Shakyamuni

According to Buddhist tradition, Shakyamuni is the founder of Buddhism (he is also sometimes referred to as Siddhartha Gautama).  Shakyamuni was born around 490 B.C.E. to a royal family who lived in a palace in the foothills of the Himalayas.
He renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic.  After leading a life of begging, ascetism, and meditation, he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in what is now India.  The Buddha thereafter wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order.  He taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to Nirvana, that is, freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering.