History of Buddhism in India

[7] According to tradition, in the Deer Park in Sarnath near Vārāṇasī in northern India, Buddha set in motion the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he had previously sought liberation.

[15] The scholar Richard Cohen in his discussion about the 5th-century Ajanta Caves, states that Bauddha is not attested therein, and was used by outsiders to describe Buddhists, except for occasional use as an adjective.

The Dharmaguptakas made more efforts than any other sect to spread Buddhism outside India, to areas such as Afghanistan, Central Asia, and China, and they had great success in doing so.

During the early period of Chinese Buddhism, the Indian Buddhist sects recognized as important, and whose texts were studied, were the Dharmaguptakas, Mahīśāsakas, Kāśyapīyas Sarvāstivādins, and the Mahāsāṃghikas.

For example, the Vaibhāṣika Sarvāstivādins are known to have employed the outlook of Buddhist practice as consisting of the Three Vehicles:[21] In the sixth and fifth centuries BC, economic development made the merchant class increasingly important.

According to legend, emperor Ashoka was overwhelmed by guilt after the conquest of Kalinga, following which he accepted Buddhism as a personal faith with the help of his Brahmin mentors Radhasvami and Manjushri.

Ashoka established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Śakyamuni Buddha, and according to Buddhist tradition was closely involved in the preservation and transmission of Buddhism.

[26] In 2018, excavations in Lalitgiri in Odisha by the Archaeological Survey of India revealed four monasteries along with ancient seals and inscriptions which show cultural continuity from post-Mauryan period to 13 century AD.

[citation needed] The Kusana or Kushan Empire ruled large parts of north India from about 60 to 270 AD, as well as the strongly Buddhist region of Gandhara, including much of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The monarchs of the next major dynasty, the Gupta Empire, with its peak c. 319 to 467, were Hindus, and the decline of Buddhism, especially in the west of north India, probably began in this period.

Both of the kingdoms continued the patronisation of Buddhism along with nascent Hinduism and Jainism, with the fifth-century Vakataka king, Harishena, being a patron of the Ajanta caves.

[30] There is an ongoing debate as to the exact geographic origins of Mahayana Buddhism ranging from the Gangetic plains or among small monastic communities on the fringes of the subcontinent in the South and the North East.

In the Gangetic plains, Nalanda mahavihara emerged and gradually became a centre of Mahayana Buddhism receiving patronisation not just from Indian rulers but also from foreign monarchs and monks.

[33] Another important centre during this period was Nagarjunakonda which emerged in the region of modern-day Andhra Pradesh where numerous Buddhist monasteries have been discovered.

[40][41] According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahavihars stood out: Vikramashila, the premier university of the era; Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious, Somapura, Odantapurā, and Jaggadala.

Donations were most often made by private persons such as wealthy merchants and female relatives of the royal family, but there were periods when the state also gave its support and protection.

In parallel, the Gupta kings built Buddhist temples such as the one at Kushinagara,[53][54] and monastic universities such as those at Nalanda, as evidenced by records left by three Chinese visitors to India.

[48][65] Chinese scholars travelling through the region between the 5th and 8th centuries, such as Faxian, Xuanzang, I-ching, Hui-sheng, and Sung-Yun, began to speak of a decline of the Buddhist Sangha, especially in the wake of the Hun invasion from central Asia.

[65] Monasteries and institutions such as Nalanda were abandoned by Buddhist monks or destroyed from the 8th through 15th centuries, who were forced to flee to escape the invading Muslim army, after which the site decayed over the Islamic rule in India that followed.

[74][75] The last empire to support Buddhism, the Pala dynasty, fell in the 12th century, and Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji, a general of the early Delhi Sultanate, destroyed monasteries and monuments and spread Islam in Bengal.

This text outlines an episode in the life of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), a Vaishnava saint, who was said to have entered into a debate with Buddhists in Tamil Nadu.

[81] He mentions the Buddhist sangha as having survived in Konkana, Kalinga, Mewad, Chittor, Abu, Saurastra, Vindhya mountains, Ratnagiri, Karnataka etc.

[83] The mahavihara at Ratnagiri, Odisha seems to have continued with a reduced community, and some renovation of buildings, until the 16th century, perhaps funded by foreign pilgrims as it is near the coast accessible from South-East Asia.

In Bihar and Bengal, many Buddhist shrines and temples have remained intact with the Buddha or Bodhisattva inside, being appropriated and worshipped as a Brahmanical deity.

[85] Abul Fazl, the courtier of the Mughal emperor Akbar, states, "For a long time past scarce any trace of them (the Buddhists) has existed in Hindustan."

[86] Some scholars suggest that a part of the decline of Buddhist monasteries was because it was detached from everyday life in India and did not participate in the ritual social aspects such as the rites of passage (marriage, funeral, birth of child) like other religions.

Following Indian independence, India's ancient Buddhist heritage became an important element for nation-building, and prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru looked to the Mauryan empire for symbols of pan-Indian unity which were neither Hindu nor Muslim, such as the Dhammachakra.

[91] Important Indian Buddhist intellectuals of the modern period include Rahul Sankrityayan (1893-1963), Dharmanand Kosambi (1876-1941) and Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan.

Tibetan refugees also contributed to the revitalization of the Buddhist traditions in Himalayan regions such as Lahaul and Spiti district, Ladakh, Tawang and Bomdila.

The event made a sensation and was described by Nicolaus of Damascus, who met the embassy at Antioch and related by Strabo (XV,1,73)[125] and Dio Cassius (liv, 9).