- The Prime Minister highlighted Nalanda’s enduring legacy during the inauguration of the new Nalanda University campus at Rajgir.
- Established around 427 CE by Gupta emperor Kumaragupta-I, Nalanda thrived with support from the Pala kings and Bodh Gaya’s Pithipatis, becoming a spiritual and academic hub.
- Nalanda’s illustrious faculty included Aryabhata, Harsha, Dharmapala, Nagarjuna, and Hiuen Tsang, who documented the rigorous admission tests during Harshavardhan’s reign in the 7th century.
- Its global reputation was affirmed in works like “A History of India” by Romila Thapar, noting ties between eastern Indian Buddhists and Southeast Asia.
- Nalanda’s decline is attributed to Bakhtiyar Khalji’s raids around 1200 CE, reducing its library to ashes, as noted by historians like Satish Chandra and Minhaj-i-Siraj.
- However, historian D.N. Jha contested this, arguing that Khalji targeted a different monastery.
- Namit Arora suggested most Buddhist sites were already abandoned or converted by the Turko-Persian invasions.
- The opening of the Rajgir campus aims to restore Nalanda’s glory. As an open book, Nalanda invites interpretation and conclusion, embodying the resilience of knowledge against time’s ravages.
Dig Deeper: Read about other famous Indian Educational centres in India.
