The highly formalized methods ofVediclearning helped inspire the establishment of large teaching institutions such asTaxila, Nalanda, andVikramashila[7]which are often characterised as India's early universities.[8][9][10][11]Nalanda flourished under the patronage of theGupta Empirein the 5th and 6th centuries and later underHarsha, the emperor ofKannauj.[12]The liberal cultural traditions inherited from the Gupta age resulted in a period of growth and prosperity until the ninth century. The subsequentcenturies were a time of gradual decline, a period during which thetantricdevelopments of Buddhism became most pronounced in eastern India under thePala Empire.[13]At its peak, the school attracted scholars and students from near and far with some travelling all the way fromTibet,China,Korea, andCentral Asia.[14]Archaeological evidence also notes contact with theShailendra dynastyof Indonesia, one of whose kings built a monastery in the complex.Much of our knowledge of Nalanda comes from the writings of pilgrim monks from East Asia such asXuanzangandYijingwho travelled to the Mahavihara in the 7th century.Vincent Smithremarked that "a detailed history of Nalanda would be a history of Mahayanist Buddhism". Many of the names listed by Xuanzang in his travelogue as products of Nalanda are the namesof those who developed the philosophy of Mahayana.[15]All students at Nalanda studiedMahayanaas well as the texts of the eighteen (Hinayana) sects of Buddhism. Their curriculum also included other subjects such as theVedas, logic, Sanskrit grammar, medicine andSamkhya.[7][16][17][18]Nalanda was ransacked and destroyed by an army of theMamluk Dynastyof theDelhi SultanateunderBakhtiyar Khiljiinc. 1200 CE.[19]While some sources note that the Mahavihara continued to function in a makeshift fashion for a while longer, it was eventually abandoned and forgotten until the 19th century when the site was surveyed and preliminary excavations were conducted by theArchaeological Survey of India. Systematic excavations commenced in 1915 which unearthed eleven monasteries and six brick temples neatly arranged on grounds 12 hectares (30 acres) in area. A trove of sculptures, coins, seals, and inscriptions have also been discoveredin the ruins many of which are on display in the Nalanda Archaeological Museum situated nearby. Nalanda is now a notable tourist destination and a part of the Buddhist tourism circuit.
A number of theories exist about the etymology of the name,Nālandā(orNālandaaccording to both Apte's and Monier-Williams's dictionaries). According to theTang DynastyChinese pilgrim,Xuanzang, it comes fromNa al, lllam dāmeaningno end in giftsorcharity without intermission.Yijing, another Chinese traveller, however, derivesit fromNāga Nandareferring to the name (Nanda) of a snake (naga) in the local tank.[20]Hiranand Sastri, an archaeologist who headed the excavation of the ruins, attributes the name to theabundance ofnālas(lotus-stalks) in the area and believes that Nalanda would then representthe giver of lotus-stalks,[21]although the regular formation in Sanskrit would beNālada.
Nalanda was initially a prosperous village by a major trade route that ran through the nearby city ofRajagriha(modernRajgir) which was then the capital ofMagadha.[22]It is said that theJainthirthankara,Mahavira, spent 14 rainy seasons atNalanda.Gautama Buddhatoo is said to have delivered lectures in a nearby mango grove namedPavarikaand one of his two chief disciples,Shariputra, was born in the area and later attainednirvanathere.[8][23]This traditional association with Mahavira and Buddha tenuously dates the existence of thevillageto at least the 5th–6th century BCE.Not much is known of Nalanda in the centuries hence.Taranatha, the 17th-century Tibetan Lama,states that the 3rd-century BCEMauryanand Buddhist emperor,Ashoka, built a great temple atNalanda at the site of Shariputra'schaitya. He also places 3rd-century CE luminaries such as theMahayanaphilosopher,Nagarjuna, and his disciple,Aryadeva, at Nalanda with the former also heading the institution. Taranatha also mentions a contemporary of Nagarjuna named Suvishnu building 108 temples at the location. While this could imply that there was a flourishing centre for Buddhism at Nalanda before the 3rd century, no archaeological evidence has been unearthed to support the assertion. WhenFaxian, an early Chinese Buddhist pilgrim to India, visitedNalo, the site of Shariputra'sparinirvana, at the turn of the 5th century CE, all he found worth mentioning was astupa.[24]
Nalanda's datable history begins under theGupta Empire[25][page needed]and a seal identifies a monarch named Shakraditya (Śakrāditya) as its founder. BothXuanzangand a Korean pilgrim named Prajnavarman (Prajñāvarman) attribute the foundation of asangharama(monastery) at the site to him. Shakraditya is identified with the 5th-century CE Gupta emperor,Kumaragupta I(r. c. 415 – c. 455CE– ), whose coin has been discovered at Nalanda.[26][12]His successors,Buddhagupta, Tathagatagupta,Baladitya, and Vajra, later extended and expanded the institutionby building additional monasteries and temples.[27]The Guptas were traditionally aBrahmanicaldynasty. They built a sangharama at Nalanda and also a 300 ft (91 m) high vihara with a Buddha statue within which, according to Xuanzang, resembled the "great Vihara built under theBodhi tree". The Chinese monk also noted that Baladitya's son, Vajra, who commissioned a sangharama as well, "possessed a heart firm in faith".[28]
The post-Gupta eraThe post-Gupta period saw a long succession of kings who continued building at Nalanda "using all the skill of the sculptor". At some point, a "kingof central India" built a high wall along with a gatearound the now numerous edifices in the complex. Another monarch (possibly of theMaukharidynasty) named Purnavarman who is described as "the last of the race ofAshoka-raja",erected an 80 ft (24 m) high copper image of Buddha to cover which he also constructed a pavilion of six stages.However, after the decline of the Guptas, the most notable patron of the Mahavihara wasHarsha, the 7th-century emperor ofKannauj. Harsha was a converted Buddhist and consideredhimself a servant of the monks of Nalanda. He built a monastery of brass within the Mahavihara and remitted to it the revenues of 100 villages. Healso directed 200 households in these villages to supply the institution's monks with requisite amounts of rice, butter, and milk on a daily basis. Around a thousand monks from Nalanda were present at Harsha's royal congregation at Kannauj.[29][27].
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