Please note that most of below dates are approximations only and inclusion of
major developments has been very arbitrary by webmaster.
Pre-historic: Original Indus Valley
Civilization: meditation, asceticism. 1800 - 1500 BCE.: Invasion of
Aryans in India: introduction of Vedas, Brahma, priesthood, caste system, ritual
offering. 1500 BCE onwards: development of (pre-) Hindu schools like
Mimamsa, Samkhya, Vedanta. 590-470 BCE: Mahavir - Founder of Jainism,
contemporary of the Buddha. 624-560 BCE: Birth of Siddhartha
Gautama 589-525 BCE: Enlightenment of the
Buddha 544-480 BCE: Passing away of Gautama
Buddha. 543 -479 BCE: 1st Buddhist Council 443-379 BCE:
2nd Buddhist Council; split of the "Mahasanghika" and "Sarvastivadin"
schools. 297 BCE: King Asoka (274-236 BCE) converted to Buddhism;
Buddhism developed from small local group to state religion. 247 BCE
: 3rd Buddhist Council to agree on authentic Buddhist scriptures: establishment
of the Theravada canon; more and separate schools within Buddhism develop. Asoka
sends missionaries to Sri Lanka, Kanara, Karnataka, Kashmir, Himalaya region,
Burma, Afghanistan and even Egypt, Macedon and Cyrene. 236 BCE India:
After death of Asoka, period of persecution of Buddhism under Pusyamitra Sunga
35 BCE Sri Lanka: King Vattagamani orders the Buddhist teachings
(Theravada canon) to be committed to writing. Division between Mahavira and
Abhayagiri vihara in Sri Lanka.
65 CE China: First historic proof of Buddhist community.
1st Cent CE Thailand and Burma: monks from Sri Lanka establish
Theravada. 2nd Century India: 4th Buddhist Council in India under
royal patron Kaniska. 499 India: Monks of the Sarvastivadin school
decided on new canon. 2nd Century India: Appearance of Mahayana
Buddhism as separate school. 2nd Century China: translators like An
Shih-kao began translating Indian Buddhist texts using mostly Taoist
terminology, initially causing many Chinese to believe that Buddhism was another
version of Taoism. 2nd Century Vietnam: First introduction from
China, followed by more missions, both Mahayana and non-Mahayana in 3rd century.
2nd-3rd Century India: Master Nagarjuna; known for his profound
teachings on emptiness. 320 to 1000 India: Development of Vajrayana
Buddhism, based on Mahayana. 4th Century India: Master Vasubandhu;
known for his teachings on mind-only (Cittamatrin) and worship of Amitabha,
desire for rebirth in the Pure Land, leading to the development of the later
Pure Land schools. 4th Century Sri lanka: King Mahasena introduces
Mahayana monks. 320 China: Invasion of Huns in China, after which
many Buddhist monasteries were established until 6th Century. 334-416
China: Master Hui: Founder of the White Lotus Movement and of Pure Land
Buddhism in China. 372 Korea: First arrival of Buddhism on the
peninsula from China. 4th Century Nepal: from this time onwards,
coexistence of Buddhism and Hinduism, followed Indian traditions. 5th
century China: Founding of Ching-t'u school of Pure Land Buddhism by T'an
Luan (476-542) 5th Century Indonesia: Mahayana was introduced, mainly
by Indian immigrants. 480 China: Indian Master Bodhidharma travels as
a Buddhist missionary to China, as follower of the Lanka School he is considered
the forefather of Ch'an and Zen. 5th Century Cambodia: mixture of
Hindu Shivaism and Mahayana, lasting until the 11th century. Non-Mahayana
schools were also present, but less prominent. 552 Japan: Buddhism
enters from China (possibly via Korea?). 550-664 Korea: Buddhism is
state religion. 6th Century China: Founding of T'ien T'ai by Chih-I
(538-597), also known as Fa-hua, or lotus school; syncretism of all Mahayana
shools. 6th Century Kashmir: invasion of Huns with persecution of
monks. After their departure, slow restoration. 6th and 7th Century
Korea: introduction of many Chinese schools. 7th Century Tibet:
Buddhism introduced from India, helped by King Song Tsen Gampo 7th
century China: Founding of Hua-yen school by Fa-tsang (643-712) - tantric
Buddhism lasted only until about 1000 CE. Founding of Ch'an school by 6th
Patriarch Hui-neng (638-713) 7th Century Cambodia: repression of
Buddhism, followed by later strong support. 7th and 8th Century
Kashmir: revival of Buddhism, strong influence of tantric schools.
