Did the Buddha Have Iranian Origins?
Could the sage have descended from the Iranian-speaking Scythians of the Steppes?
Did the Buddha have Iranian origins? Was he descended from the Scythians? When I first came across this theory, I thought it was a conspiracy doing rounds on social media.
But digging deeper, I found several scholars have discussed whether the Buddha had roots among the Iranian-speaking tribes of the Eurasian Steppes known as the Scythians.
I had the privilege of collaborating with Dr. David Miano, Professor of Ancient History at the State College of Florida, to answer the question about the Buddha’s origin. I’ve provided his YouTube video at the end of this story. The discussion takes place 18 minutes, 35 seconds onwards.
Conventional knowledge tells us that Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, in present-day Nepal and India border around the 6th or 5th century BC.
The Buddha belonged to a tribe known as the Sakyas. Hence, he is also known as the “Sakyamuni” or the Sakya sage.
So, if the Buddha was born in the Indian subcontinent, how did the “Iranian or Scythian origin” of the Buddha come into the picture?
The Buddha’s clan, the Sakyas, gives us a hint. Some scholars have suggested that…
