A BRIEF HISTORY OF BANGLADESH BUDDHIST COMMUNITY AND IT’S FALL DOWN CAUSES BETWEEN 13th AND 18th CENTURY.

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the presence and history of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent, especially in the region of Bengal in South Asia where Bangladesh is now located. A rich region in history, Bangladesh is today the eighth most populous country in the world, and has established in its constitution freedom of religion. Although Islam is the most practiced religion (almost 90%), Hinduism coexists as the first minority (approximately 9%), Buddhism, and Christianity as other minorities (less than 1% each). But it was not always so, between the 8th and 12th centuries after Christ, the Pala Empire was established in the region, whose kings, or emperors, were Buddhist followers of the tantric school, being known this time as the golden era of Buddhism in Bengal. In this work the possible causes of the decay and fall of the Pala Empire, and with it that of Buddhism in Bengal, are evaluated. Different explanations have been given to this event, but the main ones are: The corruption of religion, when the Tantric school moved away from the principles of Buddha's teachings, little social impact due to lack of connection with the popular social classes, hostility from non-Buddhist religions, and the rise of Islam in the region. There is also a brief bibliographic review on the history of Bangladesh and Buddhism, as well as its inseparable relationship with the history of India, and the current situation of Buddhism in Bangladesh.