Buddhism, a religion founded by Gautama Buddha, first arrived in modern-day Afghanistan through the conquests of Ashoka, the third emperor of the Maurya Empire. Among the earliest notable sites of Buddhist influence in the country is a bilingual mountainside inscription in Greek and Aramaic that dates back to 260 BCE and was found on the rocky outcrop of Chil Zena near Kandahar.
One of the Buddhas of Bamiyan (destroyed by the Taliban in 2001) photographed at its base in August 1977
Ancient Buddhist cave in Jalalabad, 2009
Mes Aynak Buddhist stupa, 2011
Manuscript fragment of the Buddhist Jatakamala, written in the Sanskrit language in the Gilgit–Bamiyan Type-II Protosarada script (Toyuk); dated to c. 8th century CE, Ethnological Museum of Berlin
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.
Pranidhi scene, temple 9 (Cave 20). Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
Sogdian merchant donors giving to the Buddha. Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
Bust of a bodhisattva from Kucha, 6th-7th century. Musée Guimet.
Blue-eyed Central Asian monk teaching East-Asian monk, Bezeklik, Turfan, eastern Tarim Basin, China, 9th century; the monk on the left is possibly Tocharian, although more likely Sogdian.
