ABSTRACT
It was probably Asoka ofIndian fame (surnamed 'The Pious')2 or another Asoka of Kashmir who established the city ofSrinagar3 in about 250 B.C. and introduced the Buddhist monks into Kashmir, which became, with temples and statues, a school of teaching of this religion. While the Naga or snake worship was the religion of the original inhabitants of the Valley, at least one great Indian religion, Saivism,4 found some of the best teachers on the banks of the Vitasta (Jhelum). But starting with Asoka, several local rulers patronized Buddhism. Many Kashmiri missionaries went to Tibet, China and elsewhere as self-exiles to disseminate the religion. A great Kashmiri who converted Java and the neighbouring islands to Buddhism was Gunavarman, and Buddhayasas accomplished a similar mission in China.
