Persecution of Buddhists

Many Buddhists have experienced persecution from non-Buddhists and other Buddhists during the history of Buddhism. Persecution may refer to unwarranted arrest, imprisonment, beating, torture, or execution. It also may refer to the confiscation or destruction of property, or the incitement of hatred towards Buddhists.

Pre-modern persecutions of Buddhism

Sassanids

In 224 CE Zoroastrianism was made the official religion of the Persia, and other religions were not tolerated, thus halting the spread of Buddhism westwards. In the 3rd century the Sassanids overran the Bactrian region, overthrowing Kushan rule, were persecuted with many of their stupas fired. Although strong supporters of Zoroastrianism, the Sassanids tolerated Buddhism and allowed the construction of more Buddhist monasteries. It was during their rule that the Lokottaravada followers erected the two Buddha statues at Bamiyan.

During the second half of the third century, the Zoroastrian high priest Kirder dominated the religious policy of the state. He ordered the destruction of several Buddhist monasteries in Afghanistan, since the amalgam of Buddhism and Zoroastrianism manifested in the form of a "Buddha-Mazda" deity appeared to him as heresy. Buddhism quickly recovered after his death.

Persecution under Pushyamitra Shunga

The first alleged persecution of Buddhists in India took place in the 2nd century BC by King Pushyamitra. After he assassinated Brihadratha, the Mauryan Empire became divided with the Greek-Bactrian Empire taking over the northwestern portion, Sunghas taking the central one while the east was retaken by Kalingas under the Jain king Kharavela. Thus the patronisation of Buddhism ceased in most of the Indian subcontinent. The loss of patronisation by the Sunghas resulted in tensions between the Buddhists and Sunghas.

Buddhist texts state that Pushyamitra cruelly persecuted Buddhists. The most important and perhaps the earliest source to mention this is the 2nd century C.E. text called Divyavadana, a Buddhist text containing the history of Indian rulers and their relationships with the Buddhists, and its constituent Ashokavadana which state he wanted to achieve everlasting fame. While his ministers told him to emulate Ashoka's construction of 84,000 Buddhist reliquaries (stupas), a Brahmin minister advised him to do the opposite by destroying Buddhism. According to it, he attacked Buddhist monasteries, killing monks and nuns while offering rewards to anyone who killed a monk. The account of Ashokavadana is similar but is greater in detail concerning the four elements of his army - elephants, cavalry, chariots and infantry - he used to attack the monasteries.

Per Divyavadana, Pushyamitra tried to destroy the Kukkutarama monastery, but it was saved by a lion's roar. He however destroyed its residence and salughtered the monks. He next proceeded to Shakala where he offered a prize of one hundred dinaras (gold coin) for the head of every monk. From there he went to the kingdom of Koshthaka where he and his army was defeated by a yaksha named Damshtranivasin along with another yaksha named Krimisha. The Aryamañjuśrimūlakalpa follows the same tradition as of Divyavadana while talking about anti-Buddhist acts by a ruler called "Gomimukhya" who came to power after the fall of Mauryans. The context of his description and activities indicate he was Pushyamitra.

Vibhasa, a Sarvastivadin-Vaibhashika text dated to 2nd century, states that Pushyamitra hated Buddhism, burnt holy scriptures, killed Buddhist monks, and destroyed stupas and monasteries including 500 on the borders of the kingdom of Kashmir. Per it, he was assisted by kumbhandas, yakshas and other demons making him invincible. But he was vanquished by the deity of the Bodhi tree. Shariputrapariprichha, a Mahāsāṃghika text translated into Chinese between 317 and 420 CE, however describes Bihar as the center of Pushyamitra's anti-Buddhist campaign. The 16th century Tibetan Buddhist historian Taranatha stated that "the brahman king Pushyamitra, along with other tirthikasās, started war and thus burnt down numerous Buddhist monastries from madhyadesha to Jalandhara. They also killed a number of vastly learned monks. which wiped out the Buddhism from the north in five years. As a result, withon five years, the doctrine was extinct from the north."

While some scholars believe he did persecute Buddhists based on the Buddhist accounts, others consider them biased because of him not patronising them. Many other scholars have expressed skepticism about the Buddhist claims. Étienne Lamotte points out that the Buddhist legends are not consistent about the location of Pushyamitra's anti-Buddhist campaign and his death. Agreeing with him, D. Devahuti states that Pushyamitra's sudden destruction after offering rewards for Buddhist heads is "manifestly false". R. C. Mitra states that "The tales of persecution by Pushyamitra as recorded in Divyavadana and by Taranatha bear marks of evident absurdity."

Romila Thapar writes that the lack of concrete archaeological evidence casts doubt on the claims of Buddhist persecution by Pushyamitra. The Sri Lankan Buddhist text Mahavamsa suggests that several monasteries existed in Bihar, Awadh and Malwa at the time of Pushyamitra's contemporary Lankan ruler Dutthagamani, suggesting they survived Pushyamitra Shunga's reign. The Ashokavadana states him offering dinaras for killing monks, however the currency wasn't introduced in India till 1st century CE. In addition, Divyavadana mentions Pushyamitra as a descendant of Ashoka though he wasn't a Mauryan, further eroding its historical accuracy.

K. T. S. Sarao states that the Buddhist legends appear doubtful on various other counts, with the earlies texts mentioning the persecution being written much later than the Sungha era and the narrative of Divyavadana is dated to two centuries after Pushyamitra's death. Sarao states that the narrative is likely a Buddhist version of Pushyamitra's attack on the Mauryas and relfects the fact that the attention to Buddhism lessened with its declining influence at the royal court.

