Evolved

Where religions moved

Amarna: Letters: Abdi-Heba of Jerusalem warns of the ʿApiru Pi-Ramesses: Ramesses II’s Delta capital, the “Raamses” of Exodus Jericho: No walled city here in the 13th century BCE Hazor: Canaanite city burned c. 1250–1200 BCE; agent disputed Megiddo: Listed in Judges among cities not captured Shiloh: Highland village later named Israelite heartland Jerusalem: Ruled by Abdi-Heba under Egypt in the Amarna age Ugarit: Destroyed in the Late Bronze Age collapse Kuntillet ʿAjrud: Blessings by “Yahweh of Teman and his asherah” Arad: Fortress shrine with standing stones and incense altars Dan: Stele naming the “House of David” Samaria: Capital of Israel; “Yahweh of Samaria” Khirbet el-Qom: Uriyahu blessed “by Yahweh” and “his asherah” Tel Moẓa: A temple a few kilometres west of Jerusalem Ugarit: Texts naming El, Asherah and Baal, but not Yahweh Edom: Song of Deborah: Yahweh comes from Seir and Edom Jerusalem: Hezekiah besieged “like a bird in a cage”, 701 BCE Samaria: Capital of Israel, which fell to Assyria Lachish: Besieged by Sennacherib; its shrine went out of use Nineveh: Sennacherib’s palace, with the Lachish siege relief Arad: Shrine in a royal fortress, out of use under Hezekiah Beersheba: Shrine that went out of use under Hezekiah Bethel: Northern shrine where Amos prophesied Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar II’s capital, where the exiles were taken Jerusalem: Captured 597, destroyed 586 BCE Lachish: Destroyed; its last letters written as Babylon came Mizpah: Seat of Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed governor Nippur: Judean names in the Murashu archive Elephantine: Judeans in Egypt with a temple of Yahweh Babylon: Taken by Cyrus in 539 BCE Jerusalem: Temple rebuilt by about 515 BCE Susa: Nehemiah serves Artaxerxes I as cupbearer Elephantine: Temple of YHW run without a known written Torah Mount Gerizim: Temple built by Yahweh-worshippers of Samaria Samaria: Sanballat’s family governs; its people worship YHW Ashdod: Nehemiah objects to marriages with its women Jerusalem: The Temple, destroyed by Rome in 70 CE Qumran: Settlement by the caves of the Dead Sea Scrolls Alexandria: City of Philo and the Greek-speaking diaspora Rome: The power that destroyed the Temple in 70 CE Magdala: Synagogue building of the first century Gamla: Synagogue building of the first century Masada: Synagogue building on Herod’s fortress Yavneh: Where the sages regrouped after 70 CE Usha: Rabbinic centre after the move to Galilee Sepphoris: Rabbinic centre in Galilee Tiberias: Where the Jerusalem Talmud was mainly made Hammat Tiberias: Synagogue floor with Helios and the zodiac Dura-Europos: Painted synagogue on the Euphrates, 244/245 CE Sura: Babylonian academy founded by Rav Pumbedita: Babylonian academy of the Bavli Baghdad: Seat of the geonim and the exilarch Sura: Geonic academy, later moved to Baghdad Pumbedita: Geonic academy, later moved to Baghdad Fustat: Ben Ezra synagogue and the Cairo Geniza Kairouan: A North African centre of Jewish life Córdoba: Hasdai ibn Shaprut serves the caliphs Granada: Massacre of Jews in 1066 Fez: Maimonides’ family settles c. 1160 Mainz: Gershom ben Judah teaches c. 1000; 1096 massacre Worms: Rhineland community massacred in 1096 Troyes: Home of Rashi Norwich: First ritual-murder charge, 1144 Toledo: First “purity of blood” statute, 1449 Salonica: A Jewish-majority city after the expulsions Safed: Where Karo wrote the Shulchan Arukh Venice: Ghetto of 1516; the Shulchan Arukh printed, 1565 Smyrna: Birthplace of Sabbatai Zevi Gaza: Nathan of Gaza proclaims him Messiah, 1665 Constantinople: Sabbatai arrested on arrival, 1666 Hamburg: Glikl’s household readies for the journey, 1666 Altona: Emden accuses Eybeschütz of Sabbatean amulets Podolia: Where the Baal Shem Tov’s Hasidism took shape Vilna: The Vilna Gaon leads opposition to Hasidism Berlin: Moses Mendelssohn and the Haskalah Hamburg: The Hamburg Temple, 1818 Frankfurt: Hirsch’s congregation secedes Breslau: Frankel’s Jewish Theological Seminary, 1854 Pressburg: The Hatam Sofer’s yeshiva Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1875 Pittsburgh: The Pittsburgh Platform of American Reform, 1885 New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1886–87 Odessa: Leon Pinsker’s Auto-Emancipation, 1882 Basel: First Zionist Congress, 1897 Jaffa: Rav Kook arrives as its rabbi, 1904 Jerusalem: Rav Kook becomes Chief Rabbi Warsaw: The Ghetto uprising, near Yom HaShoah’s date Auschwitz: Theology “after Auschwitz” Hebron: “Where is our Hebron?”: Zvi Yehuda Kook, 1967 Jerusalem: Women pray with a Torah at the Western Wall, 1988 Brooklyn: Chabad’s base and a rebuilt yeshiva world Lakewood: A rebuilt Lithuanian yeshiva centre New York: Yeshivat Maharat trains Orthodox women