Spread of Buddhism from India
The first Buddhist missionary was the Buddha himself. By the 3 century BC Buddhism had spread in the whole of North India. From Taxila, a major centre of Buddhist learning, Buddhism may also have been taken to the Greek kingdoms. After the 3rd Buddhist Council, the Elder Moggaliputta Tissa, sent, under the patronage of Emperor Dharmasoka, Buddhist missions to the Himalayas, Kashmir, Gandhara, Burma and the Malaysian archipelago. In the Asokan edicts there are references to missions sent to Antioch, Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Epirus and North Africa. There were strong Buddhist communities in Alexandria and Palestine, the birth place of Christ. King Dharmasoka also sent missions to Central Asia, China, Japan, Tibet, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia.
By 1st century AD the centre of Buddhist activity had shifted to western India. The 4th Buddhist Council was held there during the time of King Kanishka (78-101 AD). His empire extended from India to Central Asia, including the Central Asian kingdoms of Khotan and Kucha. Kucha played an important role in the spread of Buddhism to China, from where it went to Korea, Japan and the Americas. From Central Asia Buddhism also spread to Tibet and Northern Burma. According to Fa Hsien, there were over 4000 Buddhist establishments, including monasteries and temples in Khotan till about the 8th century AD. From Khotan Buddhism spread to neighbouring areas such as Afghanistan Turkestan. There are archaeological findings relating to the spread of Buddhism in Malaysia, Borneo and Mexico. These indicate that Buddhist missionary monks may have reached the Americas more than 1000 years before Colombus got there. A Buddha image from Northern India dated from 6th century AD was found near Drottningholm, in the Uppland region of Sweden. This may have been brought there by the Vikings.
Many centres of Buddhist learning, some having the status of universities flourished in India and elsewhere till the arrival of Islam. Beside Taxila, there were Nalanda (5th century), Valabhi (6th century), Vikramasila (7th century), Jagaddala (11 century) Odantipura in North India. Manchipura (6 century) in South India, Mahavihara and Abhayagiri in Sri Lanka (till 10th century) and Sri Vijaya in the Malay archipelago. The expansionist policies of the Muslim rulers from the 6th and 7 centuries eliminated Buddhism in Central Asia, India and the Malayan archipelago.
With expansion of Europe an imperialism into Asia, Europe became aware of Asian culture. France and Germany took a leading part in studying the Asian cultures, followed by Denmark and Russia. Asian studies included a study of Buddhism. They started to acquire Buddhist manuscripts from all over Asia. There were manuscripts from Nepal. Then a whole lot emerged from Central Asia, through a series of international expeditions, explorations and excavations. Some of the names connected to these expenditions are — A. Raqual, a German botanist in the service of Russia in 1879. The French mission of 1892 led by Dutrevil de Rhines. Aurel Stein, Hungarian explorer. A. V. le Cog of the German expedition and K. Otani who led the team from Japan. These manuscripts were either in the original Sanskrit or translations into indigenous dialects, such as Kuchean, Khotanese, Sogdian (an Iranian language) and Uighur (a Turkish dialect). (Y. Karunadasa. Daily News 3.11.98 p. 6).
This interest in Asian religions led to European devotees of Buddhism. This spread of Buddhist thought to the west came together with a rennaisance of Buddhist studies in the Buddhist countries themselves, such as Sri Lanka in the mid 19th century. There was a galaxy of international scholars who did intensive research on Buddhism. Interest in Buddhist studies spread through Europe, Asia and America. Some of the leading names are Vincent Fausboll (Denmark), Herman Oldenburg, Max Muller, Paul Dahlke and Winternitz (Germany), Sylvan Levi and Poussin (France), H. C. Warren and E. W. Burlingame (USA), Stcherbatsky (Russia), S. C. Das, S.C. Vidybhushan, Dhammananda Kosambi, B. M. Barua (India), Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala, G. P. Malalasekera (Sri Lanka) and J. Takakasu and B. Nanjio (Japan). (Madihe Pannasiha, Daily News Wesak Supplement 11.5.98 p. 3).
The Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist text produced in China in 868 AD is the world’s earliest dated printed book. This scroll was found by Aurel Stein in a cave in North West China. Then there is a set of birch bark writings from Gandhara. These may represent the oldest surviving Buddhist texts and also the oldest South Asian manuscripts ever discovered. Gandhara kingdom (2 BC to 2 AD) of then India included present day Pakistan and Afghanistan. The 13 scrolls are in Kharosthi script. There is also a Buddhist text dated 1377 printed at a provincial temple in South Korea, indicating that Korean artists had mastered moveable type long before Gutenberg in Germany. In contrast, the earliest known history of England written in English is the ‘Anglo-Saxon Chronicle’. This is the oldest history of any European country in a vernacular language. It was probably compiled during the time of King Alfred, 849-899 A.D. (This information can be found in the Souvenir Guide issued by the British Library, 1998. P. 30, 29, 16, 37) Lastly we note that the Mahavamsa was used to obtain the date of the reign of Emperor Dharmasoka in India. The tradition of Historical record keeping, in which Sri Lanka led, has been attributed to Buddhist scholarship, specially that of the Buddhist monks.
In Buddhism there are three major traditions. In the Himalayan region, there is Tantric Buddhism and a distinct school of Buddhist thinking based on the Tibetan Tripitaka. China, Korea and Japan rely on the Chinese tripitaka and follow practices which are related to Mahayana Buddhism. The Theravada or Hinayana tradition is based on the Pali Tripitaka and is followed in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
Buddhism seems to have been introduced to Laos and Thailand practically together. It is now felt that Buddhism had entered the Mekong delta by 2 century A.D. This has Hinayana Buddhism (Theravada) but with Sanskrit texts.
One of the many achievements of the Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933) was the re-introduction of Buddhism to India. He found Buddha Gaya in a neglected state in 1891, and launched a campaign to improve it. He started the Buddhagaya Mahabodhi Society in Colombo in 1891. The first pilgrimage to Buddhist places of worship in India was started by this society in 1894. The Hindu dignitaries in charge of Buddhagaya opposed Dharmapala very vigorously. It was long after Dharmapala’s death that Nehru, as Prime Minister of India handed over Buddhagaya to the Buddhists. It is now looked after by the Maha Bodhi Societies of India, based in Calcutta. Ven. Jinaratana was at one time its General Secretary, followed by Ven. Rewata, Rev. Vipulasara was its president till recently. This saw the start of a continued presence of Sri Lankan sangha in India. (The first President was Sir Asutosh Mukherjee). The Anagarika also set up the Mulagandhi Kuta Vihara in Saranath. And the Sri Dharmarajika Vihare in Culcutta, on land bought by him in 1914. It was opened in 1920 with relics provided by British authorities from an excavation in Bhattiprolu, Madras. (This temple is now declared a ‘Heritage building). In 1979 Calcutta named a road after the Anagarika, and erected a statue of him. (Daily News 17.9.99 p. 17). He also started a branch of the Mahabodhi Society in Perambur, Madras in 1900. A vihare was built. The South Indian Buddhist Association is housed there today. In 1948 another branch was established at Egmore, Madras. Ven. Nilwakke Somananda was the first incumbent of the vihara. Buddhism was pushed out of Tamilnadu with the Hindu revival of the 10th century. There is a small but growing Buddhist presence there today. (Daily news. 28.6.99 p. 21).
The Vidyodaya Pirivena, set up in Sri Lanka in 1873 catered to many Indian students. It had many Bengali students from India and Bangladesh. Pandita Sathischandra Vidyabhushana learnt Pali and Abhidamma and became Head of the Department of Pali, Calcutta University. A Mysore brahmin (later Bhikku Vimala Buddhi), stimulated Pali and Buddhist studies in Mysore. N. K. Bhagavat translated the Pali Dhammapada into Hindi, and wrote Buddhist books in Gujarati. Dharmananda Kosambi started off as lecturer in Pali, University of Bombay. There were two Bhikkus from Chittagong as well. Also students from Thailand, Japan and Burma.