Why and where did Buddhism started?

This religion (not everybody thinks of it as a religion, but a lifestyle), started in the fifth century before Christ in Northern Ancient India. It is based on the teachings of Buddha Siddhartha Gautama (better known as Buddha).

It currently has about 376 million of followers and growing 8it is not an accurate number, it is an estimate) ; it is categorized as one of the oldest religions; because it has never ended since it was created.

It started when ancient India was invaded by the Aryans, who divided them into castes (social classes); first and most important was the priests; then landowners, warriors and rulers; after them the merchants, artisans and farmers, and lastly, there are the outcastes or the “untouchable” (those who were mainly slaves or people who nobody wanted). So Buddha said castes should not exist, because all humanity was equal, all with the same rules.

With this he got too many followers, mainly monks, who spread all his thoughts all around the continent and on all around the world. They maintained an oral tradition over 200 years. But then one of the monks went to king Ashoka’s empire, where the monk had a long conversation with the king. The king decided to devote himself into peace, and ordered his slaves to bring big rocks and write what Buddha had said. And that was the first time in many years that Buddhism had a writing evidence of it’s thoughts.




By: Natalia Hurtado

Edited By: Maria Jose Lopez