The Dipavamsa: An Ancient Buddhist Historical Record

Hermann Oldenberg (1854-1920) is considered as one of the greatest Indologists of Germany. After studying classical and Indian philology in Gottingen and Berlin, he became University Professor at Kiel and Berlin. He visited India in 1912-13. His contributions to Vedic and Buddhistic studies are vast. He translated the Dipavamsa, Rgveda and Grhyasutras into German. Of his many books like Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde, Die Lehre der Upanischaden und die Anfange des Buddhismus, Die Literature des alten Indiens, among others, Die Religion des Veda (1894) is his most outstanding and oft-quoted work.