Lotus from the West: The Iranian Roots of Buddhism

An early biography of the Buddha tells of two brothers, Tapassu and Bhallika, merchants who traveled to India from their northern homeland in Bactria. They offered food to the Buddha immediately following his awakening, becoming his first lay followers. According to tradition, Bhallika later established a monastery and a stupa near the city of Balkh in modern-day Afghanistan, which has borne his name ever since.

The brothers Tapassu and Bhallika before Shakyamuni Buddha.

Whether this story is historical fact or pious legend, the tradition points to the path Buddhist teachings took as they spread from the Indian subcontinent into the heart of Asia.

The peoples of Central Asia during this era—most of whom were Iranian—were among the first to embrace Buddhist doctrine as it began its northward expansion.

By the first century CE, the Iranian sphere extended far beyond the borders of modern Iran, encompassing most of Central Asia. This region was defined by an ethnic, linguistic, and cultural distribution that persisted until the arrival of nomadic Turkic peoples, who eventually displaced the earlier Iranian element—a process not completed until the eleventh century.

Greater Iran.

The ancient Iranian world can be divided into several distinct regions. The first is Western Iran, comprising the modern Islamic Republic of Iran, which served as the cradle of the great Achaemenid and Sassanid Persian dynasties. This area was also part of the Parthian Empire, which originated in the eastern reaches of the Iranian world.

The second region is Bactria, stretching between the Hindu Kush mountains to the south and the Amu Darya (Oxus) river to the north. Today divided among the Central Asian republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, this region was a pivotal center during the Hellenistic occupation and, subsequently, under the Kushan Empire.

A third region is Sogdia, located north of Bactria between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya (Jaxartes) rivers, mostly within modern Uzbekistan. These areas were vital commercial hubs on the Eurasian road network, sustaining a sophisticated trade web that proved fertile ground for the transmission of knowledge and ideas.

The fourth region is the Tarim Basin, located almost entirely within the modern Chinese province of Xinjiang. This represents the eastern edge of the historical Iranian sphere and the limit of Iranian linguistic influence. Situated on the most convenient route between western Eurasia and China proper, the area became a major Buddhist center between the third and tenth centuries, serving as a base for merchants from diverse cultures.

No region is culturally homogeneous, and there is no such thing as a "pure culture"; this is particularly true of Central Asia. As a pivot point between the three great civilizations of Asia—Indian, Chinese, and Persian—the region facilitated centuries of contact. These encounters produced a medley of linguistic, ideological, and artistic influences so tightly woven that separating them by origin is a difficult, often impossible, task.

During the third century BCE, a shift occurred that changed the course of Asian history. Buddhist doctrine, which had previously been part of the internal Indian tapestry of beliefs, transcended the borders of Indian civilization to become a world religion.

The theological developments and socio-political catalysts behind this shift are complex, but the process peaked with the rise of Ashoka, the third emperor of the Mauryan Empire (322–185 BCE). Ashoka is remembered for the brutal wars he waged before embracing the Buddha's teachings.

King Ashoka, before his adoption of the Dharma.

In one of his royal edicts, Ashoka declares that he sent emissaries to the Kambojas, an Iranian people, as well as to the Greeks. Ashokan inscriptions in Aramaic and Greek found in southern Afghanistan support this, proving that Buddhism had reached the region by the third century BCE.

The first documented expansion of Buddhism beyond India’s cultural borders thus occurred during the Mauryan dynasty, moving primarily into the northwestern region of Gandhara. In its broadest sense, Gandhara encompassed the area from the Bamiyan Valley in modern Afghanistan—home to the colossal Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban—to northeastern Pakistan.

At the start of the first century CE, a branch of the Scythians—a nomadic Iranian people known in Chinese sources as the Yuezhi—established themselves as the dominant power. The empire they founded, the Kushan Kingdom, stretched from the Tarim Basin through Bactria and Gandhara, deep into northern India. This bridge between the Indian and Central Asian spheres allowed for the free movement of people, goods, and ideas, facilitating the northward spread of the Dharma.