P. C. Bagci in an Indian Historical Qaurterly suggested that the "Krmisa" mentioned in Manjusrimulakalpa is Demetrius. His conclusion however is not accepted by all scholars. Damstranivasin, a Buddhist viceroy of Muryas, beseeched him for an alliance against Pushyamitra for being anti-Buddhist. He agreed and the first two Greek invasions under Pushyamitra began. The Hathigumpha inscription also links Demetrius to Buddhists and calls him "Dharmamitra" or the friend of Dharma. After the Greeks withdrew however during the first invasion, he began to punish those who sided against him among whom the Buddhist monasteries were the most outspoken. The Buddhists in western Punjab were treated as political enemies. B.C. Sinha states in The History of Sunga dynasty that he lessened the persecution and patronised several stupas later in his reign, though this is disputed. Regardless, this was short-lived as the second Greek invasion was also tied to Buddhism. Caleb Simmons states that his persecution of the Buddhists were due to him seeing them as traitors due to their cooperation with the Greeks and also as a threat.

It is possible that the Buddhist influence at the Mauryan court declined during Pushyamitra's reign, and the Buddhist monasteries and other institutions stopped receiving royal patronage. This change might have led to discontent among the Buddhists, resulting in exaggerated accounts of persecution. H. Bhattacharya and K.P. Jayaswal suggested that Pushyamitra might have persecuted them due to political reasons.

Paul Williams states that the persecution claims with alleged dates of Buddha's nirvana (400 BCE) and the subsequent Pusyamitra reign, as depicted in the Mahasanghika school of early Buddhism are the "most far fetched of all the arguments and hardly worth of any further discussion".

Archaeologist John Marshall stated there is evidence of some damage to Buddhist establishments at Takshashila around the time of Shunga rule. He also theorized that the Sanchi stupa was vandalized during Pushyamitra's rule. G. R. Sharma, who excavated Buddhist ruins at Kaushambi, suggested that the destruction of the local monastery might have happened during his reign. P. K. Mishra of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) believes that the damage to the Deur Kothar stupa is also datable to Pushyamitra's period.

According to other scholars, most of the later Shunga kings were seen as more amenable to Buddhism and as having contributed to the building of the stupa at Bharhut and an inscription at Bodh Gaya at the Mahabodhi Temple records the construction of the temple as follows, "The gift of Nagadevi the wife of King Brahmamitra". Another inscription reads: "The gift of Kurangi, the mother of living sons and the wife of King Indragnimitra, son of Kosiki. The gift also of Srima of the royal palace shrine."

Hepthalites

Central Asian and North Western Indian Buddhism weakened in the 6th century following the White Hun invasion who followed their own religions such as Tengri and Manichaean. Around 440 CE they conquered Sogdiana then conquered Gandhara and pushed on into the Gangetic Plains. Their King Mihirkula who ruled from 515 CE suppressed Buddhism destroying monasteries as far as modern-day Allahabad before his son reversed the policy.

Persecution by Hindus

Dharmarajika stupa in Sarnath once stood 30 m tall before demolition in 1794

Dhamekh Stupa of Sarnath

Persecution of Buddhism started as early as in the life or soon after the death of King ashoka. According to Kashmiri texts dated to 12th century, Ashoka's Son Jalauka was shaivite and was responsible for the destruction of many Buddhist monasteries. Patanjali, a famous grammarian stated in his Mahabhashya that Brahmins and Sharamanas (buddhists) were eternal enemies With the emergence of Hindu rulers of Gupta empire Hinduism saw a major revivalism in the Indian subcontinent which challenged Buddhism which was at that time at its zenith. Even though Gupta empire was tolerant towards Buddhism and patronized Buddhist arts and religious institutions, Hindu revivalism generally became a major threat to Buddhism which led to its decline. A Buddhist illustrated palm leaf manuscript from Pala period (one of the earliest Indian illustrated manuscripts to survive in modern times) preserved in University of Cambridge library reveals one important physical evidence of Hindu persecution. Composed in the year 1015, the manuscript contains a note from the year 1138 by a Buddhist believer called Karunavajra which indicates that without his efforts, the manuscript would have been destroyed. The note states that 'he rescued the 'Perfection of Wisdom, incomparable Mother of the Omniscient' from falling into the hands of unbelievers (who were most probably people of Brahmanical affiliation). According to The New York Times, one of the reasons why only a fraction of immense quantities of Buddhist manuscripts survive was because of Hindu raiders who along with Muslim invaders were equally responsible for destroying Buddhist foundations and burning their contents which shows that Buddhists were being persecuted by Hindus in India before the Islamic invasion in 1192. In 1794 Jagat Singh, Dewan (minister) of Raja Chet Singh of Banaras began excavating two pre Ashokan era stupas at Sarnath for construction material. Dharmarajika stupa was completely demolished and only its foundation exists today while Dhamekh stupa incurred serious damage. During excavation a green marble relic casket was discovered from Dharmarajika stupa which contained Buddha's ashes was subsequently thrown into Ganges river by Jagat Singh according to his Hindu faith. The incident was reported by a British resident and timely action of British authorities saved Dhamekh Stupa from demolition.

Muslim rulers

Arab invasions

Qutaybah ibn Muslim, the Arab general of Khorasan conquered a number of territories in Central Asia including Samarkand where he broke a number of images. Several instances of Buddhist shrines being destroyed by the advancing Muslims are recorded though the religion continued to survive in some places for a considerable period of time. Bertolf Spuler cites the writings of Narshakhi while stating that the residents of Bukhara had reconverted from Islam to Buddhism four times until it was conquered by Qutayba in 712-13. A mosque was built in the city in place of a Buddhist monastery. Buddhists continued to live there until the tenth century. Similarly, Buddhism continued to exist in other places like Old Bukhara, Simingan in southern Tukharistan, Bamiyan and Kabul with suburbs inhabited by "Indians" which were also home to Buddhists. However, the religion could no longer develop as a power or distribute propaganda and its adherents also had to abandon the conversion of peoples in these regions. Scholars like Richard Nelson Frye have doubted the story of Marshaki, pointing out that unlike its statement, Qutayba ibn Muslim didn't live during the time of Umayyad Caliph Mu'awiya, as this story suggests, but rather much later. In addition to discrimination, emigration, and the conversion of the laity, Buddhism and its monasteries also declined with the Muslims taking over the trade along the Silk Road as well as in Sindh.

