Nalanda University
Nalanda University
Context:
The modern iteration of Nalanda University has introduced specialized interdisciplinary programs, which use ancient Indic texts to offer distinct analytical frameworks for modern diplomacy, conflict resolution, and global order.
Facts for Prelims:
Founded in 427 CE in present-day Bihar, Nalanda is recognized as the world's first residential university.
It was established under the monarchs of the Gupta Empire.
Though devout Hindus, the Gupta rulers actively patronized this Buddhist monastic institution.
It blended theology with secular sciences, including Ayurveda (ancient Indian medicine), formal logic, spherical geometry, and linguistics.
It was definitively destroyed in the 1190s by the Turko-Afghan military general Bakhtiyar Khilji.
After sinking into total oblivion for six centuries, the buried site was initially documented by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1812 and formally identified as the historical Nalanda University by Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1861.
Aryabhata, widely regarded as the father of Indian mathematics, is speculated to have headed the university during the 6th century CE.
Acclaimed Chinese scholar-monk Xuanzang studied and taught at the university in the 7th century, translating hundreds of its scriptures into Chinese.