Decline of Buddhism in India

A steady decline of Buddhism in India set in during the 1st millennium CE in the wake of the White Hun invasion followed by Turk-Mongol raids., though it continued to attract financial and institutional support during the Gupta era (4th to 6th century) and the Pala Empire (8th to 12th century).

The decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent has been attributed to various factors, especially the regionalisation of ancient India after the end of the Gupta empire (320-650 CE), which lead to a competition with Hinduism and Jainism and the loss of patronage and donations; and the conquest and subsequent persecutions by Huns, then Muslim Turks and Persians particularly from the 10th century onwards.

Buddhism largely disappeared from most of India with the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent, surviving in the Himalayan regions and south India.

The total Buddhist population in 2010 in the Indian subcontinent – exclusive of Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan – was about 10 million of which about 7.2% lived in Bangladesh, 92.5% in India and 0.2% in Pakistan.

Buddhism expanded in South Asia in the centuries after the death of the Buddha, particularly after receiving the endorsement and royal support of the Maurya Empire under Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. It spread even beyond the Indian subcontinent to Central Asia and China.

The Buddha's period saw not only urbanisation, but also the beginnings of centralised states. The successful expansion of Buddhism depended on the growing economy of the time, together with increased centralised political organisation capable of change.

Buddhism spread across ancient India and state support by various regional regimes continued through the 1st millennium BCE. The consolidation of monastic organisation made Buddhism the centre of religious and intellectual life in India. Pushyamitra the first ruler of the Shunga Dynasty built great Buddhist topes at Sanchi in 188 BCE. The succeeding Kanva Dynasty had four Buddhist Kanva Kings.

...
Wikipedia