Historical timeline of buddha

5th Century BCE:Life of Shakyamuni Buddha, based on whose teachings Buddhism developed.

269-231 BCE:Reign of King Ashoka, patron of Buddhism; sends first Buddhists to Sri Lanka in the third century.

100 BCE to 100 CE:Rise of Mahayana Buddhism.

First half of 2nd century CEReign of King Kanishka; Mahayana Buddhism spreads to Central Asia.

1st century CEBuddhism first enters China.

520First Zen patriarch Bodhidharma arrives in China.

538Buddhism enters Japan from Korea.

7th to 8th centuryVajrayana Buddhism established in Tibet.

11th to 14th centuryTheravada Buddhism established in Southeast Asia.

1199Nalanda University destroyed; demise of Buddhism in India.

13th centuryZen, Pure Land, and Nichiren Buddhism established in Japan.

1881Pali Text Society founded.

1893World Parliament of Religions (Chicago).

1956Celebration of 2,500 years of Buddhism.