Kashmir

Kashmir. The ancient Indian state of Kaśmīra, corresponding to present-day Kashmir in north-west India. According to legend, Buddhism reached Kashmir soon after the Buddha's passing but the conquest of the area by Candragupta, Aśoka's grandfather, would seem to be a more reliable date. Under Mauryan patronage, many monasteries and stūpas were established in this region which soon became a stronghold of the Sarvāstivāda school with whom such masters as Kātyāyanīputra, Vasumitra, and Saṃghabhadra are associated. Buddhism in Kashmir flourished under the later Kuṣāṇas and continued to do so during the lengthy period of virtual independence that followed the demise of the Kuṣāṇas, though there were brief periods of violent persecution including the devastation caused by the White Hun (Hephthalite) leader, Mihirakula. The so-called ‘Fourth Council’ is thought to have been convened under the auspices of Kaniṣka in this region (see Council of Kaniṣka). Kashmir's location made it an important staging-post for the transmission of Buddhism into central Asia and western Tibet, with many famous scholar-monks such as Kumārajīva and Buddhabhadra who travelled to China, or Śīlendrabodhi and Vidyākaraprabha who went to Tibet. A dwindling Buddhist presence continued in Kashmir from the 12th century ce onwards, although retaining important religious ties with Tibet, but Buddhism seems to have all but disappeared by the time of the Moghul invasion in the 16th century.