The history of Theravāda Buddhism begins in ancient India, where it was one of the early Buddhist schools which arose after the first schism of the Buddhist monastic community. After establishing itself in the Sri Lankan Anuradhapura Kingdom, Theravāda spread throughout mainland Southeast Asia (mainly in the region roughly corresponding to modern Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos) through the efforts of missionary monks and Southeast Asian kings.
In the modern era, Theravāda Buddhism faced numerous challenges, such as Western colonialism and the arrival of Christian missionaries. In response, various Theravāda Buddhist Modernist movements arose, such as the Sri Lankan modernism of Anagarika Dharmapala, the Burmese vipassana movement and the Dhammayutika Nikaya, a new Thai monastic order. Furthermore, the modern era saw Theravāda become an international religion, with centers in the Western world. It also saw the development of Theravāda movements in Asian countries that were not traditionally home to the religion, like Nepal and Vietnam.
Pre-Modern History
Origins
The name Theravāda comes from "Sthāvirīya" (Elders), one of the early Buddhist schools from which Theravādins trace their school's descent. The Sthāvira nikāya emerged from the first schism in the Buddhist sangha (literally "Community"). At issue was its adherents' desire to add new Vinaya rules tightening monastic discipline, against the wishes of the majority Mahāsāṃghika.
According to its adherents' accounts, the Theravāda school derives from the Vibhajjavāda ("doctrine of analysis") group, which was a division of the Sthāvira tradition that arose during the putative Third Buddhist council held around 250 BCE under the patronage of Indian Emperor Ashoka. However, Damien Keown denies that there is historical evidence of the Theravāda school's existence before around two centuries after the first schism.
Emperor Ashoka is supposed to have assisted in purifying the sangha by expelling monks who declined to agree to the terms of Third Council. According to Theravāda sources, the elder monk Moggaliputta-Tissa chaired the Third council and compiled the Kathavatthu ("Points of Controversy"), an important work on Theravada doctrine which focuses on refuting various views of other sects. According to the Theravada account, the third council also led to the split between the Sarvastivada and the Vibhajjavāda schools on the issue of the existence of the three times.
Fueled by Mauryan patronage, the Vibhajjavādins spread out throughout India. Over time, the Vibhajjavādin community is said to have further split into four groups: the Mahīśāsaka, Kāśyapīya, Dharmaguptaka in the north, and the Tāmraparṇīya in South India. The Tambapaṇṇiya (later known as Mahāvihāravāsins), was established in Sri Lanka (at Anuradhapura) but active also in Andhra and other parts of South India (like Vanavasa in modern Karnataka). Inscriptional evidence of this school has been found in Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda. According to Buddhist scholar A. K. Warder, the early Theravāda school spread "from Avanti into Maharashtra and Andhra and down to the Chola country." Over time, their main centers became the Great Vihara (Mahavihara) in Anuradhapura (the ancient Sri Lankan capital), and (Kanchi (in Tamil Nadu).
Transmission to Sri Lanka
Theravāda is descended from the ancient Tāmraparṇīya sect, which means "the Sri Lankan lineage". According to Theravāda chronicles, the missionaries sent abroad from India included Ashoka's son Mahinda (who studied under Moggaliputta-Tissa) and his daughter Sanghamitta. They are seen as the mythical founders of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, a story which scholars suggest helps to legitimize Theravāda's claims of being the oldest and most authentic school.
According to the Mahavamsa chronicle, they arrived in Sri Lanka during the reign of Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura (307–267 BCE), who converted to Buddhism and helped build the first Buddhist stupas. According to S. D. Bandaranayake:
Anuradhapura Period
According to K. M. de Silva, Buddhism was well established in the main settlements of the Kingdom of Anuradhapura by the first century BCE. Over time, Anuradhapura Theravada adopted and assimilated various pre-Buddhism elements. The first records of Sri Lankan Buddha images come from the reign of the King Vasabha (65–109 CE), and after the 3rd century CE the historical record shows a growth of the worship of Buddha images as well as of bodhisattvas.
From the 5th century to the eleventh century, the island of Sri Lanka saw continuous warfare between Sinhala kings and south Indian invaders (mainly the Cholas, Pallavas and Pandyas). Buddhist institutions suffered terribly during these various invasions and conflicts. However, in spite of the instability, this era also saw the expansion of Buddhist culture, arts and architecture. By the 9th century, Buddhist monasteries were powerful institutions who owned property, land, estates, and irrigation works. They were basically self sufficient economic units under the protection of the Sinahala monarchs.
Between the reigns of Sena I (833–853) and Mahinda IV (956–972), the city of Anuradhapura saw a "colossal building effort" by various kings during a long period of peace and prosperity, the great part of the present architectural remains in this city date from this period. However, this was followed by the conquest of Anuradhapura by the Chola empire (between 993 and 1077). By the time that the island was reconquered by Vijayabahu I (1055–1110), the monastic sangha had mostly ceased to exist and had to be reintroduced by inviting Burmese monks to the island to restart monastic ordinations.
