Who destroyed Nalanda University?

Last week,  I visited 'remains of ancient Nalanda University' accidentally.  My '9-day long Kashi Yatra' was to end at Patna.  But the postponement of my flight opened the doors of a fruitful 'detour' towards the remains of ancient Nalanda University. It was just  2.5 hours drive from Patna.

'Nalanda' is not the oldest university in India. More than 1000 years before Nalanda, ancient India could boast of the glorious 

'Takshashila University,' the remains of which are presently in Rawalpindi, Pak. The city of Takshashila was built by Ramayan's Bharata in the name of his son Taksha.  Illustrious students from this university include Panini (Grammarian), Charaka (Physician) and Chanakya (Economist).

History of Nalanda goes back to the days of Mahavira and Buddha in 6th Century B.C. 'Nalanda Mahavihara,' regarded as one of the greatest universities of ancient world was founded by Kumaragupta (5th Century AD) of the Gupta dynasty. The name 'Nalanda' is derived from three Sanskrit words, Nal + alam + daa, which means 'non-stop gift of knowledge.'  King Harshavardhana of Kannauj (7th Century AD) and the Pala Kings of East India (8th-12th Century AD) continued to extend patronage to this center. 

Celebrated Chinese travelers, Huen Tsiang and I-Tsing have

extensively described about this great Buddhist institution as the learning center for subjects like Theology, Grammar, Logic, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Medicine and Philosophy. The university 

had about 2000 teachers teaching more than 10,000 students. They have described Nalanda as the first ever residential university of the world. Illustrious personalities associated with Nalanda include greats like Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Vasubandhu who took Buddhism to far off countries like Srilanka, China and other South-East Asian countries.

Excavations conducted during 20th Century AD, have revealed about the methodically developed ancient Nalanda University campus 

spread over 50 acres of land, the remains of which could be seen even now. The decline of this great institution started in later Pala period, but the final blow came in around 1200 AD by the invasion of Bakhtiyar Khilji.  Khilji frustrated by the absence of booty to loot, killed many Buddhists monks and scholars.  He is also said to have burnt copper sheets on which the scholars had recorded their centuries of research work.  Present day locals narrate that the process of burning continued for more than six months.

Earlier to this the Bodhgaya temple near Nalanda, where Buddha attained divine enlightenment was destroyed by Muslim invaders in 

the 11th century. However as seen in the above picture, the temple is restored back to almost to its original glory during the 20th century.

Decline of Nalanda University almost triggered the extinction of Buddhism from its land of birth India. But a town by name Bhaktiyarpur named after the Nalanda invader still exists as a Vidhana Sabha constituency near Nalanda and Bodhgaya! Ironically present day Buddhists (read China and many Buddhists) are teaming with the descendants (read extremist Muslim forces) of their erstwhile invaders.

Government of India has taken initiative (2010) to install a modern 

Nalanda University very much near to the erstwhile ruins. It's an international university engaged in higher studies of Buddhism, Hinduism, Environment, History and Management sciences.

All those visiting Kashi, may take this small 'detour' to know about the ancient Nalanda University and its glorious past.

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