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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Write what you know of the rise and spread of Buddhism before the first century A.D.

  • UPSC 2007
  • Period of Mahajanapadas

Buddhism's trajectory across roughly five centuries — from a wandering ascetic's teaching in the republican clans of the Gangetic belt to a religion with missions reaching Sri Lanka, Central Asia and the Hellenistic world — was never purely a story of doctrine. It was equally a story of institutions: a socially inclusive Sangha, sustained royal…

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What the full answer covers

  • Origins: The Buddha and the First Sermon
  • The Sangha: An Institutional Vehicle
  • Royal Patronage and the First Two Councils
  • Ashoka and the Missionary Turn
  • Toward the Turn of the Era

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