Ruins Of Nalanda

It is hard to not be overwhelmed by the grandeur of the ruins of Nalanda, THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL UNIVERSITY in the world. Currently spread over an area of 14 hectares, the red-bricked monasteries and temples are said to once have housed 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. Besides, past excavations suggest that a large part of the university is yet to be excavated.

Although its history goes back to the times of the Buddha, The university at Nalanda was founded in the 5th century CE, and it flourished for the next 700 years. Its decline began in the late Pala period (750-1161 CE), but the final blow was the invasion by Bakhtiyar Khilji around 1200 CE.

The subjects that were taught at Nalanda included Buddhist scriptures (of both the Mahayana and Hinayana schools), philosophy, theology, metaphysics, logic, grammar, astronomy and medicine. The university received royal patronage from Harshvardhana, the emperor of Kannauj as well as several Pala kings. Many visitors from abroad visited and studied at the university, including the Chinese travellers Hiuen Tsang and I Tsing, who have written detailed accounts about the university.

At its base may have been the famous library of Nalanda, though a Tibetan source speaks of a library with nine storeys, which seems implausible for the building technology of the day. In any case, the library’s location remains uncertain. It held the sorts of manuscripts that the Chinese pilgrims came in search of (at least eight finely illustrated palm-leaf manuscripts created at Nalanda during the Pala period still survive).

Nalanda was a place for advanced learning, not basic education. Some of its teachers both taught and composed path-breaking treatises and commentaries. A Nalanda education held serious cachet in the scholastic community, and it took in the best and the brightest. Or as Xuanzang puts it, they were “ men of the highest ability and talent...there are many hundreds whose fame has rapidly spread through distant regions”.

Much of the knowledge we have about Nalanda comes from the pilgrim monks’ writings on the wall. Nalanda University used to be an epitome of knowledge and was one of the best schools at its time. At its peak, it was attracting students and scholars not only from India but also from Central Asia, Korea, China, and Tibet. All the students here compulsorily studied 18 sects of Buddhism and Mahayana. Their courses also included subjects like Samkhya, Sanskrit grammar, logic, and medicine.

It is believed that Nalanda was destroyed and ransacked around 1200 CE by the army of the Mamluk Dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, following the rules of Bakhtiyar Khalji.