Editing History of India (section)

==== Buddhism and Jainism ====
{{Main|Upanishads|Śramaṇa}}
{{Further|History of Hinduism|History of Buddhism|History of Jainism|Indian religions|Indian philosophy}}
{{multiple image|perrow=1/2|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| title = Upanishads and Śramaṇa movements
| image1 = MS Indic 37, Isa upanisad. Wellcome L0027330.jpg|caption1=A page of ''[[Isha Upanishad]]'' manuscript.
| image2 = Vardhaman Keezhakuyilkudi.jpg|caption2=[[Mahavira]], the 24th and last [[Tirthankara]] of [[Jainism]].
| image3 = Buddha's cremation stupa, Kushinagar.jpg|caption3=[[Gautama Buddha]]'s cremation stupa, [[Kushinagar]] (Kushinara).
}}

The time between 800&nbsp;BCE and 400&nbsp;BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest [[Upanishads]],<ref name="Flood 1996 82">{{cite book|last=Flood|first=Gavin Dennis|author-link=Gavin Flood|title=An Introduction to Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpIWhKnYmF0C&pg=PA82|year=1996|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-43878-0|page=82}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mascaró|first=Juan|author-link=Juan Mascaró|title=The Upanishads|url=https://archive.org/details/upanishads00masc|url-access=registration|year=1965|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|isbn=978-0-14-044163-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/upanishads00masc/page/7 7]–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Olivelle|first=Patrick|author-link=Patrick Olivelle|title=Upaniṣads|year=2008|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-954025-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/upanisads00oliv/page/ xxiv–xxix]|url=https://archive.org/details/upanisads00oliv/page/|url-access=registration}}</ref> which form the theoretical basis of [[Hinduism|classical Hinduism]], and are also known as the ''[[Vedanta]]'' (conclusion of the [[Vedas]]).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Baumann|first1=Martin|editor-last1=Melton|editor-first1=J. Gordon|editor-link2=J. Gordon Melton|editor-last2=Baumann|editor-first2=Martin|encyclopedia=Religions of the World|title=Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&pg=PA1324|access-date=|edition=2nd|year=2010|publisher=[[ABC-Clio]]|volume=3|isbn=978-1-59884-204-3|page=1324}}</ref>

The increasing urbanisation of India in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE led to the rise of new ascetic or "Śramaṇa movements" which challenged the orthodoxy of rituals.<ref name="Flood 1996 82" /> [[Mahavira]] ({{circa}} 599–527&nbsp;BCE), proponent of [[Jainism]], and [[Gautama Buddha]] ({{circa}} 563–483&nbsp;BCE), founder of Buddhism, were the most prominent icons of this movement. Śramaṇa gave rise to the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of [[samsara]], and the concept of liberation.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Olivelle|first1=Patrick|author-link=Patrick Olivelle|editor1-last=Flood|editor1-first=Gavin|editor1-link=Gavin Flood|chapter=The Renouncer Tradition|title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism|year=2003|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-0-631-21535-6|pages=273–274|quote=The second half of the first millennium BC was the period that created many of the ideological and institutional elements that characterise later Indian religions. The renouncer tradition played a central role during this formative period of Indian religious history.&nbsp;... Some of the fundamental values and beliefs that we generally associate with Indian religions in general and Hinduism, in particular, were in part the creation of the renouncer tradition. These include the two pillars of Indian theologies: samsara—the belief that life in this world is one of suffering and subject to repeated deaths and births (rebirth); moksa/nirvana—the goal of human existence ...}}</ref> Buddha found a [[Middle Way]] that ameliorated the extreme [[asceticism]] found in the ''[[Śramaṇa]]'' religions.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Laumakis|first1=Stephen|title=An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy|year=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-511-38589-6|page=4}}</ref>

Around the same time, [[Mahavira]] (the 24th ''[[Tirthankara]]'' in Jainism) propagated a theology that was to later become Jainism.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fisher|first1=Mary Pat|author-link=Mary Pat Fisher|title=Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780205835874/page/121/mode/1up|url-access=registration|year=2011|orig-year=First published 1991|publisher=Prentice Hall|edition=8th|isbn=978-0-205-83585-0|page=121|quote=Jainism's major teacher for this age is Mahavira ... was a contemporary of the Buddha and died approximately 527 BCE.}}</ref> However, Jain orthodoxy believes the teachings of the ''Tirthankaras'' predates all known time and scholars believe [[Parshvanatha]] (c. 872 – c. 772&nbsp;BCE), accorded status as the 23rd ''Tirthankara'', was a historical figure. The Vedas are believed to have documented a few ''Tirthankaras'' and an ascetic order similar to the ''Śramaṇa'' movement.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fisher|first1=Mary Pat|author-link=Mary Pat Fisher|title=Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780205835874/page/122/mode/1up|url-access=registration|year=2011|orig-year=First published 1991|publisher=Prentice Hall|edition=8th|isbn=978-0-205-83585-0|page=122|quote=The extreme antiquity of Jainism as a non-Vedic, indigenous Indian religion is well documented. Ancient Hindu and Buddhist scriptures refer to Jainism as an existing tradition which began long before Mahavira.}}</ref>