5: Buddhism – India’s Most Important Export

Kerry Paul
May 2
2 min read

Updated: Jun 11

I recently visited India to explore how this country evolved and what drives it today. During the 1,450 years from 250 BC to 1200 AD (known as The Common Period), the spread of Indian religion had a profound impact across South, Central, South-East, and Eastern Asia. Even today, over half of the world’s population lives in areas where Indian religious ideas once dominated or still hold significant influence.

Buddha statue in meditation, surrounded by pink cherry blossoms, on a reflective surface.

Indian Trade as a Key Driver for Spreading Ideas

India’s extensive trade routes, developed over 2,000 years ago, played a crucial role in exporting not just goods but also ideas and beliefs. Indian maritime traders actively promoted Hinduism and Buddhism in their trading destinations, recognizing that aligning with local religious and cultural values enhanced their business credibility. To strengthen these ties, traders often transported religious missionaries alongside their goods, ensuring that Indian spiritual traditions took root in new regions.

Buddhism: India’s Most Important Export

A major turning point for the spread of Buddhism came in 250 BC, when Emperor Ashoka took it upon himself to propagate Buddhist teachings worldwide. He first spread the faith throughout India and then dispatched missionaries in multiple directions:

Eastward: To Myanmar and Suvarnabhumi, the fabled Lands of Gold in South-East Asia.
Northward: Into Central Asia.
Northwest: To Afghanistan and even as far as North Africa’s coastal states.

For the next thousand years, Buddhism remained India’s dominant religion, as evidenced by the art and architecture from this period. However, by the early 1800s, living Buddhism had virtually disappeared from India. Today, Buddhists make up less than 1% of India’s population.

Ironically, the majority of Buddhist pilgrimage visitors to India—around 750,000 annually—come from Asian countries, including Myanmar, China, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Tibet.

Pilgrims at the site of Buddha's First Sermon in Saranath, India. Buddha statue surrounded by statues of monks.

Why Did Buddhism Decline in India?

The reasons for Buddhism’s decline in India are not entirely clear-cut. Unlike many historical religious shifts, there was no significant political or military conflict leading to its disappearance. Instead, it is possible that Buddhism’s social, political, and philosophical outlook gradually lost its appeal to the Indian population.