Gautama Buddha (c. 563 BCE/480 BCE – c. 483 BCE/400 BCE), also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha or simply the Buddha, after the title of Buddha, was an ascetic (śramaṇa) and sage, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.

He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the eastern part of ancient India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE