Evolved

How religions evolved

How Religions Evolved Five traditions over nine thousand years, every date the first surviving evidence, every line a link to the chapter that cites it. 7000 BCE 7000 BCE 3300 BCE 3300 BCE 2000 BCE 2000 BCE 1500 BCE 1500 BCE 1200 BCE 1200 BCE 1100 BCE 1100 BCE 1000 BCE 1000 BCE 900 BCE 900 BCE 800 BCE 800 BCE 750 BCE 750 BCE 700 BCE 700 BCE 650 BCE 650 BCE 600 BCE 600 BCE 550 BCE 550 BCE 500 BCE 500 BCE 400 BCE 400 BCE 350 BCE 350 BCE 300 BCE 300 BCE 250 BCE 250 BCE 200 BCE 200 BCE 150 BCE 150 BCE 100 BCE 100 BCE 50 BCE 50 BCE 0 CE 0 CE 1 CE 1 CE 25 CE 25 CE 50 CE 50 CE 75 CE 75 CE 100 CE 100 CE 150 150 200 200 250 250 300 300 350 350 400 400 450 450 500 500 550 550 600 600 625 625 650 650 675 675 700 700 750 750 800 800 850 850 900 900 950 950 1000 1000 1050 1050 1100 1100 1150 1150 1200 1200 1250 1250 1300 1300 1400 1400 1500 1500 1525 1525 1550 1550 1600 1600 1650 1650 1700 1700 1750 1750 1775 1775 1800 1800 1825 1825 1850 1850 1875 1875 1900 1900 1910 1910 1920 1920 1925 1925 1950 1950 1975 1975 2000 2000 today today compressed scale Judaism c. 1250 BCE – present 14 chapters · 37 dated firsts · 12 branches and offshoots chapters dated firsts turning points §1 Out of Canaan, 1250 BCE – 1000 BCE Who the first Israelites were, and what happened to the Exodus and the conquest §1 Out of Canaan §2 Yahweh Among the Gods, 1000 BCE – 750 BCE Where Israel's god came from, who stood beside him, and what archaeology says about David §2 Yahweh Among the Gods §3 The Prophets and the Yahweh-Alone Movement, 760 BCE – 586 BCE From Amos to Josiah: how the worship of Yahweh became the demand to worship Yahweh alone §3 The Prophets and the Yahweh-Alone Movement §4 Exile and the Birth of Monotheism, 597 BCE – 539 BCE How the destruction of Jerusalem produced a God with no rivals §4 §5 Persian Yehud and the Making of the Torah, 539 BCE – 332 BCE Cyrus, the Second Temple, Ezra and Nehemiah, a temple in Egypt and a temple on Gerizim §5 Persian Yehud and the Making of the Torah §6 Hellenism, the Maccabees and the Second Temple Sects, 332 BCE – 70 CE Greek rule, a revolt, a new kingdom, rival schools, and the ideas that would shape Judaism and Christianity §6 Hellenism, the Maccabees and the Second Temple Sects §7 Without a Temple: The Rabbis, 70 CE – 640 How a small circle of scholars rebuilt Judaism after Rome destroyed its centre §7 Without a Temple: The Rabbis §8 Under Islam, 632 – 1250 The geonim, the Karaites, Saadia, Andalusia and Maimonides: how Judaism took its medieval shape in the Islamic world §8 Under Islam §9 Ashkenaz, Sepharad and the Kabbalah, 1000 – 1650 Rashi, the Crusades, the expulsions, the Zohar and the making of two Jewish worlds §9 Ashkenaz, Sepharad and the Kabbalah §10 False Messiahs, Hasidism and Their Opponents, 1648 – 1800 From the 1648 massacres and Sabbatai Zevi to the Baal Shem Tov, the tsaddik and the Vilna Gaon §10 False Messiahs, Hasidism and Their Opponents §11 Emancipation and the Modern Movements, 1750 – 1900 How citizenship split Judaism into Reform, Orthodox and Conservative, from Mendelssohn's Berlin to the Lower East Side §11 Emancipation and the Modern Movements §12 Zionism, the Holocaust and the State of Israel, 1881 – 1974 How a secular national movement, a genocide and a state changed Jewish religion §12 Zionism, the Holocaust and the State of Israel §13 Judaism Today, 1967 – 2026 Denominations, women rabbis, the ultra-Orthodox revival, and who counts as a Jew §13 Judaism Today Israelite religion: Yahweh among the gods · c. 1208 BCE · consensus The Merneptah Stele names a people called Israel in Canaan; its name contains El, not Yahweh. Samaritans · temple on Gerizim, mid-5th c. BCE · majority A Yahweh temple on Mount Gerizim above Shechem; destroyed by John Hyrcanus c. 110 BCE. The community keeps its own Torah and survives today. Samaritans temple on Gerizim, mid-5th c. BCE Sadducees · 2nd c. BCE – 70 CE · majority The priestly party; rejected resurrection and the Pharisees' oral tradition. Disappears with the Temple. Sadducees 2nd c. BCE – 70 CE Essenes and the Qumran community · c. 100 BCE – 68 CE · majority Settlement at Qumran from c. 100 BCE on Magness's dating; the Dead Sea Scrolls are its library and others'. Essenes and the Qumran community Karaites · c. 760s · majority Anan ben David breaks with the rabbinic leadership in Baghdad: Scripture without the Oral Torah. A small community survives. Karaites c. 760s Sabbateans · 1665 · consensus Sabbatai Zevi proclaimed Messiah at Gaza; converts to Islam in 1666. Secret followers persist: the Dönme of Salonica (1683) and the Frankists in Poland (1756). Sabbateans Hasidism · 1740s–1760s · consensus The Baal Shem Tov's circle at Międzybóż becomes a movement under the Maggid of Mezeritch (d. 1772); the tsaddik as mediator. Hasidism 1740s–1760s Chabad-Lubavitch · 1796 · consensus Shneur Zalman of Liadi's Tanya (1796); arrested by Russia in 1798 and 1800. After Schneerson's death in 1994 part of the movement proclaimed him Messiah. Chabad-Lubavitch 1796 Reform Judaism · 1810 · 1818 · consensus Jacobson's service with organ and German sermon at Seesen (1810); the Hamburg Temple (1818) and the rabbinic ban that answered it. Reform Judaism 1810 · 1818 Conservative Judaism · 1845 · 1886 · consensus Zacharias Frankel walks out of the Reform conference of 1845; the Jewish Theological Seminary opens in New York in 1886. Conservative Judaism 1845 · 1886 Zionism · 1897 · consensus The First Zionist Congress at Basel, led mostly by secular Jews; most Orthodox and Reform rabbis opposed it at first. Zionism 1897 Religious Zionism (Mizrachi) · 1902 · consensus Founded in Vilna by Rabbi Reines; Rav Kook reads the secular pioneers as unwitting agents of redemption; Gush Emunim follows in 1974. Religious Zionism (Mizrachi) 1902 Humanistic Judaism · 1963 · consensus Sherwin Wine's congregation near Detroit, with services that omit God. Humanistic Judaism 1963 c. 1208 BCE: A people called Israel, named for El. Israel appears as a people in Canaan, not yet a kingdom; its name contains El, the Canaanite high god, not Yahweh. Source: Merneptah Stele: "Israel is laid waste, his seed is not". Confidence: consensus. c. 1208 BCE A people called Israel, named for El 12th–10th c. BCE (debated): Yahweh as a god who comes from the southern deserts. Some of the oldest poems in the Bible have Yahweh march out of Seir, Edom and Teman; the date of the poems is disputed. Source: Judges 5:4–5 (the Song of Deborah); Deuteronomy 33:2; Habakkuk 3:3. Confidence: contested. 12th–10th c. BCE (debated) Yahweh as a god who comes from the southern deserts c. 840 BCE: Yahweh named as a god. The earliest certain mention of Yahweh comes from Israel's enemy; an Egyptian "Shasu of Yhw" c. 1370 BCE may be related. Source: Mesha Stele: the king of Moab takes "the vessels of Yahweh" from Nebo. Confidence: consensus. c. 840 BCE Yahweh named as a god c. 800 BCE: Asherah paired with Yahweh. Blessings invoke Yahweh and "his asherah"; whether that meant the goddess or a cult symbol of hers is debated. Source: Kuntillet ʿAjrud: "Yahweh of Samaria and his asherah"; Khirbet el-Qom. Confidence: majority. c. 800 BCE Asherah paired with Yahweh early 8th c. BCE: Yahweh dominates personal names. Names built on Yahweh outnumber those built on Baal, though a notable minority honour Baal. Source: Samaria ostraca; Hebrew inscriptions and seals. Confidence: majority. early 8th c. BCE Yahweh dominates personal names c. 760–750 BCE: Prophecy collected in books. Prophecy was common across the Near East; what is new is that these prophets' sayings were collected and edited into books. Source: Amos; then Hosea, Isaiah and Micah. Confidence: majority. c. 760–750 BCE Prophecy collected in books c. 750–725 BCE: Yahweh alone: a demand for exclusive worship. Worship of Yahweh only, without yet denying that other gods exist: monolatry, not monotheism. Source: Hosea 13:4: "you know no god but me". Confidence: majority. c. 750–725 BCE Yahweh alone: a demand for exclusive worship 622 BCE: One sanctuary and a book of the law. Josiah's reform centralises sacrifice in Jerusalem and purges Baal and Asherah from the Temple; how far it reached is debated. Source: 2 Kings 22–23; the core of Deuteronomy. Confidence: majority. 622 BCE One sanctuary and a book of the law 6th c. BCE: Sabbath and circumcision as signs of the covenant. Without temple, king or land, portable practices become the marks of belonging; both existed earlier, but not as identity markers. Source: Priestly texts: Genesis 17; Exodus 31:12–17. Confidence: majority. 6th c. BCE Sabbath and circumcision as signs of the covenant c. 550–539 BCE: No god but Yahweh: explicit monotheism. The first statements that other gods do not exist at all come from the exile, after the fall of Jerusalem. Source: Isaiah 45:5–7; Deuteronomy 4:35, 39. Confidence: majority. c. 550–539 BCE No god but Yahweh: explicit monotheism c. 520 BCE: "The satan", an accuser in God's council. Still a role with a definite article, not a name: the accuser acts with God's permission. Source: Zechariah 3:1–2; Job 1–2. Confidence: majority. c. 520 BCE "The satan", an accuser in God's council 5th c. BCE: Yehudim: "Jews" as the name of a dispersed people. "Judahite" becomes the name of a people defined by descent and practice, living far from Judah. Source: Elephantine papyri; Esther. Confidence: majority. 5th c. BCE Yehudim: "Jews" as the name of a dispersed people 5th–4th c. BCE: The Torah as a finished, authoritative book. The Torah reaches roughly its final form and is read aloud to the people; the Elephantine Judeans of the 5th century show no trace of it. Source: Nehemiah 8; the shared Samaritan Torah; later the Septuagint. Confidence: majority. 5th–4th c. BCE The Torah as a finished, authoritative book 4th c. BCE: Satan as a proper name. An act the older text gives to Yahweh, inciting David's census, is moved to "Satan", now without the article. Source: 1 Chronicles 21:1 against 2 Samuel 24:1. Confidence: majority. 4th c. BCE Satan as a proper name 3rd c. BCE: Fallen angels as the source of evil. Two hundred angels descend and corrupt humanity: evil comes from them, not from Adam. Source: The Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1–36). Confidence: majority. 3rd c. BCE Fallen angels as the source of evil 246–221 BCE: A Jewish prayer house (synagogue). The earliest dated synagogue is in Egypt; buildings in Judea and Galilee follow in the 1st c. CE. Source: Schedia inscription, dedicated for Ptolemy III. Confidence: consensus. 246–221 BCE A Jewish prayer house (synagogue) c. 165 BCE: Resurrection and judgment of the dead. The first clear biblical promise that the dead will rise; Daniel is also the first biblical book to name angels, Michael and Gabriel. Source: Daniel 12:2. Confidence: consensus. c. 165 BCE Resurrection and judgment of the dead December 164 BCE: Hanukkah. The rededication of the Temple, kept as an eight-day festival; the oil miracle is first recorded in the Talmud. Source: 1 Maccabees 4:52–59. Confidence: consensus. December 164 BCE Hanukkah late 2nd or 1st c. BCE: "Judaism" as a word. The Greek word first names the Jewish way of life in contrast to Hellenism. Source: 2 Maccabees 2:21, 8:1, 14:38 (Ioudaismos). Confidence: majority. late 2nd or 1st c. BCE "Judaism" as a word 2nd–1st c. BCE: Satan as leader of the forces of evil. The accuser becomes the commander of "the sons of darkness", the figure the Gospels take for granted. Source: Jubilees (Mastema); Dead Sea Scrolls (Belial). Confidence: majority. 2nd–1st c. BCE Satan as leader of the forces of evil 1st c. BCE: An end-time Messiah. "Anointed" becomes the title of an expected end-time figure; expectations varied widely. Source: Community Rule (1QS 9:11); Psalms of Solomon 17. Confidence: majority. 1st c. BCE An end-time Messiah c. 70–90 CE: Prayer in place of sacrifice. After the Temple burned, daily prayer was modelled on its timetable; fixed wording came centuries later. Source: b. Berakhot 26b; the ʿAmidah attributed to Yavneh (b. Berakhot 28b). Confidence: majority. c. 70–90 CE Prayer in place of sacrifice c. 200 CE: The Oral Torah written down: the Mishnah. Tradition the rabbis traced to Sinai is compiled in Hebrew, much of it about a Temple that no longer stood. Source: The Mishnah, compiled under Rabbi Judah the Patriarch. Confidence: majority. c. 200 CE The Oral Torah written down: the Mishnah c. 200 CE: Jewish status through the mother. In the Bible descent runs through the father; the matrilineal rule is first stated by the rabbis. Source: m. Kiddushin 3:12. Confidence: majority. c. 200 CE Jewish status through the mother c. 760s: Scripture without the Oral Torah. Karaism rejects rabbinic tradition; Anan's role as founder was enlarged by later accounts. Source: Anan ben David's Book of Commandments. Confidence: majority. c. 760s Scripture without the Oral Torah c. 860–875: The Talmud as authority everywhere, and a written prayer order. The Babylonian geonim make the Talmud the law of Jews across the Islamic world and send the first complete prayer order to Spain. Source: Seder Rav Amram; geonic responsa. Confidence: majority. c. 860–875 The Talmud as authority everywhere, and a written… c. 1168: A binding Jewish creed. The first rabbinic attempt at binding dogma, disputed from the start, later sung as Yigdal and printed as Ani Maʾamin. Source: Maimonides, Commentary on the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 10: the Thirteen Principles. Confidence: consensus. c. 1168 A binding Jewish creed c. 1180–1230: Kabbalah. Jewish mysticism with the sefirot appears in Provence and Castile, not in antiquity as the Zohar claims. Source: Sefer ha-Bahir; Isaac the Blind in Provence; then the Zohar, c. 1280–1300. Confidence: majority. c. 1180–1230 Kabbalah late Middle Ages: Bar mitzvah as a ceremony. A boy was legally adult at thirteen in Talmudic law; a public ceremony marking it is attested only late. Source: Ashkenazi custom. Confidence: majority. late Middle Ages Bar mitzvah as a ceremony 1565; 1571: One code of law for Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Printing lets one code, with Ashkenazi glosses, become the reference for both communities. Source: Joseph Karo's Shulḥan ʿArukh with Moses Isserles's glosses. Confidence: consensus. 