The Origins of Buddhism
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2023
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
One of the oldest religions in the world, Buddhism is practiced by over 400 million people today, but where did it originate from? Pioneered by the Buddha - a wandering ascetic - it emerged in northern India in the fifth century BC as a new path that challenged the elitist structures of Indian Vedic culture. But what sparked the Buddha’s journey to enlightenment, and why did his teachings spread so far and so quickly?
In today’s episode of The Ancients, Tristan is joined by Dr Mary Storm - an expert on Indian ancient history - to unravel the origins of Buddhism. Together, they take a deep-dive into a world shaped by the Four Noble Truths, and the Eight-Fold Path, and explore who the legendary Buddha really was.
The Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie.
The Assistant Producer was Annie Coloe.
Edited by Joseph Knight.
For more Ancients content, subscribe to our Ancients newsletter here.
If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - enter promo code ANCIENTS for a free trial, plus 50% off your first three months' subscription.
To download, go to Android > or Apple store >
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | It's the Entrance on History Hit. |
| 0:14.2 | I'm Tristan Hughes, your host, and in today's episode where we're going far away from the |
| 0:18.2 | Mediterranean, we're finally returning to ancient India, to the Indian sub-consent. |
| 0:24.3 | Now on the entrance in the past we have talked about India in passing, we've talked about |
| 0:28.6 | Indian war elephants, we've talked about some Greek and Roman interactions with the |
| 0:33.0 | Indian sub-consent, but I don't think yet we've really taken a real deep delve into |
| 0:39.4 | India's ancient history, we want to correct that. |
| 0:42.5 | In today's episode we're going back to round about the 5th century BC to talk all about |
| 0:47.5 | the emergence of Buddhism. |
| 0:49.8 | What's the context? |
| 0:50.8 | What's happening in India at that time, particularly in northern India? |
| 0:55.8 | What are the basic teachings of Buddhism? |
| 0:58.4 | And of course, the big big question. |
| 1:01.5 | Who was the Buddha? |
| 1:03.2 | What do we know about his life and how he helps create this new path in this very tumultuous |
| 1:12.2 | changing time that was 5th century BC, northern India? |
| 1:17.7 | What to explain all? |
| 1:18.7 | I was delighted to get on the podcast, dialing in from Sri Lanka, Dr. Mary Storm. |
| 1:26.2 | Now a few things about Mary, one, she's an expert on so much of India's ancient history |
| 1:31.2 | from the origins of Buddhism as you're going to hear, but all the way down to Medieval |
| 1:36.6 | Indian sculpture. |
| 1:38.6 | And two, thank you so much to Annie Woodman in the office, she's a great friend and a |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.