clergy Pittsburgh: Reform’s 1999 Statement of Principles Berlin: Regina Jonas studies at the Hochschule Offenbach: Regina Jonas ordained, 1935 Addis Ababa: Operation Solomon flies out 14,325 people, 1991 Jerusalem: Herod’s rebuilt Temple Caesarea: Herod’s harbour city with a temple to Rome Sepphoris: One of Galilee’s two cities Tiberias: Founded by Antipas on the lake, c. 19 CE Nazareth: A hamlet of perhaps a few hundred people Capernaum: Jesus’ base by the lake Magdala: Ritual baths in a Jewish town Qumran: Community Rule with two messiahs Nazareth: Jesus’ home village in Galilee Bethlehem: Birthplace in Matthew and Luke Capernaum: Lakeside town of his preaching Bethsaida: Lakeside town of his preaching Chorazin: Village of his preaching Magdala: Lakeside town of his preaching Sepphoris: Galilee city the Gospels never mention him in Jerusalem: Temple disturbance, arrest and crucifixion Tarsus: Paul’s birthplace, according to Acts Damascus: Where Paul returned after his revelation Jerusalem: Paul meets Peter; later arrested there Antioch: Base for preaching to gentiles Philippi: Church in Macedonia that Paul founded Corinth: Eighteen months; Paul before Gallio Ephesus: Paul’s base, c. 52–55 Rome: Paul under house arrest; martyred under Nero Jerusalem: Temple burned by Titus’ army, 70 CE Pella: Tradition: the Jerusalem church fled here Antioch: Ignatius, the first single bishops Ephesus: City of western Asia Minor Smyrna: City of western Asia Minor Sardis: Melito: “God has been murdered” Alexandria: Probably a centre of early Christian writing Rome: Ignatius executed here Rome: The church at the empire’s centre Smyrna: Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, burned Pepuza: Montanists expect the heavenly Jerusalem here Lyon: Martyrs of Lyon and Vienne, 177 Carthage: Perpetua and Felicity executed, 203 Alexandria: Basilides teaches; Athanasius lists 27 books Edessa: Centre of Syriac-speaking Christianity Nag Hammadi: Sethian and other “gnostic” texts Nicaea: Council of Nicaea, 325 Constantinople: Council of Constantinople, 381 Ephesus: Council of Ephesus, 431 Chalcedon: Council of Chalcedon, 451 Nicomedia: Licinius publishes the “Edict of Milan” Alexandria: Arius and Bishop Alexander dispute Antioch: A more literal school of interpretation Rome: Councils hear the Donatist dispute, 313 Edessa: Ephrem’s city; the School of the Persians Nisibis: Ephrem’s first city; school moves here after 489 Seleucia-Ctesiphon: Synod of 410 organises the Persian church Baghdad: Timothy I debates the caliph al-Mahdi Chang'an: Alopen arrives, 635; the Xi’an Stele, 781 Quilon: Tharisapalli copper plates, c. 849 Aksum: Christian kingdom of Ethiopia by the 4th century Lalibela: Rock-hewn churches of the Zagwe king Rome: Gregory the Great sends missions north Monte Cassino: Benedict’s monastery Aachen: Councils impose Benedict’s Rule, 816–817 Cluny: Monastery at the heart of reform Kiev: Vladimir baptised, c. 988 Constantinople: Sacked by Western crusaders, 1204 Béziers: Sacked in the Albigensian Crusade, 1209 Assisi: Francis renounces his inheritance Wittenberg: Luther’s theses, 1517 Worms: Luther refuses to recant, 1521 Zurich: Zwingli at the Great Minster Marburg: Luther and Zwingli fail to agree, 1529 Augsburg: Augsburg Confession, 1530; Peace, 1555 Münster: Radical Anabaptists rule the city, 1534–35 Geneva: Calvin’s city Trent: Rome’s answer: the Council of Trent Tepeyac: Our Lady of Guadalupe, near Mexico City Valladolid: Las Casas against Sepúlveda, 1550–51 Kongo: A kingdom that made Christianity its own Goa: Portuguese Goa; the Inquisition established Serampore: Carey translates the Bible into some forty languages Macau: Portuguese port on the route to Japan Beijing: Matteo Ricci resides from 1601 Nagasaki: Twenty-six crucified, 1597; hidden Christians, 1865 Halle: Francke’s orphanage, schools and Bible institute Herrnhut: Moravian settlement on Zinzendorf’s estate Oxford: Wesley’s “Methodists”; the Oxford Movement London: Wesley’s heart “strangely warmed”, 1738 Bristol: Open-air preaching begins, 1739 Northampton: Revival under Jonathan Edwards, 1734–35 Cane Ridge: Camp meeting of 1801 Salt Lake: The Latter-day Saints’ trek ends, 1847 Topeka: Agnes Ozman speaks in tongues, 1901 Los Angeles: The Azusa Street revival, from 1906 Edinburgh: World Missionary Conference, 1910 Barmen: Barmen Declaration founds the Confessing Church, 1934 Birmingham: King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, 1963 Medellín: Latin American bishops meet, 1968 Lausanne: Faith and Order, 1927; the Lausanne Covenant, 1974 Seoul: Yoido Full Gospel Church, founded 1958 Canterbury: Sarah Mullally named first woman archbishop, 2025 Boston: The Globe’s “Spotlight” reports on abuse, 2002 Yamoussoukro: Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, consecrated 