During their conquest of Sindh, the Arabs brought the non-Muslims into the category of ahl al-kitab, considering them ahl al-dhimmah (protected subjects) and thus practicing a certain amount of non-interference in their religious lives under the condition that they fulfil a number of obligations that came with this status. Since both Buddhism and Hinduism are literate religions with scriptures, the precedent of assimilating Zoroastrians into the category of ahl al-kitab was extended to them as well. The dhimmis were obligated to pay the jizya for following their ancestral religion. The historian Al-Baladhuri notes a decision by Muhammad bin Qasim in relation to a Buddhist vihara and Aror that after conquering the city through a treaty (sulh) he agreed not to kill the people and enter their temple, in addition to imposing kharaj on them. The Buddhists had petitioned the Arabs for the right to restore one of their temples and it was granted by Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. However, this decision was later violated by the Pact of Umar and subsequent Muslim law codes which prohibited the restoration of existing non-Muslim religious structures as well as the building of new ones. Despite this fact, Buddhist inscriptions were still being recorded in the eleventh century. Some Buddhists also fled and emigrated from Muslim-ruled areas into other regions. Unlike Brahmanical worship, Buddhism rapidly declined in Sindh after the eighth century and it virtually disappeared by the eleventh century.

The Arabs conquered Balkh which was a centre of Buddhism. Many people in Balkh were sympathetic to Buddhism after the conquest and they were harshly denounced by adherents of Islamic orthodoxy. The Buddhist monastery of Nava Vihara which had become a symbol of national resistance was damaged under Muawiyah I in 663. The Arabs allowed the non-Muslims to practice their religion as long as they paid the poll-tax called jizya. In addition to the destruction of Buddhist temples, part of the old city was also destroyed during the Arab conquest. Nava Vihara continued to remain open according to historical accounts. Along with it, many other viharas evidently continued to function in Central Asia for at least a century after the Arab conquests. Al-Biruni records the existence of the religion and its monasteries in the early eleventh century. The eighth-century Korean traveller Hui'Chao records Hinayanists in Balkh under Arab rule. The city was reduced to ruins by 705 as a result of frequent revolts.

It is visible from some copper-plate inscriptions that some Buddhists had moved to other domains. Al-Ma'mun (r. 813-833 A.D.) while visiting Khorasan, launched an attack on Kabul, whose ruler submitted to taxation. The king of Kabul was captured and he then converted to Islam. Per sources, when the Shah submitted to al-Ma'mun, he sent his crown and bejeweled throne, later seen by the Meccan historian al-Azraqi to the Caliph who praised Fadl for "curbing polytheists, breaking idols, killing the refractory" and refers to his successes against Kabul's king and ispahabad. Other near-contemporary sources however refer to the artifacts as a golden jewel-encrusted idol sitting on a silver throne by the Hindu Shahi ruler or by an unnamed ruler of "Tibet" as a sign of his conversion to Islam.

India

See also: Decline of Buddhism in India

Various personages involved in the revival of Buddhism in India such as Anagarika Dharmapala and The Mahabodhi Movement of the 1890s as well as Dr. B. R. Ambedkar hold the Muslim Rule in India responsible for the decay of Buddhism in India.

In 1193, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a Turkish commander, seized control of Delhi, leaving defenseless the northeastern territories that were the heart of Buddhist India. The Mahabodhi Temple was almost completely destroyed by the invading Muslim forces. One of Qutb-ud-Din's generals, Ikhtiar Uddin Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khilji, invaded Magadha and destroyed the Buddhist shrines at Nalanda. The Buddhism of Magadha underwent a significant decline under Khilji.

In 1200 Muhammad Khilji, one of Qutb-ud-Din's generals destroyed monasteries fortified by the Sena armies, such as the one at Vikramshila. Many monuments of ancient Indian civilization were destroyed by the invading armies, including Buddhist sanctuaries near Benares. Buddhist monks who escaped the massacre fled to Nepal, Tibet and South India.

Timur destroyed Buddhist establishments and raided areas in which Buddhism had flourished.

Mughal rule also contributed to the decline of Buddhism. They are reported to have destroyed many Hindu temples and Buddhist shrines alike or converted many sacred Hindu places into Muslim shrines and mosques. Mughal rulers like Aurangzeb destroyed Buddhist temples and monasteries and replaced them with mosques.

Others

The Saffarids had sent looted Buddhist and Hindu icons to the Abbasids as gifts. The Mongol ruler Ghazan called on Buddhists to convert to Islam or leave the Ilkhanate and ordered their temples to be destroyed, but he later adopted a slightly less severe position. Though he had earlier supported their persecution as well as the persecution of other non-Muslims, his religious policies changed after the death of Nowruz with punishments imposed on perpetrators of religious intolerance and attempts to restore relations with non-Muslims. Although the religion survived there, it never recovered from the assault by Ghazan.

Xinjiang

Main articles: Islamicisation and Turkicisation of Xinjiang and Kingdom of Khotan

The historical area of what is modern day Xinjiang consisted of the distinct areas of the Tarim Basin and Dzungaria, and was originally populated by Indo-European Tocharian and Iranic Saka peoples who practiced the Buddhist religion. The area was subjected to Turkification and Islamification at the hands of invading Turkic Muslims.

