Most traditional accounts say Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini (in present- day Nepal) around the 6th century BCE, often given as about 563 BCE.

Quick Scoop: when was Buddha born?

Historians and Buddhist traditions do not agree on a single exact year, but they cluster around a fairly tight window.

  • Many modern references use “around 563 BCE” for his birth.
  • Some scholarly chronologies place his life roughly in the 5th century BCE instead (for example, around 448–368 BCE in a “short chronology”).
  • Traditional Sri Lankan and Southeast Asian sources sometimes give 624–544 BCE as his lifespan.
  • All major traditions agree he lived about 80 years and was born at Lumbini, near the India–Nepal border.

So if you need a simple answer for “when was Buddha born,” the most common approximate date you’ll see is around 563 BCE in Lumbini (modern Nepal) , while historians emphasize that the exact year is uncertain.

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