1990 Kigali: GAFCON’s Kigali Commitment, 2023 Moscow: Breaks communion with Constantinople, 2018 Kyiv: Its metropolis at the heart of the 2018 split Iznik: Leo XIV and Bartholomew pray at ancient Nicaea, 2025 Seoul: Yoido Full Gospel Church Ẓafār: Capital of Ḥimyar’s kings Najrān: Christians killed by Yūsuf, c. 523 Mecca: Sanctuary town; absent from outside sources Aksum: Christian kingdom that conquered Ḥimyar Namāra: Epitaph of Imruʾ al-Qays, “king of the Arabs”, 328 Zabad: Greek, Syriac and Arabic inscription, 512 Jabal Usays: Arabic graffito naming “al-Ḥārith the king”, 528–529 Ḥarrān: Greek and Arabic shrine inscription, 568 Mecca: Born here; preached until 622; taken in 630 Medina: Yathrib: the community after 622; died here 632 Badr: First victory over Mecca, 624 Uḥud: Defeat outside Medina, 625 Khaybar: Jewish oasis taken in 628 Ṭāʾif: Sought support here and was rebuffed Tabūk: Expedition to the Byzantine frontier Mecca: Recitations delivered from c. 610 Medina: Recitations from 622; ʿUthmān’s codex Kufa: A copy sent here; Ibn Masʿūd’s codex Basra: A copy sent here; the first vowel signs Damascus: A copy sent here; one of the seven readers Ṣanʿāʾ: The palimpsest with a non-ʿUthmānic text Tashkent: Holds the “Samarkand Qur’an”, a later copy Medina: Capital of the first caliphs Yarmūk: Byzantine army destroyed, August 636 Qādisiyya: Sasanian army defeated, c. 636–638 Jerusalem: Surrenders in 637 or 638 Fusṭāṭ: Garrison town founded in Egypt Kufa: Garrison town; ʿAlī’s capital and death Basra: Garrison town; battle of the Camel, 656 Ṣiffīn: ʿAlī against Muʿāwiya, 657 Damascus: The Umayyad capital and its mosque Karbalāʾ: Al-Ḥusayn killed here, 680 Kufa: Al-Mukhtār’s revolt; Abbasid caliph proclaimed Jerusalem: The Dome of the Rock, 691–692 Mecca: Ibn al-Zubayr’s rival caliphate Córdoba: Umayyad emirate in Spain from 756 Poitiers: Raiding army defeated, 732 Merv: Abū Muslim raises the black banners, 747 Baghdad: Founded 762; the Abbasid capital Samarra: Capital from 836; eleventh imam dies 874 Kufa: Al-Saffāḥ proclaimed caliph, 749 Medina: Mālik and the Muwaṭṭaʾ Bukhara: Home of al-Bukhārī Raqqāda: Fatimids take it, 909 Cairo: Founded by the Fatimids, 969 Basra: Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and Rābiʿa Baghdad: Al-Junayd’s circle; al-Ḥallāj executed Bisṭām: Home of Abū Yazīd al-Bisṭāmī Ṭūs: Al-Ghazālī’s home and death Damascus: Al-Ghazālī’s seclusion; Ibn ʿArabī’s death Murcia: Ibn ʿArabī’s birthplace, 1165 Konya: Rūmī and the Mevleviyya Ajmer: Muʿīn al-Dīn Chishtī Baghdad: Seljuk sultans from 1055; sacked 1258 Jerusalem: Taken 1099; surrenders to Saladin 1187 Hattin: Saladin’s victory, 4 July 1187 Acre: Taken by the Mamluks, 1291 ʿAyn Jālūt: Mamluks stop the Mongols, 1260 Cairo: Fatimids end 1171; Abbasid caliphs from 1261 Granada: Last Muslim kingdom in Spain, to 1492 Delhi: Capital of the Delhi Sultanate from 1206 Istanbul: Ottoman capital from 1453 Cairo: Selim I takes Mamluk Egypt, 1517 Tabriz: Ismāʿīl proclaims Twelver Shiism, 1501 Isfahan: Shah ʿAbbās’s capital from 1598 Fatehpur Sikri: Akbar’s house of worship, 1575 Delhi: Mughal capital; Panipat opens it, 1526 Malacca: Port sultanate until 1511 Aceh: Sultanate in northern Sumatra from c. 1500 Dirʿiyya: The 1744 pact; destroyed 1818 Karbalāʾ: Sacked by Saudi forces, 1801–1802 Sokoto: Usman dan Fodio’s caliphate, 1804 Deoband: Seminary founded 1866 Aligarh: Sayyid Aḥmad Khān’s college, 1875 Cairo: ʿAbduh, Riḍā and al-Manār Qadian: Home of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Shiraz: The Bāb announces his mission, 1844 Ankara: Turkey abolishes the caliphate, 1924 Riyadh: Taken by Ibn Saud, 1902 Mecca: Taken by Ibn Saud, 1924 Ismailia: Muslim Brotherhood founded, 1928 Cairo: Al-Bannā shot dead here, 1949 Allahabad: Iqbal’s call for a Muslim state, 1930 Lahore: Lahore Resolution 1940; Jamāʿat-i Islāmī Detroit: Nation of Islam begins, 1930 Najaf: Khomeini’s lectures in exile, 1970 Qom: Protests begin, January 1978 Tehran: Khomeini returns, February 1979 Mecca: Grand Mosque seized, November 1979 Peshawar: Services Bureau 1984; al-Qaeda 1988 Kabul: Taken by the Taliban, 1996 Bamiyan: Buddhas destroyed, March 2001 Bradford: The Satanic Verses burned, January 1989 New York: Al-Qaeda’s attacks, 11 September 2001 Washington: Attack on the Pentagon, 2001 Amman: The Amman Message, 2004–2005 Abbottabad: Bin Laden killed, May 2011 Mosul: Al-Baghdadi’s sermon, 4 July 2014 Raqqa: IS capital, lost October 2017 Baghuz: Last IS territory falls, March 2019 Mehrgarh: Early farming village; Neolithic dentistry Bhimbetka: Rock shelters with paintings Burzahom: Pit-dwellings and dog-with-human burials, c. 3000–1500 BCE Sanganakallu: Cattle-centred Neolithic of the Deccan Mohenjo-daro: The Great Bath: