Nalanda

Nalanda was an ancient Mahavihara, a revered Buddhist monastery which also served as a renowned centre of learning, in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern-day Bihar) in India.

At the height of it’s glory, Nalanda University was devoted to not only Buddhist studies,

but also trained students in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics and the art of war. Before it was destroyed scholars and teachers from places as far as Korea, Japan, Persia, Tibet, China, Greece, and Greater Iran were part of the University.The notable scholars

who studied in NU included Harshavardhana, Vasubandhu, Dharmapal, Suvishnu, Asanga, Dharmakirti, Shantarakhsita, Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Padmasambhava, Xuanzang and Hwui Li.

According to the records Nalanda University was destroyed three times by invaders, but rebuilt only twice. The first destruction was caused by the Huns under Mihirakula during the reign of Skandagupta (455–467 AD). But Skanda’s successors restored the library and improved it with

an even bigger building.
The second destruction came in the early 7th century by the Gaudas. This time, the Buddhist king Harshavardhana (606–648 AD) restored the university.
The third and most destructive attack came when the ancient Nalanda University was destroyed by the

Muslim army led by the Turkish leader Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193. It is believed that Buddhism as a major religion in India had a setback for hundreds of years due to the loss of the religious texts during the attack. And, since then, the NU has not been restored until the recently

The story of what led to the fall of Nalanda :
It is said that Bakhtiyar Khilji had fallen sick and doctors in his court failed to cure him. Then, someone advised him to get himself cured by Rahul Sri Bhadra, the principal of Nalanda University.

Khilji was too proud of his Islamic culture and refused to get himself treated by a person outside his religion. But his health worsened and he was left with no other option but to invite Bhadra from Nalanda.

But Khilji put a condition and asked Bhadra to cure him without any

medicines. Bhadra then asked Khilji to read some pages from the Koran as a remedy to his illness and to everyone’s surprise Khilji was cured.

Disturbed by the fact that an Indian scholar and teacher knew more than the doctors of his court, Khilji decided to destroy the roots of knowledge, Buddhism and Ayurveda, from the country. He set fire to the great library of Nalanda and burned down nearly 9 million manuscripts.

The library was so vast and strong that it took three months to completely destroy it. The Turkish invaders also murdered monks and scholars in the university.