Synopsis The present work is a comprehensive history of Indian Buddhism. In many ways it is different from other similar works. Firstly, most of the works dealing with the history of Indian Buddhism stop with the disappearance of this religion after the establishment of the Turkish rule in c. 1200 A.D. while the present monograph studies the fortunes of this religion in India upto the modern times. Secondly, it deals not only with the evolution of Indian Buddhism on traditional lines – life and teaching of the Buddhist samgha and its discipline, the first Four Buddhist Councils, the rise of various sects, the origin and development of Mahayanism and Tantrikism – but also to its disappearance after the sack of Nalanda and its partial revival in the recent decades. A unique feature of this work is that it seeks to study Buddhism as a part of general historical and cultural evolution of India and delineate its impact on and contribution to various aspects of Indian culture – philosophy, art, literature, education, political thought, historical thought, social philosophy, etc. Thirdly, it is not only a narrative of the major episodes in the history of Indian Buddhism it is critical and analytical, basing itself on the original source material and at the same time incorporating the results of the latest researches in the subject. An alert reader will note that while discussing the various topics critical and detailed references to the recent-most books and research papers have been made. We, therefore, hope that it will be found useful by scholars of Buddhism as well as historians of ancient Indian culture and religions.