Nalanda Mahavihara, also known as Nalanda University, was a Buddhist monastic university in the Indian state of Bihar. Founded in the 5th Century AD, it flourished for over seven centuries and was one of the largest and most prestigious universities in the world. Nalanda attracted scholars and students from all over Asia, and it played a significant role in the spread of Buddhism and Indian culture throughout the world.
Recently, Dr Ruchika Sharma, a scholar who completed her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), put out a video refuting the established belief that Bakhtiyar Khalji destroyed Nalanda.
The PhD scholar said in a tweet, “One of the biggest myths of Indian history is that Bakhtiyar Khalji destroyed Nalanda, some make it even more fanciful and claim that Khalji burnt Nalanda. This is of course not the case at all… In fact there is inscriptional evidence that Nalanda was burnt 200 years before Khalji.”
This tweet was posted on Tuesday, October 31, and since then has garnered over 5,00,000 views, 1800 likes and close to 800 retweets on social media platform X (previously Twitter).
The PhD scholar's video '3 myths of Nalanda | Ancient university' has garnered over 9,000 views on Twitter.
However, several users of the social media platform have refused this PhD scholar's claim. “Completely False. This is how far left historians from JNU want to blatantly lie & make Indians believe her lied versions of history,” a Twitter user replied to the tweet by Dr Ruchika Sharma
But what is Nalanda? What makes it so great?
Nalanda's curriculum was based on the Buddhist scriptures, but it also included a wide range of other subjects, such as Logic, Mathematics, Astronomy, Medicine, and Literature. The university had a rigorous entrance exam, and only the most intelligent students were admitted. Nalanda's faculty were some of the most renowned scholars of their time, and its graduates went on to hold important positions in government, academia, and religion.
Nalanda's library was one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world at the time. It contained over nine million books on a wide range of subjects. Nalanda's library was also a major centre for the translation of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into other languages, such as Chinese and Tibetan.
Nalanda was a cosmopolitan centre of learning, and its students came from all over Asia. The university's diverse student body helped to create a vibrant and intellectually stimulating environment. Nalanda was also a major centre for Buddhist research and scholarship. Many of the most important Buddhist texts were written or studied at Nalanda, including the Mahayana sutras and the works of Nagarjuna, Aryabhata, and Dharmakirti.
The ruins of Nalanda still stand today and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ruins include the remains of the university's library, classrooms, dormitories, and temples. The Nalanda Museum houses a collection of artefacts from the university, including sculptures, coins, and manuscripts.
Nalanda Mahavihara was a unique and groundbreaking institution of higher learning. It played a significant role in the development of Buddhism and Indian culture, and its legacy continues to inspire scholars and students today.
