List of former Buddhists

The following is a list of former Buddhists who no longer identify as such, organized by their current religious affiliation or ideology.

Christianity[]

Name	Nationality	Notes	Refs.
Mitsuo Fuchida	Japanese	Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service captain noted for involvement in the attack on Pearl Harbor who later became an evangelist	^[1]^[2]
Zack Lee	Indonesian	actor and boxer	^[3]
Jaruvan Maintaka	Thai	former Auditor-General of Thailand	^[4]
Chieko N. Okazaki	American	Relief Society leader	^[5]
Talduwe Somarama	Sri Lankan	former Buddhist monk and assassin	^[6]
Charlie Soong	Chinese	businessman and missionary	^[7]
Janice Vidal	Hong Konger	singer	^[8]^[9]
Paul Williams	English	professor in Indian religions at the University of Bristol	^[10]
Vanness Wu	Taiwan	actor and singer	^[11]
Yu Tian	Taiwan	singer-politician	^[12]

Hinduism[]

Mihirakula – Huna ruler^[13]
Rajasinghe I – Sri Lankan king who conquered Kandy^[14]
Rishabhadatta – Satrap viceroy^[15]
Rudradaman I – Satrap ruler and conqueror of the Satavahanas^[16]
Vasudeva I – Kushan king and numismatist^[17]

Islam[]

The Barmakid family – originally the guardians of the great Buddhist shrine near Balkh, upon conversion they became "the greatest family" in the early Abbasid caliphate^[18]
Muhammad ibn Suri - king of the Ghurid dynasty from the 10th-century to 1011
Mahmud Ghazan – seventh ruler of the Ilkhanate^[19]
Korguz – was an Uyghur governor of Khorasan^[20] during the reign of the Mongol ruler Ogedei Khan^[21]
Muhammad Khodabandeh – eighth Ilkhaid dynasty ruler in Iran from 1304 to 1316^[22]
Mubarak Shah – head of the ulus of the Chagatai Khanate (1252–1260, March–September 1266)^[23]
Daniel Moore – poet^[24]
Donei Kalaminjaa – king of the Maldives^[25]
Tarmashirin – Khan of the Chagatai Khanate following Duwa Timur^[26]
Hussein Ye – Islamic scholar of Chinese Malaysian descent whose lectures are frequently aired on Peace TV^[27]
Stanzin Saldon - Converted to Islam for marriage with Murtaza Agha. Made lot of headlines.^[28]

References[]

^ "Christianity Today newsletter". Christianitytoday.com. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
^ From Pearl Harbor to Calvary by Mitsuo Fuchida.
^ ""Kesaksian hidup Zack Lee (suami Nafa Urbach)" at". gmstrueworshippers.wordpress.com. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
^ ""God's on My Side" at". Nationmultimedia.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
^ "New Relief Society General Presidency Called," Ensign, May 1990, pp. 110–11.
^ "Ceylon: To Find Forgiveness – TIME". Time.com. 13 July 1962. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
^ "The Chinese Revolution and Chinese Communism". Web.ku.edu. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
^ Janice Vidal (2009). Twins effect inspires Janice Vidal (衛蘭) (interview footage). Hong Kong: South China Morning Post.
^ Janice: Except God, I trust Leon the Most (Traditional Chinese), Oriental Daily, Retrieved on 2010-07-08
^ Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies Edited and with a new introduction by Paul Williams (London: Routledge, 2005). Eight volumes. ISBN 978-0-415-33226-2
^ Tan, Theresa. "Vanness Wu: Christian First, Entertainer Second". City News. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
^ （圖輯影音）余天受洗成基督徒拋棄過去所有罪孽, Liberty Times, 2017-04-09
^ Thakur, Upendra. The Hunas in India. The Chowkhamba Senskrit, Banaras, 1967.
^ Dona Catherina: the last empress of Lanka Lanka Library
^ Divatia 42
^ Divatia, N. B. (1993). Gujarati Language and Literature. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 8120606485.
^ Coins of India Calcutta : Association Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1922
^ Kennedy, Hugh (2004). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates. Longman. pp. 137, 143.
^ Mahmud Ghazan Archived 3 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. 2 July 2007.
^ Genghis Khan: his life and legacy By Paul Ratchnevsky, Thomas Nivison Haining, pg. 204
^ The Cambridge history of Iran, Volume 5 By University of Cambridge, pg. 204
^ Limbert, J. W. (2004). Shiraz in the age of Hafez: the glory of a medieval Persian city. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p.87
^ A Sketch of the History of Hindustan from the First Muslim Conquest to the Fall of the Mughal Empire by H. G. Keene
^ Moore, Abd al-Hayy.CHOOSING ISLAM: ONE MAN'S TALE. University of New Hampshire.
^ Maldives By Stefania Lamberti, pg.15
^ "The Chaghadaids and Islam: the conversion of Tarmashirin Khan (1331–34). – Journal, Magazine, Article, Periodical". Goliath.ecnext.com. 1 October 2002. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
^ "Peace Tv". Peacetv.in. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
^ says, Buddhist socialist (23 October 2017). "On the Run for Love: Buddhist-Muslim Marriage". www.InterfaithShaadi.org. Retrieved 3 June 2019.