ritual bathing as purification Mohenjo-daro: The Great Bath; a grid-planned city Harappa: Grid-planned city on the Indus system Rakhigarhi: Among the largest sites; source of the sequenced genome Dholavira: Water reservoirs and the ten-sign "signboard" Kalibangan: The disputed "fire altars"; an Early Harappan ploughed field Lothal: Brick basin read as a dockyard, possibly a reservoir Punjab: The Rigveda's world: the land of seven rivers Haryana: Eastern edge of the Rigvedic homeland Kabul: The Kubhā (Kabul river), among the hymn's western rivers Ghaggar: Ghaggar-Hakra, identified by some with the Sarasvati Hastinapura: Painted Grey Ware site: a village or small town, not a city Ahicchatra: Painted Grey Ware site with iron tools, rice and cattle Kausambi: Painted Grey Ware site of wattle-and-daub and mud-brick Ayodhya: Dhanadeva inscription attests the horse sacrifice Varanasi: Walled city of the eastern Ganga plain Kausambi: Walled city with a population in the tens of thousands Sravasti: Walled city of the second urbanisation Ujjayini: Walled city of the second urbanisation Pataliputra: Later capital of Magadha Sarnath: Ashoka's Lion Capital Lumbini: Ashoka's inscription records a pilgrimage here Girnar: Ashoka's Rock Edict 1 Kandahar: Ashoka's Greek-Aramaic bilingual edict Sanchi: Mauryan stupa; Buddhist building continued under the Śuṅgas Bharhut: Gateway given "in the reign of the Śuṅgas" Mathura: Club-bearing yakṣa, c. 100 BCE Besnagar: Heliodorus pillar, c. 110 BCE, a Garuḍa-standard to Vāsudeva Taxila: Home of Heliodorus, the Greek ambassador Mathura: Bhutesvar relief, c. 100 BCE: an enshrined linga worshipped Gudimallam: Early linga; its date is disputed Ghosundi: Vaiṣṇava enclosure inscription, c. 1st century BCE Sanchi: Stupa railings, c. 150 BCE – 200 CE Bharhut: Stupa railings, c. 150 BCE – 200 CE Nagarjunakonda: Inscriptions of an organized Vaiṣṇava practice Udayagiri: Rock-cut caves, c. 401 CE, securely Hindu Deogarh: Dashavatara temple, c. 500–525 CE Sanchi: Temple 17, c. 400–425 CE, an early structural temple Bhitargaon: Early temple building in central India Mathura: Goddess killing the buffalo-demon, centuries earlier Allahabad: Samudragupta's pillar praśasti by Hariṣeṇa Aihole: Early Chalukyan temples in the Deccan Badami: Early Chalukyan temples in the Deccan Thanjavur: Bṛhadīśvara temple, 1010 CE Srirangam: Rāmānuja and Viśiṣṭādvaita Chidambaram: The temple Nandanar could not enter Kashmir: Kashmir Shaivism and Abhinavagupta Somnath: Raided by Maḥmūd of Ghazni, 1026 Prambanan: Hindu temple in Java, 9th century Angkor: Angkor Wat, 12th century, built as a Viṣṇu temple Delhi: Seat of the Delhi Sultanate Hampi: Capital of Vijayanagara; its temples destroyed in 1565 Somnath: Temple destroyed in 1026 Kashi: Kashi Vishwanath temple destroyed, 1669–70 Mathura: Keshava Deva temple destroyed, 1669–70 Pandharpur: Viṭṭhal pilgrimage cult of Nāmdev, Eknāth, Tukārām Bengal: Conversion heaviest in eastern Bengal Punjab: Conversion heaviest in western Punjab Calcutta: Company capital, Asiatic Society, first reform movement Serampore: Base of the Serampore missionaries Bombay: Modern Hinduism's next centre after Bengal Madras: Modern Hinduism's next centre after Bengal Chicago: Vivekananda's speech, 1893 Nagpur: Savarkar's Hindutva published here, 1923 Ayodhya: Supreme Court awards the site to Hindu parties, 2019 Prayagraj: Maha Kumbh 2025: about 660 million bathers reported Haridwar: Kumbh Mela bathing at Har Ki Pauri Nagpur: Ambedkar converts to Buddhism, 14 October 1956 Sabarimala: Temple-entry case: the judgment was never stayed Mysore: Krishnamacharya taught yoga in the palace Delhi: "Three Hundred Rāmāyaṇas" dropped from a syllabus, 2011 Rajagaha: Capital of Magadha; a walled city by c. 400 BCE Savatthi: Capital of Kosala; a walled city Vesali: Walled city of the second urbanisation Kosambi: Walled city of the second urbanisation Varanasi: Where the Buddha first taught, nearby Lumbini: The Buddha's birthplace Bodh Gaya: Where the Buddha awakened Bharhut: Relief of men laying coins across the ground Lumbini: Birthplace; Ashoka's pillar and the dig Tilaurakot: Walled town proposed as Kapilavastu Piprahwa: Relic vase inscribed as the Buddha's; Kapilavastu candidate Bodh Gaya: Awakening at Uruvelā Sarnath: First teaching at the Deer Park, Isipatana Rajagaha: Capital of Magadha Savatthi: Capital of Kosala Kusinara: Where the Buddha died Rajagaha: First Council, best read as a founding story Vesali: The Vesālī council Pataliputra: "Third Council" under Moggaliputta Tissa Sanchi: Monks and nuns as donors; a schism edict Bharhut: Inscriptions name reciters as donors Sarnath: Ashoka's schism edict Kausambi: Ashoka's schism edict Pataliputra: Ashoka consecrated, c. 268 BCE Dhauli: Rock edicts in Kalinga, conquered