710 Japan: capital moved to Nara; development of the 6 Nara-schools
which were highly politisized, leaving them open to corruption. 730
Japan: introduction of Chinese Hua-yen school, known as Kegon in Japanese.
713-741 China: The T'ang Dynasty Esoteric School was introduced by
the three Mahasattvas Subhakarasimha, Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. 713
onwards China: sub-division in Ch'an schools; most important Lin-Ch'i with
sudden awakening and use of koans, and Tsao-t'ung school of "just sitting" and
gradual enlightenment. Notably, Ch'an only became an independent school with own
monastic rules at the time of Pochang Huai-hai (720-814). 8th Century
Tibet, Sikkhim, Bhutan: Master Padmasambhava establishes tantric Buddhism.
805 Japan: The Tendai School (from the Chinese T'ien T'ai) officially
founded by Master Saicho (Dengyo Daishi). 845 China: Persecution of
Buddhism started by Taoist emperor Wu-Tsung. T'ien T'ai and Huy Neng do not
survive. Ch'an and Ching t'u survived and slowly recuperated. 9th Century
Japan: Shingon ("True Word") Buddhism (tantric) established by Master Kukai
(Kobo Daishi) derived from Chinese Chen-yen. A fusion of tantric Buddhism and
indigenous Shinto became known as Ryobu-Shinto, which was remarkably separated
again some 1000 years later into Buddhism and Shinto. 9th Century
Tibet: Decline of Buddhism, persecution by King Langdharma 10th
Century Tibet: Strong Buddhist revival. 10th and 11th Century Sri
Lanka: disruption of Sri Lankan sangha by Tamil Nadu invaders. Lineage of
nuns ordination dies out. 1070 Shri Lanka: reinstatement of monks
ordination 11th and 12th Century Thailand:
introduction of Mahayana due to Cambodian rule. 11-13th Centuries
India: Encounter with Islam, iconoclasm, decline of (mainly Mahayana)
Buddhism in Northern India. Sacking of Nalanda university in 1197, and
Vikramasila University in 1203 by Muslims. 12th Century Sri Lanka:
King Parrakama Bahu abolishes schools other than Mahavira. 12th Century
Cambodia: revival of Mahayana, but later mainly Theravada influence.
1236 Shri Lanka: monks from India revive monk ordination
lineage. 13th Century Japan: Founding of Jodo (Pure Land) school in
Japan by Honen (1133-1212). Founding of Zen sub-schools: Master Dogen
(1200-1235) founds the Soto-shu (Chinese Ts'ao-tung) school. Master Eisai
(1141-1251) founds the Rinzai-shu (Chinese Lin-Ch'I) school. Master Nichiren
Daishi (1222-1282) founds Nichiren Buddhism. 13th Century Laos:
introduction of Theravada. 13th Century Mongolia: Introduction of
Tibetan Buddhism under rulers like Kublai Khan (1260-94) 14th Century
Korea: Decline of Buddhism with the assumption to the throne of the Chosun
or Yi Dynasty and their adoption of Neo-Confucianism. 15th Century
India: Final decline of Buddhism in Southern India, due to influence of
various Hindu schools. 15th Century Indonesia: Eradication of Budhism
by Islamic rebellion. 15th Century Thailand: monks were sent to Sri
Lanka to establish a new ordination lineage. 16th Century Mongolia:
after some decline, second introduction of Tibetan Buddhism under Altan Khan
(1507-83) 16th Century: Sri Lanka; persecution and virtual
eradication of Buddhism. 16th Century Japan: Master Ingen (1592-1673)
founds the Obaku-shu zen school. 17th Century Sri Lanka:
reintroduction of Dharma twice from Burma (same as original tradition).
1753 Sri Lanka: reinstatement of monks ordination from Thailand - the
Siyam Nikaya lineage 1777 Thailand: standardisation of Thai
translation of the Theravada Tripitaka 17th
-19th Century inner Mongolia: The Ch'ing emperors of China (1662- 1911)
encouraged Buddhism to keep control over the area. Buddhism first spread to
outer Mongolia end 18th cent, which had remained fully shamanistic.
1851-64 China: Great peace rebellion; strong persecution in South.
1862: First Western translation of the Dhammapada into
German 1868 Burma: 5th Council Late 19th
Century China: gradual revival of Buddhism 1871 Burma: 5th
Buddhist Council in Mandalay. 1905 North America: First Zen teachers
arrive in North America. 1920 Soviet Union: Communist attack on
Buddhism in Mongolia 1950 China: Beginning of communist attack on
Buddhism 1954-56 Burma: 6th Buddhist Council in Rangoon, Burma.
1959 Tibet: Exodus of many Tibetans (including His Holiness the Dalai
Lama) from Tibet.
