Historical significance
Established by emperor Kumaragupta-I of the Gupta dynasty around 427 AD, Nalanda, a centre for learning, carved out its own niche with the support of the Pala kings, and later the monks of Nalanda, who were patronised by the Pithipatis of Bodh Gaya
At one time, Nalanda’s faculty included some of the most highly regarded names in Hinayana as well as Mahayana Buddhism
The names of those associated with Nalanda include Aryabhata, Harsha, Dharmapala, Nagarjuna, Dharmakirti, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Chandrakirti and Silabhadra.
Hiuen Tsang, who spent five years here during the reign of Harshavardhan in the 7th century, and wrote in detail about Nalanda’s meticulous approach in enrolling students, including rigorous admission tests.
Nalanda gained the celebrated status of a Buddhist site after Alexander Cunningham identified it with Bargon, based on the travel notes of Xuan Zang (Hiuen Tsang) followed by epigraphic records recovered from the site.
This Chinese pilgrim left a detailed account of the monastic organisation.
It is on record that a king of Sumatra requested a Pala king’s permission to endow a monastery at Nalanda.
The ties between the Buddhists in eastern India and southeast Asia were strengthened at this time
Yet Nalanda has not been without its share of controversies.
Several historians have recorded that Nalanda was ransacked by Bakhtiyar Khalji around 1200 AD and its treasure of books reduced to ashes
Such assertions were mostly based on the writings of Minhaj-i-Siraj in Tabaqat-i-Nasiri
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