Buddha's teachings were propagated by his followers, which in the last centuries of

the 1st millennium BCE became over 18 Buddhist sub-schools of thought, each with
its own basket of texts containing different interpretations and authentic teachings
of the Buddha;[40][41][42] these over time evolved into many traditions of which the
more well known and widespread in the modern era are Theravada, Mahayana and
Vajrayana Buddhism.[43][44][note 6]