The term Theravāda (Pāli; Skt. Sthaviravāda), literally “Doctrine of the Elders,” did not refer originally to a distinct sect, but to a general orientation within the early Buddhist community that valued fidelity to the teachings of the elders following the First Council at Rājagaha.1 Only over time did it take on the meaning of a distinct school, and even then, the historical record shows a complex evolution rather than a single founding moment.
1. Early Indian Roots (4th–3rd century BCE)
The first great division of the Buddhist Saṅgha took place about a century after the Buddha’s death, between the Sthaviravādins (“Elders”) and the Mahāsāṃghikas (“Great Assembly”).2 This schism, recorded in the Dipavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa and discussed in Chinese sources, was the origin of at least 18 early Nikāya schools, among which the Sthaviravādins were only one.
It is from this Sthaviravāda branch that the Theravāda of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia later developed. However, no Indian inscription, text, or archaeological source refers to “Theravāda” itself before the period of Emperor Aśoka (3rd century BCE).3
2. The Sri Lankan Transmission (3rd–1st century BCE)
According to Sri Lankan chronicles, Mahinda, the son (or emissary) of Emperor Aśoka, brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka during the reign of King Devānampiya Tissa (c. 250 BCE).4 The monastic community founded at the Mahāvihāra in Anurādhapura became the principal custodian of the scriptures that were later standardized in Pāli.
By the 1st century BCE, political unrest in Sri Lanka led the Mahāvihāra monks to write down the Canon for the first time, producing what became known as the Tipiṭaka.5 This event marks the earliest historical continuity of what can properly be called the Theravāda tradition, though the term itself was not yet used.
3. Buddhaghosa and the Classical Codification (5th century CE)
The figure who defined Theravāda as a doctrinal and philosophical system was Buddhaghosa (fl. c. 400–450 CE), an Indian monk who settled in Sri Lanka and compiled the Visuddhimagga (“Path of Purification”) together with a comprehensive corpus of commentaries.6
Buddhaghosa’s synthesis organized earlier material into the tripartite structure of sīla (ethics), samādhi (concentration), and paññā (wisdom), creating the canonical form of Theravāda doctrine still taught today. This is the point at which Theravāda became a distinct scholastic school, differentiating itself from other Indian Abhidharma traditions such as the Sarvāstivāda and Dharmaguptaka.
4. Medieval Consolidation (11th–13th centuries CE)
Theravāda’s identity was further consolidated during the Polonnaruwa period (11th–13th centuries), when the Mahāvihāra lineage was restored after invasions from South India. Competing Sri Lankan sects—the Abhayagiri and Jetavana—were suppressed, and a single monastic orthodoxy was established under royal patronage.7
From this reformed base, Theravāda spread (or re-spread) to Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. This is the historical point at which the Theravāda lineage became the dominant monastic form in Southeast Asia.
5. Colonial Reinvention and Globalization (19th–20th centuries CE)
The modern conception of “Theravāda Buddhism” as the original and rational Buddhism is largely a colonial and post-colonial reconstruction. During British rule in Sri Lanka and Burma, Western Orientalists such as T. W. Rhys Davids, Hermann Oldenberg, and Caroline Rhys Davids promoted the Pāli Canon as the earliest and most “authentic” expression of the Buddha’s teaching.8
In the early 20th century, reformers such as Anagarika Dharmapala and Western converts like Allan Bennett (Bhikkhu Ānanda Metteyya) presented Theravāda as a universal, scientific, and non-superstitious religion suited to modernity. The Sixth Buddhist Council (Rangoon, 1954–56) and the founding of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (1950) consolidated the global identity of Theravāda as a distinct, transnational Buddhist denomination.9
6. Summary and Evaluation
| Phase | Date | Key Development | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Sthaviravāda | 320–280 BCE | First schism; “Elders” vs. “Great Assembly” | India |
| Mahāvihāra lineage | 250–100 BCE | Buddhism transmitted to Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka |
| Buddhaghosa codification | 400–450 CE | Commentarial and doctrinal synthesis | Sri Lanka |
| Orthodoxy & expansion | 11th–13th CE | Reformation, spread to Southeast Asia | Sri Lanka–SE Asia |
| Colonial-modern identity | 19th–20th CE | “Theravāda” becomes global label | Worldwide |
In short, Theravāda is neither the “original” nor the “only authentic” Buddhism. It represents the last surviving branch of the Sthaviravāda tradition, shaped by two millennia of reinterpretation. Its canonical form derives primarily from Sri Lankan scholasticism (5th CE onward) and its modern identity from colonial-era reform and globalization.
Dharmata 