বাঙালি বৌদ্ধ (Bangali Bouddho) | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
 Bangladesh 350,000 India 408,080 (West Bengal (282,898) and Tripura (125,182)) | |
| Languages | |
| Bengali (native), Sanskrit and Pali (liturgical), English and Hindi (secondary language for official purposes) | |
| Religion | |
| Theravada Buddhism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bengali Muslims, Bengali Hindus, Bengali Christians |
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| Buddhism |
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Bengali Buddhists (Bengali: বাঙালি বৌদ্ধ) are a religious subgroup of the Bengalis who adhere to or practice the religion of Buddhism. Bengali Buddhist people mainly live in Bangladesh and Indian states West Bengal and Tripura.
Buddhism has a rich ancient heritage in Bengal. The region was a bastion of the ancient Buddhist Mauryan and Palan empires when the Mahayana and Vajrayana schools flourished. South-Eastern Bengal was ruled by the medieval Buddhist Kingdom of Mrauk U during the 16th and 17th centuries. The British Raj influenced the emergence of the modern community.
Today, Bengali Buddhists are followers of Theravāda Buddhism.[1]
- ^ Bechert, Heinz (1970). "Theravada Buddhist Sangha: Some General Observations on Historical and Political Factors in its Development". The Journal of Asian Studies. 29 (4): 761–778. doi:10.2307/2943086. JSTOR 2943086. S2CID 154554678.