Nalanda — The Ancient Monastic University

📖 Stories

• Nalanda — The World's First Residential University and the Golden Age of Buddhist Scholarship
  **Nalanda** — established c. 427 CE under the Gupta dynasty — was the **world's oldest university** and the most prestigious center of Buddhist scholarship in ancient India. At its peak, Nalanda had **over 1,500 students and 151 teachers** from across Asia, with a famous **nine-story library** (Ratna Sagar) containing millions of manuscripts. The university offered courses in Buddhist studies (Theravada, Mahayana, and later Vajrayana), logic, grammar, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy. Students came from Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Persia, and Arabia. Nalanda's strict admission standards required students to be proficient in at least one Buddhist text and pass rigorous examinations. **Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang** (Hiuen Tsang) studied at Nalanda from c. 629-645 CE, describing the curriculum and student life in detail. He noted the famous library with its millions of scrolls and the advanced philosophical debates. After returning to China, he translated many texts he had studied at Nalanda. **Faxian** (Fa-Hien) had visited Nalanda earlier (c. 400 CE) and also described the institution's prestige and规模. Nalanda remained a great center of learning for nearly **800 years** (427-1197 CE), producing generations of Buddhist scholars who spread Buddhist teachings throughout Asia. In **1197 CE**, Bakhtiyar Khilji's Turco-Afghan army invaded and destroyed Nalanda. The monks were killed, the library burned (it's said manuscripts burned for months), and the university abandoned. **Ibn Battuta** visiting centuries later (c. 1344) found only ruins. Archaeological excavations (1915-1937, continuing) have revealed the 14-hectare complex with temples, lecture halls, meditation chambers, and the library's remains. UNESCO designated Nalanda a **World Heritage Site in 2016**. A **modern Nalanda University** was established in 2014, 25 km from the ancient site, focusing on Buddhist studies and humanities — a revival of India's greatest ancient seat of learning.
  — Buddhist tradition + historical records + Xuanzang's accounts + scholarly sources