To a large extent, the prosperity of Buddhism in Central Asia depended on two factors: commercial wealth and state patronage. Both flourished under the Kushans.

It is unclear how deeply Buddhism took root among the Kushan elite; nomads are rarely inclined toward long periods of sitting cross-legged in meditation. Their support for the Buddhist community likely stemmed from a need for political legitimacy among their diverse subjects. Nevertheless, their patronage was decisive; they funded the construction of stupas, learning centers, and monasteries, some of which were named after the patron kings.

The scale of the Kushan Empire fostered the first golden age of the Silk Road, connecting China to the Roman Empire and India. The nerve center of this commercial network was Bactria, the heart of the Kushan realm.

The Kushan Empire. First Century CE.

Buddhist centers in Central Asia:

Gandhara.

The Buddhist centers in Gandhara were the first to develop outside India proper, beginning under the Mauryans and Hellenistic kings and peaking during the Kushan period. They flourished until the eighth century, eventually yielding to the rise of Islam and a Hindu revival. While Gandhara remained within the Indian sphere of influence, its unique cultural climate absorbed external influences, serving as a vital link in the evolution of Central Asian Buddhism.

Bactria.

Bactria, or Tokharistan, stretching between the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya, became a major Buddhist hub under the Kushans. After the Kushans fell in the third century, the region was conquered by the Sassanids and later, in the fifth century, by nomadic Iranian tribes often identified as Huns. The original inhabitants were Iranians who spoke Bactrian, an Eastern Iranian language written in Greek script from the first century onward.

Buddhism continued to thrive in Bactria long after the Kushans vanished. Under the Hephthalite Huns, another Iranian people, new institutions were established, such as Ajina Tepe, and the great Buddhas of Bamiyan were carved. The famous Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang reported ten monasteries in Termez housing a thousand monks, as well as three thousand Mahayana monks in Balkh and three hundred Sarvastivada monks in Ghaz.

Buddhism was never the exclusive religion of Bactria, but it enjoyed immense popularity. An eighth-century Bactrian document written by a Zoroastrian notes that a land purchaser retained the right to convert a property into a fire temple, a vihara (monastery), a dakhma (a Zoroastrian 'Tower of Silence'), or a crematorium.

A Zoroastrian Tower of Silence in Iran.

Bactria’s primary importance lay in its role as a gateway, disseminating Buddhism to the Sogdian merchant class, the Tarim Basin, and eventually China.

Chinese sources mention monks bearing the surname Zhi, indicating Kushan origin. Among them was Lokakṣema (Zhī Chèn), who in the second century became the first to translate Mahayana texts into Chinese. Though born in Gandhara, his heritage was likely Bactrian. He is credited with translating the Prajñāpāramitā Sutra and the Pratyutpanna Sutra, which contains the earliest mention of Amitabha Buddha and the Pure Land.

Parthia.

The extent of Buddhism’s westward penetration remains a subject of debate, as archaeological evidence in the western Iranian world is sparse. Centuries of natural decay and intentional destruction, combined with the difficulty of conducting surveys in certain areas, have left the status of Buddhism there ambiguous.

This research gap exists because no Parthian translations of Buddhist scriptures have been found, nor have major Buddhist centers been uncovered within the Parthian heartland. Conversely, Chinese records mention Parthia as having a Buddhist tradition and list monks of Parthian origin active in China. This suggests one of two things: either these monks were educated abroad in Bactria or India, or a significant Buddhist presence in Parthia was erased by the anti-Buddhist Sassanids and the subsequent Islamic conquest.

Chinese sources refer to Parthia as An Shi, after the ruling Arsacid dynasty. Monks with the surname An appear in Chinese records from the second century CE, the most famous being An Shigao.

From an Iranian noble house to the monasteries of China: An Shigao.

