Buddhism

Buddhism arose in northern India in the 6th–5th centuries BC; its founder is considered to be Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha, “the Awakened One”). The traditional dates are roughly 563–483 BC, but many modern scholars place his life about a century later, so the dates are approximate. According to tradition, after the Buddha’s death his ashes were divided among eight communities and stupas were built over them. In the 3rd century BC, under King Ashoka (c. 268–232 BC), Buddhism began to spread beyond India; later it gradually declined in India and grew in other parts of Asia, reaching China in the 1st century AD, Korea in the 4th, Japan in the 6th and Tibet in the 7th. Buddhism also entered Central Asia along the Silk Road. In the 1st–3rd centuries AD southern Uzbekistan belonged to the Kushan Empire, and Buddhism was widespread there. Around Termez, Buddhist complexes (stupas, monasteries, sculpture) at Karatepa, Fayaztepa, Ayritom and Dalverzintepa have been studied by archaeologists; the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang wrote in the early 7th century that Termez had about ten monasteries and roughly a thousand monks. From roughly the 5th–8th centuries other faiths, and later Islam, expanded in the region.