Conquest of Buddhist Khotan

The Islamic attacks and conquest of the Buddhist cities east of Kashgar was started by the Turkic Karakhanid Satok Bughra Khan who in 966 converted to Islam and many tales emerged about the Karakhanid ruling family's war against the Buddhists, Satok Bughra Khan's nephew or grandson Ali Arslan was slain by the Buddhists during the war. Buddhism lost territory to Islam during the Karakhanid reign around the Kashgar area. A long war ensued between Islamic Kashgar and Buddhist Khotan which eventually ended in the conquest of Khotan by Kashgar.

Iranic Saka peoples originally inhabited Yarkand and Kashgar in ancient times. The Buddhist Iranic Saka Kingdom of Khotan was the only city-state that was not conquered yet by the Turkic Uyghur (Buddhist) and the Turkic Qarakhanid (Muslim) states and its ruling family used Indian names and the population were devout Buddhists. The Buddhist entitites of Dunhuang and Khotan had a tight-knit partnership, with intermarriage between Dunhuang and Khotan's rulers and Dunhuang's Mogao grottos and Buddhist temples being funded and sponsored by the Khotan royals, whose likenesses were drawn in the Mogao grottoes. The rulers of Khotan were aware of the menace they faced since they arranged for the Mogao grottoes to paint a growing number of divine figures along with themselves. Halfway in the 20th century Khotan came under attack by the Qarakhanid ruler Musa, and in what proved to be a pivotal moment in the Turkification and Islamification of the Tarim Basin, the Karakhanid leader Yusuf Qadir Khan conquered Khotan around 1006.

The Taẕkirah is a genre of literature written about Sufi Muslim saints in Altishahr. Written sometime in the period from 1700-1849, the Eastern Turkic language (modern Uyghur) Taẕkirah of the Four Sacrificed Imams provides an account of the Muslim Karakhanid war against the Khotanese Buddhists, containing a story about Imams, from Mada'in city (possibly in modern-day Iraq) came 4 Imams who travelled to help the Islamic conquest of Khotan, Yarkand, and Kashgar by Yusuf Qadir Khan, the Qarakhanid leader. Accounts of the battles waged by the invading Muslims upon the indigenous Buddhists takes up most of the Taẕkirah with descriptions such as "blood flows like the Oxus", "heads litter the battlefield like stones" being used to describe the murderous battles over the years until the "infidels" were defeated and driven towards Khotan by Yusuf Qadir Khan and the four Imams, but the Imams were assassinated by the Buddhists prior to the last Muslim victory so Yusuf Qadir Khan assigned Khizr Baba, who was born in Khotan but whose mother originated from western Turkestan's Mawarannahr, to take care of the shrine of the 4 Imams at their tomb and after Yusuf Qadir Khan's conquest of new land in Altishahr towards the east, he adopted the title "King of the East and China". Due to the Imams deaths in battle and burial in Khotan, Altishahr, despite their foreign origins, they are viewed as local saints by the current Muslim population in the region.

Muslim works such as Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam contained anti-Buddhist rhetoric and polemic against Buddhist Khotan, aimed at "dehumanizing" the Khotanese Buddhists, and the Muslims Kara-Khanids conquered Khotan just 26 years following the completion of Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam.

Muslims gouged the eyes of Buddhist murals along Silk Road caves and Kashgari recorded in his Turkic dictionary an anti-Buddhist poem/folk song.

Satuq Bughra Khan and his son directed endeavors to proselytize Islam among the Turks and engage in military conquests. The Islamic conquest of Khotan led to alarm in the east and Dunhuang's Cave 17, which contained Khotanese literary works, was closed shut possibly after its caretakers heard that Khotan's Buddhist buildings were razed by the Muslims, and Khotan had suddenly ceased to be Buddhist.

In 1006, the Muslim Kara-Khanid ruler Yusuf Kadir (Qadir) Khan of Kashgar conquered Khotan, ending Khotan's existence as an independent state. The war was described as a Muslim Jihad (holy war) by the Japanese Professor Takao Moriyasu. The Karakhanid Turkic Muslim writer Mahmud al-Kashgari recorded a short Turkic language poem about the conquest:

English translation:

We came down on them like a flood,
We went out among their cities,
We tore down the idol-temples,
We shat on the Buddha's head!

In Turkic:

kälginläyü aqtïmïz
kändlär üzä čïqtïmïz
furxan ävin yïqtïmïz
burxan üzä sïčtïmïz

Idols of "infidels" were subjected to desecration by being defecated upon by Muslims when the "infidel" country was conquered by the Muslims, according to Muslim tradition.

Islamic conquest of the Buddhist Uighurs

The Buddhist Uyghurs of the Kingdom of Qocho and Turfan were converted to Islam by conquest during a ghazat (holy war) at the hands of the Muslim Chagatai Khizr Khwaja.

Kara Del was a Mongolian ruled and Uighur populated Buddhist Kingdom. The Muslim Chagatai Khan Mansur invaded and used the sword to make the population convert to Islam.

After being converted to Islam, the descendants of the previously Buddhist Uyghurs in Turfan failed to retain memory of their ancestral legacy and falsely believed that the "infidel Kalmuks" (Dzungars) were the ones who built Buddhist monuments in their area.

Emperor Wuzong of Tang

Main article: Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution

Emperor Wuzong of Tang (814-846) indulged in indiscriminate religious persecution, solving a financial crisis by seizing the property of Buddhist monasteries. Buddhism had developed into a major religious force in China during the Tang period, and its monasteries had tax-exempt status. Wuzong closed many Buddhist shrines, confiscated their property, and sent the monks and nuns home to lay life. Apart from economic reasons, Wuzong's motivation was also philosophical or ideological. As a zealous Taoist, he considered Buddhism a foreign religion that was harmful to Chinese society. He went after other foreign religions as well, all but eradicating Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism in China, and his persecution of the growing Nestorian Christian churches sent Chinese Christianity into a decline from which it never recovered.