Shigao was a Parthian aristocrat, possibly of royal blood. In 148 CE, he arrived in Luoyang, the Han capital, where he launched a massive translation project. He oversaw the translation of some 170 works focusing on basic doctrine, Abhidharma, and meditation. Notably, none of his translations were Mahayana; they were rooted in the Agamas of the Sanskrit canon. Shigao established a school where Parthian, Sogdian, Scythian, and Indian monks worked together to adapt these texts for a Chinese audience.

While the status of Buddhism in western Iran remains obscure, An Shigao’s noble background hints at a Buddhist presence among the Parthian elite. Isolated findings in modern Turkmenistan—likely the remains of monasteries and stupas—suggest an institutionalized presence during the early centuries CE. Future archaeology may yet clarify the Parthian Buddhist legacy.

The Tarim Basin.

The Tarim Basin, a vast expanse including the Taklamakan Desert and its fringe oases, was a crucial transit zone for Eurasian trade. This geography fostered isolated yet interconnected communities linked by faith and commerce. The Tarim is perhaps the most vital region for the history of Iranian Buddhism, serving as the primary conduit for the Dharma’s journey from India to East Asia.

The most important city in the southern Tarim was Khotan, which grew wealthy on the trade of silk and jade. Local legend attributes the city's founding to Emperor Ashoka—a claim reflecting the significant Indian population that lived there alongside the Iranian Saka.

An Iranian monk (?) on the right. Mural from Xinjiang, China.

Tibetan sources date Buddhism’s arrival in Khotan to 84 BCE, but the basin only became a major center in the second century CE. Han dynasty military and agricultural expansion led to a population surge, particularly from the Kushan Empire. Chinese irrigation technology allowed oases to support larger populations and permanent religious institutions. Monks who once merely passed through on their way to China began to settle, building the monasteries and temples that lined the trade routes.

In the northern basin, the city of Kucha peaked between the sixth and ninth centuries as the region's most populous hub. It was a cosmopolitan center, home to Iranians, Tocharians, and Indians.

Xuanzang described Kucha as a wealthy, fertile city perfectly positioned on the caravan routes. He noted roughly a hundred monasteries housing over five thousand monks of the Sarvastivada school, who studied Buddhist scriptures in their original Sanskrit.

Kucha’s most famous son was Kumārajīva (344–413), a titan of early Chinese Buddhism. Born to a Kashmiri Brahmin father and a local mother, he was initially trained in the Sarvastivada tradition before turning toward Mahayana. His monumental translation project included the Diamond and Lotus sutras, Nagarjuna’s Root Verses on the Middle Way, and the Vimalakīrti Sūtra.

Kumārajīva.

The importance of the Tarim Basin is beyond doubt. City-states like Kucha and Khotan were intellectual powerhouses that shaped the character of Chinese Buddhism. This was also the last stronghold of Buddhism among Iranian peoples, persisting until Turkification and Islamization led to its disappearance by the tenth century.

Sogdia.

Sogdia, stretching between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, was the home of the Sogdians, an Eastern Iranian people who managed a network of autonomous city-states. They dominated Eurasian trade from the sixth to the eighth centuries. Buddhism likely reached Sogdia under the Kushans, coexisting with Zoroastrianism, Hellenistic cults, and Indian faiths like Jainism. The Sogdians left behind a rich material culture, most notably the stunning murals found in the homes of their merchant elite.

Sogdian mural. Panjikent, Tajikistan.

Buddhism was never particularly popular in the Sogdian heartland. Xuanzang recounted that when he arrived in Samarkand, he found two abandoned monasteries; when his followers tried to pray in one, they were attacked by local Zoroastrians.

However, biographies and travelogues suggest that Buddhism flourished in the Sogdian diaspora—the merchant colonies that dotted the trade routes from Central Asia to China.

Chinese sources refer to Sogdia as Kangju. While scholars once debated this, most now agree the description fits the Sogdian state. Consequently, the many foreign monks in China bearing the surname Kang were Sogdian Buddhists who played a decisive role in planting the Dharma in Chinese soil.

The earliest evidence of Sogdian activity in China dates to the fifth century under the Northern Wei. Sources testify to thousands of Sogdian settlers in colonies across northwestern China and the Tarim Basin, where they were welcomed for their skills in trade and agriculture.

