Final answer:
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the sixth century BCE. He achieved enlightenment and his teachings, including the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, aim to help overcome suffering and rebirth to attain nirvana.
Step-by-step explanation:
Buddhism was founded in India in the sixth century b.c. by Siddhartha Gautama, an Indian prince who renounced his wealth to pursue an ascetic lifestyle and spiritual perfection. Siddhartha was a prince from the Shakya kingdom in present-day Nepal who, upon witnessing the sufferings of the world, decided to seek enlightenment and a way to end these sufferings.
At the age of thirty-five, after meditating under a sacred fig tree, Siddhartha Gautama achieved enlightenment and became known as the Buddha or "the awakened one." His teachings spread quickly beyond India after being embraced by King Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty. The Guptas, succeeding the Mauryans, further patronized Buddhist art and culture, even as the political landscape shifted with invasions and new kingdoms.
Buddhism teaches principles like the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to help individuals escape the cycle of rebirth and suffering. Through this, one learns to overcome ignorance and desire, key components in attaining nirvana, the ultimate goal and state of liberating peace in Buddhism. The religion's philosophies and values such as non-attachment, meditation, and the importance of compassion have had a lasting impact on cultures across Asia and the world.