Buddhism was founded by a man named Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in Nepal around 563 BCE. He was a prince who lived a life of luxury and privilege until he became disillusioned with the suffering and impermanence he saw in the world.
At the age of 29, he left his palace and began a spiritual quest to find a way to end suffering. After years of intense meditation and study, he achieved enlightenment while sitting under a tree, now known as the Bodhi tree, in Bodh Gaya, India. He became known as the Buddha, which means "enlightened one."
The Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching his insights to others, traveling throughout India and gathering a large following of monks and laypeople. His teachings emphasized the Four Noble Truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.
Today, Buddhism is one of the major religions of the world, with an estimated 500 million followers worldwide.