Gautama Buddha, also known as, Shakyamuni Buddha

   Gautama Buddha, also known as, Shakyamuni Buddha

Gautama Buddha, also known as, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha, was an ascetic and sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.

He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala.Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later.