Religion

Topics represented

Religion (351) · Buddhist traditions (97) · Hindu traditions (62) · Chinese traditions (61) · Judaism (43) · Islam (42) · Christianity (34) · Empire and state (20) · Daoist traditions (19) · Catholic Christianity (17) · Sunni (16) · Roman Empire (14)

Records and sources

Ordered by start date. Long lives and processes may begin before the period you want to study.

1. 538 or 552

   Introduction to Japan via Korea

   Sources differ on 538 or 552; transmission comes via Korea and China and adapts to Japan.

2. c. 550

   Shaiva complex at Elephanta

   Elephanta preserves a monumental program linked to Shiva and sectarian imagery.

3. c. 550–c. 1300

   Development of Tantric traditions

   Shaiva, Shakta, Vaishnava, Buddhist, and Jain tantric currents formed distinct networks; Tantra is not one practice.

4. c. 600–c. 900

   Alvar poets and Tamil devotion

   Alvar hymns are central to Tamil Vaishnava bhakti; individual chronologies vary.

5. c. 600–c. 900

   Nayanar poets and Shaiva devotion

   Nayanars consolidated Tamil Shaiva singing, pilgrimage, and memory networks; bhakti was not uniform.

6. c. 600–c. 800

   Pallava temples of Tamil Nadu

   Pallava patronage advanced rock-cut and structural architecture in dialogue with local devotions.

7. c. 600–c. 700

   Sambor Prei Kuk and Harihara cults

   In Cambodia, complexes show Harihara/Shaiva convergences with animist and Buddhist traditions.

8. c. 601–c. 1000

   Development of Chan

   Chan develops in diverse Chinese settings and later transforms in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam; it is not a universal synonym for meditation.

9. c. 601–c. 700

   Founding of Jokhang

   Jokhang was founded to promote Buddhism and combines Tibetan, Chinese, Indian, and Nepalese influences.

10. c. 601–c. 900

    Nalanda patronage

    Harsha and Pala rulers patronized Nalanda. The documentation includes support from Dharmapala and Devapala, and a monastery for Javanese monks promoted by Balaputradeva.

11. c. 601–c. 700

    First dissemination in Tibet

    Seventh-century temples and royal patronage anchor the first dissemination; this evidence does not by itself date every doctrine or lineage.

12. 605

    Sui imperial examinations

    In 605, selection of officials by examination was established under Sui Yangdi and later developed by the Tang. It linked literary education and state careers, with access conditions that changed over time.

13. c. 610

    Beginning of Muhammad’s preaching

    Historical syntheses place the beginning of preaching in Mecca around 610; for Muslims, the revelations constitute the Qur’an.

14. 618–907

    Tang patronage and Daoist institutions

    The Tang ruling Li family claimed descent from Laozi. At different times the court examined candidates on Daoist scriptures, recognized training centers and sponsored ceremonies; these policies did not make Tang society uniformly Daoist.

15. 622

    Hijra to Medina

    Muhammad’s migration with his followers marks year 1 of the Hijri calendar and the establishment of a Muslim community in Medina.

16. 624

    Battle of Badr

    An early conflict between the Medina community and Meccan forces; recorded as history, not as religious proof.

17. 629–645

    Xuanzang’s journey to India

    Xuanzang’s journey documents networks of study, translation, and pilgrimage between China and South Asia.

18. 630

    Muhammad’s entry into Mecca

    Historical tradition dates the conquest of the city to 630; the Kaʿba was rededicated as an Islamic sanctuary.

19. 632

    Death of Muhammad and the succession question

    His death opened a question of leadership of major historical and theological importance for later traditions.

20. 632–661

    Rashidun caliphate

    A period associated in Sunni tradition with four “rightly guided” caliphs; its political reach does not imply uniform conversion of conquered societies.

21. c. 650

    Standardization of the muṣḥaf attributed to ʿUthmān

    Islamic tradition credits the third caliph with promulgating a uniform consonantal skeleton. “c. 650” is not the archaeological date of every surviving manuscript.

22. c. 650–c. 1038

    Geonic academies of Babylonia

    Sura and Pumbedita, among other centers, articulated legal responses and networks of authority for dispersed communities.

23. 656–661

    First Fitna

    Civil war following ʿUthmān’s assassination; the leadership dispute informs later Sunni and Shiʿi memories.

24. 661–750

    Umayyad caliphate

    A Damascus-based dynasty central to early Islamic institutions and artistic expression.

25. 676–935

    Unified Silla Buddhism

    State-sanctioned Buddhism profoundly influences arts, temples, and elites while maintaining exchanges with Tang and Japan.

26. 680

    Karbala and the death of al-Ḥusayn

    The Prophet’s grandson’s death is central to Shiʿi memory and devotion; it is not a single origin point for all Shiʿi communities.

27. 691–692

    Construction of the Dome of the Rock

    An Umayyad monument in Jerusalem with early inscriptions: material evidence for public Islamic architecture and epigraphy.

28. 697

    Cáin Adomnáin or Law of the Innocents

    Cáin Adomnáin was promulgated in 697 at the Synod of Birr according to the Annals of Ulster and related sources. It protected women, children, and clerics from specified violence, though the surviving treatise is later and not a copy of the original legislative text.

29. c. 701–c. 900

    Borobudur

    Borobudur materializes a Mahayana Buddhist cosmology in Java within local and maritime contexts.

30. c. 701–c. 800

    Seokguram and Bulguksa

    The ensemble shows Korean forms of Buddhist architecture and sculpture in a Silla context.