Mahavira
c. 599 BC – 527 BC · 72 years · Vaishali · Asia
The 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, who taught non-violence (ahimsa), asceticism and the soul's liberation from karma.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 6th century BC
Portrait: Dayodaya · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Pythagoras — Greek philosopher and mathematician, 29 years younger
- Solon — Athenian lawgiver and poet, 31 years older
- Sappho — ancient Greek lyric poet, 31 years older
- Leonidas I — king of Sparta, 59 years younger
Middle East
- Cyrus the Great — founder of the Achaemenid Empire, 1 year older
- Thales of Miletus — philosopher and mathematician, 25 years older
- Nebuchadnezzar II — king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, 43 years older
- Darius the Great — King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, 49 years younger
Asia
- Gautama Buddha — founder of Buddhism, 36 years younger
- Confucius — Chinese philosopher, 48 years younger
- Sun Tzu — Chinese military strategist, 55 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- 587 BC Destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar — aged 12, Middle East
- c. 563 BC Birth of the Buddha — aged 36, Asia
- 551 BC Birth of Confucius — aged 48, Asia
- 550 BC Cyrus the Great founds the Achaemenid Empire — aged 49, Middle East
- 539 BC Fall of Babylon to Cyrus — aged 60, Middle East