c. 261 BCE Kandahar: Greek and Aramaic edict, in his tenth year Girnar: Rock edicts in Gujarat Bodh Gaya: Ashoka goes to Sambodhi, c. 258 BCE Lumbini: Ashoka's pilgrimage, c. 249 BCE Sanchi: The Buddha shown as an empty seat or a tree Bharhut: Early reliefs show the Buddha without his figure Gandhara: Where the routes from Bactria and Iran came into India Peshawar: Kaniṣka's vast stupa, in Buddhist memory Swat: Neighbour of Gandhāra Rabatak: Kaniṣka's inscription credits the goddess Nana Kashmir: Kaniṣka's council, in Buddhist memory Mathura: The other early school of Buddha images Anuradhapura: Rival monasteries argued over the canon Nagarjunakonda: Ikṣvāku royal women fund the great stupa, c. 250–300 CE Amaravati: Great stupa of the lower Krishna valley Mathura: Amitābha pedestal, c. 153 CE Gandhara: Bodhisattva images; the Bajaur scrolls Peshawar: Home of Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, per Paramārtha Luoyang: Lokakṣema translates the Perfection of Wisdom, 179 CE Luoyang: Translation begins: An Shigao and Lokakṣema Chang'an: Kumārajīva translates here from 401 Jiankang: Southern capital; Buddhism among the gentry Dunhuang: Manuscripts show the Platform Sūtra rewritten Kucha: Oasis kingdom of the Tarim basin Khotan: Oasis kingdom of the Tarim basin Yungang: Caves carved for the Northern Wei, c. 460–494 Longmen: Colossal Vairocana at the Fengxian cave Nalanda: Great monastery; found damaged by a Tibetan pilgrim Vikramashila: Razed by Turkic soldiers, says a Tibetan pilgrim Odantapuri: Probably the "Bihar" sacked around 1200 Ratnagiri: Odisha monastery rich in esoteric images Lalitgiri: Odisha monastery rich in esoteric images Udayagiri: Odisha monastery rich in esoteric images Kashmir: Produced Buddhist scholars into the 13th century Kathmandu: The Kathmandu valley Lhasa: Jokhang and Ramoche temples Samye: Founded under Trisong Detsen, late 8th century Sakya: Sakya monastery, founded 1073 Tabo: Rinchen Zangpo's temple in Gugé Tholing: Rinchen Zangpo's temple in Gugé Ganden: Tsongkhapa founds it, 1409: the start of Geluk Drepung: Sonam Gyatso's Geluk monastery Dunhuang: 10th-century manuscripts on Padmasambhava Anuradhapura: The Mahāvihāra, keeper of the Pali canon Kandy: Siamese monks restore higher ordination, 1753 Pagan: Royal reform; imported ordination lineage Pegu: Dhammazedi reordains monks, 1476–79 Sukhothai: Royal reform; imported ordination lineage Ayutthaya: Royal reform; imported ordination lineage Angkor: Royal reform; imported ordination lineage Borobudur: Monument asked of: Theravāda or Mahāyāna? Horyuji: Founding associated with prince Umayado Nara: State temples; Tōdaiji's Great Buddha, 752 Kyoto: Heian, the capital from 794 Mount Hiei: Saichō's mountain monastery above Heian Mount Koya: Kūkai's mountain monastery Kamakura: Warrior capital; Great Buddha cast 1252 Eiheiji: Founded by Dōgen, 1244 Panadura: The Panadura debate, 1873 Colombo: Buddhist flag designed by a committee here, 1885 Bodh Gaya: Dharmapāla's campaign; Temple Act of 1949 Chicago: World's Parliament of Religions, 1893 Mandalay: Kuthodaw: the Pali canon on marble slabs Rangoon: Mahasi Sayadaw begins teaching, 1949 Nagpur: Ambedkar's conversion, 14 October 1956 Lhasa: Uprising of March 1959 Dharamsala: Seat of the government in exile Nagpur: Ambedkar takes the refuges, 14 October 1956 Bodh Gaya: Bhikkhunī ordination restarted, 1998 Bhutan: Je Khenpo fully ordains 144 nuns, 2022 Kaohsiung: Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum San Francisco: San Francisco Zen Center incorporated, 1962 Barre: Insight Meditation Society founded, 1975 Judaism §1, Out of Canaan (1250–1000 BCE): Shiloh, The central hill country: the highland villages Who the first Israelites were, and what happened to the Exodus and the conquest 1 Shiloh Judaism §2, Yahweh Among the Gods (1000–750 BCE): Samaria, Israel's capital; Judah, Moab and the Sinai shrines Where Israel's god came from, who stood beside him, and what archaeology says about David 2 Samaria Judaism §3, The Prophets and the Yahweh-Alone Movement (760–586 BCE): Jerusalem, Judah under Assyria; Josiah's reform From Amos to Josiah: how the worship of Yahweh became the demand to worship Yahweh alone 3 Jerusalem Judaism §4, Exile and the Birth of Monotheism (597–539 BCE): Babylon, Babylonia: the court and the Judean villages How the destruction of Jerusalem produced a God with no rivals 4 Babylon Judaism §5, Persian Yehud and the Making of the Torah (539–332 BCE): Jerusalem, The province of Yehud; also Samaria and Elephantine Cyrus, the Second Temple, Ezra and Nehemiah, a temple in Egypt and a temple on Gerizim 5 Jerusalem Judaism §6, Hellenism, the Maccabees and the Second Temple Sects (332 BCE–70 CE): Alexandria, The Greek-speaking diaspora; the Temple