The Buddha

Born

April 8, 563 BC

Died

483 BC

Known as

Buddhist monk, philosopher, founder of religion, religious leader, writer, social reformer

Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering religious teacher who lived in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic. After leading a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation, he attained nirvana at Bodh Gaya in what is now Bihar, India. The Buddha then wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order (sangha). Buddhist tradition holds he died in Kushinagar and reached parinirvana.

Biography from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.