India

Throughout this work I use the term “India” to refer to mainland South Asia south of the Himalayas. This use of the term “India” has no relationship to the borders of the modern nation of India. Rather, India, as I am using it, roughly corresponds to the territories of the modern nations of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and lowland Nepal. Though I wish it were otherwise, the region I am calling India matches the borders of British colonial India. By using “India” in the way I am, I am not trying to reference colonial India, but I cannot fault anyone who is troubled by the correspondence. I am using the term “India” in the way I am simply because it is less cumbersome than consistently referring to the region as “mainland South Asia south of the Himalayas” or “the regions now called Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and portions of southern Nepal.” Without a better term, “India” is the best I’ve got. To avoid confusion, throughout the text I use “modern India” to refer to the modern Indian state and “colonial India” to refer to British India. I use “India” to refer to the region in which Buddhism originated and initially spread in the centuries immediately after the Buddha’s death.

The Buddha was born and raised a small kingdom in what is now southern Nepal. The other key moments of the Buddha’s biography (enlightenment, first sermon, and death) occurred in North India. Within a few centuries after the Buddha’s death, the practice of Buddhism spread to peninsular India and present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. Later still, Buddhism was adopted in Sri Lanka, Central Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas. The spread of Buddhism beyond India is among the most important and complex topics in the history of Buddhism. Wherever Buddhism was adopted, it was partially transformed to suit the needs of its new practitioners. As such, the history of Buddhism in China is different from the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, which is different from the history of Buddhism in Cambodia. A complete account of the spread and fragmentation of Buddhism in all the nations in which it is, or was, practiced would require multiple volumes. Given this complexity, I have chosen to focus only on India, the place of Buddhism’s origin, development, and initial expansion. That said, I recognize that it is impossible to completely divorce Buddhism in India from Buddhism elsewhere. Throughout this book I make frequent use of information concerning India preserved in Chinese and Sri Lankan texts. I also note when doctrinal and other developments beyond India affected the practice of Buddhism in India.