Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
To order
the complete book, please visit
“Bookstore” of website:
http://www.unibook.com
Or Click on:
http://www.unibook.com/unibook/site/bookdeta
il/?bookid=8375
of Hong Kong (MBuddStud, 2009). He had also completed two other Master
Degrees, one from Sikkim Manipal University (MBAIT, 2007) while the other from
who has also a keen passion for conducting research on religion and science.
Email: ankurbarua26@yahoo.com
I wish to express my sincere gratitude and indebtedness to Ven. Dr. Jing Yin,
the University of Hong Kong for his kind support, inspiration, encouragement and
Kumar Barua, who was the earlier Dean of the Faculty Council for Postgraduate
I would also like to convey my sincere thanks to my beloved mother Mrs. Dipa
Barua for showing keen interest and providing constant assistance and support
Ankur Barua
Initiated in India by the Sakyamuni Buddha, Buddhism has now become a world religion
and at present, the Buddhist population is the third largest religious community in the
world. Buddhism lasted over a thousand years in India, the land of its origin. But the
supreme irony of the history of Indian Buddhism still remains with the unexplained
question regarding what led to the disappearance of Buddhism from India. Many
scholars of Indian history and religion are devoted to unraveling this puzzle. Due to the
lack of historical and archeological evidence, the debate continues for centuries and
Since, the teachings of the Buddha is appreciated by people of every religion all across
the world, everyone in India now wants a share of its merit. As a result, none of the
concerned royal families or the religious communities in India is ready to own the
However, this research explores the probable reasons for the gradual decline and
subsequent disappearance of Buddhism from India. An attempt is also made at the end
Abstract
Many scholars of Indian history and religion are devoted to unraveling the mystery of
what led to disappearance of Buddhism from India. Due to the lack of historical and
archeological evidence, there is no absolute consensus on this matter till date. However,
if we analyze all the contributing factors and arrange them in a chronological order, we
would realize that the whole sequence of events was initiated by the Buddhist monks
and clergy when they had ignored the teachings of the Buddha and concentrated on
community visits and concentrated on their own salvation instead of helping the
common people and oppressed classes to end their sufferings. As the lay devotes were
ignored, Buddhism started losing the general support from the community.
Subsequently, the Brahmins took advantage of this situation and deepened the rift
between the common people and the Buddhist practitioners. They also manipulated the
contemporary rulers to withdraw their support from Buddhism and help in reviving the
existing Brahmanism. This was followed by the revival of Hinduism and further decline
of Buddhism. Towards the end stage of this decline, there was the Muslim invasion of
India. During this time, majority of the surviving Buddhists in India, who earlier belonged
to the lower class Hindus, was either forcefully or willingly got converted into Islam.
Introduction
Buddhism lasted over a thousand years in India. But it is still unknown as to what led to
the disappearance of Buddhism from India, the land of its origin. Many scholars of
Indian history and religion are devoted to unraveling this enigma. Due to the lack of
historical and archeological evidence, the debate continues for centuries and there is no
absolute consensus on this matter till date.1 Two factors were generally cited as the
main reasons for the ultimate disappearance of Buddhism from India. The first one was
the Vedic revival, which drove the religion out the country and this was followed by the
invading hordes of the Prophet Mohammed, who razed the temples and slaughtered
the remaining unresisting monks. Though majority of the scholars generally accept
these two important factors, still they do not believe that these were the truly crucial
reasons for the disappearance of Buddhism from India. Muslim invasions primarily
wrecked only Northern India. But Buddhism was a significant religious force in Southern
India too. Mahayana Buddhism mainly developed in the Southern regions. So whatever
happened to Buddhism in the northern regions, it still could not explain how the religion
However, the irony of Buddhism in India is represented by the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya
in Bihar, India. The present condition of the Bodhi tree also aptly symbolizes the present
the tree is now thriving on its prop roots. Similarly, though Buddhism had been wiped
off from its place of origin in India, but it is still flourishing in other countries across the
world.
