History of Buddhism in India and Tibet

Below are selected works on the general history of Buddhist thought, traditions, and culture. These include social and cultural histories, textual and doctrinal histories, and traditional Tibetan chos ’byung (histories of the Buddhist doctrine).

For a more complete list of relevant resources, click here.

 JABL Subject Headings  |  Related Subject Guides  |  History of Buddhism–General  |   History of Buddhism in India  |   History of Buddhism in Tibet   |  Traditional Histories: Indian and Tibetan Buddhism  |  Key Figures in the History of Tibetan Buddhism

“All forms of Buddhism can welcome historical study as relevant and useful. Buddhist teachings have always told us that impermanence is a great, unalterable fact of our experience and that it is crucial for us to become comfortable with that fact. History is simply the study of how things change and develop, which is to say that history studies changing institutions and ideas. History studies impermanence, including the impermanent characteristic of Buddhist institutions, practices, philosophical systems, and sacred narratives.” –Rita Gross, ‘Why We Need to Know Our Buddhist History’ (Lion’s Roar)

JABL Subject Headings

Related Subject Guides

History of Buddhism—General

  • Gethin, Rupert. 1998. The Foundations of Buddhism. OPUS Series. Oxford University Press. JABL
  • Gombrich, Richard F. 2009. What the Buddha Thought. Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies Monographs. Equinox Publications. JABL
  • Gross, Rita M. 1993. Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, and Reconstruction of Buddhism. State University of New York Press. JABL
  • Harvey, Peter. 1990. An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge University Press. JABL
  • Lopez, Jr., Donald S. 2007. Buddhism in Practice. Princeton Readings in Religions. Princeton University Press. JABL
  • Lopez, Jr., Donald S. 2024. Buddhism: A Journey Through History. Yale University Press. JABL
  • Prebish, Charles S., and Damien Keown. 2010. Introducing Buddhism. Routledge. JABL
  • Skilton, Andrew. 1994. A Concise History of Buddhism. Windhorse Publications. JABL
  • Strong, John. 2002. The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations. Wadsworth Publishing. JABL
  • Tsomo, Karma Lekshe. 2020. Women in Buddhist Traditions. Women in Religions. New York University Press. JABL (coming soon)

History of Buddhism in India

  • Bronkhorst, Johannes. 2009. Buddhist Teaching in India. Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Wisdom Publications. JABL
  • Burnouf, Eugène. (1876) 2010. Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism. Translated by Donald S. Lopez, Jr. and Katia Buffetrille. University of Chicago Press. JABL (coming soon)
  • Collins, Steven. 1990. Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravāda Buddhism. Cambridge University Press. JABL
  • Davidson, Ronald. 2002. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. Columbia University Press. JABL
  • Gombrich, Richard. 2006. Theravāda Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. JABL
  • Lamotte, Étienne. (1958) 1988. History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Śaka Era. Translated by Sara Webb-Boin. Publications de l’Institut Orientaliste de Louvain 36. Université catholique de Louvain, Institut orientaliste. JABL
  • Prebish, Charles S. 1975. Buddhist Monastic Discipline: The Sanskrit Prātimokṣa Sūtras of the Mahāsāṃghikas and Mūlasarvāstivādins. Pennsylvania State University Press. JABL
  • Schopen, Gregory. 2005. Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India: More Collected Papers. University of Hawai’i Press. JABL
  • Williams, Paul, Anthony Tribe, and Alexander Wynne. 2000. Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. 2nd ed. Routledge, Taylor & Francis. JABL

History of Buddhism in Tibet

Modern Works

  • Davidson, Ronald M. 2008. Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture. Motilal Banarsidass. JABL
  • Goldstein, Melvyn, and Matthew Kapstein. 1998. Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity. University of California Press. JABL
  • Kapstein, Matthew T. 2006. The Tibetans. Peoples of Asia. Blackwell. JABL
  • Kapstein, Matthew, Kurtis R. Schaeffer, and Gray Tuttle, eds. 2013. Sources of Tibetan Tradition. Introduction to Asian Civilizations. Columbia University Press. JABL
  • Powers, John. 2007. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism. Snow Lion Publications. JABL
  • Samuel, Geoffrey. 2012. Introducing Tibetan Buddhism. Routledge. JABL
  • Schaeffer, Kurtis R., and Gray Tuttle, eds. 2013. The Tibetan History Reader. Columbia University Press. JABL
  • Snellgrove, David. 1987. Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors. Two. Shambhala Publications. JABL
  • Van Schaik, Sam. 2011. Tibet: A History. Yale University Press. JABL

Traditional Histories: Indian and Tibetan Buddhism

Chos ‘byung (ཆོས་འབྱུང་): a religious history or Dharma history (lit. “Source of the Dharma”); a book on the history and origins of religion, particularly Buddhism.

