History Atlas

How The Past Is Known
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme

Switch Atlas

Historical Figure

Gautama Buddha

Also Known As Siddhartha Gautama · Shakyamuni
Religious and Spiritual Leaders

Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly known as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains, in the region of present-day Nepal and northern India, during roughly the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition he was born into a royal family of the Shakya clan at Lumbini but renounced his household life to become a wandering ascetic, seeking release from suffering through years of extreme self-denial before rejecting that path in favor of a middle way. He is said to have attained enlightenment, or nirvana, through meditation at Bodh Gaya, after which he spent decades teaching across the Ganges plain and building a monastic community, the sangha, before dying at Kushinagar. His teachings on the nature of suffering, impermanence and the path to liberation became the foundation of one of the world major religions.

Facts
Disputed
Birth Year
477 BCE 1
No specific birth year is directly attested; long-chronology and short-chronology scholarship disagree by roughly 60-100 years. Value here follows K.T.S. Sarao's Short Chronology (c. 477-397 BCE), one of several competing scholarly estimates; other historians place his life a century earlier.
Death Year
397 BCE 1
No specific death year is directly attested; long-chronology and short-chronology scholarship disagree by roughly 60-100 years. Value here follows K.T.S. Sarao's Short Chronology (c. 477-397 BCE), one of several competing scholarly estimates; other historians place his death a century earlier.
Role
Wandering religious teacher who founded Buddhism 1
Birthplace
Lumbini, in what is now Nepal 1
Death Place
Kushinagar, in modern day Uttar Pradesh, India 1
Classification
Gender
Male 1
Role
Role (category)
Religious Figure 1
FAQs

When did the Buddha live?

Scholars still debate his dates, with birth estimates ranging from about 624 BCE to as late as 448 BCE.

The dates are not settled. Scholars agree that the Buddha existed, but the specific dates and events of his life are still debated. Some scholars place his birth in the 6th century BCE, possibly as early as 624 BCE, while other researchers believe he was born later, even as late as 448 BCE. Some Buddhists believe he lived from 563 BCE to 483 BCE.
Connections

In Era

Classical Antiquity, Eras
Source Wikipedia: The Buddha
In the Other Atlases

Originated In

Asia

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Nepal

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Source Wikidata: Gautama Buddha
Sources
1. Wikipedia: The Buddha
Wikipedia
  • Dating section, paragraph on the Short Chronology
    According to historian K. T. S. Sarao, a proponent of the Short Chronology wherein the Buddha's lifespan was c. 477-397 BCE
  • Dating section, paragraph on the Short Chronology (death year)
    According to historian K. T. S. Sarao, a proponent of the Short Chronology wherein the Buddha's lifespan was c. 477-397 BCE
  • Lead section, opening paragraph
    he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan
  • Lead section, opening paragraph (death)
    Buddhist tradition holds he died in Kushinagar (in modern day Uttar Pradesh, India) and reached parinirvana
  • Lead section, opening sentence
    was a wandering religious teacher who lived in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
  • Lead section, opening sentence (name)
    Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha
  • Etymology, names and titles section
    he tended to be known as either Buddha or Sakyamuni in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet
  • Gautama Buddha: Gender
    According to Buddhist tradition he was born into a royal family of the Shakya clan at Lumbini but renounced his household life to become a wandering ascetic, seeking release from suffering through years of extreme self-denial before rejecting that path in favor of a middle way.
  • Wikipedia biography, role/occupation stated in lead section (w-bbfill-history3-0927)
  • In Era: Classical Antiquity, lead paragraph, lifespan
    Infobox: born c. 563 or 480 BCE; died c. 483 or 400 BCE (aged 80)sfnp|Cousins|1996|Norman|1997|p=33sfnp|Prebish|200
View the Source
Wikidata: Gautama Buddha
Wikidata Q9441, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source

Take a Related Quiz

Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.