Forum:Buddhist India, Hindu Southeast Asia?

There was a time when Buddhism and Hinduism existed side by side in both Southeast Asia and India. However, by modern times, Buddhism had all-but gone extinct in most of the Indian subcontinent until the recent revivalist movement, and Hindus had practically vanished from Southeast Asia (save for the Balinese and other minority enclaves) excepting immigration from India.

My idea is that the trend is reversed, with Buddhism coming to dominate the Indian subcontinent, and Hinduism coming to dominate Southeast Asia. (though they don't necessarily need to be as strong as in OTL, there could be like a 10% Hindus still in India and 10% Buddhists in SE Asia). Islam could factor in later (or not, depending on when the POD is)

For the POD, I have one idea: perhaps by having the Theravadas of Sri Lanka send their missionaries to India in the 11th Century instead of to Southeast Asia, they could have revived Theravada Buddhism (Mahayana having already collapsed in most of India at this time) and perhaps made it the dominant religion in the non-Islamic parts of the subcontinent. Meanwhile, without the Theravada missionaries, the Khmer Empire could have remained Hindu, and spread Hinduism in South-east Asia. If Islam triumphed in Indonesia like OTL, it would wipe out the Buddhists there like in OTL, if not, then perhaps the Hindu-dominated Sunda Kingdom and Majapahit could have made that faith the dominant one in Indonesia.

Does this sound plausible? If not, or if you have a better idea, please post. LurkerLordB (Talk) 22:33, August 7, 2012 (UTC)