The Date of the Historical Śākyamuni Buddha

The volume begins with the editor’s preface, which explains the importance of the Buddha’s date for Buddhist history, Indian civilization, and the chronology of ancient Asia. It notes that many Buddhists traditionally accept 543 B.C. as the date connected with Buddha Jayanti, while many modern reference works place the Buddha around 480 B.C. The book then presents a series of specialized studies. The first essay examines the antiquity of sites associated with the Buddha, such as Śrāvastī, Kauśāmbī, Sarnath, Varanasi, Rājagṛha, Vaiśālī, Kapilavastu, Bodhgayā, and Kuśinagara. Other chapters discuss the Buddha’s date according to Kālacakra mythology, the nirvāṇa of Mahāvīra, linguistic evidence, archaeological evidence, Magadhan chronology, the dotted record, the vivāsaṃ of Aśoka, and broader issues surrounding the date of Nirvāṇa. Overall, the book provides a multi-disciplinary reassessment of the chronological problem rather than a single doctrinal conclusion.