Symmerian Buddhism

Symmerian Buddhism is the general term used by historians to describe the impact and influence of Buddhism on Ancient Symmeria, and later the Symmerian Empire.

The Symmerians came into contact with Buddhism sometime during the 3rd or 2nd Century BCE owing to trade and relations with the Chalna Empire of southern Siduri. Coins bearing the likeness of Maya Chalna found in modern day Syara point to early interactions between the two realms, likely facilitated by trade through the Seyhad League. Missionaries traveling up the western coast of Siduri often ended up in Syara, sometimes even reaching as far as Boreagros. According to the Symmerian historian Protogenes, the first Budhhist visitor to Syara was Atiykan, who arrived sometime in the 270s BCE, although some modern scholars believe earlier interaction existed.

The conquests of Orestes II resulted in an explosion of interaction between the Chalna and Symmerian Empires due to their much closer proximity, and trade increased tenfold. Despite continued hostilities between the Seyhad and Symmeria, the Seyhad continued to serve as a conduit of trade between the Chalna and the Symmerians throughout the 2nd and 1st Centuries BCE. By the time of Kuvallai Chalna there was regular correspondence and interaction between Buddhist monks and Symmerian philosophers, which influenced Symmerian traditions of skepticism and worldviews. Following the fall of the Chalna and the conclusion of the Seyhad Wars, further direct contact between Budhhist kingdoms and queendoms of southern Siduri spurned additional influence and syncretic development of schools of thought.

The most prominent implementation of Symmerian Buddhism emerged in the Deva-Hellene Kingdom of Arosiananda in western Tennai. Before its conquest by the Hannashka Empire Arosiananda served as a home to elaborate schools of thought and study of Buddhist practices and beliefs, while also preserving much of the history of the Chalna Empire during the Vahna Period.

Buddhism is widely believed to have had a major impact on the growth and development of Zobethos, which gradually grew to become the dominant faith of the Symmerian Empire. Buddhist teachings are considered to be the origin of Zobethian beliefs of reincarnation, while Nirvana is believed to have inspired the concept of the Garden of Gaia, which became the highest point of existence within the Zobethian sphere of being. According to Syara historian Yoana Todorova Stoeva, Buddhism was the principle reason behind the growth of Zobethos from "a quirky perception of the Titan Gaia into the quasi-pantheistic, exalted worship that would come to dominate Syara".