6 ann heirman and stephan peter bumbacher
time of the Maurya king Aoka. Still, it is only from the rst century
BC and thus after the Greek presence in the Gandhran region that
Buddhism really started to ourish, stimulated by the wealth, security
and stability of the Kua empire. Along the trade routes of this
extensive empire material and cultural goods were exchanged. It was the
start of a period of great productivity of Buddhist texts, as shown by
the many recent ndings of Buddhist manuscripts in the region. When,
however, in the seventh century the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited
the Gandhran region, Buddhism had already seriously declined. This
was probably partially due to a general decline of economic prosperity,
leaving laymen without the necessary funds to support large monas-
teries. A second and perhaps even more decisive factor in the decline of
Buddhism was the revival of Hinduism, a feature that Gandhra had
in common with many other regions of the Indian subcontinent.
In Central Asia, an area of many political entities, Buddhism was
further confronted with many new philosophical and cultural sur-
roundings. In fact, Buddhism only partially found its way into the lay
society. As shown by Xavier Tremblay in his contribution on the spread
of Buddhism in Serindia, it was in the Bactrian region, uni ed under
the reign of the Kuas, that the Indian culture, and, along with
it, Buddhism, could be widely propagated. The Kuas, themselves
mainly Mazdeans, thus created a political unity apt to the further spread
of Buddhist ideas. Cultural regions that were outside or only brie y
included in the Bactrian realms, such as Sogdia, only experienced
very minor Buddhist in uence. Those Sogdians who were followers
of Buddhism were in fact not inhabitants of Sogdia proper, but lived
in the Central Asian Tarim Basin, that was included in the Bactrian
cultural realm. After 500 AD, Buddhism was perceived as a part of
Chinese culture in the eastern regions of Central Asia. Depending
on the willingness of Central Asian populations to get involved with
their powerful Chinese neighbour, Buddhism was integrated, accepted,
tolerated, or rejected.
From Central Asia, Buddhism mainly spread eastwards, but what
about the West? In his study of Buddhism in the ancient West, Erik
Seldeslachts points out that there are many indications of a westward
movement of Buddhism, far into the Iranian region. This movement was
probably triggered by the geographical overlap between the Buddhist
and the Hellenistic regions. However, Buddhism never became very
popular in the regions west of India, as the political and socio-economic
factors, to a great extent responsible for its eastern expansion, played