and the Maccabees in Jerusalem Greek rule, a revolt, a new kingdom, rival schools, and the ideas that would shape Judaism and Christianity 6 Alexandria Judaism §7, Without a Temple: The Rabbis (70–640 CE): Tiberias, Galilee, then the academies of Babylonia How a small circle of scholars rebuilt Judaism after Rome destroyed its centre 7 Tiberias Judaism §8, Under Islam (632–1250 CE): Baghdad, The geonim; Fustat, Kairouan and al-Andalus The geonim, the Karaites, Saadia, Andalusia and Maimonides: how Judaism took its medieval shape in the Islamic world 8 Baghdad Judaism §9, Ashkenaz, Sepharad and the Kabbalah (1000–1650 CE): Mainz, The Rhineland; also Castile, Safed and Poland Rashi, the Crusades, the expulsions, the Zohar and the making of two Jewish worlds 9 Mainz Judaism §10, False Messiahs, Hasidism and Their Opponents (1648–1800 CE): Międzybóż, Podolia: the Baal Shem Tov; Vilna and the Sabbateans From the 1648 massacres and Sabbatai Zevi to the Baal Shem Tov, the tsaddik and the Vilna Gaon 10 Międzybóż Judaism §11, Emancipation and the Modern Movements (1750–1900 CE): Berlin, Mendelssohn and the German movements; Hamburg, Frankfurt, Breslau How citizenship split Judaism into Reform, Orthodox and Conservative, from Mendelssohn's Berlin to the Lower East Side 11 Berlin Judaism §12, Zionism, the Holocaust and the State of Israel (1881–1974 CE): Jerusalem, Palestine and Israel; Basel, 1897 How a secular national movement, a genocide and a state changed Jewish religion 12 Jerusalem Judaism §13, Judaism Today (1967–2026 CE): New York, With Israel, one of the two great centres today Denominations, women rabbis, the ultra-Orthodox revival, and who counts as a Jew 13 New York Christianity §1, The World of Jesus (63 BCE–30 CE): Nazareth, Galilee and Judea under Herod's sons and the prefects Rome and the Herods, a Jewish Galilee, the hope of a coming kingdom, and a Temple full of pilgrims 1 Nazareth Christianity §2, The Historical Jesus (c. 6 BCE–33 CE): Jerusalem, Galilee, the lake, and Jerusalem at Passover A Galilean Jew, a prophet of the coming kingdom, a Roman cross, and what his followers said next 2 Jerusalem Christianity §3, Paul and the Gentile Mission (30–64 CE): Antioch, The cities of Syria, Asia Minor, Greece and Rome A Pharisee's vision, letters to new churches, and the quarrel over whether non-Jews had to become Jews 3 Antioch Christianity §4, After the Temple (70–150 CE): Ephesus, Churches of the eastern Mediterranean after the Temple Four Gospels, letters in Paul's name, the first bishops, and the slow parting from Judaism 4 Ephesus Christianity §5, Many Christianities (130–312 CE): Rome, Rome, Alexandria, Carthage, Asia Minor and Gaul Marcion, the Gnostics, the making of the New Testament, the first Trinity words, and the Roman persecutions 5 Rome Christianity §6, Constantine, the Creeds and the Councils (312–451 CE): Constantinople, The councils of the eastern empire An emperor's conversion, an argument about the Son, and the empire that made one Christianity official 6 Constantinople Christianity §7, Beyond Rome (300–1400 CE): Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Persia, Armenia, Aksum, India and China Armenia, Georgia and Ethiopia, the Church of the East from Persia to China, the Thomas Christians, and Christians under Islam 7 Seleucia-Ctesiphon Christianity §8, The Medieval West (500–1300 CE): Aachen, Rome, the Frankish kingdoms and northern Europe Monks and popes, the conversion of the north, the split with the East, and a church that defined purgatory and pursued heretics 8 Aachen Christianity §9, Reformations (1517–1648 CE): Wittenberg, Germany, Switzerland, England, France and Trent Luther's protest, the Swiss and the radicals, England's break, Trent's answer, and a century of religious war 9 Wittenberg Christianity §10, Mission and Empire (1492–1900 CE): Mexico City, The Americas, Goa, Japan, China and Kongo Conquest and its critics, converts who made the faith their own, slavery, and the Protestant missionary century 10 Mexico City Christianity §11, Revival, Reason and Criticism (1650–1900 CE): London, Britain, Germany and North America Pietists and Methodists, the Bible's critics, Darwin, infallibility, new churches and the Rapture 11 London Christianity §12, The Twentieth Century (1900–1990 CE): Los Angeles, Azusa Street, Rome's Vatican II and the global South Tongues of fire, fundamentalists, the churches under Stalin and Hitler, Vatican II and a southern turn 12 Los Angeles Christianity §13, Christianity Today (1990–2026 CE): Lagos, Sub-Saharan Africa, now home to the most Christians Where Christians live now, how they are counted, and the splits, scandals and shifts of the last thirty years 13 Lagos Islam §1, Late Antique Arabia (c. 300–610 CE): Ẓafār, Ḥimyar, whose kings