The First Buddhist Council was traditionally held at Rajgir after the Buddha’s death.
Rajgir, known in ancient sources as Rajagriha or Rajgir, was the capital of the kingdom of Magadha. Buddhist tradition places the council in the Sattapanni Cave, near the city, during the first rainy season after the Buddha entered final nirvana. The gathering is commonly dated to the fifth century BCE, although exact dates remain debated.
According to traditional accounts, Mahakashyapa presided over the assembly. Ananda recited the discourses, while Upali recited the monastic disciplinary rules. The council’s purpose was to preserve and organize the Buddha’s teachings through communal recitation.
Historians distinguish these traditional accounts from independently verifiable records because the earliest surviving Buddhist texts were written down much later than the Buddha’s lifetime. Rajgir should also be distinguished from Vaishali, associated with the Second Buddhist Council, and Pataliputra, which became important in later Buddhist history.