Editing The Buddha (section)

===Dating===
The dates of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Within the Eastern Buddhist tradition of China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan, the traditional date for Buddha's death was 949 BCE,{{sfnp|Cousins|1996|pp=57–63}} but according to the Ka-tan system of the [[Kalachakra]] tradition, Buddha's death was about 833 BCE.<ref>Das, Sarat Chandra (1882). ''Contributions on the Religion and History of Tibet''. First published in: ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'', Vol. LI. Reprint: Manjushri Publishing House, Delhi. 1970, pp. 81–82 footnote 6.</ref>

Buddhist texts present two chronologies which have been used to date the lifetime of the Buddha.{{sfnp|Reynolds|Hallisey|2005|p=1061}} The "long chronology", from Sri Lankese chronicles, states the Buddha had a lifespan of 80 years and died 218 years before [[Asoka]]'s coronation, thus from which it is inferred that he was born about 298 years before the coronation. According to these chronicles, Asoka was crowned in 326 BCE, which gives Buddha's lifespan as 624–544 BCE, and are the accepted dates in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia.{{sfnp|Reynolds|Hallisey|2005|p=1061}} Alternatively, most scholars who also accept the long chronology but date Asoka's coronation around 268 BCE (based on Greek evidence) put the Buddha's lifespan later at 566–486 BCE.{{sfnp|Reynolds|Hallisey|2005|p=1061}}

However, the "short chronology", from Indian sources and their Chinese and Tibetan translations, while also giving a lifespan of 80 years, place the Buddha's death 100 years before Asoka's coronation, from which his birth is inferred at about 180 years before the coronation. Following the Greek sources of Asoka's coronation as 268 BCE, this dates the Buddha's lifespan even later as 448–368 BCE.{{sfnp|Reynolds|Hallisey|2005|p=1061}}

