And Buddha was born after the Vedas, going back to the point that he was born under Vedic influence. His philosophy is clearly a reaction to the Vedic philosophy of his day, as are the Upanishads, which I now know were produced in the same era. Apparently it was a time when there was a great questioning of common Vedic practice and thought.

And I get why there would be resistance to the idea that Buddha was originally Hindu, but when you look at the culture he was born into and all the points where his ideas rebel against Vedic dogma, it's pretty obvious. I'm not saying he was Hindu when he formulated his philosophy, but that he was influenced and reacting to/against Vedic thought in some ways.

And we must have different info sources, bc I've read that bc of this influence, Hindu deities were borrowed early in Buddhism's history, later becoming the various buddhas and taras.

Either way, it's a moot discussion. What's done is done. All rivers lead to the ocean, and once you've been in the ocean, you realize the Emptiness of Buddhism and Brahman of the Vedas are referring to the same indescribable absolute Reality. The ocean, if you will.