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In OTL Buddhism began 5 centuries BC and seemed to only expand from regional to national appeal within India with Ashoka 300 years later. This "Constantine" of Buddhism was much less successful. Most of his missionary expeditions did not have a lasting proselytizing affect, although he tried to spread the faith to Egypt and the Mediterranean world.

He had enduring, but not irreversible, impact in India, and only his Sri Lankan mission resulted in enduring Buddhism conversion outside India.

the adoption of Buddhism in China only occurred 1000 years after the start of Buddhism, and with Korea, Japan, and southeast asia adopting it later still.

What could have made buddhism more competitive in the western world, either before, during or after Ashoka's era? Could Buddhism have spread east earlier?

looking at it from another angle, could Buddhism's spread be stopped cold outside the indian subcontinent?

Looking at other angles still, is there a plausible way that Christianity could have been more locally bound for a millenium, before seriously spreading to other civilizational centers? What about Islam? Would it be plausible for it to be bound within Arabia for centuries, but later have explosive growth?
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