Visual Timeline: Mahayana Buddhism

To navigate the timeline, click and drag it with your mouse, or click on the timeline overview on the bottom.

600 BCE 500 BCE 400 BCE 300 BCE 200 BCE 100 BCE 0 CE 100 CE 200 CE 300 CE 400 CE 500 CE 600 CE  
 
563 BCE - 483 BCE: The life of Siddhartha Gautama according to modern scholarly consensus.
 
383 BCE: Second Council of Buddhism where different schools break away and form their own traditions.
 
283 BCE: Mahayana Buddhism already developed and operating alongside other schools, including Mahasanghika.
 
268 BCE - 232 BCE: Reign of Ashoka the Great who spreads Buddhism throughout India and sends Buddhist missionaries to other nations.
 
50 BCE - 600 CE: The sutras of The Perfection of Wisdom are written.
 
 
200 CE: The Buddhist Lotus Sutra is written down in Pali language.
 
 
573 CE - 622 CE: Prince Shotoku was the founder of Japanese Buddhism and of the Japanese nation. He is famous for his 17-article constitution, the first Buddhist constitution ever to be created.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
600 BCE 400 BCE 200 BCE 0 CE 200 CE 400 CE