Richard Gombrich's *Theravāda Buddhism* provides a social history of this conservative branch of Buddhism, which originated with the Buddha's teachings in 5th-century BCE India on achieving salvation (*nibbāna*) from suffering through a "Middle Way" of morality, meditation, and wisdom. Central to this path was the redefinition of *kamma* as intention and the denial of an eternal soul (*anattā*), doctrines preserved and spread by a monastic Order (the Sangha) governed by a detailed disciplinary code (*vinaya*). With the patronage of Emperor Asoka, Theravāda was established in Sri Lanka around 250 BCE, where it became fused with Sinhalese national identity and developed a devotional culture of pilgrimage and relic worship, while the Sangha adapted to its role as a land-owning elite, undergoing cycles of decline and revival. The 19th century brought a major transformation with the rise of "Protestant Buddhism," a lay-led movement reacting to Christian missionaries and colonial rule, which reinterpreted Buddhism as a rational, scientific philosophy and promoted lay activism. In the contemporary era, this legacy has been shaped by civil war and globalization, fostering a more intense nationalism and new forms of lay religiosity, from ecstatic god-worship to the re-establishment of the nuns' order, presenting new challenges and adaptations for the ancient tradition.