turned to one god c. 380 Empires, kings, gods and monotheists: the world in which Islam began 1 Ẓafār Islam §2, Muhammad (c. 570–632 CE): Mecca, Mecca and Medina in western Arabia From Mecca to Medina: what the Qur'an, the documents and the biographies can and cannot tell us about the prophet 2 Mecca Islam §3, The Qur'an (610–c. 700 CE): Medina, Medina, where the tradition places the collection of the text From recitation to book: the collection, the oldest manuscripts, the readings, and the text's late-antique world 3 Medina Islam §4, The Conquests and the First Caliphs (632–661 CE): Kufa, Medina, then the garrison towns of Iraq; ʿAlī's capital Twenty years of conquest, a new ruling class, and the civil war that divided the community 4 Kufa Islam §5, The Umayyads (661–750 CE): Damascus, Syria, capital of the Umayyad caliphs An Islamic state: Damascus, Karbalāʾ, the Dome of the Rock, the coins, and the empire from Spain to Sindh 5 Damascus Islam §6, The Abbasids: Law, Hadith and Theology (750–c. 1000 CE): Baghdad, Iraq, capital of the Abbasid caliphs from 762 Baghdad, the schools of law, the hadith canon, the created Qur'an, and how Sunni and Shia became separate communities 6 Baghdad Islam §7, The Mystics: Sufism (c. 700–1300 CE): Konya, From Basra and Baghdad to Rūmī's Anatolia From the renunciants of Basra to the Sufi orders: Rābiʿa, Junayd, al-Ḥallāj, al-Ghazālī, Rūmī and Ibn ʿArabī 7 Konya Islam §8, Turks, Crusaders and Mongols (c. 1000–1400 CE): Cairo, Mamluk Egypt, seat of the Abbasid caliphs after 1261 Seljuk sultans and the madrasa, the Crusades from the Muslim side, the Mongol conquest, Ibn Taymiyya, and Islam's new frontiers 8 Cairo Islam §9, The Great Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals (c. 1400–1800 CE): Istanbul, The Ottoman capital, beside Safavid Isfahan and Mughal Delhi Ottoman law and the caliphate claim, Iran made Shia, Akbar and Aurangzeb, and Islam's spread across Southeast Asia 9 Istanbul Islam §10, Reform, Revival and Empire (c. 1700–1920 CE): Dirʿiyya, Najd, where the pact of 1744 was made 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 Dirʿiyya Islam §11, The Twentieth Century (1920–1979 CE): Lahore, British India and Pakistan; the Jamāʿat-i Islāmī, 1941 The end of the caliphate, new states and their religions, the birth of Islamism, Pakistan, the Nation of Islam, and the veil 11 Lahore Islam §12, Revolution and Revival (1979–2001 CE): Tehran, Iran's revolution and the Islamic Republic Iran's clerical state, the siege of Mecca, the Afghan jihad, Saudi Salafism, the Rushdie affair and al-Qaeda, 1979–2001 12 Tehran Islam §13, Islam Today (2001–2026 CE): Jakarta, Indonesia, the country with the most Muslims How many Muslims there are, where they live, and the movements, laws and arguments that have shaped Islam since 2001 13 Jakarta Hinduism §1, Before the Vedas (7000–3300 BCE): Mehrgarh, Balochistan The Neolithic and the substrate that Hinduism was built on 1 Mehrgarh Hinduism §2, The Indus Civilization (2600–1900 BCE): Mohenjo-daro / Harappa, Indus & Ghaggar-Hakra A great religion we cannot read 2 Mohenjo-daro / Harappa Hinduism §3, The Oral Rigveda (1500–1200 BCE): Sapta Sindhavaḥ, Punjab Early Vedic society, reconstructed from its own hymns 3 Sapta Sindhavaḥ Hinduism §4, Late Vedic (1200–900 BCE): Kuru-Pañcāla, Ganga–Yamuna doāb Iron, rice, the Kuru state, and the age of ritual 4 Kuru-Pañcāla Hinduism §5, The Upanishadic Turn (900–500 BCE): Videha & Kosala, Eastern Ganga plain Karma, rebirth, and the discovery of the self 5 Videha & Kosala Hinduism §6, The Shramana Challenge (600–200 BCE): Magadha, Rājagṛha, Pāṭaliputra Buddha, Mahāvīra, and what Brahmanism had to become to survive them 6 Magadha Hinduism §7, Epic and Classical Synthesis (200 BCE – 300 CE): Mathurā, pan-North India The Gītā, the first images, and the birth of devotion 7 Mathurā Hinduism §8, Puranic Hinduism (300–650 CE): Vidiśā & Udayagiri, Gupta central India The Goddess, the stone temple, and the religion's classical shape 8 Vidiśā & Udayagiri Hinduism §9, Bhakti and the Regional Turn (650–1200 CE): Thanjāvūr, Kāverī delta, Tamil country Devotion in the mother tongue, and philosophy's classical age 9 Thanjāvūr Hinduism §10, Encounter with Islam (1200–1750 CE): Banaras & the Sant belt, pan-India Vernacular scripture, the Sants, and a religion that learns to name itself 10 Banaras & the Sant belt Hinduism §11, The Invention of "Hinduism" (1750–1947 CE): Calcutta, and Oxford, Chicago, London Orientalists, reformers, and the making of a world religion 11 Calcutta Hinduism §12, Modern and Contemporary (1947–present): Delhi, and a worldwide diaspora Constitution, diaspora, global yoga, and a religion in public argument with itself 12 Delhi Buddhism §1, The World the Buddha Entered (600–400 