See also: Four Buddhist Persecutions in China

King Langdarma of Tibet

Langdarma was a Tibetan King, who reigned from 838-841 CE. He is believed to have been anti-Buddhist and a follower of the Bön religion.

Oirat Mongols

The Oirats (Western Mongols) converted to Tibetan Buddhism around 1615. The Dzungars were a confederation of several Oirat tribes that emerged suddenly in the early 17th century. The Dzungar Khanate was the last great nomadic empire in Asia. In the 18th century, the Dzungars were annihilated by Qianlong Emperor in several campaigns. About 80% of the Dzungar population, or around 500,000 to 800,000 people, were killed during or after the Zunghar Genocide by Manchu Bannermen and Khalkha Mongols during the Manchu conquest in 1755-1757.

The Kalmyk Khanate was founded in the 17th century with Tibetan Buddhism as its main religion, following the earlier migration of the Oirats from Dzungaria through Central Asia to the steppe around the mouth of the Volga River. During the course of the 18th century, they were absorbed by the Russian Empire, which was then expanding to the south and east. The Russian Orthodox church pressured many Kalmyks to adopt Orthodoxy. In the winter of 1770-1771, about 300,000 Kalmyks set out to return to China. Their goal was to retake control of Dzungaria from the Qing dynasty of China. Along the way many were attacked and killed by Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, their historical enemies based on intertribal competition for land, and many more died of starvation and disease. After several months of travel, only one-third of the original group reached Dzungaria and had no choice but to surrender to the Qing upon arrival.

Persecution by militaristic regimes

Imperial Japan

Main article: Haibutsu kishaku

Buddhist monks were forced to return to the laity, Buddhist property was confiscated, Buddhist institutions were closed, and Buddhist schools were reorganized under state control in the name of modernizing Japan during the early Meiji period. The state-control of Buddhism was part of Imperial Japanese policy both at home and abroad in Korea and other conquered territories.

Persecution in Myanmar

The Government of Myanmar has attempted to control Buddhist institutions through coercive means, including the intimidation, torture, and murder of monks. After monks played an active role in the protest movements against the military dictatorship in 2007, the state cracked down on Buddhist monks and monasteries.

Persecution by nationalist political parties

Persecution in the Republic of China under the Kuomintang

During the Northern Expedition, in 1926 in Guangxi, Kuomintang Muslim General Bai Chongxi led his troops in destroying Buddhist temples and smashing idols, turning the temples into schools and Kuomintang party headquarters. It was reported that almost all Buddhist monasteries in Guangxi were destroyed by Bai in this manner. The monks were removed. Bai led a wave of anti foreignism in Guangxi, attacking Americans, Europeans, and other foreigners and missionaries, and generally making the province unsafe for foreigners. Westerners fled from the province, and some Chinese Christians were also attacked as imperialist agents. The three goals of his movement were anti-foreignism, anti-imperialism, and anti-religion. Bai led the anti-religious movement, against superstition. Muslims do not believe in superstition (see Shirk (Islam)) and his religion may have influenced Bai to take action against the Idols in the temples and the superstitious practices rampant in China. Huang Shaoxiong, also a Kuomintang member of the New Guangxi Clique, supported Bai's campaign, and Huang was not a Muslim, the anti religious campaign was agreed upon by all Guangxi Kuomintang members.

During the Kuomintang Pacification of Qinghai the Muslim General Ma Bufang destroyed Tibetan Buddhist monasteries with support from the Kuomintang government. Ma served as a general in the National Revolutionary Army, and sought to expand the Republic of China's control over all of Qinghai, as well as the possibility of bringing Tibet back into the Republic by force. When Ma Bufang launched seven expeditions into Golog, killing thousands of Tibetans, the Republic of China government, known as the Kuomintang, supported Ma Bufang. Ma was highly anti-communist, and he and his army wiped out many Tibetans in the northeast and eastern Qinghai, and destroyed Tibetan Buddhist temples.

Persecution by Tamils

Australia

After the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, acid was thrown on two Sinhalese men. The attack was linked to Tamils.

India

Buddhist monks have been assaulted in India, particularly by Tamils.

Sri Lanka

During the Sri Lankan Civil War, Buddhists were the victims of many terrorist attacks perpetrated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which was made up of mostly Hindus but consisted of Christians too. During this period, the pinnacle of Buddhists; the Temple of the Tooth, where the sacred tooth relic of the Lord Buddha is kept and worshiped was attacked by the LTTE. 17 including a 2-year old infant were killed in the incident.In the Anuradhapura massacre, LTTE cadres drove to the Sri Maha Bodhi shrine and gunned down nuns, monks and civilians as they were worshipping inside the Buddhist shrine. 146 Sinhalese men, women and children were killed in Anuradhapura. The Aranthalawa Massacre was the killing of 33 Buddhist monks and four civilians by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The sacred Bo tree that relates to the Acetic tree, under which the Buddha attained Buddhahood was also attacked by the said terrorist group, killing around three hundred pilgrims.

Persecution by Christians

Main articles: Buddhism and Christianity and History of Christian thought on persecution and tolerance

India

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland has been accused of demanding money and food from Buddhists living along the Assam-Arunachal border. It has also been accused by Buddhists of forcing locals to convert to Christianity. The NSCN is also suspected of burning down the Rangphra temple in Arunachal Pradesh.

The National Liberation Front of Tripura has shut down and attacked Hindu and Buddhist orphanages, hospitals, temples and schools in Tripura. They have also been accused of force converting Buddhists to Christianity.

