Nagarjuna
c. 150 – 250 · 100 years · Nagarjunakonda · Asia
Founder of Madhyamaka, the "middle way": things have no fixed essence of their own and exist only in dependence on one another, which is what emptiness (shunyata) means.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 2nd century
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Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Marcus Aurelius — Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, 29 years older
- Galen — physician and anatomist, 21 years older
- Plotinus — ancient philosopher, founder of Neoplatonism, 54 years younger
Middle East
- Zenobia — queen of Palmyra, 90 years younger
Africa
- Claudius Ptolemy — astronomer and geographer, 50 years older
Asia
- Cao Cao — warlord of the Three Kingdoms era, 5 years younger
- Zhuge Liang — chancellor of Shu Han, 31 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- c. 150 Ptolemy's Almagest — aged 0, Africa
- 165–180 Antonine Plague — aged 15, Europe
- 184 The Yellow Turban Rebellion — aged 34, Asia
- c. 200 Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan — aged 50, Americas
- c. 200 Compilation of the Mishnah — aged 50, Middle East
- 220 Fall of the Han and the Three Kingdoms — aged 70, Asia
- 224 Rise of the Sasanian Empire — aged 74, Middle East
- c. 232 Hatepe eruption of Taupō — aged 82, Oceania
- 249–262 Plague of Cyprian — aged 99, Africa
- c. 250 Rise of the Classic Maya cities — aged 100, Americas