1565; 1571 One code of law for Sephardim and Ashkenazim 1770s–1780s: The tsaddik as mediator for his followers. Formulated by the Maggid's students, not by the Baal Shem Tov himself. Source: Noʿam Elimelekh (1788) and other early Hasidic books. Confidence: consensus. 1770s–1780s The tsaddik as mediator for his followers 1795: "Orthodox" as a name for Jews. The label comes from outside, before Orthodoxy organised itself as a movement against Reform. Source: Berlinische Monatsschrift. Confidence: majority. 1795 "Orthodox" as a name for Jews 1810: Reform worship. Reform begins with changes to worship; changes in doctrine follow. Source: Israel Jacobson's service at Seesen: German sermon, organ and choir. Confidence: consensus. 1810 Reform worship 1862: Settling the land as the start of redemption. A rabbinic argument for settlement decades before Herzl's secular, political Zionism (1896–97). Source: Zvi Hirsch Kalischer, Derishat Tziyon. Confidence: consensus. 1862 Settling the land as the start of redemption 18 March 1922: Bat mitzvah. The first public bat mitzvah in America. Source: Mordecai Kaplan's daughter Judith, New York. Confidence: consensus. 18 March 1922 Bat mitzvah 27 December 1935: A woman rabbi. Seminaries follow from 1972 (Reform), 1974 (Reconstructionist) and 1985 (Conservative); Orthodoxy remains divided. Source: Regina Jonas, ordained privately in Offenbach. Confidence: consensus. 27 December 1935 A woman rabbi 15 March 1983: Jewish status through the father (Reform). American Reform accepts the child of one Jewish parent, father or mother, as presumptively Jewish. Source: Central Conference of American Rabbis resolution. Confidence: consensus. 15 March 1983 Jewish status through the father (Reform) 2nd c. BCE: Pharisees, the rabbis' forerunners. The school of oral tradition and lay piety from which rabbinic Judaism later grew. Confidence: majority. 2nd c. BCE Pharisees, the rabbis' forerunners after 70 CE: Rabbinic Judaism: prayer, Mishnah, Talmud. With the Temple gone, the rabbis' Judaism of synagogue, study and law slowly becomes the mainstream; the Mishnah c. 200, the Talmuds c. 400 and 500–700. Confidence: majority. after 70 CE Rabbinic Judaism: prayer, Mishnah, Talmud c. 1000: Ashkenaz and Sepharad: two Jewish worlds. Gershom of Mainz teaches in the Rhineland; Spain under Islam produces its own rite, poetry and philosophy. Confidence: consensus. c. 1000 Ashkenaz and Sepharad: two Jewish worlds 1772: Mitnagdim: the Vilna Gaon bans the Hasidim. First excommunication of the Hasidim in Vilna; the traditionalist mainstream defines itself against them. Confidence: consensus. 1772 Mitnagdim: the Vilna Gaon bans the Hasidim 1795 (the name) · 1876: Orthodoxy becomes a movement. 'Orthodox' is applied to Jews in 1795; Hirsch's congregation secedes in Frankfurt under Prussia's secession law of 1876. Confidence: consensus. 1795 (the name) · 1876 Orthodoxy becomes a movement 1912: Agudath Israel: Haredi Orthodoxy organises. The non-Zionist Orthodox organisation founded at Kattowitz; Neturei Karta breaks from it in 1938. Confidence: consensus. 1912 Agudath Israel: Haredi Orthodoxy organises Today: about 15.7 million Jews (2024) DellaPergola, 2025 · Judaism §13 Christianity c. 30 CE – present 14 chapters · 39 dated firsts · 21 branches and offshoots chapters dated firsts turning points §1 The World of Jesus, 63 BCE – 30 CE Rome and the Herods, a Jewish Galilee, the hope of a coming kingdom, and a Temple full of pilgrims §1 The World of Jesus §2 The Historical Jesus, 6 BCE – 33 CE A Galilean Jew, a prophet of the coming kingdom, a Roman cross, and what his followers said next §2 §3 Paul and the Gentile Mission, 30 CE – 64 CE A Pharisee's vision, letters to new churches, and the quarrel over whether non-Jews had to become Jews §3 §4 After the Temple, 70 CE – 150 Four Gospels, letters in Paul's name, the first bishops, and the slow parting from Judaism §4 After the Temple §5 Many Christianities, 130 – 312 Marcion, the Gnostics, the making of the New Testament, the first Trinity words, and the Roman persecutions §5 Many Christianities §6 Constantine, the Creeds and the Councils, 312 – 451 An emperor's conversion, an argument about the Son, and the empire that made one Christianity official §6 Constantine, the Creeds and the Councils §7 Beyond Rome, 300 – 1400 Armenia, Georgia and Ethiopia, the Church of the East from Persia to China, the Thomas Christians, and Christians under Islam §7 Beyond Rome §8 The Medieval West, 500 – 1300 Monks and popes, the conversion of the north, the split with the East, and a church that defined purgatory and pursued heretics §8 The Medieval West §9 Reformations, 1517 – 1648 Luther's protest, the Swiss and the radicals, England's break, Trent's answer, and a century of religious war §9 Reformations §10 Mission and Empire, 1492 – 1900 Conquest and its critics, converts who made the faith their own, slavery, and the Protestant missionary century §10 Mission and Empire §11 Revival, Reason and Criticism, 1650 – 1900 Pietists and Methodists, the Bible's critics, Darwin, infallibility, new churches and the Rapture §11 Revival, Reason and Criticism §12 The Twentieth Century, 1900 – 1990 Tongues of fire, fundamentalists, the churches under Stalin and Hitler, Vatican II and a southern turn §12 The Twentieth Century §13 Christianity Today, 1990 – 2026 Where Christians live now, how they are counted, and the splits, scandals and shifts of the last thirty years §13 Christianity Today The Jesus movement, a Jewish sect · c. 30 CE · majority Jesus of Nazareth crucified under Pilate, probably in 30 or 33; his followers proclaim him raised. Ebionites: Jewish believers who kept the Law · described c. 180 · majority Irenaeus describes them around 180; Jewish believers persisted for centuries after the parting of the ways. Ebionites: Jewish believers who kept the Law described c. 180 Valentinians and the 'Gnostics' · c. 136 · majority Valentinus teaches in Rome from c. 136; whether 'Gnosticism' was one movement is disputed. Valentinians and the 'Gnostics' c. 136 Marcionites · c. 144 · majority Marcion breaks with the Roman church with the first fixed list of Christian scripture; a 'synagogue of the Marcionites' is still inscribed in Syria in 318–319. Marcionites c. 144 New Prophecy (Montanists) · c. 157–172 · majority Montanus, Priscilla and Maximilla prophesy in Phrygia. New Prophecy (Montanists) c. 157–172 Donatists · 313 · consensus The North African schism over clergy who had lapsed in persecution, heard at Rome and Arles at Constantine's request. Donatists 313 Church of the East · 410 · 424 · majority The Persian church organises under its own catholicos (410) and rejects appeals to 'the Western fathers' (424). It reaches China in 635 and India's Thomas Christians. Church of the East 410 · 424 Oriental Orthodox churches · 451 · consensus The churches of Egypt, Syria, Armenia (Dvin, 554) and Ethiopia reject the Council of Chalcedon's 'two natures'. Oriental Orthodox churches 451 Eastern Orthodox churches · 1054 · consensus Mutual excommunications in Hagia Sophia on 16 July 1054; the estrangement was already centuries old and the Fourth Crusade's sack of Constantinople (1204) made it final. Eastern Orthodox churches 1054 Cathars · 12th–14th c. · contested Crushed by the Albigensian Crusade (1209–29) and the inquisitions; whether 'Catharism' was one coherent religion or an inquisitors' construction is disputed. Cathars Hussites · 1415 · consensus Jan Hus burned at the Council of Constance; the Bohemian Brethren who followed re-emerge as the Moravians. Hussites 1415 Lutheran · 1517 · consensus Luther's Ninety-five Theses (31 October 1517); the Augsburg Confession (1530); princes choose at Augsburg (1555). Lutheran 1517 Reformed (Zwingli, Calvin) · 1522 · 1536 · consensus Zwingli's reform begins in Zurich (1522); Luther and Zwingli fail to agree at Marburg (1529); Calvin's Institutes (1536). Reformed (Zwingli, Calvin) 1522 · 1536 Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish) · January 1525 · consensus First adult baptisms in Zurich; radical Anabaptists hold Münster in 1534–35; the pacifist majority survives as the Mennonites. Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish) January 1525 Anglican (Church of England) · 1534 · consensus The Act of Supremacy makes Henry VIII 'supreme head' of the Church of England; the Elizabethan settlement (1559–63). Anglican (Church of England) 1534 Evangelical revivals · 1734–1741 · consensus Edwards at Northampton (1734–35), Wesley's heart 'strangely warmed' (1738), Whitefield's tours; a religion of conversion that crosses the Protestant churches. Evangelical revivals 1734–1741 Methodist · 1784 · consensus Wesley ordains ministers for America; the Methodist Episcopal Church is founded in Baltimore. The African Methodist Episcopal Church follows in 1816. Methodist 1784 Latter-day Saints (Mormons) · 1830 · consensus The Book of Mormon published and Joseph Smith's church organised in the 'burned-over district' of New York. Latter-day Saints (Mormons) 1830 Seventh-day Adventists · 1844 · 1863 · consensus The Millerites' 'Great Disappointment' of 22 October 1844; the church organised in 1863. Seventh-day Adventists 1844 · 1863 Jehovah's Witnesses · 1879 · consensus Charles Taze Russell's Zion's Watch Tower, from the same Adventist expectation. Jehovah's Witnesses 1879 Pentecostal · 1901 · 1906 · consensus Speaking in tongues at Parham's school in Topeka (1901); the Azusa Street revival under William Seymour (1906); the Assemblies of God (1914). Hundreds of millions today. Pentecostal 1901 · 1906 African-initiated churches · 1892 · 1921 · consensus The Ethiopian Church in Pretoria (1892); Kimbangu's healing ministry in Congo (1921); the Aladura churches of Nigeria; the Zion Christian Church (1924). African-initiated churches 1892 · 1921 within a few years of c. 30–33 CE: A crucified Messiah raised from the dead. The oldest datable statement of Christian belief: Christ died, was buried, was raised and appeared to Cephas, the Twelve, James and others. The belief is dated; the event is outside historical method. Source: 1 Corinthians 15:3–8, a creed Paul says he "received". Confidence: majority. within a few years of c. 30–33 CE A crucified Messiah raised from the dead c. 48–49 CE: Gentile believers without circumcision. The Jerusalem "pillars" agree that Paul's gentile converts need not be circumcised; the Antioch quarrel that follows shows how much was left unsettled. Source: Galatians 2:1–10. Confidence: majority. c. 48–49 CE Gentile believers without circumcision by c. 50 CE (formula older): Jesus addressed in prayer as Lord. An Aramaic prayer left untranslated in a Greek letter, so it goes back to Aramaic-speaking followers. How early this amounts to worship of Jesus as divine is debated. Source: 1 Corinthians 16:22: maranatha, "Our Lord, come!". Confidence: majority. by c. 50 CE (formula older) Jesus addressed in prayer as Lord c. 54 CE: The words over the bread and cup. Paul's account of the last meal, introduced as a tradition he had received, is older than any Gospel. Source: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26. Confidence: consensus. c. 54 CE The words over the bread and cup c. 66–74 CE: A written Gospel. The first narrative of Jesus' life, written around the Roman destruction of the Temple; Matthew and Luke later used it. Source: The Gospel of Mark. Confidence: majority. c. 66–74 CE A written Gospel Acts, c. 80–90 CE (event earlier): The name "Christians". Christianoi, "Christ people", is attached to Antioch by Acts; the movement was still a Jewish group when the name appeared. Source: Acts 11:26: "in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians". Confidence: majority. Acts, c. 80–90 CE (event earlier) The name "Christians" c. 110 CE: "Christianity" set against "Judaism". The word Christianismos is first attested here, as the opposite