Buddhism was founded approximately 2,500 years ago, in the late 6th century BCE, by Siddhartha Gautama, who is known as the Buddha. He attained enlightenment and began teaching in northern India, which is now part of Nepal and India, seeking to provide a path to end suffering.
This timeframe is generally placed around the 5th century BCE, during a period of social and spiritual ferment in the Indian subcontinent, with Gautama Buddha's teachings spreading widely thereafter.