[1] "Christianity Today newsletter". Christianitytoday.com. Retrieved 2 November 2012.

[2] From Pearl Harbor to Calvary by Mitsuo Fuchida.

[3] ""Kesaksian hidup Zack Lee (suami Nafa Urbach)" at". gmstrueworshippers.wordpress.com. Retrieved 30 June 2012.

[4] ""God's on My Side" at". Nationmultimedia.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.

[5] "New Relief Society General Presidency Called," Ensign, May 1990, pp. 110–11.

[6] "Ceylon: To Find Forgiveness – TIME". Time.com. 13 July 1962. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2012.

[7] "The Chinese Revolution and Chinese Communism". Web.ku.edu. Retrieved 2 November 2012.

[8] Janice Vidal (2009). Twins effect inspires Janice Vidal (衛蘭) (interview footage). Hong Kong: South China Morning Post.

[9] Janice: Except God, I trust Leon the Most (Traditional Chinese), Oriental Daily, Retrieved on 2010-07-08

[10] Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies Edited and with a new introduction by Paul Williams (London: Routledge, 2005). Eight volumes. ISBN 978-0-415-33226-2

[11] Tan, Theresa. "Vanness Wu: Christian First, Entertainer Second". City News. Retrieved 20 March 2009.

[12] （圖輯影音）余天受洗成基督徒拋棄過去所有罪孽, Liberty Times, 2017-04-09

[13] Thakur, Upendra. The Hunas in India. The Chowkhamba Senskrit, Banaras, 1967.

[14] Dona Catherina: the last empress of Lanka Lanka Library

[15] Divatia 42

[16] Divatia, N. B. (1993). Gujarati Language and Literature. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 8120606485.

[17] Coins of India Calcutta : Association Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1922

[18] Kennedy, Hugh (2004). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates. Longman. pp. 137, 143.

[19] Mahmud Ghazan Archived 3 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. 2 July 2007.

[20] Genghis Khan: his life and legacy By Paul Ratchnevsky, Thomas Nivison Haining, pg. 204

[21] The Cambridge history of Iran, Volume 5 By University of Cambridge, pg. 204

[22] Limbert, J. W. (2004). Shiraz in the age of Hafez: the glory of a medieval Persian city. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p.87

[23] A Sketch of the History of Hindustan from the First Muslim Conquest to the Fall of the Mughal Empire by H. G. Keene

[24] Moore, Abd al-Hayy.CHOOSING ISLAM: ONE MAN'S TALE. University of New Hampshire.

[25] Maldives By Stefania Lamberti, pg.15

[26] "The Chaghadaids and Islam: the conversion of Tarmashirin Khan (1331–34). – Journal, Magazine, Article, Periodical". Goliath.ecnext.com. 1 October 2002. Retrieved 7 April 2010.

[27] "Peace Tv". Peacetv.in. Retrieved 7 April 2010.

[28] says, Buddhist socialist (23 October 2017). "On the Run for Love: Buddhist-Muslim Marriage". www.InterfaithShaadi.org. Retrieved 3 June 2019.

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