Essay --

Religions of India India is the second largest populated country in the world, and for being only the seventh largest country India populates over 1.2 billion people. Holding 1/7th of the world’s population, India has quickly become the largest populous country in the world. India therefore is home to many different religions with the most popular including: Buddhism, Jainism and Islam. The development of these three religions has shaped India into a wonderful multi-cultural nation. Buddhism is now considered a world religion, with excess of over 708 million followers. Buddha, which can also be translated to the enlightened one, was known as a man named Gautama Sidhatha, and was Son of Suddhodana. He lived in a small village on the border of India and Nepal around the time period of 563 BCE. The facts and knowledge of Buddha’s life is represented in a book known as Book of Great Decease. This book was written about 200 years after Buddha’s death and has been passed down over ma ny generations. The Book of Great Decease was written with both fact and fiction mixed together. When his mother became pregnant she experienced a dream where an elephant and a lotus flower were lying by her side. She had this dream interpreted and the results came back explaining that she was to have a baby boy and that he would become a universal emperor or a universal teacher. As a child Buddha grew up learning all of the skills appropriate for a prince and later became a Kshatriya. Gautama (Buddha) showed off his excellent skills and qualities including his intelligence and strength. He later married but his father, however, was concerned that he would not become a universal teacher if he underwent any kind of misery. Gautama led a normal life but o... ...gious freedom to all Hindus and Buddhists under his control.† This source signifies that the Muslim invasion was not one of making people convert, it was a decision that people could make if they chose. Nothing was forced upon the people of India. As a result the spread for Islam throughout India happened very quickly and easily. Many of the people form India saw Islam as a way of becoming a part of a bigger organization and many Muslims were able to achieve higher social status than those of Buddhists or Jains. Subsequently, India became a dominant Muslim country with the help of political leaders such as Mahmud of Ghanzi and Muhammad Tughaluq who helped drive the Islamic expansion in India without altering, changing, or conflicting with the Indian culture. Due to the expansion of Islam through India other religions quickly declined, including the fall of Buddhism