Conflicts of opinions prevail while identifying the probable factors leading to the
disappearance of Buddhism from India during the 12th century A.D. A few scholars
however, cherish the opinion that Buddhism never disappeared as such from India and
subsequently got incorporated into the Hinduism. They believe that modern Hinduism
in India is a new form of ancient Buddhism.2,3 Due to the striking similarities in the
teachings of Buddhism and modern Hinduism, there is another group of scholars who
uphold the theory that Buddhism is a restatement of Hinduism. 1,2,4 But this notion is
Buddhism from India. If someone has to relate any ancient religion in India with
Buddhism, it should be the existing Brahmanism which paved way to the introduction of
Buddhism in India by Sakyamuni Buddha during the 6th century B.C., who was a
Brahmanism. Buddhism came into existence in order to wipe off the existing four-tier
caste system in India laid down by the Aryans. As the status of women was remarkably
subdued and deplorable during the period of Brahmanism, Buddhism came to the
society. Sakyamuni Buddha was the first historical personality who rose against all odds
to abolish discrimination and violence against women in the existing Indian society. 1,2,5
Though Buddhism had been the dominant religion in much of the Gangetic plains in the
early part of the Christian era, but the Chinese traveler, Ven. Hsuan Tsang, during his
visit to India in the early years of the 7th century, had witnessed a recession. The
testimony of Ven. Hsuan Tsang, had demonstrated the gradual decline of Buddhism in
was not surprising considering the importance of Prayag as a pilgrimage site for
Brahmins.1,2,3
Shravasti was the capital city of the Lichhavis, a north Indian clan that came to power
around 200 AD and established their capital in Pasupatinath. In a long and glorious
period of reign extending through the early part of the ninth century, they had endowed
a large number of both Hindu and Buddhist monuments and monasteries. However,
during his visit, Ven. Hsuan Tsang witnessed a much greater number of Saivites and Jains
Mahaparinibbana, was in a dilapidated state and Ven. Hsuan Tsang found only a few
Buddhists. Though in Varanasi, Ven. Hsuan Tsang found around 3000 Bhikkus or
Buddhist monks, but they were outshadowed by more than 10,000 non-Buddhists.
Hence, we can conclude that Ven. Hsuan Tsang had arrived in India at a time when
Buddhism was entering into a state of precipitous decline. But even as Buddhism went
into decline, it is remarkable that Nalanda, the great seat of Buddhist learning,
continued to flourish by retaining its importance until the Muslim invasions of the
second millennium. It was from Nalanda that Ven. Padmasambhava had carried
Hence, it is evident that the story of Buddhism in India cannot be unequivocally written
in a single register of decline as the entire process of decline was gradual and spread
Buddhism had altogether disappeared from India as a formal religion during the 13th
century A.D.6 In order to explore the contributing factors for the decline and
sequential and chronological order. These factors could be arranged under the following
major headings: (a) Sectarian and Internal Conflicts – Relating to the schisms within the
and the growing corruption within the sangha. (b) Buddhists were persecuted by
Secular and political histories - Withdrawal of royal patronage from Buddhism was
followed by the Muslim invasions which had the effect of driving into extinction the
It is important to understand that Buddhism was never wiped off from India on a single
day and in any single event. Like the causal web of a disease, it was a multi-factorial
causation. The process of decline and subsequent disappearance was gradual and lasted
for many centuries. So, before we get into the details of any historical analysis, we
should first arrange the factors in a chronological order and observe the
had actually followed the Buddha’s universal Doctrine of Dependent Origination. Here,
one factor had led to the other and caused this ultimate outcome. So, instead of wasting
our valuable time on debating over which factor was more responsible than the rest and
caused more damage to the practice of Buddhism in India, we should now concentrate
kindness and compassion as well as it can adopt to meet different traditional, moral and
cultural needs of the community, it can play a lead role in promoting peace and
The End