Monks with the surname Kang appear in Chinese records as early as the second century CE, and their biographies allow us to trace their Sogdian roots with confidence.

Among these was Kang Senghui, a pioneer of Buddhism in southern China. Born in Vietnam in 222 to a Sogdian merchant family, he joined a monastery after his parents' death. He translated fourteen sutras and was a renowned master of Sanskrit chanting. His preface to the Ānāpānasmṛti Sūtra offers a clear guide to quieting the mind; the breath-counting meditation he taught became a cornerstone of southern Chinese Buddhism.

A Sogdian meditation expert: Kang Senghui.

Thus, Sogdian monks were instrumental in establishing Chinese Buddhism, contributing technical meditation manuals alongside a vast corpus of Mahayana and Hinayana texts.

An analysis of the texts brought by Sogdian Buddhists reveals a mix of Mahayana and Hinayana (mostly Agamas) works, as well as Prajñāpāramitā literature and the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya—consistent with the texts common in Bactria and Parthia.

Buddhist schools in Central Asia.

Studying the Buddhist schools of the Iranian sphere is both vital and difficult. These schools were the essential link in the transmission of Buddhist thought to Tibet, China, and East Asia, shaping the doctrine as we know it today.

Yet, as with much of Central Asia’s heritage, the disappearance of Buddhism led to the destruction of the physical evidence needed to understand its religious culture. We are forced to rely on Chinese records, pilgrim accounts, and archaeological finds—specifically textual ones.

Fortunately, the extreme continental climate of Inner Asia—with its dry, hot summers—preserved ancient scriptures written on organic materials like palm leaves, birch bark, and parchment. Uncovered since the early twentieth century, these manuscripts shed light on the creative output of the region. The Kushan-era collection from the Bamiyan Valley, the oldest Buddhist manuscripts in existence, offers a glimpse of the Dharma just as it left the Indian subcontinent. Written in Ghandari using Kharosthi or Brahmi scripts, they allow us to partially reconstruct the doctrines of the age.

A medium for writing sutras: Birch bark.

Among the Bamiyan finds are a Sarvastivada Abhidharma work, Vinaya fragments of the Mahāsāṃghika, and parts of the Sanskrit Saṃyukta-āgama.

Another impressive cache was found in Gilgit, Pakistan, dating to the sixth and seventh centuries. This collection contains both Hinayana and Mahayana fragments, including the Lotus and Diamond sutras alongside the Mūlasarvāstivāda Abhidharmapitaka.

A fragment of a sutra on a palm leaf. Gilgit, Pakistan.

These sources confirm that the Mahāsāṃghika, Dharmaguptaka, and Sarvastivada schools were active in Gandhara and Bactria during the first centuries CE. By the late Kushan period, the Sāṃmatiya school also appeared. During this era, the line between Mahayana and Hinayana was blurry; monks from both traditions often lived and studied together in the same monasteries.

The Sarvastivada school achieved the widest distribution, from Parthia to the Tarim. The first evidence of their activity appears in first-century BCE inscriptions by Iranian Saka rulers in Taxila, commemorating land grants for cave monasteries. Further evidence comes from the Kushan ruler Kanishka, who built massive stupas in Peshawar dedicated to the order.

A doctrinal split eventually occurred within the Sarvastivada. A faction in Kashmir enjoyed Kushan royal support, while a second faction in Bactria and Gandhara opposed the Kashmiri approach on philosophical and ethical grounds. As Kushan power waned, the Kashmiri current faded, and its rival—renamed the Mūlasarvāstivāda—became dominant between the seventh and ninth centuries. Their monastic codes and Agamas were later translated into Tibetan, profoundly influencing Buddhism on the plateau.

Chinese chronicles provide further insight. In the seventh century, Xuanzang reported a thousand monks in Termez. A century later, the Korean monk Hyecho noted that the king and nobles of the region still worshipped the "Three Jewels," though most were followers of the Hinayana school.

The reconstructed stupa in Termez, Uzbekistan.