BCE): Rājagaha, Magadha, the eastern Ganga plain Cities, coins, clan republics and a crowd of rival ascetics 1 Rājagaha Buddhism §2, The Buddha (480–380 BCE): Sāvatthī, Kosala; the Buddha's main teaching base What can be known about Gotama of the Sakyas, and how the life story grew 2 Sāvatthī Buddhism §3, The Early Saṅgha, the Councils and the First Split (400–250 BCE): Vesālī, Vajjī republic; the Second Council How a community of renunciants kept a teaching in memory, argued about rules, and divided 3 Vesālī Buddhism §4, Ashoka and the Making of a Pan-Indian Religion (268–50 BCE): Pāṭaliputra, Mauryan capital, Magadha An emperor's inscriptions, the legend that grew around him, and the stupas where lay Buddhism took shape 4 Pāṭaliputra Buddhism §5, Writing It Down (100 BCE–300 CE): Gandhāra (Peshawar), Kushan northwest; Sri Lanka writes down its canon in the same centuries Gandhāra, Sri Lanka and the first Buddha images 5 Gandhāra (Peshawar) Buddhism §6, The Mahāyāna Turn (50 BCE–500 CE): Mathurā, Mathurā and the northwest, where the first Mahāyāna evidence clusters The bodhisattva path, the new sūtras and the argument about where they came from 6 Mathurā Buddhism §7, Into China (50–850 CE): Chang'an, Chang'an and Luoyang, the Chinese capitals Translation and transformation, from a Han prince's offerings to the Tang purge of 845 7 Chang'an Buddhism §8, Tantra and the Last Age of Indian Buddhism (600–1300 CE): Nālandā, With Vikramaśīla and the other Pāla monasteries of Bihar and Bengal The monastery-universities, the Vajrayāna, and the end of Buddhism's Indian institutions 8 Nālandā Buddhism §9, Tibet: The Second Home (640–1950 CE): Lhasa, Central Tibet From an imperial cult to the land of lamas, c. 640–1950 9 Lhasa Buddhism §10, Theravāda and Southeast Asia (400–1800 CE): Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka, hub of the Theravāda lineage How one Sri Lankan lineage became the Buddhism of the mainland 10 Anurādhapura Buddhism §11, Japan and the Kamakura Reformations (538–1872 CE): Kyoto, Nara, Kyoto and Kamakura From state temples to single practices, and from the danka registry to married priests 11 Kyoto Buddhism §12, Colonial Encounter and Buddhist Modernism (1800–1956 CE): Colombo, Colonial Ceylon, centre of the revival; also Burma, Japan and India How Europe named Buddhism, and how Asian reformers turned the name into a modern religion 12 Colombo Buddhism §13, Global and Contemporary Buddhism (1950–2026 CE): Dharamsala, Tibetan exile seat; the chapter's story is global Exile, the state, nationalism, converts, mindfulness and nuns since 1950 13 Dharamsala
today

About this map

Where religions moved

Each chapter of the five series names a place as its tradition's centre of gravity in that period. Put on one map and run through time, they trace journeys nobody draws together: Judaism from the hills of Canaan to Babylon, the Rhineland, Berlin and New York; Christianity from Galilee to Lagos; Islam from Mecca to Jakarta; Buddhism east to Kyoto and Lhasa. 64 centres and 474 named places, every one linked to the chapter that names it.

Download the poster (dark version). The same five traditions as a family-tree chart.

How to read it

  • A numbered circle is a chapter. It stands on the place that chapter takes as its tradition's centre in that period; the number is the chapter's. Click it to read the chapter. Drag to move the map, scroll or pinch to zoom.
  • Pulsing circles are the chapters running in the year shown. Some traditions have several at once: in 1000 CE Buddhism's centres are in Bengal, Tibet, Sri Lanka and Japan together.
  • Small dots are the other places those chapters name: the sites, cities and finds the evidence comes from. Hover one for what was found there.
  • Arcs join the centres in chapter order, which is close to, but not always, the order of time.

What it is not

  • Not where most believers lived. A centre is where the chapter's story is decided: a council, a court, a school, a revival. In 1500 most Christians lived in Europe and the centre is Wittenberg because that is where the century's change began.
  • Not a migration. Religions spread and stay; an arc from Baghdad to Mainz does not mean the Jews of Baghdad left.
  • Schematic. A flat projection from California to Japan, with places at their city centres. Jainism, Sikhism and the traditions without a series are not drawn.

The poster

Every journey at once, with enlarged insets for the Near East and South Asia and each itinerary written out. Free to share, print and adapt under CC BY 4.0, with credit to How It Evolved (howitevolved.com) and a link to this page. Data revised 2026-10-23.

Where religions moved: the centres of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, chapter by chapter, on one world map