
In 2016, the Puget Sound Association of Phi Beta Kappa honored him with its Humanities Achievement Award "in recognition of his study of the Gandharan manuscripts, which illuminate the oldest period of Buddhist culture for which documents exist, and the dissemination of its results."
Publications
Salomon's main publications are:
Books
Articles and chapters
"The Senior Manuscripts: Another Collection of Gandhāran Buddhist Scrolls." Journal of the American Oriental Society 123,1 (2003) 73–92. (with Mark Allon) "Kharoṣṭhī fragments of a Gāndhārī version of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra." In: Braarvig 2000*, p. 243–273. "A Fragment of a Collection of Buddhist Legends, with a Reference to King Huviṣka as a Follower of the Mahāyāna." In: Braarvig 2002*, p. 255–267. "A Jar with a Kharoṣṭhī Inscription." In: Braarvig 2002*, p. 351–355. (with Mark Allon et al.) "Radiocarbon Dating of Kharoṣṭhī Fragments from the Schoyen and Senior Manuscript Collections." In: Braarvig 2006*, p. 279–291. (with Gregory Schopen) "On an Alleged Reference to Amitābha in a Kharoṣṭhī Inscription on a Gandhārian Relief." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 25,1-2 (2002) 3–31. "Why did the Gandhāran Buddhists bury their manuscripts?" In: Buddhist Manuscript Cultures (Knowledge, ritual, and art), ed. S. C. Berkwitz, J. Schober, C. Brown, 2009, Routledge, p. 19–34. "Aśvaghoṣa's Saundarananda IV-VI: A Study in the Poetic Structure of Buddhist Kāvya." Indo-Iranian Journal 52,2-3 (2009) 179–196. (with Mark Allon) "New Evidence for Mahayana in Early Gandhāra." The Eastern Buddhist 41,1 (2010) 1–22. (with Mark Allon) "Kharoṣṭhī fragments of a Gāndhārī version of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra." In: Braarvig 2000*, p. 243–273. "An Unwieldy Canon: Observations on Some Distinctive Features of Canon Formation in Buddhism." In: Deeg/ Freiberger/ Kleine 2011*, p. 161–207. "Aṣṭabhujasvāmin: A Reinterpretation of the Ābhīra Inscription from Nagarjunakonda." Indo-Iranian Journal 56,3-4 (2013) 397–417. "Gāndhārī Manuscripts in the British Library, Schoyen and Other Collections." In: Harrison/ Hartmann 2014*, p. 1–17. (with Joseph Marino) "Observations on the Deorkothar Inscriptions and their Significance for the Evaluation of Buddhist Historical Traditions." Annual Report of The International Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University 17 (2013 [2014]) 27–39. "New Manuscript Sources for the Study of Gandhāran Buddhism." In: Gandharan Buddhism: Archaeology, Art, and Texts (2006) 135–147. "Aśvaghoṣa in Central Asia: Some Comments on the Recensional History of His Works in Light of Recent Manuscript Discoveries." In: Buddhism across boundaries—Chinese Buddhism and the Western Regions (1999) 219–263.
