The interaction between Islam and Buddhism began in the 7th century during the period of Islamic expansion. Through military conquest, trade-driven transmission, and religious competition, Buddhism was significantly pressured in several regions and in some places nearly disappeared. This process not only reshaped religious landscapes but also influenced cultural and social structures. The following survey outlines this history of pressure by period and region, and discusses its deeper causes and contemporary impact.

1. Early Encounters and the Squeezing of Buddhism in Central Asia (7th–10th Century)

Background and First Contacts

Buddhism was spread to Central Asia by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, flourishing in places such as Gandhāra, Bactria, Sogdiana, Tokharistan, and Kashgar by the 7th century, with monasteries, stupas, and major translation centers. After the death of Muhammad in 632, Islam rapidly expanded under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) and Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258), pushing into these Buddhist regions.

Military Conquest and Buddhist Decline

In the late 7th century, the Umayyad general Qutayba ibn Muslim conquered Central Asia. Between 705 and 715, he seized Bukhara, Samarkand, and Khwarazm, destroying Buddhist monasteries and Zoroastrian temples and forcing the population to convert to Islam. Buddhist monks either fled to Tang China or were killed, and the monastery-based economy (dependent on land and donations) collapsed.

For example, the Buddhist center of Bamiyan was conquered in the early 8th century. Although its giant statues (destroyed by the Taliban in 2001) remained intact at the time, the monastic community dispersed and Buddhist activity sharply declined.

Cultural Replacement

Islam introduced Arabic and Persian culture, replacing Sanskrit and Buddhist literature. Sogdian Buddhist texts (such as translations of the Amitābha Sūtra) gradually disappeared, while mosques replaced stupas as architectural landmarks. In the 9th century, under the Abbasid-affiliated Samanid dynasty, Islamization deepened and Buddhists became a minority.

Analysis of Causes

Islam’s union of religion and political rule, combined with military advantage, overwhelmed Buddhism’s non-political tradition. Buddhism relied heavily on royal patronage (as in the Kushan Empire) and lost its foundation when new rulers supported Islam. Its world-renouncing inclination also made it ill-prepared to respond to armed conquest.

2. The Decline of Buddhism in South Asia (11th–13th Century)

Buddhist Strength in India

Though Buddhism had begun declining after the Gupta period (4th–6th century) due to Hindu revival and internal corruption, it remained influential in the 7th century, especially in eastern India (Bihar and Bengal) and the northwest. Nalanda and Vikramashila were major Buddhist universities.

Turkic-Islamic Invasions

From the late 11th century, Turkic Muslims began invading India. Mahmud of Ghazni conducted repeated raids between 1001 and 1027, destroying Buddhist holy sites; thousands of monasteries in Gandhāra were burned.

In 1193, the general Bakhtiyar Khilji, under the Ghurid dynasty, captured Bihar and burned Nalanda and Vikramashila. Many monks were killed and libraries destroyed. The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj wrote: “Smoke did not clear for several days, and the books were almost entirely consumed.”

By the 13th century, the Delhi Sultanate consolidated power, extinguishing the last Buddhist strongholds. Surviving monks fled to Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.

Mechanisms of Pressure

Military destruction: Monasteries, key centers of economy and culture, were annihilated.

Conversion pressure: The jizya tax burdened non-Muslims, making conversion advantageous. Islam’s egalitarian appeal attracted lower-caste Hindus and Buddhists.

Cultural competition: Buddhism faced dual pressure from Hindu revival movements and the rise of Islam.

Consequences

By the late 13th century, Buddhism had nearly vanished from India, surviving only in the northeast (such as Sikkim) and Sri Lanka. Islam became the second-largest religion in the subcontinent, later strengthened by the Mughal Empire (1526–1857).

