Short answers, pulled from the story.
Makkhali Gosala is traditionally identified as the founder of the Ajivika movement. He was born near Saravana in Uttar Pradesh and lived during the 5th century BCE alongside Gautama Buddha and Mahavira.
Ajivikas believed that everything in human life and the universe was preordained by cosmic principles called niyati or fate. They rejected free will entirely and viewed karma as a fallacy because actions had no moral force affecting future lives.
The Ajivikas received significant imperial support from Mauryan emperor Ashoka between 273 BCE and 232 BCE. Inscriptions dated to his 12th year around 258 BCE and 19th year around 251 BCE explicitly mention the group.
Several rock-cut caves carved into granite hills near Gaya in Bihar bear dedications to the Ajivikas. Two caves on Barabar Hill and three on Nagarjuni Hill were granted by Ashoka himself and remain the oldest surviving temple complexes in ancient India.
Modern understanding relies almost entirely on texts written by rival groups like Buddhists and Jains since primary sources from the Ajivikas themselves are lost. Scholars question whether these accounts fairly represent actual beliefs because they were produced by adversarial communities.
Inscriptions document the presence of the Ajivika community until the 14th century CE with a final record found at Shaka 1268 near Kolar. The sect declined gradually after the fall of the Maurya Empire in the 2nd century BCE and disappeared completely by the 14th century Sarva-Darshana-Sangraha compendium.