of Ioudaismos. Source: Ignatius of Antioch, To the Magnesians 10. Confidence: consensus. c. 110 CE "Christianity" set against "Judaism" c. 110 CE: One bishop over each city's church. Ignatius' letters are the first to insist on a single bishop at the head of each church and the first to speak of the "catholic church". Source: Ignatius of Antioch, To the Smyrnaeans 8. Confidence: majority. c. 110 CE One bishop over each city's church c. 144 CE: A fixed list of scripture. Marcion, in Rome, made the first fixed collection of Christian scripture, with no Old Testament; the church's own lists followed. Source: Marcion's canon: one Gospel and ten letters of Paul. Confidence: majority. c. 144 CE A fixed list of scripture c. 150–155 CE: A Sunday service of readings and Eucharist. The first description of a Sunday gathering: the "memoirs of the apostles" and the prophets are read, then bread and wine are shared. Source: Justin Martyr, First Apology 67. Confidence: majority. c. 150–155 CE A Sunday service of readings and Eucharist c. 180 CE: Four Gospels, and only four. Irenaeus names Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and argues there can be neither more nor fewer than four. Source: Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.1.1 and 3.11.8. Confidence: consensus. c. 180 CE Four Gospels, and only four c. 180 CE: God called a trias. The first use of the Greek word for a triad of God, his Word and his Wisdom; the doctrine was defined only in the fourth century. Source: Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus 2.15. Confidence: consensus. c. 180 CE God called a trias c. 213 CE: Trinitas: three persons, one substance. The Latin vocabulary of the later doctrine appears in an argument against Monarchians. Source: Tertullian, Against Praxeas. Confidence: majority. c. 213 CE Trinitas: three persons, one substance 325 CE: The Son "of one substance" with the Father. Nicaea adopted a non-biblical word to exclude Arius; the post-Nicene struggle over it lasted another half century. Source: The Creed of Nicaea (homoousios). Confidence: consensus. 325 CE The Son "of one substance" with the Father 336 CE (in the Chronograph of 354): Christ's birth on 25 December. The first secure attestation of the date as a feast in Rome; an earlier mention in Hippolytus is disputed, and why the date was chosen is contested. Source: The Depositio martyrum of the Chronograph of 354. Confidence: majority. 336 CE (in the Chronograph of 354) Christ's birth on 25 December 367 CE: The 27 books of the New Testament. The first list of exactly the 27 books; no council of the whole church chose them. Source: Athanasius, 39th Festal Letter. Confidence: consensus. 367 CE The 27 books of the New Testament 380 CE: Nicene Christianity as the religion of the empire. Addressed to Constantinople and aimed at rival Christians, the edict was later read and codified as establishing Nicene Christianity across the empire. Source: Theodosius I, Cunctos populos. Confidence: majority. 380 CE Nicene Christianity as the religion of the empire 431 CE: Mary as Theotokos, "God-bearer". The council deposed Nestorius and affirmed the title Theotokos for Mary. Source: Council of Ephesus. Confidence: consensus. 431 CE Mary as Theotokos, "God-bearer" 451 CE: Christ "in two natures". The formula that split the East into Chalcedonian, Oriental Orthodox and Church of the East families. Source: Definition of the Council of Chalcedon. Confidence: consensus. 451 CE Christ "in two natures" c. 530 CE: A Rule for monks. Benedict's Rule, drawing heavily on the anonymous Rule of the Master, became the standard of Western monasticism. Source: The Rule of Benedict. Confidence: majority. c. 530 CE A Rule for monks 591 CE: Mary Magdalene as the repentant sinner. Gregory merged her with the sinful woman of Luke 7 and Mary of Bethany and read her sins as sexual; the Roman calendar separated them again in 1969. Source: Gregory the Great, Homily 33. Confidence: majority. 591 CE Mary Magdalene as the repentant sinner 635 CE arrival; stele 781: Christianity in Tang China. Alopen of the Church of the East reached Chang'an in 635; the stele erected in 781 tells the community's story. Source: The Xi'an Stele. Confidence: consensus. 635 CE arrival; stele 781 Christianity in Tang China c. 1014 CE: The filioque sung in Rome's creed. Long used in Spain and the Frankish church, the addition "and the Son" entered the creed at Rome in the early eleventh century. Source: Roman liturgical practice under Henry II. Confidence: majority. c. 1014 CE The filioque sung in Rome's creed 16 July 1054: Mutual excommunications of the papal legates and the patriarch. One event in a long drift; the sack of Constantinople in 1204 made the break real, and the excommunications were lifted in 1965. Source: The bull laid on the altar of Hagia Sophia. Confidence: majority. 16 July 1054 Mutual excommunications of the papal legates and the… 1215 CE: Transubstantiation and annual confession. The council defined the change of bread and wine and required every adult to confess and receive communion at least once a year. Source: Fourth Lateran Council, canons 1 and 21. Confidence: consensus. 1215 CE Transubstantiation and annual confession 1274 CE: Purgatory set out in a council. Prayers for the dead are early; the noun purgatorium appears in the late twelfth century, and Lyon II gave the first conciliar statement. Source: Profession of faith accepted at the Second Council of Lyon. Confidence: consensus. 1274 CE Purgatory set out in a council 1517–1520: Justification by faith alone; Scripture as supreme authority. Luther's programme: sinners are justified by faith, Scripture stands above popes and councils, and all baptised believers are priests. Source: Luther's Ninety-five Theses and treatises of 1520. Confidence: consensus. 1517–1520 Justification by faith alone; Scripture as supreme authority January 1525: Adult baptism of believers. The Anabaptist movement begins, rejecting infant baptism. Source: First adult baptisms in Zurich. Confidence: consensus. January 1525 Adult baptism of believers 1537: Indigenous Americans declared rational and free. The bull declared that the peoples of the Americas were truly human and could not be deprived of liberty or property. Source: Paul III, Sublimis Deus. Confidence: consensus. 1537 Indigenous Americans declared rational and free April 1546: The canon fixed as dogma, with the deuterocanonical books. Trent defined the list of biblical books as a matter of faith for the first time. Source: Council of Trent, Session IV. Confidence: consensus. April 1546 The canon fixed as dogma, with the deuterocanonical… 24 May 1738: The heart "strangely warmed": evangelical conversion. The experience at the root of Methodism and of the evangelical religion of the heart. Source: John Wesley's journal, Aldersgate Street. Confidence: consensus. 24 May 1738 The heart "strangely warmed": evangelical conversion 1774–1778: A historical Jesus written against the Gospels. The first attempt to reconstruct the historical Jesus in opposition to the Gospel accounts. Source: Reimarus' fragments, published by Lessing. Confidence: consensus. 1774–1778 A historical Jesus written against the Gospels early 1830s: A pre-tribulation Rapture. Darby developed the teaching that believers will be caught up before a final tribulation; the Scofield Reference Bible spread it from 1909. Source: John Nelson Darby among the Brethren. Confidence: majority. early 1830s A pre-tribulation Rapture 1854: Mary's Immaculate Conception defined. Defined as dogma for Catholics, long after it had become a widespread belief. Source: Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus. Confidence: consensus. 1854 Mary's Immaculate Conception defined 18 July 1870: Papal infallibility. The council defined that the pope speaking ex cathedra on faith and morals is infallible. Source: First Vatican Council, Pastor aeternus. Confidence: consensus. 18 July 1870 Papal infallibility 1 January 1901: Speaking in tongues as Spirit baptism. One of several starting points of Pentecostalism; the Azusa Street revival followed from 1906. Source: Agnes Ozman at Parham's Bethel Bible School, Topeka. Confidence: consensus. 1 January 1901 Speaking in tongues as Spirit baptism 1944: A woman ordained priest in the Anglican Communion. Ordained in a wartime emergency; the Church of England ordained women priests from 1994. Source: Florence Li Tim-Oi, Hong Kong. Confidence: consensus. 1944 A woman ordained priest in the Anglican Communion 1963: The Mass in the vernacular. The council allowed the use of the vernacular to be extended; the reformed Mass of 1969–1970 then replaced Latin almost everywhere. Source: Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium 36. Confidence: consensus. 1963 The Mass in the vernacular 28 October 1965: Collective Jewish guilt for the crucifixion rejected. The council rejected charging the Jews, then or now, with Christ's death. Source: Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate 4. Confidence: consensus. 28 October 1965 Collective Jewish guilt for the crucifixion rejected c. 48–49: Gentile churches without the Law. The Jerusalem 'pillars' agree to Paul's gentile mission; believers need not be circumcised. Confidence: majority. c. 48–49 Gentile churches without the Law c. 314–340s: Christian kingdoms beyond Rome: Armenia, Georgia, Aksum. Gregory the Illuminator consecrated c. 314; Ezana of Aksum and the Georgian court convert in the 330s. Confidence: majority. c. 314–340s Christian kingdoms beyond Rome: Armenia, Georgia, Aksum 312–381: The imperial church: Nicaea and the creeds. Constantine's conversion; the Council of Nicaea (325); Nicene Christianity required by Theodosius (380). Confidence: consensus. 312–381 The imperial church: Nicaea and the creeds copper plates, 849: Thomas Christians of Kerala. The Tharisapalli plates grant land to a church at Quilon; brought under Portuguese Latin control at Diamper in 1599. Confidence: consensus. copper plates, 849 Thomas Christians of Kerala c. 988: Baptism of Rus'. Vladimir of Kiev is baptised; the year is disputed. The Russian church stands on the Orthodox side after 1054. Confidence: majority. c. 988 Baptism of Rus' 1054 · 1075: The Latin (Catholic) church. Gregory VII's Dictatus papae claims the pope may depose emperors; the papal monarchy of the high Middle Ages. Confidence: majority. 1054 · 1075 The Latin (Catholic) church 1216 · 1223: The friars: Dominicans and Franciscans. Orders of preaching and poverty for the new towns; Dominican friars staff the inquisitions from 1231. Confidence: consensus. 1216 · 1223 The friars: Dominicans and Franciscans 1722–1727: Moravians at Herrnhut. Refugees settle on Zinzendorf's estate; the first Moravian missionaries sail in 1732. Confidence: consensus. 1722–1727 Moravians at Herrnhut 1540 · 1545–1563: Catholic reform: Trent and the Jesuits. The Society of Jesus approved (1540); the Council of Trent answers the reformers point by point. Confidence: consensus. 1540 · 1545–1563 Catholic reform: Trent and the Jesuits 1833: The Oxford Movement. Keble's 'National Apostasy' sermon; Anglo-Catholic revival; Newman becomes a Catholic in 1845. Confidence: consensus. 1833 The Oxford Movement 1854 · 1870: Papal infallibility defined. The Immaculate Conception (1854) and the First Vatican Council (1870): the papacy's answer to the modern state. Confidence: consensus. 1854 · 1870 Papal infallibility defined 1910–1915: Fundamentalism. The Fundamentals distributed free; the Scopes trial (1925). Confidence: consensus. 1910–1915 Fundamentalism 1948: World Council of Churches. Founded in Amsterdam; the ecumenical movement that began at Edinburgh in 1910. Confidence: consensus. 1948 World Council of Churches 1962–1965: Second Vatican Council. Mass in the vernacular, religious freedom affirmed, collective Jewish guilt rejected. Confidence: consensus. 1962–1965 Second Vatican Council 1968 · 1971: Liberation theology. The bishops at Medellín (1968); Gutiérrez's A Theology of Liberation (1971); two Vatican instructions against it (1984, 1986). Confidence: consensus. 1968 · 1971 Liberation theology 2008 · 2023: GAFCON: the Anglican Communion divides. Conservative Anglicans meet in Jerusalem (2008); in 2023 they reject the Archbishop of Canterbury's leadership. Confidence: consensus. 2008 · 2023 GAFCON: the Anglican Communion divides 2018–2019: Moscow breaks with Constantinople over Ukraine. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine receives autocephaly (January 2019); Moscow had broken communion in October 2018. Confidence: political. 