5 Shocking Facts You Didn’t Know About This 5th Century University
The work of Narsimha Deva, Nalanda carried the title of the only international university in the world for over 800 years. Students from all over the world would come to gain the rich and holistic knowledge imparted at Nalanda. There were around 10,000 students and 2,700 faculties from countries like Greece, Mongolia, Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia, Greater Iran, Persia, and many more.

2. A huge library divided into 3 buildings

Image by Nalanda

The greatest and prestigious library in the world was at the heart of Nalanda. It was called Dharma Kunj — meaning — Mountain of Truth. The Library was divided into three buildings standing up to nine storeys. These buildings were called Ratnasagara — Sea of Jewels, Ratnajanaka — Delighter of Jewels, and Ratnodadhi — Ocean of Jewels. These buildings owned massive volumes of religious manuscripts and books about Astrology, Economics, Maths, Literature, Geology, Medicine, etc.

3. It was attacked thrice by invaders

Image by Nalanda

A renowned repository of flourishing knowledge is bound to be envied against by the adversaries. In hope of uprooting Buddhism and Buddhist knowledge, Nalanda was attacked thrice. The first attack was by Huns led by Mihirakula, However, the loss was restored with better facilities by the Gupta Dynasty. The second attack was made by Gaudas which again was restored by the Buddhist King Harshavardhana. But during 1993, the utmost destruction was made by the Turkish leader Bakhtiyar Khilji.

4. Massive loss yielded by Khilji’s attack

Images by Wikipedia

Image by Nalanda

Khilji was an illiterate person who was hired for his military and killing skills. With his help, the Turkish army destroyed the roots of knowledge of Buddhism and Ayurveda from the country. They ransacked and looted Nalanda. Countless monks were burned alive and many were beheaded. The world-famous library of Nalanda was also set on fire.

5. The library kept burning for 3 months

The third attack, took along with it, the jewels of Nalanda. When Khilji set the library on fire, all the knowledge collected by mankind went up in flames. The library’s vastness can be understood by the fact that it took 3 months for the books and manuscripts to burn down entirely. Due to the loss of the religious texts, Buddhism — one of the major religions of India faced setbacks for hundreds of years.
['Radha Kapadia']
['Teaching', 'History', 'Learning', 'Buddhism', 'Education']