Decline of Buddhism in India

The decline of Buddhism in India, the land of its birth, occurred for a variety of reasons, and happened even as it continued to flourish beyond the frontiers of India. Buddhism was established in the area of ancient Magadha and Kosala by Gautama Buddha in the 6th century BCE, in what is now modern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Over the next 1500 years Buddhism became one of the region's influential sects, spreading across the Indian sub-continent (see History of Buddhism).

After the parinibbana (or death) of Gautama Buddha, Buddhism saw rapid expansion in its first century, especially in northern and central India. The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (304-232 BCE) and later monarchs encouraged the expansion of Buddhism into Asia through religious ambassadors.

Chinese scholars traveling through the region between the 5th and 8th centuries CE, such as Faxian, Xuanzang, Yijing, Huisheng, and Song Yun, began to speak of a decline of the Buddhist sangha, especially in the wake of the White Hun invasion. A continuing decline occurred after the fall of the Pala dynasty in the 12th century CE, continuing with the later destruction of monasteries by Muslim invaders.

Buddhism was especially vulnerable to hostile rulers because it lacked strong roots in society as most of its adherents were ascetic communities.

Buddhism was virtually extinct in India by the end of the 19th century, excluding a small community in eastern Bengal, with which Buddhism survived from ancient times, as it did in Nepal, to this day. In recent times, Buddhism has seen a revival in India from the influence of Anagarika Dharmapala, Kripasaran Mahasthavir, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.