A mass scale ethnic riot was initiated by the Baptist Church in Tripura in 1980 by which both Hindu and Buddhist tribes faced systematic ethnic cleansing. Thousands of women kidnapped and then raped and even forced to convert to Christianity. Reports state that the terrorists received aid from international Christian groups. The Christian tribals also received aid from the NLFT. This the state's worst ethic riot.

Russia

Buddhist Kalmyk people

South Korea

Some South Korean Buddhists have denounced what they view as discriminatory measures against them and their religion by the administration of President Lee Myung-bak, which they attribute to Lee being part of the Somang Presbyterian Church in Seoul.

The Buddhist Jogye Order has accused the Lee government of discriminating against Buddhism and favoring Christianity by ignoring certain Buddhist temples but including Christian churches in certain public documents. In 2006, according to the Asia Times, "Lee also sent a video prayer message to a Christian rally held in the southern city of Busan in which the worship leader prayed feverishly: 'Lord, let the Buddhist temples in this country crumble down!'" Further, according to an article in Buddhist-Christian Studies: "Over the course of the last decade [1990s] a fairly large number of Buddhist temples in South Korea have been destroyed or damaged by fire by misguided Christian fundamentalists. More recently, Buddhist statues have been identified as idols, and attacked and decapitated in the name of Jesus. Arrests are hard to effect, as the arsonists and vandals work by stealth of night." A 2008 incident in which police investigated protesters who had been given sanctuary in the Jogye temple in Seoul and searched a car driven by Jigwan, executive chief of the Jogye order, led to protests by Buddhists who claimed that police had treated Jigwan as a criminal.

In March 2009, in an effort to reach out to Buddhists affected by recent events, the President and First Lady participated in a Korean Buddhist conference where he and his wife were seen joining palms in prayer during chanting along with participants. The discomfort among the Buddhists has gradually decreased since then.

Sri Lanka

Under British rule, Christians were openly favoured for jobs and promotions. Robert Inglis, a 19th-century British Conservative, likened Buddhism to "idolatry" during a parliamentary debate over the relationship of "Buddhist priests" to the British colonial government, in 1852. During the Sri Lankan Civil War, Buddhists were the victims of many terrorist attacks perpetrated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which was made up of mostly Hindus but consisted of Christians too. During this period, the pinnacle of Buddhists; the Temple of the Tooth, where the sacred tooth relic of the Lord Buddha is kept and worshiped was attacked by the LTTE. The sacred Bo tree that relates to the Acetic tree, under which the Buddha attained Buddhahood was also attacked by the said terrorist group, killing around three hundred pilgrims.

Vietnam

Main articles: Buddhist crisis, Huế Phật Đản shootings, Huế chemical attacks, and Xá Lợi Pagoda raids

As early as 1953 rumoured allegations had surfaced of discrimination against Buddhists in Vietnam. These allegations stated that Catholic Vietnamese armed by the French had been raiding villages. By 1961, the shelling of pagodas in Vietnam was being reported in the Australian and American media.

After the Catholic Ngô Đình Diệm came to power in South Vietnam, backed by the United States, he favoured his relatives and co-religionists over Buddhists. Though Buddhists made up 80% of Vietnam's population, Catholics were given high positions in the army and civil service. Half of the 123 National Assembly members were Catholic. Buddhists also required special government permits to hold large meetings, a stipulation generally made for meetings of trade unions. In May 1963, the government forbade the flying of Buddhist flags on Vesak. After Buddhist protesters clashed with government troops, nine people were killed. In protest, the Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burned himself to death in Saigon. On August 21, the Xá Lợi Pagoda raids led to a death toll estimated in the hundreds.

Persecution by Muslims

Main article: Persecution by Muslims

Afghanistan

Main article: Buddhas of Bamiyan

The Muslim Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, tried to use heavy artillery to destroy the statues. Another attempt to destroy the Bamiyan statues was made by the 18th century Persian king Nader Afshar, who directed cannon fire at them.

The enormous statues, the male Salsal ("light shines through the universe") and the (smaller) female Shamama ("Queen Mother"), as they were called by the locals, did not fail to fire the imagination of Islamic writers in centuries past. The larger statue reappears as the malevolent giant Salsal in medieval Turkish tales.

Afghan Muslim King Abdur Rahman Khan destroyed its face during a military campaign against the Shia Hazara rebellion. A Frenchman named Dureau had pictured it in 1847.

The Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed by the fundamentalist Islamist Taliban regime in 2001 in defiance of worldwide condemnation. The statues were blown up and fired upon by rockets and gunfire.

Excavators at the Buddhist site of Mes Aynak have been denounced as "promoting Buddhism" and threatened by the Taliban and many of the Afghan excavators who are working for purely financial reasons don't feel any connection to the Buddhist artifacts.

Pakistan

Swat Valley in Pakistan has many Buddhist carvings, stupas and Jehanabad contains a Seated Buddha statue. Kushan era Buddhist stupas and statues in Swat valley were demolished by the Taliban and after two attempts by the Taliban, the Jehanabad Buddha's face was dynamited. Only the Bamiyan Buddhas were larger than the carved giant Buddha status in Swat near Mangalore which the Taliban attacked. The government did nothing to safeguard the statue after the initial attempt at destroying the Buddha, which did not cause permanent harm, and when the second attack took place on the statue the feet, shoulders, and face were demolished. Islamists such as the Taliban and looters destroyed much of Pakistan's Buddhist artifacts left over from the Buddhist Gandhara civilization especially in Swat Valley. The Taliban deliberately targeted Gandhara Buddhist relics for destruction. The Christian Archbishop of Lahore Lawrence John Saldanha wrote a letter to Pakistan's government denouncing the Taliban activities in Swat Valley including their destruction of Buddha statues and their attacks on Christians, Sikhs, and Hindus. Gandhara Buddhist artifacts were illegally looted by smugglers. A rehabilitation attempt on the Buddha was made by Luca Olivieri from Italy. A group of Italians helped repair the Buddha.