3. Competition and Partial Displacement in Southeast Asia (13th–16th Century)

Buddhism’s Roots in Southeast Asia

Buddhism arrived in Southeast Asia in the 3rd century and flourished in mainland regions (Theravāda Buddhism in Myanmar and Thailand) and maritime regions (the Buddhist Śrīvijaya Empire in Indonesia).

Islamic Trade and Missionization

From the 13th century onward, Arab and Indian Muslim traders spread Islam along the maritime Silk Road. The founding of the Malacca Sultanate (c. 1400) was pivotal; its ruler Parameswara converted to Islam, accelerating Islamization across the Malay Archipelago.

In the 14th–15th centuries, the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit Empire declined while the Islamic Demak Sultanate rose. By the 16th century, Muslim sultanates such as Aceh and Johor expanded, and Buddhist temples were abandoned or converted into mosques.

Case: The Decline of Borobudur

The Borobudur monument (9th-century Javanese Buddhist site) was abandoned after the 13th century, partly due to the rise of Islam and the conversion of Javanese royal houses. As populations adopted Islam, Buddhist culture receded.

Reasons and Impact

Islam spread through trade networks and intermarriage, and its comparatively simple monotheistic doctrine was easier to adopt than Buddhist philosophical traditions. Buddhism survived in mainland Southeast Asia due to continuous royal support, but in the islands it was almost entirely replaced. By 2025, Indonesia—once a Buddhist center—is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country (c. 230 million), while Buddhists form only a small minority.

4. Mongol and Modern Indirect Pressure (13th–20th Century)

Effects of the Mongol Invasions

The Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258 and their conquests in Central Asia further weakened remaining Buddhist communities. The Mongol successors, such as the Ilkhanate, eventually converted to Islam, reinforcing Islamic dominance.

Colonial Period and Buddhist Revival

In the 19th century, European colonialism (British in India, Dutch in Indonesia) weakened Islamic political power, enabling Buddhist revival movements. Leaders such as Anagarika Dharmapala in Sri Lanka resisted both Christian and Islamic influence. In the 20th century, Buddhist nationalism grew in Myanmar and Thailand, sometimes marginalizing Muslim minorities (e.g., the Rohingya).

5. Contemporary Tensions and Interaction (20th–2025)

Conflict Examples

Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar:
Buddhists (89% of the population) clashed with the Muslim Rohingya minority (approx. 1 million). Since 2017, Buddhist nationalist groups (e.g., Ma Ba Tha) have supported military operations that displaced 700,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh.

Southern Thailand:
Approximately two million Muslims in the southern provinces have engaged in conflict with the Buddhist-majority government. The insurgency since 2004 has caused thousands of deaths.

Coexistence and Competition

In Indonesia, Buddhist minorities (around 2 million, mostly ethnic Chinese) coexist peacefully with Muslims, and Borobudur has become a cultural rather than religious site. In Malaysia, Buddhists (around 20%) compete with Muslims in education and charity but with relatively little conflict.

Status as of 2025

After centuries of pressure, Islam dominates Central Asia, parts of South Asia, and maritime Southeast Asia, while Buddhism remains strong in mainland Southeast Asia and East Asia. Globally, Muslims number about 2 billion and Buddhists about 500 million. With globalization, competition has lessened and interfaith dialogue has increased (e.g., the 2024 Buddhist–Islamic Dialogue Conference in Bangkok).

6. Causes of Pressure and Long-Term Impact

Causes

Military and political: Islam’s union of religion and state and its military strength overwhelmed Buddhism’s pacifist orientation.

Economic and social: Islamic taxation policies and egalitarian values attracted lower social groups; wartime collapse of monastery economies accelerated decline.

Cultural: Islam’s simple monotheistic doctrine and strong cultural system often replaced Buddhism’s complex philosophy.

Long-Term Impact

Buddhism’s disappearance from India and Central Asia reshaped the religious map, with Islam becoming dominant across the vast region from Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. Culturally, many Buddhist sites (such as the Bamiyan statues) show traces of incorporation into Islamic civilizations.