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It was established in the 5th century.
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The foundation was laid by Kumar Gupta I of the Gupta dynasty.
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Nalanda University had 1000 students and 1500 teachers.
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Nalanda University had 300 rooms, 7 large rooms and a 9-storey library.
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The Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang also received education from Nalanda University in the 7th century.
Nalanda University has been called the storehouse of knowledge in the world. Many subjects like religious texts, literature, theology, logic, medicine, philosophy, astronomy were taught in this university. At that time, the subjects which were taught here were not taught anywhere else. For 700 years, this university was the path of knowledge for the world. After a long journey of 700 years, it was burnt down by Bakhtiar Khilji in the 12th century. The middle period is considered to be the 5th century BC.
Establishment
Nalanda University of ancient India was a major and historical educational center. It is the world’s first residential university, where teachers and students live on the same campus. Gupta emperor Kumar Gupta I founded Nalanda University in 450 AD. Harshvardhan and Pal rulers also patronized it later. The grandeur of this university can be gauged from the fact that it had 300 rooms, 7 large chambers, and a huge 9-storey library for study. The library had more than 90 lakh books.
Development
University peaked from the 7th to the 12th century. The most important reason for its development was the high level of knowledge and style of the scholars and teachers there, which was in the streams of Chhayavadi and Mahayana religion. Various subjects were studied here, such as Buddhism, astrology, mathematics, logic, and Vedic scriptures.
The Chinese monk Xuanzang studied at Nalanda
Most of the Buddhist monks who came to study at University were from Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea. According to historians, Chinese monk Xuanzang also studied here in the seventh century. It was one of the two most important centers of Buddhism. This shows the contribution of ancient India in the spread of knowledge and wisdom. Xuanzang has written about the grandeur of Nalanda University in his books.
Why did Khilji burn down the university
Turkish ruler Bakhtiar Khilji, his full name was Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiar Khilji.
According to the historian, once Bakhtiar Khilji fell very ill. His doctors treated him a lot but it was of no use.
It is said there were so many books in the university that the library was on fire for three months.
hen he was advised to get treatment from Acharya Rahul Sribhadraji, the head of the Ayurveda department of Nalanda University.
He called Acharya Rahul and before treatment he put a condition that he would not consume any Indian medicine. Even after that he said that if he did not get well, he would get Acharya killed.
The fire was set in 1199
The next day the Acharya took the Quran to him and said that if he read pages from so and so to so of the Quran, he would get well. He read it and got well. He was not happy, he got very angry that why the knowledge of these Indian Vaidyas was better than his Hakims.
In return for the favor of Buddhism and Ayurveda, he set fire to Nalanda University in 1199.
There were so many books there that even after the fire broke out, the books kept burning for three months. He killed thousands of religious leaders and Buddhist monks.
The reason given for Khilji’s recovery is that Vaidyaraj Rahul Sribhadra had applied an invisible coating of medicine on the corners of some pages of the Quran. He licked only ten to twenty pages with spit and got cured. He repaid this favor by burning Nalanda.