Introduction -
The Ancient University of Nalanda - Nowadays, when people talk about the best universities around the world, you will hear universities like University of Oxford, University of Cambridge etc.But the story was completely different around 1500 years ago, because back then in India there existed a university which is now known as one of the oldest universities around the world named Nalanda University.
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| These are the remains of hardly 10% of the original campus |
About Nalanda University -
Nalanda University is the first international University in the world and was established in 427 C.E. Nalanda term comes from three words Na + alam + daa which means a gift which has no end/limits or you can say no stopping of the gift of knowledge which justifies the meaning of it as this university was full of endless knowledge. This university which was present in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), contained books not only about spirituality but subjects like literature, theology, logic, medicine, philosophy, astrology, astronomy and many more, all these subjects were taught in this university. Moreover to give more knowledge about these subjects there was a library which was known as "Dharma Kunj" which refers to mountain of knowledge and it is said that the library had 9 floors which contained over 90,00,000 books and manuscripts. This university served its purpose and gave knowledge to this world for more than 700 years. It is known that the students who got entry in Nalanda didn't have to pay any fees for the education or for their boarding, the kings would take care of all the expenses. The basic goal of this university was to create a environment of meditation to store and develop knowledge but unfortunately this university was destroyed.
Destruction of Nalanda University -
Time to Time this University faced a lot of attacks from various invaders. But at last during a attack, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji at around 12th Century CE burnt this university killing many buddhist monks alive and pushed buddhism out of India. It is also known that its library continued to burn for around 3 months, destroying all the books and manuscripts kept in it. All of this happened even before the printing press was invented meaning that all the books and manuscripts were hand written and original books with hardly any more copies anywhere in the world.
It was a big loss not only for the people living in India but for the whole world.
Clearly this destruction was done to remove any kind of proof regarding to the ancient knowledge contained in India which is known as the superior knowledge, that no one can ever find around the world, and the best way of disregarding all these old facts was to destroy any proof of it.
More about Nalanda University -
Indian knowledge when Nalanda existed was some of the most advanced knowledge in the entire world. When Nalanda was touching many heights in the fields of literature, theology, logic, medicine, philosophy and many more, it is known that it was a part of Mahavihara (Buddhist monastic university) of which the remains can still be seen around the remaining sites (57 acres).
According to some records, Nalanda was actually made in a mango garden which was given to Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha by 500 merchants. But according to the archaeologist, Nalanda was made at around 5th Century BC at the time of Guptkaal. During Guptkaal it got developed and it turned from a vihara to mahavihara.
Many great teachers like Nagarjuna, Buddhapalita, Shantarakshita, Aryadeva taught students in this university which contains Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang and many more.
Various students from around the world used to get knowledge from this university, which contains countries like China, Myanmar, Sri Lanka etc.
It is said that the only remaining proof of Nalanda and its greatness are in the extensive records kept by chinese monks who traveled here for education.
