Ancient Universities in India
Ancient Nalanda University
Nalanda is an ancient
center of higher learning in Bihar,
India from 427 to 1197. Nalanda was established in the 5th century AD in
Bihar, India. Founded in 427 in northeastern India, not far from what is today
the southern border of Nepal, it survived until 1197. It was devoted to
Buddhist studies, but it also trained students in fine arts, medicine,
mathematics, astronomy, politics and the art of war.
The center had eight separate
compounds, 10 temples,
meditation halls, classrooms, lakes and parks. It
had a nine-story library where monks meticulously copied books and documents so
that individual scholars could have their own collections. It had dormitories
for students, perhaps a first for an educational institution, housing 10,000
students in the university’s heyday and providing accommodations for 2,000
professors. Nalanda University attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan,
China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.
A half hour bus ride from Rajgir is Nalanda, the site of
the world's first University. Although the site was a pilgrimage destination
from the 1st Century A.D., it has a link with the Buddha as he
often came here and two of his chief disciples, Sariputra and Moggallana, came
from this area. The large stupa is known as Sariputra's Stupa, marking the spot
not only where his relics are entombed, but where he was supposedly born.
The site has a number of small monasteries where the
monks lived and studied and many of them were rebuilt over the centuries. We
were told that one of the cells belonged to Naropa, who was instrumental in
bringing Buddism to Tibet, along with such Nalanda luminaries as Shantirakshita
and Padmasambhava. A small opening in the cell revealed a tiny room where
Naropa supposedly meditated.
Nalanda's main importance comes from
its Buddhist roots as a center of learning. Hsuan Tsang, the famous
pilgrim from China came here and studied
and taught for 5 years
in the 7th Century A.D.
Nalanda University at that time had over 10,000 students and 3,000 teachers.
For some 700 years, between the 5th and 12th Centuries, Nalanda was the center
of scholarship and Buddhist studies in the ancient world. A great fire wiped
out the library of over 9 million
manuscripts and at the beginning of the 12th Century, the Muslim invader
 ruins of the university |
Bakhtiyar Khalji sacked the university. It was in the 1860's
that the great archeologist Alexander Cunningham identified the site as the Nalanda
University and in 1915-1916 the Archeological Survey of India began excavations of the site. What
has been excavated to date is only a small part of the entire
site but much of the ruins are beneath existing villages and are unlikely to be
revealed. The present site is well-maintained and very pleasant to visit.
Across the street is the small museum with some excellent Buddhist statues and
about a kilometer away is a temple dedicated to Hsuan Tsang. Nearby are the
International Centre for Buddhist Studies
and the Nava Nalanda Mahivihara, set up for the research of Buddhism.
to meditation cell part of the ancient university Sariputra's stupa
staircase up Sariputra's stupa
statue of Hsuan
Tsang
Ancient Takshashila University
Takshashila, was an early Buddhist centre of learning.
According to available references it is dated back to at least the 5th century
BC. Some scholars date Takshashila's existence back to the 6th century BC.
Takshashila is described in some detail in later in
Jātaka tales, around the 5th century AD. It became a noted centre of learning
at least several centuries before Christ, and continued to attract students
until the destruction of the city in the 5th century AD. Takshashila is perhaps
best known because of its association with Chanakya. The famous treatise
Arthashastra
(Sanskrit for The knowledge of Economics) by Chanakya,
is said to have been composed in Takshashila itself. Chanakya (or Kautilya),
the Maurya Emperor Chandragupta and the Ayurvedic healer Charaka studied at
Taxila.
Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of
sixteen. The Vedas and the Eighteen Arts, which included skills such as
archery, hunting, and elephant lore, were taught, in addition to its law
school, medical school, and school of military science.
The ruins of Taxila contain buildings and buddhist
stupas located over a large area. The main ruins of Taxila are divided into
three major cities, each belonging to a distinct time period.
