Gautam Buddha was the founder of Buddhism. His earlier name was Siddhartha. He was born about 2,500 years ago. The Buddha belonged to a small gana known as the Sakya Gana, and was a Kshatriya. When he was a young man, he left the comforts of his home in search of knowledge. He wandered for several years, meeting and holding discussions with other thinkers.
He finally decided to find his own path to realization, and meditated for days under a peepal tree in Bodh Gaya in Bihar, where he attained enlightenment. After that he was known as the Buddha or the wise one. He then went to Sarnath, near Varanasi, where he taught for the first time. He spent the rest of his life travelling on foot, going from place to place, teaching people, till he passed away at Kusinara.