Bangladesh

See also: Persecution of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh, 2012 Ramu violence, and Freedom of religion in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the persecution of the indigenous tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts such as the Chakma, Marma, Tripura and others who are mainly Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, and Animists, has been described as genocidal. The Chittagong Hill Tracts are located bordering India, Myanmar and the Bay of Bengal, and is the home to 500,000 indigenous people. The perpetrators of are the Bangladeshi military and the Bengali Muslim settlers, who together have burned down Buddhist and Hindu temples, killed many Chakmas, and carried out a policy of gang-rape against the indigenous people. There are also accusations of Chakmas being forced to convert to Islam, many of them children who have been abducted for this purpose. The conflict started soon after Bangladeshi independence in 1972 when the Constitution imposed Bengali as the sole official language, Islam as the state religion - with no cultural or linguistic rights to minority populations. Subsequently, the government encouraged and sponsored massive settlement by Bangladeshis in region, which changed the demographics from 98 percent indigenous in 1971 to fifty percent by 2000. The government allocated a full third of the Bangladeshi military to the region to support the settlers, sparking a protracted guerilla war between Hill tribes and the military. During this conflict which officially ended in 1997, and in the subsequent period, a large number of human rights violations against the indigenous peoples have been reported, with violence against indigenous women being particularly extreme.

During the 2012 Ramu violence a 25,000-strong mob set fire to at least five temples and dozens of homes throughout the town and surrounding villages after seeing the picture, which they claimed was posted by Uttam Barua, a local Buddhist man, AFP reported.

Bengali settlers and soldiers have raped native Jumma (Chakma) women "with impunity" with the Bangladeshi security forces doing little to protect the Jummas and instead assisting the rapists and settlers. The settlers are Muslims. The Karuna Bihar Buddhist temple was attacked by Bengali settlers.

India

The Ladakh Buddhist Association has said: "There is a deliberate and organised design to convert Kargil's Buddhists to Islam. In the last four years, about 50 girls and married women with children were taken and converted from village Wakha alone. If this continues unchecked, we fear that Buddhists will be wiped out from Kargil in the next two decades or so. Anyone objecting to such allurement and conversions is harassed."

Maldives

Main articles: Buddhism in the Maldives and National Museum (Maldives)

The destruction of the Buddhist artifacts by Islamists took place on the day in which Mohamed Nasheed was toppled as President in a coup.

Buddhist antiquities were obliterated by Islamist radicals in the National Museum. The Museum was stormed by Islamists who destroyed the Buddhist artifacts.

The non Muslim artifacts of Buddhist provenance were specifically singled out by the attackers. The destruction was caught on camera.

Most of Maldive's Buddhist physical history was obliterated.

Hindu artifacts were also targeted for obliteration and the actions have been compared to the attacks on the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban.

February 7, 2012 was the date of the anti-Buddhist attack by the Islamists.

Myanmar

The violence and long lasting tension was reignited on the 28th of May 2012. It was reported that daughter of U Hla Tin, of Thabyechaung Village named Ma Thida Htwe aged 27 was raped then killed by three Muslim men. These men were later arrested.

Tensions between Buddhist and Muslim ethnic groups flared into violent clashes in Meiktila, Mandalay Division in 2013. The violence started on 20 March after a Muslim gold shop owner, his wife, and two Muslim employees assaulted a Buddhist customer and her husband in an argument over a golden hairpin. A large Buddhist mob formed and began to destroy the shop. The heavily outnumbered police reportedly told the mob to disperse after they had destroyed the shop.

On the same day, a local Buddhist monk passing on the back of a motorbike was attacked by four Muslims. According to witnesses, the driver was attacked with a sword, causing him to crash, while the monk was also hit in the head with the sword. Per a witness, one of the men doused the monk woth fuel and burnt him alive. The monk died in the hospital. The killing of the monk caused the relatively contained situation to explode, greatly increasing intensity and violence.

Thailand

See also: South Thailand insurgency

Primarily Buddhist Thailand has been involved in a fight with Muslim insurgents in the South. Buddhists have been beheaded and clergy and teachers are frequently threatened with death. Shootings of Buddhists are quite frequent in the South, as are bombings, and attacks on religious establishments.

Xinjiang

During the Kumul Rebellion in Xinjiang in the 1930s, Buddhist murals were deliberately vandalized by Muslims.

Buddhist murals at the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves were damaged by local Muslim population whose religion proscribed figurative images of sentient beings, the eyes and mouths in particular were often gouged out. Pieces of murals were also broken off for use as fertilizer by the locals.

Uyghur Muslim opposition to a Buddhist Aspara statue in Ürümqi in Xinjiang was cited as a possible reason for its destruction in 2012. A Muslim Kazakh viewed a giant Buddha statue near Ürümqi as "alien cultural symbols".

Persecution in Nepal

See also: Banishment of Buddhist monks from Nepal

The banishment of Buddhist monks from Nepal was part of a government campaign to suppress the resurgence of Theravada Buddhism in Nepal in the early decades of the 20th century. There were two deportations of monks from Kathmandu, in 1926 and 1944.

The exiled monks were the first group of monks to be seen in Nepal since the 14th century. They were at the forefront of a movement to revive Theravada Buddhism which had disappeared from the country more than five hundred years ago. The Rana regime disapproved of Buddhism and Nepal Bhasa, the mother tongue of the Newar people. It saw the activities of the monks and their growing following as a threat. When police harassment and imprisonment failed to deter the monks, all of whom were Newars, they were deported.

Among the charges made against them were preaching a new faith, converting Hindus, encouraging women to renounce and thereby undermining family life and writing books in Nepal Bhasa.

Persecution under Communism

Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge

The Khmer Rouge, which was basically Maoist, actively imposed an atheistic agrarian revolution, resulting in the persecution of ethnic minorities and Buddhist monks during their reign from 1975 to 1979. Buddhist institutions and temples were destroyed and Buddhist monks and teachers were killed in large numbers. A third of the nation's monasteries were destroyed along with numerous holy texts and items of high artistic quality. 25,000 Buddhist monks were massacred by the regime. Pol Pot believed that Buddhism was a decadent affectation, and he sought to eliminate its 1,500-year-old mark on Cambodia, while still maintaining the structures of the traditional Buddhist base.

China

See also: Chinese Buddhism

Since the communist revolution, Buddhism was severely restricted and brought under state-control at times. In addition, "Marxist-Leninist atheism has been widely publicized, resulting in steadily decreasing religious communities", especially in areas with developed economies. In 1989, less than 12% of the population held religious beliefs. During the Cultural Revolution, Buddhists were actively persecuted and sent for re-education, and temples, statues, and sutras were vandalized and destroyed. In recent years, Buddhism has been undergoing a revival but most Buddhist institutions are within the confines of the state.

Tibet

Although many temples and monasteries have been rebuilt after the cultural revolution, Tibetan Buddhists have largely been confined by the Government of the People's Republic of China. Buddhist monks and nuns have been reported tortured and killed by the Chinese military, according to all human rights groups. There were over 6,000 monasteries in Tibet, and nearly all of them were ransacked and destroyed by the Chinese communists, mainly during the Cultural Revolution. Analysis of a bulk of documents has shown that many Tibetan Buddhist monasteries were destroyed by the Chinese communists before the cultural revolution. Moreover, the "Chinese Communist Party has launched a three-year drive to promote atheism in the Buddhist region of Tibet", with Xiao Huaiyuan, a leader in the Chinese Communist Party Propaganda Department in Tibet, stating that it would "help peasants and herdsmen free themselves from the negative influence of religion. Intensifying propaganda on atheism is especially important for Tibet because atheism plays an extremely important role in promoting economic construction, social advancement and socialist spiritual civilization in the region." He further said it would push "people of all ethnic groups in the region to raise their ideological and ethical quality, to learn a civilized and healthy life style and to strive to build a united, prosperous and civilized new Tibet."

Mongolia

Buddhist monks were persecuted in Mongolia during communist rule up until democratization in 1990. Khorloogiin Choibalsan declared 17,000 of the monks to be enemies of the state and deported them to Siberian labor camps, where many perished. Almost all of Mongolia's over 700 Buddhist monasteries were looted or destroyed.

North Korea

During the 1960s and 1970s, "North Korea effectively exterminated all signs of Buddhism" in the region.

Pre and Post-Soviet Union

Further information: Soviet anti-religious legislation

Being an atheist religion, Buddhism initially enjoyed a compatible relationship with the State under the Soviet regime. Under the communists, Buddhism reached its peak in development; a "Congress of Soviet Buddhists" was formed under the leadership of Agvan Dordzhiev, and many Buddhists were also members of the League of the Militant Godless. However, after Stalin assumed power, the suppression of religious influences in society, including Buddhism, was increased. During Stalin's purges, thousands of Buddhist lamas and priests were sent to the gulags or executed. However, Soviet authorities grew more conciliatory toward Buddhists, allowing priests and monks to travel to study and establish contacts with Buddhist faithful. By 1998, long after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, adherents were attacked by interior ministry special troops who forcefully dispersed Buddhist monks who were involving themselves in regional politics. The Buddhists were trying to prevent unique Tibetan drawings from being sent on a year-long tour through American cities.

Vietnam

Despite the communist regime's hostility, Buddhism is still widely practiced in Vietnam. According to Human Rights News, "Vietnam continues to systematically imprison and persecute independent Buddhists as well as followers of other religions." The leaders of the Unified Buddhist Congregation of Vietnam, Thích Huyền Quang and Thích Quảng Độ were imprisoned for decades. Thich Nhat Hanh has spoken out about the wiping out of his spiritual tradition in Vietnam.

Sources

• Chakma, Kabita; Hill, Glen (2013). "Indigenous Women and Culture in the Colonized Chittagong Hills Tracts of Bangladesh". In Kamala Visweswaran (ed.). Everyday Occupations: Experiencing Militarism in South Asia and the Middle East. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 132–157. ISBN 978-0812244878. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Gray, Richard A. (1994). "Genocide in the Chittagong Hill tracts of Bangladesh". Reference Services Review. 22 (4): 59–79. doi:10.1108/eb049231. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• O'Brien, Sharon (2004). "The Chittagong Hill Tracts". In Dinah Shelton (ed.). Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity. Macmillan Library Reference. pp. 176–177. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Mey, Wolfgang, ed. (1984). Genocide in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. Copenhagen: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA). {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Moshin, A. (2003). The Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: On the Difficult Road to Peace. Boulder, Col.: Lynne Rienner Publishers. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Roy, Rajkumari (2000). Land Rights of the Indigenous Peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. Copenhagen: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

• al-Balādhurī (1924). The Origins of the Islamic State. Vol. Part II. Translated by Murgotten, Francis Clark. New York: Columbia University. OCLC 6396175.
• Dudink, Adrian (2000). "Nangong Shudu (1620), Poxie Ji (1640), and Western Reports on the Nanjing Persecution (1616/1617)". Monumenta Serica. 48. Maney Publishing: 133–265. JSTOR 40727263.
• Elliot and Dowson (1867–1877). The History of India as told by its own Historians, London: Trübner. Reprint, New Delhi 1990.
• Majumdar, R. C. (ed.), The History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume VII, The Mughal Empire, Bombay, 1973.
• Senaka Weeraratna, Repression of Buddhism in Sri Lanka by the Portuguese (1505 - 1658)