Can anyone please name the sources for dating the Buddha’s birth and death dates? The asian historiographies are just so shaky… Archaeology isn’t helpful either as Fogelin argues in his “An Archaeological History of Indian Buddhism”. I read an article that shows the influence of buddhist thought on Democritus, the only pre-Socratic philosopher who travelled to India and started philosophy after his travels, showing buddhist influences. Apparently he travelled young, using his inheritance. He was born around 460 BCE and if we assume he travelled when 30, he might have gotten in contact with buddhist thought in 430 BCE. It makes sense to assume that the Buddha at the time has already passed away (it’s more probable that Democritus stumbled upon an established religion rather than accidentally talking to Buddhists of the first hour). This is just guesswork of course but if he was in India, say 50 years after the parinibbana - probably enough time for buddhism to spread - that would be around 480 BCE for the passing and 560 BCE for the birth. Quite close to the more traditional date…
Another question I don’t know about: When do Indian sources start to speak about four vedas?