Adi Shankara
c. 788 – 820 · 32 years · Sringeri · Asia
Leading teacher of Advaita Vedanta: only Brahman is truly real and the self (atman) is identical with it; the world's multiplicity is illusion (maya). Tradition credits him with founding four monasteries across India.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 9th century
Portrait: Raja Ravi Varma · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Charlemagne — King of the Franks, Emperor, 40 years older
- Louis the Pious — Charlemagne's son, under whom his empire began to break up, 10 years older
Middle East
- Al-Khwarizmi — mathematician and astronomer, 8 years older
- Harun al-Rashid — Abbasid caliph, 22 years older
Asia
- Emperor Kanmu — emperor who founded Heian-kyō, the future Kyoto, 51 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 793 Viking raid on Lindisfarne — aged 5, Europe
- 800 Coronation of Charlemagne — aged 12, Europe
- c. 800–950 Drought and the Classic Maya collapse — aged 12, Americas
- 802 Founding of the Khmer Empire — aged 14, Asia