100 AD - The 4th Buddhist Council held in Kashmir in 100 AD during the time of Kushan King Kanishka is supposed to be a turning point in the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia
Jammu and Kashmir
100 AD - The 4th Buddhist Council held in Kashmir in 100 AD during the time of Kushan King Kanishka is supposed to be a turning point in the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia. The Council was held somewhere near Harwan in Srinagar and 500 Bhikkus led by Vasumitra attended it.
Kanishka was a king of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia, ruling an empire extending from Bactria to large parts of northern India in the 2nd century of the common era, and famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements.
His main capital was at Purushpura (Peshawar in present day northwestern Pakistan) with regional capitals at the location of the modern city of Taxila in Pakistan, Begram in Afghanistan and Mathura in India.
Kanishka was a Kushan of Yuezhi ethnicity. He probably spoke an Indo-European language related to Tocharian, and he used the Greek script in his inscriptions.
Kanishka was the successor of Vima Kadphises, demonstrated by an impressive geneaology of the Kushan kings, known as the Rabatak inscription. A significant amount of what is known about Kanishka was preserved because of his spiritual merit and the Buddhist religious tradition. Along with the Indian king Ashoka, the Indo-Greek king Menander I (Milinda), and Harshavardhan, he is considered one of the greatest Buddhist kings.
In spite of the acknowledged dominance of the Kushana empire during his reign, until recently scholars have not been able to agree on the period of his reign. There have been three conferences to resolve this date. In recent years the debate has focused around the relatively narrow period between AD 100 and AD144 as the likely date of ascension. Though recent discoveries have claimed to put the solution beyond doubt a full discussion is quite complex.
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