2018–2019 Moscow breaks with Constantinople over Ukraine Today: about 2.3 billion Christians (2020) Pew Research Center, 2025 · Christianity §13 Islam c. 300 CE – present 14 chapters · 41 dated firsts · 14 branches and offshoots chapters dated firsts turning points §1 Late Antique Arabia, 300 – 610 Empires, kings, gods and monotheists: the world in which Islam began §1 Late Antique Arabia §2 Muhammad, 570 – 632 From Mecca to Medina: what the Qur'an, the documents and the biographies can and cannot tell us about the prophet §2 Muhammad §3 The Qur'an, 610 – 700 From recitation to book: the collection, the oldest manuscripts, the readings, and the text's late-antique world §3 The Qur'an §4 The Conquests and the First Caliphs, 632 – 661 Twenty years of conquest, a new ruling class, and the civil war that divided the community §4 §5 The Umayyads, 661 – 750 An Islamic state: Damascus, Karbalāʾ, the Dome of the Rock, the coins, and the empire from Spain to Sindh §5 The Umayyads §6 The Abbasids: Law, Hadith and Theology, 750 – 1000 Baghdad, the schools of law, the hadith canon, the created Qur'an, and how Sunni and Shia became separate communities §6 The Abbasids: Law, Hadith and Theology §7 The Mystics: Sufism, 700 – 1300 From the renunciants of Basra to the Sufi orders: Rābiʿa, Junayd, al-Ḥallāj, al-Ghazālī, Rūmī and Ibn ʿArabī §7 The Mystics: Sufism §8 Turks, Crusaders and Mongols, 1000 – 1400 Seljuk sultans and the madrasa, the Crusades from the Muslim side, the Mongol conquest, Ibn Taymiyya, and Islam's new frontiers §8 Turks, Crusaders and Mongols §9 The Great Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals, 1400 – 1800 Ottoman law and the caliphate claim, Iran made Shia, Akbar and Aurangzeb, and Islam's spread across Southeast Asia §9 The Great Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals §10 Reform, Revival and Empire, 1700 – 1920 Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb and the Saudis, the West African jihads, India after 1857, the Egyptian reformers, the Tanzimat, and the new movements of the nineteenth century §10 Reform, Revival and Empire §11 The Twentieth Century, 1920 – 1979 The end of the caliphate, new states and their religions, the birth of Islamism, Pakistan, the Nation of Islam, and the veil §11 The Twentieth Century §12 Revolution and Revival, 1979 – 2001 Iran's clerical state, the siege of Mecca, the Afghan jihad, Saudi Salafism, the Rushdie affair and al-Qaeda, 1979–2001 §12 §13 Islam Today, 2001 – 2026 How many Muslims there are, where they live, and the movements, laws and arguments that have shaped Islam since 2001 §13 Islam Today Muhammad's community · c. 610 (first revelation, by tradition) · majority Recitations in Mecca from c. 610; the community at Medina from 622; Muhammad dies in 632. Shia: the party of ʿAlī · 656–661 · majority The first civil war leaves the parties that later became Sunni, Shia and Khārijite; al-Ḥusayn killed at Karbalāʾ (680). Separate communities form over the 9th–10th centuries. Shia: the party of ʿAlī 656–661 Khārijites, surviving as the Ibāḍīs · 657 · consensus 'Judgment belongs to God alone': those who left ʿAlī after the arbitration at Ṣiffīn; ʿAlī is killed by one in 661. The moderate Ibāḍī wing survives in Oman and North Africa. Khārijites, surviving as the Ibāḍīs 657 Zaydīs · 740 · consensus Zayd ibn ʿAlī rises in Kufa and is killed; Zaydī imams rule in northern Yemen from the 890s. Zaydīs 740 Ismāʿīlīs · 765 · 909 · consensus The succession to Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq divides the Shia; the Ismāʿīlī Fatimids proclaim a rival caliphate (909) and rule Egypt from 969 to 1171. Ismāʿīlīs 765 · 909 Twelvers · 874 · 941 · consensus The eleventh imam dies; his son is held to be hidden (874); the complete occultation (941). Public mourning for al-Ḥusayn in Baghdad (963). Twelvers 874 · 941 Sufism · 9th c. · majority 'Ṣūfī' names a circle in Baghdad: al-Muḥāsibī, al-Junayd (d. 910); al-Ḥallāj executed (922); al-Ghazālī makes Sufism respectable for Sunni jurists (1095). Sufism 9th c. Wahhābī movement, later called Salafī · 1744 · consensus The pact of Dirʿiyya between Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb and Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd; Saudi forces take Mecca and Medina (1803–05); the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1932). Wahhābī movement, later called Salafī 1744 Bābīs and the Bahāʾī Faith · 1844 · consensus The Bāb announces his mission in Shiraz; the Bahāʾī Faith that grew from his movement is a separate religion. Bābīs and the Bahāʾī Faith 1844 Deobandi · 1866 · consensus The seminary at Deoband: hadith study, Ḥanafī law and the reform of shrine customs. The Taliban come from its South Asian network. Deobandi 1866 Barelwī · 1880s · consensus Aḥmad Riḍā Khān (1856–1921) defends devotion to the Prophet, his birthday and the saints against the Deobandis. Barelwī 1880s Ahmadiyya · 1889 · consensus Mirza Ghulam Ahmad takes the first oath of allegiance at Ludhiana. Ahmadis call themselves Muslims; Pakistan declared them non-Muslim in 1974. Ahmadiyya 1889 Islamism: the Muslim Brotherhood · 1928 · consensus Ḥasan al-Bannā founds the Brotherhood in Ismailia; Mawdūdī's Jamāʿat-i Islāmī (1941); Quṭb's Milestones (1964); Hamas (1987). Islamism: the Muslim Brotherhood 1928 Nation of Islam · 1930 · majority Wallace Fard Muhammad begins the movement in Detroit; Malcolm X leaves it in 1964; W. D. Mohammed leads most of it towards Sunni Islam from 1975. Nation of Islam 1930 Jihadism: al-Qaeda and the 'Islamic State' · 1988 · 2014 · majority Al-Qaeda formed at Peshawar (1988), joining the Wahhābī creed to the Brotherhood's activism; the 'Islamic State' proclaims a caliphate (2014) and more than 120 scholars answer it. 622–627: A community of believers bound by pact. Pacts organising Medina's clans, Muhammad's followers and its Jews into one community (umma); most scholars accept the document as early. Source: The "Constitution of Medina", preserved in the sīra. Confidence: majority. 622–627 A community of believers bound by pact 643 (first dated use); adopted c. 638 by tradition: A Muslim calendar counted from the hijra. Twenty-one years after the emigration to Medina, Arab commanders date an official receipt by the Hijri year. Source: PERF 558, a Greek–Arabic receipt from Egypt. Confidence: consensus. 643 (first dated use); adopted c. 638 by tradition A Muslim calendar counted from the hijra 643: Arabic written with dots to tell letters apart. The oldest dated Arabic papyrus already uses the dots that early Qur'an copies use only sparingly. Source: PERF 558. Confidence: consensus. 643 Arabic written with dots to tell letters apart c. 650 (r. 644–656): A standard written Qur'an. Tradition credits ʿUthmān with a standard codex; one written archetype behind the early copies supports a date around his reign. Source: Collection reports in al-Bukhārī; the shared spelling of early manuscripts. Confidence: majority. c. 650 (r. 644–656) A standard written Qur'an 662–663; 677–678: Leaders called "commander of the believers". The caliph's title in public inscriptions, a generation after the conquests; neither names Muhammad. Source: Hammat Gader and Ṭāʾif dam inscriptions of Muʿāwiya. Confidence: consensus. 662–663; 677–678 Leaders called "commander of the believers" 685–686: Muhammad named on a dated Muslim document. "In the name of God, Muhammad is the messenger of God", struck for a governor loyal to Ibn al-Zubayr. Source: A silver drachm of Bīshāpūr, Iran. Confidence: consensus. 685–686 Muhammad named on a dated Muslim document 691–692: "Islām" proclaimed on a public monument. Qur'anic verses in public, including "the religion with God is islām" and a rejection of the Trinity. Source: Dome of the Rock inscriptions. Confidence: consensus. 691–692 "Islām" proclaimed on a public monument 693–697 (74–77 AH): The caliph as "God's deputy" on coins. Coins with the caliph's standing figure and the title khalīfat Allāh, before the aniconic reform. Source: "Standing caliph" gold coins. Confidence: consensus. 693–697 (74–77 AH) The caliph as "God's deputy" on coins 696–697 (77 AH): Coins without images. Figures removed; the creed and Qur'anic verses fill both faces. Source: ʿAbd al-Malik's reformed dinar. Confidence: consensus. 696–697 (77 AH) Coins without images c. 697–700: Arabic as the language of government. Arabic replaces Persian and Greek in the administration. Source: Umayyad registers of Iraq and Syria. Confidence: majority. c. 697–700 Arabic as the language of government before 820: Hadith of the Prophet as the second source of law. Al-Shāfiʿī's theory makes reports from the Prophet, beside the Qur'an, binding in law. Source: al-Shāfiʿī, Risāla. Confidence: consensus. before 820 Hadith of the Prophet as the second source of law 833–c. 848: The created Qur'an as state doctrine. Judges and scholars had to affirm that the Qur'an was created; Ibn Ḥanbal refused. Source: The miḥna of al-Maʾmūn and his successors. Confidence: consensus. 833–c. 848 The created Qur'an as state doctrine c. 846: A collection of only "sound" hadith. Later revered by Sunnis as the most authoritative book after the Qur'an. Source: al-Bukhārī, al-Ṣaḥīḥ. Confidence: majority. c. 846 A collection of only "sound" hadith 9th c.: "Ṣūfī" as the name of a circle. The word names a recognizable group in ninth-century Baghdad. Source: Baghdad's mystics. Confidence: majority. 9th c. "Ṣūfī" as the name of a circle 874; complete occultation 941: The hidden twelfth imam. The eleventh imam dies and his son's occultation begins; after 941 no agent speaks for him. Source: Twelver tradition. Confidence: consensus. 874; complete occultation 941 The hidden twelfth imam c. 900–950: Organized schools of law. The Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī traditions become self-reproducing schools. Source: Biographical and legal literature. Confidence: majority. c. 900–950 Organized schools of law before 936: Seven canonical readings of the Qur'an. Seven readers chosen as authoritative; others became "irregular". Source: Ibn Mujāhid, Kitāb al-Sabʿa. Confidence: consensus. before 936 Seven canonical readings of the Qur'an 963: Public mourning for al-Ḥusayn on ʿĀshūrāʾ. The first public ʿĀshūrāʾ mourning in Baghdad, under a Shia dynasty. Source: Reports from Buyid Baghdad. Confidence: majority. 963 Public mourning for al-Ḥusayn on ʿĀshūrāʾ 1045–1046: A Sufi handbook for Sunni readers. The most widely read Sufi manual, arguing the path fits Sunni law and theology. Source: al-Qushayrī, Risāla. Confidence: consensus. 1045–1046 A Sufi handbook for Sunni readers 1065–1067: The state-endowed madrasa. Niẓām al-Mulk's college, endowed for Shāfiʿī law and Ashʿarī theology. Source: The Niẓāmiyya of Baghdad. Confidence: majority. 1065–1067 The state-endowed madrasa 1105: Preaching jihad against the Crusaders. Preached in Damascus six years after the fall of Jerusalem. Source: al-Sulamī, Book of Jihad. Confidence: consensus. 1105 Preaching jihad against the Crusaders 12th–13th c.: Sufi orders with founders and chains of masters. Organized orders take shape around named masters, lodges and initiation. Source: Qādiriyya, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Shādhiliyya, Mevleviyya. Confidence: consensus. 12th–13th c. Sufi orders with founders and chains of masters 1261: A caliph without power, in Cairo. After Baghdad's fall, an Abbasid is proclaimed caliph under Mamluk protection. Source: The Mamluk court. Confidence: consensus. 1261 A caliph without power, in Cairo 1501: Twelver Shiism as a state religion. The Safavids make Iran Shia within about a century. Source: Shah Ismāʿīl's proclamation in Tabriz. Confidence: consensus. 1501 Twelver Shiism as a state religion c. 1582: Akbar's Dīn-i Ilāhī. A circle of discipleship around the emperor; whether it was a religion is debated. Source: Mughal court sources. Confidence: majority. c. 1582 Akbar's Dīn-i Ilāhī 1744: A pact of preacher and prince. Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb and Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd join religious reform to a state. Source: Pact of Dirʿiyya. Confidence: consensus. 1744 A pact of preacher and prince 1774: The Ottoman sultan recognised as caliph by treaty. Russia recognises the sultan's religious authority over the Crimean Tatars as caliph. Source: Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. Confidence: consensus. 1774 The Ottoman sultan recognised as caliph by treaty 1839: Guarantees for all subjects, of whatever religion. Gülhane promises every subject security of life, honour and property; the edict of 1856 promises non-Muslims legal equality. Source: Edict of Gülhane. Confidence: consensus. 1839 Guarantees for all subjects, of whatever religion 1844: A messiah after Muhammad: the Bāb. The beginning of the Bābī movement, from which the Bahāʾī faith grew. Source: The Bāb's announcement in Shiraz. Confidence: consensus. 1844 A messiah after Muhammad: the Bāb 1869–1876: Islamic law written as a civil code. Ḥanafī civil law codified in articles. Source: The Ottoman Mecelle. Confidence: consensus. 1869–1876 Islamic law written as a civil code 1889: The Ahmadiyya. A movement whose Muslim status other Muslims came to dispute. Source: Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's first oath of allegiance, Ludhiana. Confidence: consensus. 1889 The Ahmadiyya 20th c.: "Salafiyya" as a movement's name. The label for ʿAbduh and al-Afghānī is largely a later construction. Source: History of the term (Lauzière). Confidence: majority. 