The encounter between Muslims and Buddhists in the First Three Hijri Centuries

Islam in the first three centuries of its arrival to the Indian Subcontinent experienced different periods of confrontation and collaboration with Buddhism. This article considers three main basics of Islamic-Buddhism relationships in the first three centuries of the Islamic caliphate, i.e., Islam arrival and caliphate indetermination encountering the Buddhists, economic and commercial cooperation and competition, and cultural and belief interactions of the two. The purpose of this research is realistic framing of the Islam and Buddhism relationships. The main issue of the research is whether the relationships between Buddhists and Muslims was based on a constant conflict, as reflected in works of many orientalists and English researchers, and Muslims had always sought to annihilate Buddhism off the conquered Islamic lands? Findings indicate that the relationship between Muslims and Buddhists was more varied and dynamic and hasn’t been limited to religious disputations. It seems that in contrast to the relationship of Muslims and Hindus, Muslims had better relationships and more economic and belief interactions with Buddhists.