Development of the Pāli textual tradition
The Sri Lankan Buddhist Sangha initially preserved the Buddhist scriptures (the Tipitaka) orally as it had been traditionally done in India. However, according to the Mahavamsa, during the first century BCE, famine and wars led to the writing down of these scriptures in order to preserve the teachings. Richard Gombrich remarks that this is "the earliest record we have of Buddhist scriptures being committed to writing anywhere". With few exceptions, surviving Theravādin Pāli texts derive from the tradition of the Mahāvihāra at Anuradhapura.Pollock, Sheldon I. Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, p. 650
Later developments included the formation and recording of the Theravāda commentary literature (Atthakatha). According to Theravāda sources, there was a tradition of Indian commentaries on the scriptures which existed during the time of Mahinda. There were also various commentaries in Sinhala, such as the "Great commentary" of the Mahavihara school, which is now lost.
As a result of the work of later South Indian scholars who were associated with the Mahāvihāra, mainly Buddhaghosa (4th–5th century CE), Dhammapala and Buddhadatta, Sri Lankan Buddhists adopted Pali as their main scholastic language. These figures wrote new commentaries in Pali (basing themselves on the old Sinhala works). This adoption of a lingua franca allowed the Sri Lankan tradition to become more international, allowing easier links with the community in South India and Southeast Asia.
Theravāda monks also produced other Pāli works such as historical chronicles (e.g. Mahavamsa), hagiographies, practice manuals, textbooks, poetry, and doctrinal summaries of Theravada Abhidhamma, such as the Abhidhammavatara. Buddhaghosa's works, especially the Visuddhimagga, are the most influential texts (apart from the Pāli Canon) in the Theravāda tradition.
Sri Lankan Theravāda sects
Over much of the early history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, there were three subdivisions of Theravāda, consisting of the monks of the Mahāvihāra, Abhayagiri vihāra and Jetavana, all based in Anuradhapura. The Mahāvihāra was the first tradition to be established, while Abhayagiri and Jetavana developed out of it.
When the Chinese monk Faxian visited the island in the early 5th century, he noted 5000 monks at Abhayagiri, 3000 at the Mahāvihāra, and 2000 at the Cetiyapabbatavihāra.
Abhayagiri Theravādins maintained close relations with Indian Buddhists over the centuries, adopting many of the latter's teachings, including many Mahāyāna elements, whereas Jetavana Theravādins adopted Mahāyāna to a lesser extent. The Mahāvihāra tradition meanwhile considered many of the Mahāyāna doctrines, such as Lokottaravāda ("transcendentalism"), as heretical and considered the Mahāyāna sutras as being counterfeit scriptures.
Religious conflict among these sects was also not unusual. During the reign of Voharika Tissa (209-31 CE), the Mahāvihāra tradition convinced the king to repress the Mahāyān teachings, which they saw as incompatible with the true doctrine. The reign of king Mahasena (277 to 304 CE) for example, was marked by his support of Mahāyāna Buddhism and his repression of the Mahāvihāra tradition (and destruction of their monastery) which refused to convert to Mahāyāna. The Mahāvihāra tradition would not regain its dominant position until the Polonnaruwa period in 1055.
Abhayagiri was an influential university and center for the study of Mahāyāna and Vajrayana from the reign of Gajabahu I until the 12th century.Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abhayagiri". Encyclopædia Britannica. I: A–ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. p. 30. . Throughout its history, Abhayagiri was an influential center of scholarship, with numerous scholars working in Sanskrit and Pāli. Akira Hirakawa and David Kalupahana have argued that Mahāyāna influence can even be found in the Pāli commentaries of the Mahāvihāra school.
Medieval Sri Lanka
The next influential figure in Sinhala Buddhism was Parākramabāhu I (1153–1186) who unified the island and promoted extensive reform of what he saw as a divided and corrupt sangha.Paranavitana, History of Ceylon, p. 215 Sinhala chronicles state that the Buddhist sangha was in conflict at this time, while many monks had even married and had children.Culavamsa, LXXVIII, 1–3. According to some sources, some monks were defrocked and given the choice of either returning to the laity, or attempting re-ordination under the new unified Theravāda tradition as "novices" ().
De Silva notes that this reform was traditionally seen as the triumph of the Mahāvihāra and the repression of the other schools, but that "recent research has shown this to be quite inaccurate." All Buddhist institutions had been severely damaged by the war with the Cholas, and the three main traditions had fragmented into eight sects. Parākramabāhu united all of these into a common community, which seems to have been dominated by the Mahāvihāra. However, this did not bring an end to sectarian competition completely.
Parākramabāhu I is also known for rebuilding the ancient cities of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, restoring Buddhist stupas and Viharas (monasteries). He appointed a Sangharaja, or "King of the Sangha", a monk who would preside over the Sangha and maintain discipline.
The Polonnaruva era also saw a flowering of Pali language Theravāda scholasticism with the work of prominent Sri Lankan scholars such as Anuruddha, Sāriputta Thera, Mahākassapa of Dimbulagala and Moggallana Thera. They worked on compiling subcommentaries to the Tipitaka, grammars, summaries and textbooks on Abhidhamma and Vinaya such as the influential Abhidhammattha-sangaha of Anuruddha.
After the reign of Parākramabāhu I, the island saw further waves of Indian invaders, forcing the Sinhala monarchs to retreat to the south again. The island's political instability also led to the decline of monastic discipline. Sinhala kings attempted to stem this decline through directly purging the sangha of undisciplined monks and also by appointing sangharajas (chief of the sangha).