Chronology of Buddhism*

563-483 B.C.E. Life of Sakyamuni Buddha
(624-544 according to Theravada Buddhism, other more recent estimates 490-410)

410 First Buddhist Council at Rajagrha

383 Second Buddhist Council at Vaisali

268-239 Reign of Asoka

240 Third Buddhist Council at Pataliputra

200 B.C.E. Development of Mahayana Buddhism and Buddhism spreads into southern India, central Asia and China from 200 B.C.E. to 200 C.E.

200 Lotus Sutra

101-77 Reign of Dutthagamani Abhaya in Sri Lanka and establishment of Buddhism as state religion

80 Pali Canon written down in Sri Lanka

100 C.E. Fourth Buddhist Council in Gandhara

300-500 Buddhism spreads into parts of Southeast Asia

400-500 Major commentaries on Pali Canon written down

500-600 Development of Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana)

372 Buddhism transmitted to Korea

750 Construction of Borobudur stupa on island of Java in Indonesia

760 Buddhism transmitted to Tibet

983 First printing of Chinese Buddhist canon

1100-1200 Zen arrives in Japan from China and Korea
1150 Construction of Angkor monastery and temple in Cambodia

1100-1500 Decline of Buddhism in India

1200 North India invaded by Muslims and Buddhist centers destroyed including Nalanda Monastic University

1133-1212 Honen, founder of Pure Land (Jodo) sect in Japan

1173-1262 Shinran, founder of True Pure Land (Jodo Shin) sect in Japan

1200-1253 Dogen, founder of Soto Zen sect in Japan

1222-1282 Nichiren, founder of Nichiren section in Japan

1235 Buddhism essentially extinct in India

1275-1317 King Jayavarman Parameshvara of Cambodia establishes Theravada Buddhism

1334 Tibetan Buddhist canon compiled

1360 Theravada Buddhism established as state religion in Thailand

1360 Fa Ngum establishes Theravada Buddhism in Laos

1603-1867 Buddhism becomes state religion in Japan during Tokugawa period

1749 Mongolian Buddhist canon completed

1851-1868 Reign of Rama IV in Thailand with reform of
Thai sangha

1880 American Henry Steele Olcott stimulates Buddhist revival in Sri Lanka

1950 World Fellowship of Buddhism inaugurated in Sri Lanka by Buddhist scholar G.P. Malalasekhera, aim to promote Buddhism globally and also reconciliation among the diverse Buddhist traditions

1950 Chinese invade Tibet and begin persecution of Buddhists

1959 Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, forced to flee from Tibet to India

1964 Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926) founds the School of Youth for Social Services in Vietnam which sends teams into the rural areas to help war victims, develop schools and health clinics, and rebuild bombed villages

1975 Buddhism decimated in Cambodia with Khmer Rouge genocide

1989 The Fourteenth Dalai Lama awarded the Noble Peace Prize

International Network of Engaged Buddhists founded by Thai Buddhist social critic and activist Sulak Sivaraksa (1933- )

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*Sources: Data extracted from Keown 2003:355-357, Lester 1987:5-8, Powers (2000:257-259), and personal files. Note that there are tremendous differences for dates given in different sources, so the above dates are usually approximations. [Also see Hodge 1999].

Hodge, Stephen. “Buddhism.” Atlas of the World’s Religions. Ed. Ninian Smart. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999, 54-67.

Keown, Damien. Dictionary of Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Lester, Robert C. Buddhism. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1987.

Powers, John. A Concise Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2000.