t completely explain the disappearance of
Buddhism from India. Before attempting to assign reasons, we shall do
well to review some facts and dates relating to the period of
decadence. If we take all India into consideration the period is long,
but in many, indeed in most, districts the process of decay was rapid.

In the preceding chapter I have mentioned the accounts of Indian
Buddhism which we owe to the Chinese travellers, Hsuean Chuang and
I-Ching. The latter frankly deplores the decay of the faith which he
had witnessed in his own life (_i.e._ about 650-700 A.D.) but his
travels in India were of relatively small extent and he gives less
local information than previous pilgrims. Hsuean Chuang describing
India in 629-645 A.D. is unwilling to admit the decay but his truthful
narrative lets it be seen. It is only of Bengal and the present United
Provinces that he can be said to give a favourable account, and the
prosperity of Buddhism there was largely due to the personal influence
of Harsha.[265] In central and southern India, he tells us of little
but deserted monasteries. It is clear that Buddhism was dying out but
it is not so clear that it had ever been the real religion of this
region. In many parts it did not conquer the population but so to
speak built fortresses and left garrisons. It is probable that the
Buddhism of Andhra, Kalinga and the south was represented by little
more than such outposts. They included Amaravati, where portions of
the ruins seem assignable to about 150 A.D., and Ajanta, where some of
the cave paintings are thought to be as late as the sixth century. But
of neither site can we give any continuous history. In southern India
the introduction of Buddhism took place under the auspices of Asoka
himself, though his inscriptions have as yet been found only in
northern Mysore and not in the Tamil country. The Tamil poems
Manimegalei and Silappadigaram, especially the former, represent it as
prevalent and still preserving much of its ancient simplicity. Even in
later times when it had almost completely disappeared from southern
India, occasional Buddhist temples were founded. Rajaraja endowed one
at Negapatam about 1000 A.D. In 1055 a monastery was erected at
Belgami in Mysore and a Buddhist town named Kalavati is mentioned as
existing in that state in 1533.[266] But in spite of such survivals,
even in the sixth century Buddhism could not compete in southern India
with either Jainism or Hinduis