Missionary activity in China seems to have unfolded in three stages: first led by the Dharmaguptaka, followed by the Sarvastivada, and finally the Mūlasarvāstivāda. This progression is supported by textual finds in Khotanese, Sogdian, and Tocharian throughout Central Asia.

Local Culture:

Buddhism is inherently universal and tends to adapt to local sensibilities. Just as it had to reconcile with ancestor worship in China, it had to navigate the Iranian religious landscape, which shared ancient roots with India’s Vedic traditions.

One challenge was linguistic. In Indian culture, "Deva" refers to a positive celestial being; in Iranian culture, it refers to a demon. Consequently, texts intended for Iranians replaced "Deva" with epithets like Baga ("distributor of good") or Yazata ("worthy of worship").

For instance, in the Aramaic versions of Ashoka’s Gandhara inscriptions, his title Devanampriya ("Beloved of the Gods") was rendered as a title equivalent to Baga. This use of Aramaic—the Achaemenid lingua franca—demonstrates a deliberate effort to respect Iranian sensibilities.

Another example is the concept of "good," which is central to Zoroastrian dualism. Zoroastrianism emphasizes the eternal struggle between good and evil, urging the faithful to spread the former and eradicate the latter.

The eternal struggle between good and evil: Zoroastrianism.

Ashoka’s inscriptions consciously use the Iranian prefix Hu- (good) for central concepts. "Dharma" becomes Hunistavan ("good order"), and "obedience" (Susrusa) becomes Hupatyasti ("good obedience"). The Aramaic translations explicitly frame Ashoka’s actions as a mission to spread good and destroy evil—a framing that clearly appeals to the Iranian worldview of his northern subjects.

Khotanese literature (3rd–10th centuries) shows a similar integration. While using Indian terminology, it frequently swaps "Deva" for the Iranian "Gyasta," a term related to the Avestan "Yazata."

In the "Book of Zambasta," a lyrical work from Kucha, the term Data ("law") replaces "Dharma." This word eventually entered Hebrew as *dat* (religion) and English as *data*.

It appears in terms like Buddha-Datu and Datu-Mahayana, paralleling the Zoroastrian Ahura-Datu (referring to the god Ahura Mazda).

Some authors describe the fruits of the Buddhist path as "Phara," an Avestan term for luck or divine grace (later the Sassanid "Phar Azadi"). In other texts, the sacred Mount Sumeru is replaced by Mount Tairya Haraysa from Iranian cosmology.

Yet Buddhists were also critical of Iranian customs that clashed with their ethics. One such target was incest. Marriage between immediate family members (khvaetvadatha) was encouraged by Zoroastrian priests as a religious merit. The Sarvastivada Abhidharma explicitly condemns the "barbarian Magi" for having relations with their mothers and sisters, viewing it as a lack of moral restraint. Writers like Bhavyaviveka and Xuanzang also remarked negatively on these sexual customs.

Criticism was also leveled at animal sacrifice and the Zoroastrian practice of killing "evil" creatures (Khrafstra), such as snakes and ants, which Iranians considered a pious act.

The degree to which contact with Iranians influenced the development of Mahayana is still debated. Locating the exact historical and theological origins of Mahayana is difficult, as its roots likely lie both within and beyond the Indian subcontinent.

A central Mahayana element is the Bodhisattva—a being who postpones Nirvana to help others. Some scholars argue this shift toward a more inclusive, devotional path was an internal monastic development; others see it as a response to the needs of non-monastic communities in Central Asia.

Mahayana development: The Bodhisattva.

It has been suggested that certain Mahayana ideas arose from the need to proselytize among Central Asians, or even through contact with early Christianity.

The current consensus is that the Bodhisattva as an object of worship is rooted in Indian Bhakti (devotion). However, the sociological expansion of the ideal may well have been accelerated by external influences.

Even if the foundations are Indian, the mythological aspects of Mahayana likely owe much to the Iranian world. The figure of Maitreya, the future Buddha, bears a striking resemblance to the Iranian Saoshyant, who will lead the pure into an era of eternal peace. This messianic idea of a divine figure perfecting the human condition also influenced Judaism and its offshoots.

