Which Buddhist council is traditionally said to have been held at Rajgir soon after the Buddha's death?

The First Buddhist council is traditionally said to have been held at Rajgir soon after the Buddha’s death.

Buddhist accounts place the gathering at a cave near Rājagṛha, the ancient city now called Rajgir, with support from King Ajatashatru. Mahākāśyapa is traditionally described as presiding. The assembly’s purpose was to preserve the Buddha’s teachings and monastic discipline through communal recitation.

In the traditional account, Ānanda recited the discourses, while Upāli recited the Vinaya, the rules governing monastic life. These recitations are presented as an early foundation for the Sutta and Vinaya traditions, although the Buddhist canon was transmitted orally for generations before being written down.

The word “traditionally” matters here. Different Buddhist schools preserve varying accounts, and modern scholars question whether the council occurred exactly as later texts describe it. Some also argue that the story may have been shaped or expanded after the Second Buddhist council. Those debates do not change the standard quiz answer: the Rajgir gathering is known as the First Buddhist council, not the Second, Third, or Fourth.