Most historians in the early 20th century use the earlier dates of 563–483 BCE, differing from the long chronology based on Greek evidence by just three years.{{sfnp|Cousins|1996|pp=57–63}}{{sfnp|Schumann|2003|pp=10–13}} More recently, there are attempts to put his death midway between the long chronology's 480s BCE and the short chronology's 360s BCE, so circa 410 BCE. At a symposium on this question held in 1988,{{sfnp|Bechert 1991–1997|loc={{full citation needed|date=March 2021}}}}{{sfnp|Ruegg|1999|pp=82–87}}{{sfnp|Narain|1993|pp=187–201}} the majority of those who presented gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death.{{sfnp|Cousins|1996|pp=57–63}}{{sfnp|Prebish|2008|p=2}}{{efn|name="dating"|
* 411–400: {{harvp|Dundas|2002|p=24}}: "...as is now almost universally accepted by informed Indological scholarship, a re-examination of early Buddhist historical material, [...], necessitates a redating of the Buddha's death to between 411 and 400 BCE..."
* 405: Richard Gombrich{{sfnp|Gombrich|1992}}{{sfnp|Narain|1993|pp=187–201}}{{sfnp|Gombrich|2000}}
* Around 400: See the consensus in the essays by leading scholars in {{harvp|Narain|2003}}.
* According to Pali scholar [[K. R. Norman]], a life span for the Buddha of {{circa|480}} to 400 BCE (and his teaching period roughly from {{circa|445}} to 400 BCE) "fits the archaeological evidence better".{{sfnp|Norman|1997|p=39}} See also [https://web.archive.org/web/20150903184503/http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic138396.files/Buddha-Dates.pdf Notes on the Dates of the Buddha Íåkyamuni].
* Indologist [[Michael Witzel]] provides a "revised" dating of 460–380 BCE for the lifetime of the Buddha.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Witzel|first=Michael|date=2019|title=Early 'Aryans' and their neighbors outside and inside India |journal=Journal of Biosciences|volume=44|issue=3|page=58|doi=10.1007/s12038-019-9881-7|pmid=31389347|s2cid=195804491|issn=0973-7138}}</ref>}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eiland |first=Murray |date=2020 |others=Interview with Richard Gombrich |title=What the Buddha Thought |url=https://www.academia.edu/89897129 |journal=Antiqvvs |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=42 |access-date=26 December 2022 |archive-date=26 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226231659/https://www.academia.edu/89897129/What_the_Buddha_Thought_Antiqvvs_3_1_41_45_2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> These alternative chronologies, however, have not been accepted by all historians.{{sfnp|Schumann|2003|p=xv}}{{sfnp|Wayman|1997|pp=37–58}}{{efn|In 2013, archaeologist Robert Coningham found the remains of a ''Bodhigara'', a tree shrine, dated to 550 BCE at the [[Maya Devi Temple, Lumbini]], speculating that it may be a Buddhist shrine. If so, this may push back the Buddha's birth date.<ref name="natgeo" /> Archaeologists caution that the shrine may represent pre-Buddhist tree worship, and that further research is needed.<ref name="natgeo">{{cite web |url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131125-buddha-birth-nepal-archaeology-science-lumbini-religion-history/ |title = Oldest Buddhist Shrine Uncovered In Nepal May Push Back the Buddha's Birth Date |last = Vergano |first = Dan |date = 25 November 2013 |publisher = [[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]] |access-date = 26 November 2013 |archive-date = 26 November 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131126002035/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131125-buddha-birth-nepal-archaeology-science-lumbini-religion-history/ |url-status = dead }}</ref><br />Richard Gombrich has dismissed Coningham's speculations as "a fantasy", noting that Coningham lacks the necessary expertise on the history of early Buddhism.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2013}}<br />[[Geoffrey Samuel]] notes that several locations of both early Buddhism and Jainism are closely related to [[Yaksha]]-worship, that several Yakshas were "converted" to Buddhism, a well-known example being [[Vajrapani]],<ref>{{Citation |last=Tan |first=Piya |url = http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/21.3-Ambattha-S-d3-piya.pdf |title = Ambaṭṭha Sutta. Theme: Religious arrogance versus spiritual openness |publisher = Dharma farer |date = 21 December 2009 |access-date = 22 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160109050828/http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/21.3-Ambattha-S-d3-piya.pdf |archive-date = 9 January 2016 }}</ref> and that several Yaksha-shrines, where trees were worshipped, were converted into Buddhist holy places.{{sfnp|Samuel|2010|pp=140–152}}}}

The dating of Bimbisara and Ajatashatru also depends on the long or short chronology. In the long chrononology, Bimbisara reigned {{circa|558|492 BCE}}, and died 492 BCE,{{sfnp|Rawlinson|1950|p=46}}{{sfnp|Muller|2001|p=xlvii}} while Ajatashatru reigned {{circa|492|460 BCE}}.{{sfn|Sharma|2006}} In the short chronology Bimbisara reigned {{circa|400 BCE}},{{sfnp|Keay|2011}}{{efn|{{harvnb|Keay|2011}}: "The date [of Buddha's meeting with Bimbisara] (given the Buddhist 'short chronology') must have been around 400 BCE[...] He was now in the middle of his reign."}} while Ajatashatru died between {{circa|380 BCE}} and 330 BCE.{{sfnp|Keay|2011}} According to historian [[K. T. S. Sarao]], a proponent of the Short Chronology wherein the Buddha's lifespan was {{circa|477–397 BCE}}, it can be estimated that Bimbisara was reigning {{circa|457–405 BCE}}, and Ajatashatru was reigning {{circa|405–373 BCE}}.<ref>{{citation |last=Sarao |first=K. T. S. |title= The Ācariyaparamparā and Date of the Buddha. |journal=Indian Historical Review |volume=30 |issue=1–2 |year=2003 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.1177/037698360303000201 |s2cid=141897826 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/037698360303000201}}</ref>