ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Indian Buddhist heritage among nomads of Central Asia, who have contributed a lot to the propagation and spread of Buddha's teaching across this vast region. The expansion of Buddhism in Asia was peaceful and occurred in several ways. In the mid-third century bc, for instance, Buddhism spread in Northern India as the result of personal endorsement by Mauryan King Ashoka. Mongolian invasions completely changed the religious map of Central Asia and the whole of Eurasia. Oirats, even being surrounded in Persia by Muslim culture, kept their traditions closely related with the Buddhist ones. When Zandan-sy monastery was destroyed in 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion in China, the statue was taken to the Russian region of Transbaikalia by Buryat Cossaks, and is now kept in Egituidatsan. The nomads played a significant role in the maintenance and further evolution of Buddha's teaching, especially Mongol nations and particularly Oirats.
