The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c29.101

c29.101

THE general prevalence of Buddhism in Northern India, including Kashmīr, Afghanistan, and Suwāt, during the two centuries immediately preceding and the two next following the Christian era, is simply attested by the numerous remains of Buddhist monuments erected during that period, and a multitude of inscriptions, which are almost all either Buddhist or Jain. The Jain cult, which was closely related to the Buddhist, does not appear to have gained very wide popularity, although it was practised with great devotion at certain localities, of which Mathurā was one.