Buddhism in Iran

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Rashid-al-Din Hamadani
.

Buddhism in Iran dates back to the 2nd century, when Parthian Buddhist missionaries, such as An Shigao and An Xuan, were active in spreading Buddhism in China. Many of the earliest translators of Buddhist literature into Chinese were from Parthia and other kingdoms linked with present-day Iran.[1]

History

Pre-Islamic Iran

Buddhists were persecuted during the

White Huns.[2]

Arab conquests and decline

"In the centuries before the Arab conquests Buddhism was spread throughout the eastern Iranian world. Buddhist sites have been found in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, as well as within Iran itself."

Bamiyan and Hadda it survived until the 8th or 9th century.[2]

Ilkhanate

Hulagu Khan embraced Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism[4] while tolerant to religious diversity, which enabled Buddhism to remain the official religion of the empire till 1295. During this period, Buddhist temples were constructed throughout the kingdom. Additionally, small Buddhist communities settled throughout the Ilkhanate realm, mainly originating from Kashmir and East Turkestan.[5] Later, Ilkhanate ruler Ghazan, who was raised as Nestorian Christian and received Buddhist education in his youth, converted to Islam in 1295 AD and made it the state religion of the Ilkhanate.[6] He also prohibited the practice of Buddhism, but allowed monks to go into exile into neighboring Buddhist regions.[7]

Contemporary

In 2002, 19 Gandharan style Buddhist statues were unearthed in the southern Iranian province of Fars.[8]

In recent years, as part of the post-revolution period, Buddhist ideas and practice, as part of a broader reemergence of various faiths in Iran, has experienced an upsurge of interest among Iranians. Some of the poetry of Sohrab Sepehri shows Buddhist influence.[9]

See also

Further reading

  • Mostafa Vaziri (2012). Buddhism in Iran: An Anthropological Approach to Traces and Influences. Palgrave Macmillan.
    ISBN 9781137022936
    .

References

  1. ISBN 978-90-04-10231-6
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-24693-4
    .
  3. ^ Richard Foltz, "Buddhism in the Iranian World," The Muslim World 100/2-3, 2010, pp. 204-214
  4. ^ Yerushalmi, Dan; Samten, Jampa. "Letters for the Khans: Six Tibetan Epistles for the Mongol Rulers Hulegu and Khubilai, and the Tibetan Lama Pagpa. Co-authored with Jampa Samten". Archived from the original on 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2021-09-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. S2CID 145590332. Archived
    from the original on 2023-01-15. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  6. ISBN 978-0-520-24385-9, archived
    from the original on 2023-01-15, retrieved 2016-09-23
  7. ISBN 978-0-7546-6956-2
    .
  8. ^ "Statues in Iran challenge theories on Buddhism's spread". The Japan Times. 2002-05-14. Archived from the original on 2022-01-31. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  9. ^ Foltz, pp. 212-213
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