Buddhism in the Iranian World

• Published in: The Muslim world (Hartford) Vol. 100; no. 2-3; pp. 204 - 214
• Main Author: Foltz, Richard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-04-2010
• Subjects: Buddhism; Cultural background; Cultural factors; Historical analysis; Historical text analysis; Influence; Islam; Regions; Religion; Social life & customs; Iran
• ISSN: 0027-4909; 1478-1913
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-1913.2010.01322.x

The "Iranian World," defined as the Iranian plateau and adjacent regions historically inhabited by Iranian-speaking peoples or influenced by their culture, played an important role in the development and transmission of Buddhism especially during the early centuries. Like other world religions, Buddhism spread via trade routes and absorbed local influences along the way. The process of Islamization took several centuries, and since the population of eastern Iran was mostly Buddhist, this meant that converts to Islam brought with them a Buddhist cultural background. Here, Foltz talks about the rise and spread of Buddhism in eastern Iran and opines that it still plays a subtle, albeit often obscured, role in the contemporary Iranian milieu.