Important Tibetan authors of Chos ‘byung:

  • Buton Rinchen Drub (1290-1364) བུ་སྟོན་རིན་ཆེན་གྲུབ་ (Bu ston rin chen grub)
  • Go Lotsāwa Zhonnu Pel (1392–1481) འགོས་ལོ་ཙཱ་བ་གཞོན་ནུ་དཔལ། (‘Gos lo tsA ba gzhon nu dpal)
  • Tāranātha (1575-1634) ཏཱ་ར་ནཱ་ཐ་ (TA ra nA tha)

English Translations

  • Bu-ston Rin-chen-grub, and Eugéne Obermiller. (1932) 1998. History of Buddhism (Chos-Ḥbyung). 2 vols. Materialien Zur Kunde Des Buddhismus; Hft. 18, 19; Hft. 18, 19. In kommission bei O. Harrassowitz. Reprint, Sri Satguru Publications. JABL
  • Deyu, and Dan Martin. 2022. A History of Buddhism in India and Tibet: An Expanded Version of the Dharma’s Origins Made by the Learned Scholar Deyu. Vol. 32. Library of Tibetan Classics. Wisdom Publications. JABL
  • Gzhon-nu-dpal, Gos lo-tsa-ba, and George N. Roerich. (1949) 2016. The Blue Annals. Translated by George N. Roerich. 2 vols. Kolkata. Reprint, Motilal Banarsidass. JABL
  • Tāranātha. 1970. Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India. Edited by Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya. Translated by Alaka Chattopadhyaya and Lama Chimpa. Indian Institute of Advanced Study. JABL (archive.org)

Key Figures in the History of Tibetan Buddhism

569 or 617–650

Songtsen Gampo (Srong btsan sgam po)
Considered the first of three great “Dharma kings”; credited with establishing Buddhism as predominant religion in Tibet and with commissioning creation of the Tibetan script

?742–?796

Tri Songdetsen (Khri srong lde btsan)
Considered the second great “Dharma king”; remembered for his patronage of Buddhism and support in founding Samyé monastery

Early–late 8th c.

Padmasambhava (Pad ma ‘byung gnas)
Indian tantric master invited to Tibet by Tri Songdetsen; claimed to have subjugated demons in Tibet; helped found Samyé monastery; introduced important tantric teachings; became central figure in Nyingma tradition

725–788

Śāntarakṣita (Zhi ba ’tsho)
Indian abbot invited to Tibet by Tri Songdetsen; founded Samyé monastery; presided over the ordination of the first Buddhist monks in Tibet

947–1019/1024

Lha Lama Yeshe Wo (Lha bla ma ye shes ’od)
King of Gugé; sent young Tibetans, including Rinchen Zangpo, to study and train in India; invited Atiśa to Tibet

958–1055

Rinchen Zangpo (Rin chen bzang po)
Extremely important translator, responsible for translation of many Buddhist texts during Later Propagation of Buddhism (tenpa chidar)

982–1054

Atiśa Dīpaṃkara (A ti sha Mar me mdzad dpal ye shes; Jo bo rje)
Invited from Vikramaśila monastery-university to Tibet by the Gugé kings; major figure in Later Propagation of Buddhism; inspiration for Kadam tradition; credited with propagation of Lamrim and Lojong teachings

992?–1043/1072

Drokmi Śākya Yeshe (’Brog mi Shāk ya Ye shes)
Translator primarily known for bringing Lamdre teachings to Tibet (basis for Sakya tradition)

1012?–1097

Marpa Lotsāwa (Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros)
Tibetan founder of the Kagyu sect; studied in India with Nāropa and others; propagated Six Doctrines of Nāropa and Mahāmudrā

1034–1102

Khon Konchok Gyelpo (‘Khon dkon mchog rgyal po)
Founder of Sakya tradition; disciple of Drokmi Śākya Yeshe; emphasized Hevajra Tantra

1040–1123

Milarepa (Mi la ras pa)
One of the best-known Tibetan saints; primary figure in formation of Kagyu traditions; model of religious practice for Tibetans, famous for having purified sins of his youth and attaining enlightenment in one lifetime

1079–1153

Gampopa Sonam Rinchen (Sgam po pa Bsod nams rin chen)
Also known as Dakpo Lhaje; credited with founding Kagyu tradition; Kadam monk and disciple of Milarepa

1182–1251

Sakya Paṇḍita Kunga Gyeltsen (Sa skya paṇḍita kun dga’ rgyal mtshan)
Commonly known as Sapaṇ; major scholar of Sakya tradition (esp. logic, epistemology, etc.); one of the greatest savants and religious luminaries in history of Tibetan Buddhism

1292–1361

Dölpopa Shérap Gyeltsen (Dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan)
One of the most influential Buddhist masters in Tibetan history; became important scholar of Sakya tradition, but moved to Jonang Monastery; master of Kālacakra teachings and proponent of “other-emptiness” (zhentong) view

1308–1364

Longchenpa (Klong chen rab ’byams) 
One of the greatest philosophers and authors of Nyingma tradition; brought together disparate strands of Dzogchen teachings; trained in Kadam and Sakya monasteries before receiving Dzogchen Nyingtik transmissions

1357–1419

Tsongkhapa (Tsong kha pa Blo bzang grags pa)
One of the most influential Tibetan Buddhist scholars of the last millennium; studied with teachers of all traditions; developed fresh interpretation of Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka view and reinvigorated monastic traditions; founder of Ganden (Gelug) tradition

 

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