20th c. "Salafiyya" as a movement's name 1924: A printed standard Qur'an. The reading of Ḥafṣ ʿan ʿĀṣim becomes the world standard. Source: The Cairo edition. Confidence: consensus. 1924 A printed standard Qur'an 3 March 1924: No caliph at all. The Ottoman caliphate abolished. Source: Turkey's Law No. 431. Confidence: consensus. 3 March 1924 No caliph at all 1925: Islam without a caliphate. An al-Azhar scholar argues Islam requires no caliphate; he is stripped of his rank. Source: ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Rāziq, Islam and the Foundations of Governance. Confidence: consensus. 1925 Islam without a caliphate 1928: Islamism: a movement for an Islamic state. Followed by Mawdūdī's Jamāʿat-i Islāmī (1941) and Quṭb's Milestones (1964). Source: Ḥasan al-Bannā's Muslim Brotherhood. Confidence: consensus. 1928 Islamism: a movement for an Islamic state 7 September 1974: A state defines who is a Muslim. A parliament declares the Ahmadiyya non-Muslim. Source: Pakistan's Second Amendment. Confidence: consensus. 7 September 1974 A state defines who is a Muslim 1970 lectures; 1979 constitution: Rule by the jurist. A Shia clerical state, new in Shia history. Source: Khomeini's lectures in Najaf; Iran's constitution. Confidence: majority. 1970 lectures; 1979 constitution Rule by the jurist 1992: Women reading the Qur'an for equality. A reading of the Qur'an's verses on gender from the text, not later law. Source: Amina Wadud, Qur'an and Woman. Confidence: consensus. 1992 Women reading the Qur'an for equality 2004–2005: Mutual recognition of the schools. Eight schools of law recognised as Muslim, and declaring their followers apostates forbidden. Source: The Amman Message. Confidence: consensus. 2004–2005 Mutual recognition of the schools 2014: Scholars answer a self-declared caliph. More than 120 scholars reject the "Islamic State" on classical grounds. Source: Open Letter to al-Baghdadi. Confidence: consensus. 2014 Scholars answer a self-declared caliph 661 · 691–697: The Umayyad state gives Islam a public face. The Dome of the Rock (691–692); coins without images (696–697); Arabic as the language of government. Confidence: consensus. 661 · 691–697 The Umayyad state gives Islam a public face d. 767, 795, 820, 855 · organised c. 900–950: Sunni Islam: the four law schools. Abū Ḥanīfa, Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī and Ibn Ḥanbal; their followers become self-reproducing schools in the 10th century. Confidence: majority. d. 767, 795, 820, 855 · organised c. 900–950 Sunni Islam: the four law schools 833–848 · 935: Ashʿarī theology. The miḥna imposes the Muʿtazilī doctrine of a created Qur'an (833–c. 848) and fails; al-Ashʿarī (d. 935–936) founds the theology that defeated it. Confidence: consensus. 833–848 · 935 Ashʿarī theology 12th–13th c.: The Sufi orders. Qādiriyya (al-Jīlānī, d. 1166), Suhrawardiyya (d. 1168), Chishtiyya in India (d. 1236), Shādhiliyya (d. 1258), Mevleviyya after Rūmī (1273). Confidence: consensus. 12th–13th c. The Sufi orders 1055 · 1066 · 1258: Seljuks, Crusaders, Mongols: the madrasa age. The Seljuks take Baghdad (1055); the Niẕāmiyya madrasa (1065–67); the Mongols sack Baghdad and kill the caliph (1258). Confidence: consensus. 1055 · 1066 · 1258 Seljuks, Crusaders, Mongols: the madrasa age d. 1328: Ibn Taymiyya. Dies in prison in Damascus; marginal in his time, taken up by reformers and Salafis from the 19th century. Confidence: consensus. d. 1328 Ibn Taymiyya 1501: Twelver Shiism as a state religion. Shah Ismāʿīl takes Tabriz and declares Twelver Shiism the religion of his state; Iran becomes its home. Confidence: consensus. 1501 Twelver Shiism as a state religion 1453 · 1517 · 1526: Ottomans and Mughals. Mehmed II takes Constantinople (1453); Selim I becomes protector of Mecca and Medina (1517); Bābur founds the Mughal dynasty (1526). Confidence: consensus. 1453 · 1517 · 1526 Ottomans and Mughals 1875 · 1884: Islamic modernism: Aligarh, ʿAbduh. Sayyid Aḥmad Khān's college at Aligarh (1875); al-Afghānī and ʿAbduh's al-ʿUrwa al-wuthqā (1884); Rashīd Riḍā's al-Manār (1898). Confidence: consensus. 1875 · 1884 Islamic modernism: Aligarh, ʿAbduh 3 March 1924: The caliphate abolished. Turkey abolishes the office; ʿAbd al-Rāziq argues Islam needs no caliphate (1925). Confidence: consensus. 3 March 1924 The caliphate abolished 1970 · 1979: Rule by the jurist: the Islamic Republic. Khomeini's Najaf lectures (1970); the Shah falls and Iran's constitution makes the jurist its leader (1979); Hezbollah (1982). Confidence: majority. 1970 · 1979 Rule by the jurist: the Islamic Republic 2004–2005: The Amman Message: the schools recognise each other. About 200 scholars recognise eight schools of law, Sunni, Shia and Ibāḍī, as Muslim. Confidence: consensus. 2004–2005 The Amman Message: the schools recognise each other 1988 · 2014: Jihadism: al-Qaeda and the 'Islamic State'. Al-Qaeda formed at Peshawar (1988), joining the Wahhābī creed to the Brotherhood's activism; the 'Islamic State' proclaims a caliphate (2014) and more than 120 scholars answer it. Confidence: majority. 1988 · 2014 Jihadism: al-Qaeda and the… Today: about 2 billion Muslims (2020) Pew Research Center, 2025 · Islam §13 Hinduism 7000 BCE – present 13 chapters · 31 dated firsts · 21 branches and offshoots chapters dated firsts turning points §1 Before the Vedas, 7000 BCE – 3300 BCE The Neolithic and the substrate that Hinduism was built on §1 §2 The Indus Civilization, 3300 BCE – 1300 BCE A great religion we cannot read §2 The Indus Civilization §3 The Oral Rigveda, 1500 BCE – 1200 BCE Early Vedic society, reconstructed from its own hymns §3 §4 Late Vedic, 1200 BCE – 900 BCE Iron, rice, the Kuru state, and the age of ritual §4 Late Vedic §5 The Upanishadic Turn, 900 BCE – 500 BCE Karma, rebirth, and the discovery of the self §5 The Upanishadic Turn §6 The Shramana Challenge, 600 BCE – 200 BCE Buddha, Mahāvīra, and what Brahmanism had to become to survive them §6 The Shramana Challenge §7 Epic and Classical Synthesis, 200 BCE – 300 The Gītā, the first images, and the birth of devotion §7 Epic and Classical Synthesis §8 Puranic Hinduism, 300 – 650 The Goddess, the stone temple, and the religion's classical shape §8 Puranic Hinduism §9 Bhakti and the Regional Turn, 650 – 1200 Devotion in the mother tongue, and philosophy's classical age §9 Bhakti and the Regional Turn §10 Encounter with Islam, 1200 – 1750 Vernacular scripture, the Sants, and a religion that learns to name itself §10 Encounter with Islam §11 The Invention of "Hinduism", 1750 – 1947 Orientalists, reformers, and the making of a world religion §11 The Invention of "Hinduism" §12 Modern and Contemporary, 1947 – 2026 Constitution, diaspora, global yoga, and a religion in public argument with itself §12 Modern and Contemporary Indus religion (undeciphered) · c. 2600–1900 BCE · contested Planned cities, seals and figurines but no readable text. Whether anything passed from it into later Hinduism is contested; the line is drawn apart from the Vedic trunk for that reason. Vedic religion · c. 1500–1200 BCE (Rigveda composed) · consensus The Family Books of the Rigveda, composed and transmitted orally in the Punjab; a religion of fire sacrifice to Indra, Agni and Soma. Śramaṇa renouncers · c. 600–500 BCE · majority Wandering renunciant movements of the Ganga plain, outside the Vedic ritual order: the world the Buddha, Mahāvīra and the Ājīvikas shared. Śramaṇa renouncers c. 600–500 BCE Jainism · Mahāvīra, 5th c. BCE · majority Mahāvīra, the 24th tīrthaṅkara, reforms an existing tradition; the Pali canon has him die before the Buddha. A separate religion, not yet a series of its own. Jainism Mahāvīra, 5th c. BCE Ājīvikas · 5th c. BCE · majority Makkhali Gosāla's determinists, one of the six heterodox teachers; Ashoka's Pillar Edict 7 still names them as a body (c. 250 BCE). Ājīvikas 5th c. BCE Vaiṣṇava traditions · c. 110 BCE (Heliodorus pillar) · consensus A Greek ambassador declares himself a Bhāgavata at Besnagar: the first dated devotion to Viṣṇu-Vāsudeva. The Bhagavad Gītā c. 200 BCE – 200 CE. Vaiṣṇava traditions c. 110 BCE (Heliodorus pillar) Śaiva traditions · c. 100 BCE – 200 CE (Gudimallam liṅga) · 380 CE · majority The Gudimallam liṅga is the earliest surviving Śiva liṅga; the Mathurā pillar of 380 CE records a Pāśupata guru-lineage ten generations deep. Śaiva traditions c. 100 BCE – 200 CE (Gudimallam liṅga) · 380 CE Śākta: the supreme Goddess · c. 550–600 CE · majority The Devī Māhātmya, inside the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, makes the Goddess supreme. Śākta: the supreme Goddess c. 550–600 CE Advaita Vedānta · Śaṅkara, c. 700–750 · contested Śaṅkara's commentaries; the traditional dates 788–820 are later. Non-dualism becomes the prestige philosophy of the Brahmanical mainstream. Advaita Vedānta Śaṅkara, c. 700–750 Śrīvaiṣṇava Viśiṣṭādvaita (Rāmānuja) · Rāmānuja, c. 1077–1157 · contested Qualified non-dualism, at Śrīraṅgam; the familiar dates 1017–1137 are hagiography. Śrīvaiṣṇava Viśiṣṭādvaita (Rāmānuja) Rāmānuja, c. 1077–1157 Vīraśaiva / Liṅgāyat · Basava, 12th c. · contested Basava's movement in Karnataka (c. 1106–1167 or 1131–1196); vernacular vacanas against caste and temple. Many Liṅgāyats today seek recognition as a separate religion. Vīraśaiva / Liṅgāyat Basava, 12th c. Dvaita (Madhva) · Madhva, 1238–1317 · majority Dualist Vedānta, the third great school. Dvaita (Madhva) Madhva, 1238–1317 Vārkarī (Marathi bhakti) · 1290 · majority Jñāneśvar's Marathi Gītā commentary; Nāmdev, Eknāth, Tukārām and the pilgrimage to Pandharpur. Vārkarī (Marathi bhakti) 1290 Sant tradition (nirguṇa bhakti) · Kabīr, 15th c. · contested God without form, image or incarnation; Kabīr's dates are unsettled (c. 1398–1448 or c. 1440–1518). Sant and Sufi idioms interpenetrate. Sant tradition (nirguṇa bhakti) Kabīr, 15th c. Sikhism · Guru Nānak, 1469–1539 · consensus Nānak shares the Sant idiom but builds an institution: a line of Gurus, the Ādi Granth (1604) and, in 1708, the scripture itself as eternal Guru. A separate religion; a series is planned. Sikhism Guru Nānak, 1469–1539 Puṣṭimārga (Vallabha) · Vallabha, 1479–1531 · majority Śuddhādvaita and the worship of Kṛṣṇa as Śrīnāthjī. Puṣṭimārga (Vallabha) Vallabha, 1479–1531 Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism (Caitanya) · Caitanya, 1486–1534 · consensus Ecstatic Kṛṣṇa devotion in Bengal. Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism (Caitanya) Caitanya, 1486–1534 Brahmo Samāj · 1828 · consensus Rammohan Roy derives a monotheism from the Upaniṣads, rejects image worship and campaigns against sati (abolished 1829). Brahmo Samāj 1828 Ārya Samāj · 1875 · consensus Dayānanda's 'back to the Vedas': no images, no Purāṇas, no caste by birth; the Satyārth Prakāś. Ārya Samāj 1875 Neo-Vedānta: Ramakrishna Mission · 1893 · 1897 · majority Vivekananda at Chicago (1893): all paths lead to one truth, a modern teaching; the Mission founded in 1897. Neo-Vedānta: Ramakrishna Mission 1893 · 1897 Hindutva: RSS, VHP, BJP · 1923 · 1925 · consensus Savarkar's Essentials of Hindutva (1923); the RSS founded (1925); the VHP (1964); the BJP (1980); Babri Masjid demolished (1992); the Rām Mandir consecrated (2024). Hindutva: RSS, VHP, BJP 1923 · 1925 ISKCON · 1966 · consensus Founded in New York by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda; Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism goes global. ISKCON 1966 c. 1400 BCE: Ṛta — cosmic and moral order. The Vedic word for order. Not yet dharma, and not yet ethical in the later sense. Source: Rigveda, Family Books (Maṇḍalas 2–7). Confidence: consensus. c. 1400 BCE Ṛta — cosmic and moral order c. 1200 BCE: Iron. The Rigveda has only undifferentiated ayas — copper and bronze. Source: Atharvaveda (śyāma / kṛṣṇa ayas); finds at Malhar. Confidence: consensus. c. 1200 BCE Iron c. 1100 BCE: Cosmic doubt stated in scripture. The creation hymn ends by doubting whether even God knows the answer. Source: RV 10.129 (Nāsadīya Sūkta). Confidence: consensus. c. 1100 BCE Cosmic doubt stated in scripture c. 1100 BCE: The four varṇas. The only four-varṇa passage in 1,028 hymns, and it is in the latest layer. Source: RV 10.90.12 (Puruṣa Sūkta). Confidence: consensus. c. 1100 BCE The four varṇas c. 1100 BCE: Rice. Absent from the Rigveda entirely. The surest marker separating early from late Vedic. Source: Yajurveda saṃhitās (vrīhi). Confidence: consensus. c. 1100 BCE Rice c. 1000 BCE: "Namaḥ Śivāya". First appears as flattery of a dangerous god — śiva is still an adjective, "auspicious". Source: Taittirīya Saṃhitā 4.5.8 (Śatarudrīya). Confidence: consensus. c. 1000 BCE "Namaḥ Śivāya" c. 900 BCE: Ritual compels the cosmos (bandhu). Power moves from the deity to the technician. The brahmin becomes indispensable. Source: The Brāhmaṇas; Agnicayana. Confidence: consensus. c. 900 BCE Ritual compels the cosmos (bandhu) c. 700 BCE: Karma as moral causation. Taught in private, away from the assembly — which is why we can tell it was new. Source: Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.2.13. Confidence: consensus. c. 700 BCE Karma as moral causation c. 700 BCE: Rebirth — saṃsāra. The Upaniṣads credit the doctrine to a kṣatriya king, not to brahmins. Source: BU 3.2.13; Chāndogya 5.3–10 (Pañcāgni-vidyā). Confidence: consensus. c. 700 BCE Rebirth — saṃsāra c. 700 BCE: Mokṣa — liberation as the goal. Replaces long life, sons and cattle as what religion is ultimately for. Source: The older Upaniṣads. Confidence: consensus. c. 700 BCE Mokṣa — liberation as the goal c. 700 BCE: Ātman = Brahman. Relocates the sacred from the ritual arena into the person. Source: Chāndogya 6.8.7 — tat tvam asi. Confidence: consensus. c. 700 BCE Ātman = Brahman c. 500 BCE: Ahiṃsā as a supreme value. Enters a tradition whose central rite had been animal sacrifice. Source: Ācārāṅga Sūtra 1.4.1; Chāndogya 3.17.4 lists it earlier as one virtue. Confidence: majority. c. 500 BCE Ahiṃsā as a supreme value c. 500 BCE: Renunciation as an institution. Absorbed by requiring everyone to renounce — last. Source: Śramaṇa orders; the āśrama scheme in the Dharmasūtras. Confidence: consensus. c. 500 BCE Renunciation as an institution c. 250 BCE: Writing. The Vedas had already been transmitted orally for roughly a thousand years. Source: Ashokan edicts, Brāhmī and Kharoṣṭhī. Confidence: consensus. c. 250 BCE Writing c. 250 BCE: Vegetarianism as prestige. A king publicly prohibits sacrificial slaughter in his own capital. Source: Ashoka, Rock Edict 1. Confidence: majority. c. 250 BCE Vegetarianism as prestige c. 110 BCE: Bhakti — devotion, attested. A Greek ambassador calls himself a Bhāgavata and Vāsudeva the God of Gods. Source: Heliodorus pillar, Besnagar. Confidence: consensus. c. 110 BCE Bhakti — devotion, attested c. 200 BCE – 200 CE: Avatāra — God takes birth. Nothing in the Vedas or Upaniṣads has a god descending into history. Source: Bhagavad Gītā 4.7–8. Confidence: consensus. c. 200 BCE – 200 CE Avatāra — God takes birth c. 100 BCE – 200 CE: Cult image — mūrti worship. The visual vocabulary comes largely from yakṣa and nāga cults, not the Veda. Source: Gudimallam liṅga; Kuṣāṇa coins showing Śiva; Mathurā sculpture. Confidence: consensus. c. 100 BCE – 200 CE Cult image — mūrti worship c. 200 BCE – 300 CE: Caste as a comprehensive legal order. Graded punishment, impurity rules, and the disabilities of the caṇḍāla. Source: Manusmṛti. Confidence: consensus. c. 200 BCE – 300 CE Caste as a comprehensive legal order c. 200 BCE – 300 CE: Women declared unfit for independence. Many centuries after Gārgī argued in open assembly. Source: Manusmṛti 9.3. Confidence: consensus. c. 200 BCE – 300 CE Women declared unfit for independence c. 400 CE: The stone temple. A permanent residence for a god who can be seen. Darśana becomes central. Source: Sanchi Temple 17; Udayagiri; Deogarh. Confidence: consensus. c. 400 CE The stone temple c. 450–550 CE: Tantra, attested in text. Supplies the ritual grammar of ordinary temple pūjā to this day. Source: Niśvāsatattvasaṃhitā. Confidence: majority. c. 450–550 CE Tantra, attested in text c. 550–600 CE: The supreme Goddess. The first text making a female deity the source of the male gods' power. Source: Devī Māhātmya, in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa. Confidence: majority. c. 550–600 CE The supreme Goddess c. 700–750 CE: Advaita as a system. One school among many at the time; its supremacy is a modern development. Source: Śaṅkara, Brahmasūtrabhāṣya. Confidence: contested. c. 700–750 CE Advaita as a system c. 6th–9th c. CE: Vernacular scripture (Tamil). Devotional poetry in a spoken language achieves liturgical status. Source: Ālvārs and Nāyanārs; the "Tamil Veda". Confidence: consensus. c. 6th–9th c. CE Vernacular scripture (Tamil) c. 1200–1500 CE: Hindu as a religious self-description. Identity forms in contrast to Islam — but there is still no "-ism". Source: Sant poetry contrasting hindū and turk. Confidence: contested. c. 1200–1500 CE Hindu as a religious self-description 1574 CE: Vernacular scripture (north). For hundreds of millions this, not Vālmīki, is the Rāmāyaṇa. Source: Tulsīdās, Rāmcaritmānas (Awadhi). Confidence: consensus. 1574 CE Vernacular scripture (north) c. 1800 CE: "Hinduism" as a world religion. One canon, one essence, one census box — the category, not the tradition. Source: Orientalists, missionaries, census officials and reformers together. Confidence: majority. c. 1800 CE "Hinduism" as a world religion 1893 CE: All paths lead to the same truth. Would have puzzled Rāmānuja and Madhva, who argued the others were wrong. Source: Vivekananda; Neo-Vedānta. Confidence: majority. 1893 CE All paths lead to the same truth 1923 CE: Hindutva. Defined territorially and ethnically, not theologically. Savarkar was an atheist. Source: Savarkar, Essentials of Hindutva. Confidence: consensus. 1923 CE Hindutva 1955–56 CE: Codified Hindu law. A secular parliament imposes monogamy, divorce and daughters' inheritance. Source: The Hindu Code Bills. Confidence: consensus. 1955–56 CE Codified Hindu law c. 1100–800 BCE: The Rigveda fixed; four Vedas; the Brāhmaṇas. The Saṃhitās compiled in the Kuru realm; śrauta ritual systematised in the Brāhmaṇas. Confidence: majority. c. 1100–800 BCE The Rigveda fixed; four Vedas; the Brāhmaṇas c. 700–500 BCE: The Upanishadic turn: karma, rebirth, liberation. Bṛhadāraṇyaka and Chāndogya, the oldest Upaniṣads, taught in the eastern kingdoms. Confidence: majority. c. 700–500 BCE The Upanishadic turn: karma, rebirth, liberation c. 300 BCE – 300 CE: Dharma, epic and the Brahmanical synthesis. Dharmasūtras, Manusmṛti, the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa; caste as a comprehensive legal order. Confidence: majority. c. 300 BCE – 300 CE Dharma, epic and the Brahmanical synthesis c. 400–600 CE: Purāṇic Hinduism: temples, images, Tantra. The first surviving stone temples (c. 400–425); the Viṣṇu Purāṇa; the earliest Śaiva Tantra (c. 450–550). Confidence: majority. c. 400–600 CE Purāṇic Hinduism: temples, images, Tantra c. 6th–9th c.: Tamil bhakti: Āḻvārs and Nāyanārs. Twelve Vaiṣṇava Āḻvārs and sixty-three Śaiva Nāyanārs compose in Tamil; Kāraikkāl Ammaiyār, a woman, is the earliest Nāyanār. Confidence: majority. c. 6th–9th c. Tamil bhakti: Āḻvārs and Nāyanārs c. 850 · c. 1000: Kashmir Śaivism. Vasugupta's Śiva Sūtras; Abhinavagupta's Tantrāloka (c. 975–1025). Confidence: majority. c. 850 · c. 1000 Kashmir Śaivism 1574: Tulsīdās begins the Rāmcaritmānas. Vernacular scripture in the north; a date the poet states in the text itself. Confidence: consensus. 1574 Tulsīdās begins the Rāmcaritmānas 1950 · 1955–56: The Constitution and the Hindu Code. Untouchability abolished (1950); a secular parliament rewrites Hindu marriage and inheritance law. Confidence: consensus. 1950 · 1955–56 The Constitution and the Hindu Code c. 2600–1900 BCE: Indus religion (undeciphered). Planned cities, seals and figurines but no readable text. Whether anything passed from it into later Hinduism is contested; the line is drawn apart from the Vedic trunk for that reason. Confidence: contested. c. 2600–1900 BCE Indus religion (undeciphered) Today: about 1.2 billion Hindus (2020) Pew Research Center, 2025 · Hinduism §12 Buddhism c. 600 BCE – present 14 chapters · 32 dated firsts · 16 branches and offshoots chapters dated firsts turning points §1 The World the Buddha Entered, 600 BCE – 400 BCE Cities, coins, clan republics and a crowd of rival ascetics §1 The World the Buddha Entered §2 The Buddha, 480 BCE – 380 BCE What can be known about Gotama of the Sakyas, and how the life story grew §2 The Buddha §3 The Early Saṅgha, the Councils and the First Split, 400 BCE – 250 BCE How a community of renunciants kept a teaching in memory, argued about rules, and divided §3 The Early Saṅgha, the Councils and the First Split §4 Ashoka and the Making of a Pan-Indian Religion, 268 BCE – 50 BCE An emperor's inscriptions, the legend that grew around him, and the stupas where lay Buddhism took shape §4 Ashoka and the Making of a Pan-Indian Religion §5 Writing It Down, 100 BCE – 300 Gandhāra, Sri Lanka and the first Buddha images §5 Writing It Down §6 The Mahāyāna Turn, 50 BCE – 500 The bodhisattva path, the new sūtras and the argument about where they came from §6 The Mahāyāna Turn §7 Into China, 50 CE – 850 Translation and transformation, from a Han prince's offerings to the Tang purge of 845 §7 Into China §8 Tantra and the Last Age of Indian Buddhism, 600 – 1300 The monastery-universities, the Vajrayāna, and the end of Buddhism's Indian institutions §8 Tantra and the Last Age of Indian Buddhism §9 Tibet: The Second Home, 640 – 1950 From an imperial cult to the land of lamas, c. 640–1950 §9 Tibet: The Second Home §10 Theravāda and Southeast Asia, 400 – 1800 How one Sri Lankan lineage became the Buddhism of the mainland §10 Theravāda and Southeast Asia §11 Japan and the Kamakura Reformations, 538 – 1872 From state temples to single practices, and from the danka registry to married priests §11 Japan and the Kamakura Reformations §12 Colonial Encounter and Buddhist Modernism, 1800 – 1956 How Europe named Buddhism, and how Asian reformers turned the name into a modern religion §12 Colonial Encounter and Buddhist Modernism §13 Global and Contemporary Buddhism, 1950 – 2026 Exile, the state, nationalism, converts, mindfulness and nuns since 1950 §13 Global and Contemporary Buddhism The Buddha's saṅgha · c. 445 BCE (awakening) · d. c. 400 BCE · majority Median chronology: death around 400 BCE, give or take twenty years. Tradition says 543 or 486 BCE; the date is contested. Mahāsāṃghikas · c. 300–250 BCE · contested The first schism: the 'great community' against the Sthaviras (elders). Named in inscriptions for centuries; Yijing (c. 690) still finds their monks. None survives. Mahāsāṃghikas c. 300–250 BCE Theravāda (Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia) · c. 250 BCE (Mahinda's mission, by the chronicles) · contested The Sri Lankan Mahāvihāra lineage, heir of the Sthaviras. The chronicles date Mahinda's mission to Ashoka's reign; the name 'Theravāda' for a living tradition is modern. Theravāda (Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia) c. 250 BCE (Mahinda's mission, by the chronicles) Sarvāstivāda · named 127 CE · Vibhāṣā 2nd c. · majority The great scholastic school of Gandhāra and Kashmir, named on Kaniṣka's casket; its Abhidharma and the Mūlasarvāstivāda monastic code live on in Tibet. Sarvāstivāda named 127 CE · Vibhāṣā 2nd c. Mahāyāna · c. 1st c. BCE – 1st c. CE · majority The first Mahāyāna sūtras, among them the Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines (oldest manuscript c. 47–147 CE); the bodhisattva path for all. A movement inside the monasteries, not a separate order. Mahāyāna c. 1st c. BCE – 1st c. CE Pure Land · 153 · 179 · majority An image of the Buddha Amitābha dated 153 at Mathurā; Lokakṣema's translation naming him (179); Tanluan and Shandao in China; Hōnen's exclusive nembutsu (1175). Pure Land 153 · 179 Chan / Zen · 547 · 732 · consensus Earliest mention of Bodhidharma (547); Shenhui attacks the 'Northern school' (732); the Jingde Record fixes the genealogy (1004). Chan / Zen 547 · 732 Tiantai / Tendai · Zhiyi, 538–597 · 806 · consensus Zhiyi organises the whole canon as stages of the Buddha's teaching, the Lotus Sūtra supreme; Saichō brings it to Japan (Tendai recognised 806). Tiantai / Tendai Zhiyi, 538–597 · 806 Vajrayāna (tantra) · before 674 · majority The Mahāvairocana Sūtra; mantra, maṇḍala and initiation; the Pāla monasteries of Bengal and Bihar. Vajrayāna (tantra) before 674 Tibetan Buddhism · 779 · majority Samye consecrated and the first Tibetan monks ordained; Buddhism the religion of the realm under Trisong Detsen. Tibetan Buddhism 779 Shingon (Japan) · 806 · consensus Kūkai returns from China with esoteric teaching. Shingon (Japan) 806 Jōdo and Jōdo Shinshū (Hōnen, Shinran) · 1175 · 1207 · consensus Hōnen turns to the exclusive nembutsu (1175); banned and exiled with Shinran (1207); Shinran's followers become Jōdo Shinshū, today Japan's largest traditional school. Jōdo and Jōdo Shinshū (Hōnen, Shinran) 1175 · 1207 Rinzai Zen · 1191 · consensus Eisai returns from China with Linji Chan. Rinzai Zen 1191 Sōtō Zen · 1227 · consensus Dōgen returns from China; the Shōbōgenzō; Eiheiji founded (1244). Sōtō Zen 1227 Nichiren · 1260 · consensus Nichiren, a Tendai monk, submits the Risshō ankoku ron; the Lotus Sūtra alone. Nichiren 1260 Sōka Gakkai · 1930 · consensus Founded as a lay society within Nichiren Shōshū; grows after 1945. Sōka Gakkai 1930 Navayāna (Ambedkar) · 14 October 1956 · consensus Ambedkar and hundreds of thousands of Dalits take the refuges at Nagpur, with 22 vows renouncing the Hindu gods; Buddhism as social liberation. Navayāna (Ambedkar) 14 October 1956 c. 5th c. BCE: Renunciation as a recognised way of life. The Buddha joined an existing world of wandering renunciants; leaving home was not his invention. Source: Pali discourses on the śramaṇa field; DN 2 (the six rival teachers). Confidence: majority. c. 5th c. BCE Renunciation as a recognised way of life c. 4th c. BCE: Karma redefined as intention. Karma stops meaning ritual action and becomes a matter of the mind, open to