Buddhistforlife
BANNED
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2018
- Messages
- 2,231
- Reaction score
- -41
- Country
- Location
Okay, so as per my own observation, people have these three misconceptions regarding the history of Buddhism of which one is that Afghanistan and Pakistan was 100% Buddhist before the Islamic conquest of the country, another is that Central Asia(Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan was Buddhists before becoming islamized, and the last one is that Buddhism did not spread after Ashoka.
Let's talk about the first misconception which is Afghanistan and Pakistan was Buddhist before Muslims started invading it. So, Buddhism in Pakistan Afghanistan was introduced by the Indo Greeks who came with Alexander, and later by Ashoka the great. The two most important places of Buddhism were Gandhara and Taxila. There were primarily two Buddhist empires who ruled Pakistan and Afghanistan. One was the Mauryan empire and another was the Kushan empire. Under Mauryans and Kushans, Buddhism flourished in these two countries. However after the Kushan empire ended in 375 AD, the Sassanian Zoroastrians started dominating Afghanistan. During Sassanian rule, Zoroastrianism started to become influential in Afghanistan. Simultaneously, the Gupta Empire also became powerful in the Indian subcontinent and they too started dominating Kushan regions.
Buddhism faced it's blow from another Hindu ruler known as Mihirakula, who destroyed Buddhism from Taxila, Gandhara and Afghanistan. Soon after the 500s AD, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism became popular in both Afghanistan and Pakistan while Buddhism weakened. When muslims came to Afghanistan and Pakistan, it was home to many faiths-Buddhism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism etc. Soon many Buddhists became muslims, particularly the Ghurid kingdom however the destruction of Buddhism in Afghanistan and Pakistan was done way earlier.
The second misconception is that Buddhism was dominant in Central Asia before Islam. Wrong. Central Asians followed Shamanism, Tengirism and Manicheaism. Even Genghis Khan was a Tengirist. After 1300s, there were 4 khanates in the Mongol Empire and out of these 4, three converted to Islam and one converted into Buddhism. Mongolia, was shaman majority state and became Buddhists during when the Khanate under Kublai Khan converted to Buddhism.
The last misconception is that Ashoka was solely responsible for spreading Buddhism and Buddhism did not spread after the Mauryan and Kushan empire.
The current Buddhist majority areas like Myanmar, Cambodia, Bhutan, China, Thailand etc converted to Buddhism 100s of years after Ashoka's demise particularly Cambodia. Cambodia was a Hindu nation which became Buddhist majority very recently in 15th century.
Let's talk about the first misconception which is Afghanistan and Pakistan was Buddhist before Muslims started invading it. So, Buddhism in Pakistan Afghanistan was introduced by the Indo Greeks who came with Alexander, and later by Ashoka the great. The two most important places of Buddhism were Gandhara and Taxila. There were primarily two Buddhist empires who ruled Pakistan and Afghanistan. One was the Mauryan empire and another was the Kushan empire. Under Mauryans and Kushans, Buddhism flourished in these two countries. However after the Kushan empire ended in 375 AD, the Sassanian Zoroastrians started dominating Afghanistan. During Sassanian rule, Zoroastrianism started to become influential in Afghanistan. Simultaneously, the Gupta Empire also became powerful in the Indian subcontinent and they too started dominating Kushan regions.
Buddhism faced it's blow from another Hindu ruler known as Mihirakula, who destroyed Buddhism from Taxila, Gandhara and Afghanistan. Soon after the 500s AD, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism became popular in both Afghanistan and Pakistan while Buddhism weakened. When muslims came to Afghanistan and Pakistan, it was home to many faiths-Buddhism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism etc. Soon many Buddhists became muslims, particularly the Ghurid kingdom however the destruction of Buddhism in Afghanistan and Pakistan was done way earlier.
The second misconception is that Buddhism was dominant in Central Asia before Islam. Wrong. Central Asians followed Shamanism, Tengirism and Manicheaism. Even Genghis Khan was a Tengirist. After 1300s, there were 4 khanates in the Mongol Empire and out of these 4, three converted to Islam and one converted into Buddhism. Mongolia, was shaman majority state and became Buddhists during when the Khanate under Kublai Khan converted to Buddhism.
The last misconception is that Ashoka was solely responsible for spreading Buddhism and Buddhism did not spread after the Mauryan and Kushan empire.
The current Buddhist majority areas like Myanmar, Cambodia, Bhutan, China, Thailand etc converted to Buddhism 100s of years after Ashoka's demise particularly Cambodia. Cambodia was a Hindu nation which became Buddhist majority very recently in 15th century.
