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The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism essentially ended around the 7th century with the invasion of Islam in Central Asia. By the 8th century, Buddhism began to be spread across Asia, largely by the influence of healers and wonder-workers. These groups of people practised a form of Buddhism that was to be called "Vajrayana".
The history of Buddhism can be traced ... allowed Gandharan Buddhism to spread along the Silk Road to ... more aware of Buddhism through various contacts such as ...
Mahayana, Theravada, and Vajrayana are the three primary forms of Buddhism that spread across Asia via the Silk Road. [135] The Buddhist movement was the first large-scale missionary movement in the history of world religions.
Gandhara (IAST: Gandhāra) was an ancient Indo-Aryan [1] region in present-day north-west Pakistan and north-east Afghanistan. [2] [3] [4] The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar and Swat valleys extending as far east as the Pothohar Plateau in Punjab, though the cultural influence of Greater Gandhara extended westwards into the Kabul valley in Afghanistan, and northwards up to the ...
Mahayana Buddhism was spread from the Gangetic plains in India into Gandhara and then Central Asia during the Mauryan Era, where it became the most prevalent branch of Buddhism in Central Asia. Mahayana Buddhism was later transmitted through the Silk Road into the Han dynasty during the Kushan era under the reign of Emperor Kanishka.
Due to Gandhāra's position on the Silk Road, Gandhāran Buddhism has a strong influence on the Buddhism of Central Asia and East Asia. During the Greek and Kushan eras, the Khyber Pass was an important trade route and a key highway connected Peshawar with Bactria (and the city of Balkh, or Bactra) through the pass. [50]
Buddhism in Central Asia mainly existed in Mahayana forms and was historically especially prevalent along the Silk Road. The history of Buddhism in Central Asia is closely related to the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism during the first millennium of the common era .
During this period Buddhism began to spread throughout Southeast, East, and Central Asia. [54] Mahayana, Theravada, and Tibetan Buddhism are the three primary forms of Buddhism that spread across Asia via the Silk Road. [55] The Buddhist movement was the first large-scale missionary movement in the history of world religions.