anyone regardless of birth. Source: AN 6.63: "It is intention that I call deeds". Confidence: majority. c. 4th c. BCE Karma redefined as intention c. 5th–4th c. BCE: A fortnightly code of monastic rules (pātimokkha). Every school's list agrees on the serious offences and differs mainly in minor rules, which is why schools could split over discipline without splitting over doctrine. Source: Vinaya of all schools; Mahāvagga 2 (the uposatha). Confidence: majority. c. 5th–4th c. BCE A fortnightly code of monastic rules (pātimokkha) c. 5th–4th c. BCE: An order of nuns. The order is early; the eight 'heavy rules' and the prediction of decline in its founding story are probably later additions. Source: Vinayas of all schools; AN 8.51. Confidence: majority. c. 5th–4th c. BCE An order of nuns c. 4th–3rd c. BCE: Not-self (anattā) and dependent origination. Present in every early school's canon, so probably older than the first splits; how the Buddha himself worded it is less certain. Source: Core shared by the Pali Nikāyas and the Chinese Āgamas. Confidence: majority. c. 4th–3rd c. BCE Not-self (anattā) and dependent origination c. 4th–3rd c. BCE: The four noble truths as a set formula. Shared by all early schools, but K. R. Norman argued from its grammar that the formula in the first sermon is a later insertion. Source: SN 56.11 and its parallels (the first sermon). Confidence: contested. c. 4th–3rd c. BCE The four noble truths as a set formula c. 300–250 BCE: Monastic schools and schism. The first split was probably over monastic discipline, not doctrine; its cause and date are disputed. Source: Sthavira–Mahāsāṃghika split; Ashoka's schism edicts. Confidence: contested. c. 300–250 BCE Monastic schools and schism c. 3rd–2nd c. BCE: Relics enshrined in stupas. Relic worship is as old as the canon's account of the Buddha's death; Ashoka made it empire-wide. Source: DN 16 (eight shares of relics); Piprahwa vase inscription. Confidence: majority. c. 3rd–2nd c. BCE Relics enshrined in stupas c. 249 BCE: A line of past Buddhas. An emperor is already building for an earlier Buddha, the belief the four-sights story later depends on (enlarged c. 255, recorded c. 249). Source: Nigali Sagar pillar (stupa of Konākamana enlarged). Confidence: consensus. c. 249 BCE A line of past Buddhas c. 125–75 BCE: The Buddha shown by symbols, not in human form. Seats, trees, footprints and wheels mark his presence; whether this was a deliberate rule is argued over. Source: Bharhut railing reliefs, with labels. Confidence: contested. c. 125–75 BCE The Buddha shown by symbols, not in human form c. 1st c. BCE: Scripture written down. Two or more centuries of oral transmission end; even then recitation stays central to monastic training. Source: Gāndhārī birch-bark scrolls; Dīpavaṃsa 20.20–21 on Sri Lanka. Confidence: majority. c. 1st c. BCE Scripture written down c. 1st c. CE: Abhidharma: systematic scholastic analysis. Each school builds its own system, which is why Abhidharma, unlike the discourses, does not match across schools. Source: Abhidharma texts among the Gāndhārī scrolls. Confidence: majority. c. 1st c. CE Abhidharma: systematic scholastic analysis c. 1st c. CE: The bodhisattva path recommended to others. The oldest Mahāyāna manuscript is nearly as old as the oldest physical Buddhist texts of any kind. Source: Split collection Aṣṭasāhasrikā (radiocarbon c. 47–147 CE). Confidence: consensus. c. 1st c. CE The bodhisattva path recommended to others c. 1st c. CE: Emptiness (śūnyatā) of all things. Nāgārjuna identifies emptiness with dependent origination, turning a sūtra theme into a philosophy. Source: Perfection of Wisdom sūtras; later Nāgārjuna (c. 150–250). Confidence: majority. c. 1st c. CE Emptiness (śūnyatā) of all things c. 1st–2nd c. CE: A complete life of the Buddha. The palace, the four sights and the midnight departure appear as one connected story some five centuries after the Buddha. Source: Aśvaghoṣa, Buddhacarita. Confidence: majority. c. 1st–2nd c. CE A complete life of the Buddha c. 127–150 CE: The Buddha in human form. The oldest image explicitly named as the Buddha; figures at Gandhāra and Mathurā may be somewhat earlier. Source: Kaniṣka's gold coins labelled ΒΟΔΔΟ. Confidence: consensus. c. 127–150 CE The Buddha in human form c. 153 CE: Amitābha and a Pure Land. Amitābha does not reappear in Indian inscriptions for centuries; his cult found its audience in East Asia. Source: Govindnagar pedestal, Mathurā; Lokakṣema's 179 CE translation naming Amitābha. Confidence: majority. c. 153 CE Amitābha and a Pure Land by 286 CE: One vehicle and skilful means. The earlier paths are recast as provisional; all three carts in the burning house become one. Source: Lotus Sūtra (Dharmarakṣa's Chinese translation). Confidence: consensus. by 286 CE One vehicle and skilful means c. 4th–5th c. CE: Mind-only (Yogācāra). Experience is explained as representation only, a second great Mahāyāna philosophy beside Madhyamaka. Source: Asaṅga and Vasubandhu; Viṃśatikā. Confidence: majority. c. 4th–5th c. CE Mind-only (Yogācāra) 421 CE: Buddha-nature in every being. A minority teaching in India that became a basic assumption of Chinese Buddhism and of Chan. Source: Dharmakṣema's Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra; Tathāgatagarbha texts. Confidence: majority. 421 CE Buddha-nature in every being 510s–520s: Monastic vegetarianism. The early Vinaya allowed meat under conditions; Chinese monasticism made abstention the rule. Source: Emperor Wu of Liang's decree against meat and wine. Confidence: majority. 510s–520s Monastic vegetarianism before 674: Esoteric ritual: mantra, maṇḍala, initiation. Tantric Buddhism develops inside the great monasteries, not on their margins. Source: Mahāvairocana Sūtra; Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha (late 7th c.). Confidence: majority. before 674 Esoteric ritual: mantra, maṇḍala, initiation 732: A Chan lineage of patriarchs. The genealogy back through Bodhidharma to the Buddha is assembled in Tang China; the 547 Bodhidharma knows nothing of it. Source: Shenhui's attack on the "Northern school" at Huatai. Confidence: consensus. 732 A Chan lineage of patriarchs 868: Printed scripture. The oldest complete dated printed book, made to spread merit by spreading the text. Source: Dunhuang Diamond Sūtra. Confidence: consensus. 868 Printed scripture c. 1025–1040: The Kālacakra and its end-time war. The last major Indian tantra, with a detailed and hostile account of Islam. Source: Kālacakra Tantra and the Vimalaprabhā. Confidence: majority. c. 1025–1040 The Kālacakra and its end-time war 1175: Exclusive nembutsu: reliance on Amida's vow. Hōnen makes reciting Amida's name the one sufficient practice; Shinran later grounds birth in the Pure Land in faith alone, and a married clergy follows. Source: Hōnen's exclusive nembutsu; Shinran after him. Confidence: consensus. 1175 Exclusive nembutsu: reliance on Amida's vow 13th c.: Recognised reincarnate lamas (tulku). Succession by rebirth becomes a Tibetan institution; the Dalai Lamas follow the pattern. Source: Karma Pakshi recognised as Düsum Khyenpa's rebirth. Confidence: majority. 13th c. Recognised reincarnate lamas (tulku) 1578: The title Dalai Lama. A Mongol title, applied retroactively to two predecessors; political rule follows in 1642. Source: Altan Khan's title for Sonam Gyatso. Confidence: consensus. 1578 The title Dalai Lama 1801: "Buddhism" as a single world religion. The word and the category are European; Buddhists spoke of the Buddha's teaching or dispensation. Source: "Boudhism" in Asiatic Researches. Confidence: consensus. 1801 "Buddhism" as a single world religion c. 1900–1923: Meditation as a practice for lay people. Insight meditation moves from the monastery to the laity, the root of the Western insight movement. Source: Ledi Sayadaw's manuals in colonial Burma. Confidence: majority. c. 1900–1923 Meditation as a practice for lay people 1956: Navayāna: Buddhism as social liberation. A Buddhism that rejects caste and reinterprets karma and rebirth, embraced by hundreds of thousands in a day. Source: Ambedkar's conversion at Nagpur and his 22 vows. Confidence: consensus. 1956 Navayāna: Buddhism as social liberation 1979: Secular mindfulness. Buddhist-derived attention training repackaged for medicine, detached from ethics and rebirth. Source: Kabat-Zinn's Stress Reduction Clinic (MBSR). Confidence: consensus. 1979 Secular mindfulness c. 300 BCE: The Second Council. At Vesālī, 'a hundred years after' the Buddha, condemns ten practices including accepting money. Confidence: majority. c. 300 BCE The Second Council c. 268–232 BCE: Ashoka: a pan-Indian religion. The emperor becomes a lay follower, inscribes his dhamma across India and orders dissident monks expelled. Confidence: consensus. c. 268–232 BCE Ashoka: a pan-Indian religion 1st c. BCE: Abhayagiri founded; the canon written down. Vaṭṭagāmaṇi Abhaya's reign in Sri Lanka: a rival monastery, and the Pali canon committed to writing at Aluvihāra according to later tradition. Confidence: majority. 1st c. BCE Abhayagiri founded; the canon written down c. 150–250 · 4th–5th c.: Madhyamaka (Nāgārjuna); Yogācāra. Emptiness as dependent origination; then Asaṅga and Vasubandhu's mind-only. Confidence: majority. c. 150–250 · 4th–5th c. Madhyamaka (Nāgārjuna); Yogācāra 65 · 148 · 179: Into China. A prince of Chu honours the Buddha (65); An Shigao translates at Luoyang (148); Lokakṣema's dated Perfection of Wisdom (179). Confidence: consensus. 65 · 148 · 179 Into China 538/552 · 741 · 752: Japan: state Buddhism at Nara. Buddhism reaches the Yamato court from Baekje; a state temple in every province (741); the Great Buddha of Tōdaiji (752). Confidence: majority. 538/552 · 741 · 752 Japan: state Buddhism at Nara 1042 · 1073 · 11th–12th c.: Nyingma organised; Kadam, Sakya, Kagyu. Atiśa arrives (1042); Sakya monastery founded (1073); the Kagyu descend from Marpa (1012–1097); Nyingma, the 'old' school, organises in the 11th–12th c. Confidence: majority. 1042 · 1073 · 11th–12th c. Nyingma organised; Kadam, Sakya, Kagyu 1113 · 1292 · 1309: Burma, Siam and Cambodia turn Theravāda. The Myazedi inscription at Pagan (1113); Sukhothai (1292, traditional); the first Pali inscription in Cambodia (1309). Confidence: majority. 1113 · 1292 · 1309 Burma, Siam and Cambodia turn Theravāda c. 1165: Sri Lanka's orders unified under the Mahāvihāra. Parākramabāhu I; the nuns' order had already vanished after 1017. Confidence: consensus. c. 1165 Sri Lanka's orders unified under the Mahāvihāra 13th c. · 1409: Reincarnate lamas; the Geluk school. Karma Pakshi recognised as a rebirth (13th c.); Tsongkhapa founds Ganden (1409); the title Dalai Lama (1578); the Fifth Dalai Lama rules Tibet (1642). Confidence: consensus. 13th c. · 1409 Reincarnate lamas; the Geluk school 1753 · 1833: Ordination restored and reformed. Siamese monks restore higher ordination in Kandy (the Siam Nikāya, 1753); Mongkut founds the reforming Dhammayut order (c. 1833). Confidence: consensus. 1753 · 1833 Ordination restored and reformed 1873 · 1880 · 1891: Buddhist modernism. The Pānadura debate (1873); Olcott takes the precepts at Galle (1880); Dharmapāla's Maha Bodhi Society (1891); the Parliament of Religions (1893). Confidence: consensus. 1873 · 1880 · 1891 Buddhist modernism c. 1900–1923 · 1949: Meditation for lay people. Ledi Sayadaw's manuals in colonial Burma; Mahasi Sayadaw teaches in Rangoon (1949); Goenka's courses (1969); secular mindfulness (1979). Confidence: majority. c. 1900–1923 · 1949 Meditation for lay people 1920s · 1966–67: Humanistic Buddhism. Taixu calls for a 'Buddhism for human life'; Tzu Chi (1966) and Fo Guang Shan (1967) in Taiwan. Confidence: consensus. 1920s · 1966–67 Humanistic Buddhism 1950 · 1959: The Dalai Lama in exile. The People's Liberation Army enters Tibet (1950); the 14th Dalai Lama flees to India (1959); rival Panchen Lamas (1995). Confidence: consensus. 1950 · 1959 The Dalai Lama in exile 1962 · 1966: Zen and engaged Buddhism in the West. San Francisco Zen Center incorporated (1962); Thích Nhất Hạnh's Order of Interbeing (1966). Confidence: consensus. 1962 · 1966 Zen and engaged Buddhism in the West Today: about 324 million Buddhists (2020) Pew Research Center, 2025 · Buddhism §13 Christianity begins as a movement inside Judaism (majority) Christianity begins as a movement inside Judaism Jewish and Christian Arabia: Ḥimyar's kings turn to one god (c. 380) and to Judaism or something close to it (majority) Jewish and Christian Arabia: Ḥimyar's kings turn to one god (c. 380) and to Judaism or something close to it Muhammad preaches the God of Abraham in a world of Christian and Jewish empires (majority) Muhammad preaches the God of Abraham in a world of Christian and Jewish empires The Buddha, one renouncer among the śramaṇas; karma and rebirth accepted, the Vedas and a permanent self rejected (majority) The Buddha, one renouncer among the śramaṇas; karma and rebirth accepted, the Vedas and… Ambedkar leads Dalits out of Hinduism into Buddhism (consensus) Ambedkar leads Dalits out of Hinduism into Buddhism

