This thesis presents an historical account of a dispute, which spanned the period 1874-1949, over the status of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, in Bihar, Northern India. The temple is conventionally thought by Buddhists to mark the place where Gautama Buddha first achieved enlightenment, and by Hindus to be a monument to Buddha Dev, a form of the god Vishnu. Therein lay the conflict: was the temple legitimately the property of Buddhists or of Hindus? Complicating this basic difficulty was the fact that the British Government of India, which held the place in archaeological esteem, was anxious about the possibility of religious discord at the site. The thesis details the course of the administrative, legal and legislative activities which addressed the dispute, and is organized around an investigation of the "ecumenical" language and symbolism which developed as a result of negotiations between the concerned parties.