The oldest of these is the Hathial area, which yielded
surface shards similar to burnished red wares
(or 'soapy red wares')
recovered from early phases
at Charsadda, and may date between the 6th century BCE and the late
2nd millennium BCE. Bhir Mound dates from the 6th century BCE. The second city
of Taxila is located at Sirkap and was built by Greco-Bactrian kings in the 2nd
century BCE. The third and last city of Taxila is at Sirsukh and relates to the
Kushan kings.
In addition to the ruins of the city, a number of
buddhist monasteries and stupas also belong to
the Taxila area. Some of the important ruins of this category include the ruins
of the stupa at Dharmarajika, the monastery at Jaulian, the monastery at Mohra
Muradu in addition to a number of stupas.
Legend has it that Takṣa, an ancient king who ruled a
kingdom called Takṣa Khanda the modern (Tashkent) founded the city of
Takṣaśilā. However Sanskrit Takṣaśilā, appears to contain the suffix śilā,
"stone" with the prefix Takṣa, alluding to Takṣa, the son of Bharata and Mandavi, as related in the Ramayana.
In the Mahābhārata, the Kuru heir Parikṣit was enthroned
at Takṣaśilā. According to tradition
the Mahabharata was first recited at Takṣaśilā by Vaishampayana, a disciple of
Vyasa at the behest of the seer Vyasa himself, at the sarpa satra yajna,
"Snake Sacrifice ceremony" of Parikṣit's son Janamejaya.
According to one theory propounded by Damodar Dharmanand
Kosambi, Takṣaśilā is a related to Takṣaka, "carpenter" and is an
alternative name for the Nāgas of ancient India.
According to scattered references which were only fixed
a millennium later, it may have dated
back to at least the 5th century BCE. There is some disagreement about whether
Takshashila can be considered a university. While some consider Taxila to be an
early university or centre of higher education, others do not consider it a
university in the modern sense, in contrast to the later Nalanda University.
Takshashila is described in some detail in later Jātaka tales, written in Sri
Lanka around the 5th century CE.
Takshashila is considered a place of religious and
historical sanctity by Hindus and Buddhists.
The former do so not only because, in its time, Takshashila was the seat of
Vedic learning, but also because the strategist, Chanakya, who later helped
consolidate the empire of Emperor
Chandragupta Maurya, was a senior teacher there. The institution is very
significant in Buddhist tradition since it is believed that the Mahāyāna sect
of Buddhism took shape there.
Some scholars date Takshashila's existence back to the
6th century BCE. It became a noted centre of learning at least several
centuries BCE, and continued to attract students from around the old world
until the destruction of the city in the 5th century CE. Takshashila is perhaps
best known because of its association with Chanakya. The famous treatise
Arthashastra (Sanskrit for The knowledge of Economics) by Chanakya, is said to
have been composed in Takshashila itself. Chanakya (or Kautilya), the Maurya
Emperor Chandragupta and the Ayurvedic healer Charaka studied at Taxila.
Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of
sixteen. The Vedas and the Eighteen Arts, which included skills such as
archery, hunting, and elephant lore, were taught, in addition to its law
school, medical school, and school of military science.
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Other Universities that existed in India
Further centers include Odantapuri, in Bihar (circa 550
- 1040), Somapura, in Bangladesh (from the Gupta period to the Muslim
conquest), Jagaddala, in Bengal (from the Pala period to the Muslim conquest),
Nagarjunakonda, in Andhra Pradesh, Vikramaśīla, in Bihar (circa 800-1040), Sharada Peeth,
in modern day Kashmir, Valabhi,
in Gujarat (from the Maitrak
period to the Arab raids), Varanasi
in Uttar Pradesh
(8th century to modern times),
Kanchipuram, in Tamil Nadu, Manyakheta, in Karnataka, Puspagiri, in Orissa and Ratnagiri, in Orissa. In Sri Lanka, Sunethradevi Pirivena, a centre of Buddhist learning in Sri Lanka, founded circa 1415 AD.
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