Some scholars argue that Amitabha Buddha and the Pure Land also have Iranian roots. They suggest that Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta are incarnations of Iranian entities representing light and infinite wisdom. Supporting this is the fact that Maitreya has little artistic or textual presence outside Iranian-influenced areas during this period; his appearance in Southeast Asia occurs much later.

The Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī). Tibetan painting from the eighteenth century.

Because of its cosmopolitan nature, Buddhist culture was a chameleon, adapting its art, architecture, and ritual to every region it touched.

Iranian Buddhism developed a distinct character, blending Indian traditions with local building styles and aesthetics. While the scarcity of sources makes it hard to reconstruct daily life, the external forms of this culture remain visible.

Architecture.

Buddhist architecture served both the ritual needs of the faithful and the practical requirements of the monastic community.

Across Central Asia—from Pakistan to Xinjiang—we see Indian architectural forms adapted to local traditions.

The most notable change occurred in the stupa. Originally a rounded dome on a rounded base intended to house relics, the stupa began as a variation of the Indian royal tomb.

Symbolically, the stupa represented the cosmos; practically, it was a focus for pilgrimage and ritual circumambulation.

In Central Asia, the stupa evolved from the simple Indian dome into a variety of shapes. The most significant shift was the transition to a square base, a development seen in sixth-century Gandhara. This pattern spread along the Silk Road and likely influenced the Tibetan stupa.

A stupa with a square base. Kashgar, Xinjiang, China.

The source for this square design likely lies in Sassanid Persian architecture, particularly the monumental fire temples and palaces.

Iranian influence also appears in monastery construction. The Eyvān—a rectangular, arched gateway—was integrated into domed complexes with bilateral symmetry. This distinctly Iranian element is found in Sassanid ruins and Central Asian monasteries like Ajina Tepe and Kara Tepe.

Other Iranian touches include four-stepped cornices on building facades, a Parthian and Sassanid tradition that eventually appeared in the stone stupas of Northern Liang in fifth-century China.

Furthermore, the cave monasteries of Bamiyan often feature squinch arches—support structures for domes—that originated in Western Iran before spreading to both Central Asian Buddhist sites and early Christian churches in Europe.

The Buddhist art of Bactria and Gandhara is a landmark in art history, representing the first meeting of Hellenistic and Iranian aesthetics with Indian religious ideals. These regions produced the first human representations of the Buddha.

Developing under the Hellenistic kings and the Kushans, this style used stone and stucco to create realistic scenes. During the Kushan era, Iranian elements like the circular halo (nimbus)—a Persian motif dating back to the Achaemenids—became standard in Buddhist iconography.

A masterpiece of cultural integration: The Gandharan school.

This style eventually spread to Kashmir, Tibet, and East Asia, serving as a powerful visual language for the dissemination of the Dharma.

The phrase "Iranian Buddhism" may sound artificial today, but it represents centuries of a living tradition. Iranian peoples conceived, analyzed, and practiced the Dharma in their own languages, contributing significantly to its evolution.

Buddhism entered the Iranian world at the turn of the millennium, becoming part of a syncretic tapestry of beliefs. It flourished in Gandhara, Bactria, and the Tarim Basin, where schools like the Sarvastivada and the nascent Mahayana movement took root. These centers thrived on trade and state patronage, gradually developing a local flavor in art and architecture. While Indian languages remained liturgical, original works were written in Bactrian and Khotanese, often reflecting Iranian cultural premises.

Iranian monks were the first missionaries and translators in China, a role that proved decisive in planting the seeds of a faith that would define the history of East Asia.

The end of Iranian Buddhism came with the Muslim conquest. Persecution and the loss of institutional support led to its final extinction by the eleventh century.

Due to the ravages of time and the linguistic hurdles of the field, many details of this history remain lost. One can only hope that future archaeological discoveries will further illuminate this vast, vanished Buddhist culture.