Nichiren exiled after predicting Mongol invasion

1259

The fiery Japanese monk Nichiren submitted his Rissho Ankoku Ron to the Kamakura shogunate, warning that foreign invasion would follow unless Japan embraced the Lotus Sutra exclusively. The government exiled him to the Izu Peninsula. When the Mongols arrived fifteen years later, his followers claimed prophetic vindication. His combative theology and willingness to denounce other Buddhist sects set him apart from every other religious figure of the era.