About this chart

How religions evolved: five traditions on one chart

Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism as family trees over nine thousand years: the 180 dated firsts, 84 branches and offshoots and 59 turning points that the 69 chapters of the five series argue, drawn on one compressed time axis. Every date is the first surviving evidence, not a traditional origin, and every label links to the chapter that cites it. Filter the religions, choose a period, or play the timelapse to watch the tree grow.

Download the poster (dark version), the SVG or the data as JSON. The same five traditions on a map.

How to read it

  • Time runs down the page, on a compressed scale: each band of the axis is as tall as what had to be written in it, so the fifty years of the Reformations get more room than four thousand years of the Neolithic. The year labels on both edges say where you are.
  • Each lane is one series. The pale bands at its left are the chapters; the thick line is the tradition's continuing main body; thinner lines leave it where the chapters date a lasting branch, a current inside the tradition, an offshoot that became a separate religion, or a movement that died out. Names run along the lines.
  • Dots are dated firsts, labelled to the left of the trunk: the first datable evidence for an idea or practice, from the series' idea ledgers. Their colour is the confidence tag the chapter gives that dating: Consensus Majority view Contested Speculative Politically contested.
  • Turning points are labelled to the right: councils, codes, conquests and renamings that changed the tradition without starting a new line.
  • Curves between lanes are the relationships the series argue: a solid curve where one tradition grows out of another, a dashed one for context and influence, a dotted one for an exit.

What it is not

  • Not a chart of who is right. Historians can date when people came to believe something, not whether it is true; the resurrection, the revelation of the Qur'an and the Buddha's awakening are outside what the method can test.
  • Not a chart of origins. A date is the first surviving evidence. Oral practice leaves no trace, so most beginnings are older than their first attestation, and the chapters say by how much they might be.
  • Not as clean as a line. The Sunni–Shia split took three centuries to become two communities; the Mahāyāna was a movement inside the monasteries for its first centuries; Christianity was a Jewish sect for a lifetime or two. A branch point is where the chapters can first date the difference.
  • Not complete. Only movements the five series date appear. Jainism and Sikhism are drawn as offshoots because no series covers them yet; Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto and the Bahāʾī Faith as a story of its own are not drawn at all.

One poster per tradition

The same chart for one tradition at a time, wider, with a column showing when each of its texts was composed.

Reuse, data and corrections

The chart, the posters and the data behind them are free to share, print and adapt, including commercially, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The only condition is credit: name How It Evolved (howitevolved.com) and link to this page.

Everything drawn comes from the five series' own data: the chapters' date ranges, the idea ledgers of dated firsts, and a family-tree file that names, for each branch, the chapter and heading that date it. A build check refuses any branch whose chapter or heading does not exist or whose child is older than its parent. Download the data as JSON. Found a date that is wrong, or a movement the series date but the chart omits? Send a correction; every change is recorded in the chart's revision date, currently 2026-10-23.

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<a href="https://howitevolved.com/chart/"><img src="https://howitevolved.com/chart/how-religions-evolved.png" alt="How Religions Evolved: a chart of five traditions over nine thousand years, by How It Evolved" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p style="font-size:13px">Chart: <a href="https://howitevolved.com/chart/">How Religions Evolved</a> by <a href="https://howitevolved.com/">How It Evolved</a>, licensed <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>.</p>