Rise and Decline of Buddhism in India

An attempt has been made in this work to present in a detailed and comprehensive manner the rise, the development of Buddhism in different parts of lndia and its decline. Although a good number of monographs have appeared on Buddhism, but there is no single work which presents a connected account of different aspects of Buddhism, its rise, its progress in various parts of India under the patronage of several dynastic rulers and then its decline in ancient India. I have tried to make a critical study of the subject with the help of all available sources. The material used in this study is mainly literary, but archaeological evidence has also been used to supplement literary evidence. The book has been divided into two parts. In the first part there are ten chapters. The first two chapters deal with the rise of Buddhism and its progress up to the Pre-Maurya period. Chapters three to seve1_1 discuss Buddhism in the Maurya empire, during the reign of the Śuṅgas, the Kāṇvas, the sātavāhanas, the role of the Indo-Greeks and the Indo-Scythians for its progress, its importance and its popularity under the rule of the Guptas, the Maitrakas, the Maukharis and Harṣvardhana. The eighth chapter gives an account of Buddhism in Northern India after Harṣavardhana. The ninth chapter describes Buddhism during the rule of Śaśānka, the Pālas, several minor dynastic rulers and the Senas. The tenth chapter mentions Buddhism in Southern India. The second part contains four chapters which relate Buddhism as mentioned by Hiuen-tsang, the gradual decline of Buddhism from different regions of India, causes of the decline of Buddhism and the conclusion.