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Ancient Indian Universities- History & Destruction

The Education system in India is changing rapidly. From studying under trees to classrooms, from classrooms to online studies. But do you know, how was the education system in Ancient India? In this article, I will tell you how were Ancient Indian Universities, their history and how they got destroyed.

Education is the foremost important aspect in every human’s life, every single ancient scripture from India insists on the importance of education for a happy and spiritual life. Even Thiruvalluvar has kept a separate adhikaram in thirukkural for education, in which he says that an educated person will be respected and treated as a saint wherever he roams in the world. Every single freedom fighter and every single government official of India insists on women and men getting education for the betterment of their lives, with India being the 2nd most populated country, the number of educated people during olden times was actually very less. Since women were banned from receiving education and men who received education went off to wars and never come back. Freedom fighters of India like Bharadhiyar, Mahatma Gandhi, and scholars like Swami Vivekananda always fought for education rights alongside rights for freedom. Especially Bharadhiyar was a huge patriot who wrote many songs about women’s education and equality in society.

Education being the most important weapon in one’s life, wouldn’t you want to know that India is not only a place for tremendously beautiful temples and palaces but also famous for some world-renowned universities? Most Indians today are very much aware of the two renowned antiquated universities of India, which additionally are probably the most established college on the planet–Takshashila College (Taxila) and Nalanda. However, are these the lone information habitats that existed in antiquated India?

Training has consistently been given extraordinary conspicuousness in Indian culture since the hours of the Vedic civilization, with gurukul and ashrams being the focuses of learning. What’s more, with advancing occasions, countless focuses of learning were set up across antiquated India, of which Takshashila and Nalanda are the most celebrated ones known today. The following is a rundown of significant and antiquated ancient Indian universities that thrived across the nation.

TAXILA UNIVERSITY

Taxila as it is called today is one of the most famous among the ancient Indian universities. Takshashila (Taxila) College set up around 2700 years prior was home to more than 10500 understudies where the understudies from the whole way across the world used to come to accomplish specialization in more than 64 distinct fields of study like Vedas, sentence structure, reasoning, Ayurveda, horticulture, medical procedure, governmental issues, toxophilite, fighting, stargazing, trade, futurology, music, dance, and so forth Well known alumni of this College incorporate the ones like Chanakya, Panini, Charaka, Vishnu Sharma, Jivaka and so on This is the world’s most established college.

NALANDA UNIVERSITY

Nalanda College was set up by Shakraditya of Gupta tradition in current Bihar during the mid-fifth century and thrived for a very long time till the twelfth century. It was the world’s first college to have private quarters for the two understudies and educators. It likewise had enormous public auditoriums. Understudies from nations like Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia, and Turkey came to concentrate in this college.

The library of this college was the biggest library of the antiquated world and had a great many volumes of compositions on different subjects like punctuation, rationale, writing, crystal gazing, stargazing, and medication. The library complex was called Dharmaganja and had three huge structures: the Ratnasagara, the Ratnadadhi, and the Ratnaranjaka. Ratnadadhi was nine stories tall and put away the most consecrated original copies, including the Prajnaparamita Sutra and the Samajguhya.

In 2010, the parliament of India passed a bill favouring the designs to reestablish the old Nalanda College as an advanced Nalanda Global College devoted to post-graduate exploration. Numerous East Asia nations including China, Singapore, and Japan have approached to finance the development of this restored Nalanda College.

VIKRAMSHILA UNIVERSITY

Vikramshila College was set up by Dharmapala of Pala tradition during the late eighth century and thrived for a very long time till the twelfth century. It was situated in the Bhagalpur region of groundbreaking Bihar. It gave direct rivalry to Nalanda College with more than 100 educators and more than 1000 understudies recorded in this College.

This college was notable for its particular preparation regarding the matter of Tantra (Tantrism). Perhaps the most famous alumni from this College were Ati? a Dipankara, an organizer of the Sharma customs of Tibetan Buddhism who additionally resuscitated Buddhism in Tibet.

Valabhi College was set up in Saurashtra of present-day Gujarat around the sixth century, and it thrived for a very long time till the twelfth century. Chinese explorer Itsing who visited this college during the seventh century depicts it as an incredible focus of learning. Gunamati and Sthiramati, the two renowned Buddhist researchers are said to have moved on from this College.

This College was mainstream for its preparation in common subjects and understudies from everywhere the nation came to concentrate in this College. Due to its great number of instruction, alumni of this College were given higher leader posts.

PUSHPAGIRI UNIVERSITY

Pushpagiri College was set up in the old Kalinga realm (advanced Odisha) and was spread across Cuttack and Jajpur areas. It was set up in the third century and prospered for the following 800 years until the eleventh century. The college grounds were spread across three connecting slopes–Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri, and Udayagiri. This was quite possibly the most unmistakable focuses of advanced education in antiquated India alongside the colleges of Takshashila, Nalanda, and Vikramshila.

The Chinese explorer Xuanzang (Huien Tsang) visited this college in 639 CE. Lalitgiri is said to have been charged by mid-second century BCE itself and is the most seasoned Buddhist foundation on the planet. As of late, a couple of pictures of Ruler Ashoka have been found here, and it has been proposed that the Pushpagiri College was set up by Sovereign Ashoka himself.

ODANTAPURI UNIVERSITY

Odantapuri College was set up by the Dharmapala of Pala administration during the late eighth century in Magadha (which is in advanced Bihar) and prospered for a very long time until the twelfth century. The well-known Acharya Sri Ganga who was an educator at the Vikramashila College was an alum of this Odantapuri College.

As indicated by the antiquated Tibetan records, there were around 12,000 understudies learning at this College. Antiquated Tibetan writings notice this as one among the five incredible Colleges of now is the right time, the other four being Vikramashila, Nalanda, Somapura, and Jagaddala Colleges–all situated in old India.

SOMAPURA MAHAVIHARA UNIVERSITY

Somapura Mahavihara was set up by Dharmapala of Pala tradition during the late eighth century in Bengal and prospered for a very long time until the twelfth century and so is why it is considered one of the oldest of ancient Indian universities. The College spread more than 27 sections of land of place where there is which the primary complex was 21 sections of land was one of the biggest of its sort.

It was a significant focal point of learning for Bauddha Dharma (Buddhism), Jina Dharma (Jainism), and Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism). Indeed, even today one can discover decorative earthenware on its external dividers portraying the impact of these three customs.

Ancient Indian universities are by the same token. Dharmapala of Pala tradition alone is said to have set up 50 super-learning communities across his realm, and they have been as enormous and as mainstream as the ones referenced previously. For example, the Munshiganj Vihara found as of late as March 23, 2013, in Bengal is said to have been set up in the ninth century and was home to 8000 understudies who came from distant spots like China, Tibet, Nepal, and Thailand.

Destruction of the Universities

As should be obvious, a considerable lot of the colleges referenced above reached a conclusion around the twelfth century. The ancient Indian universities like Nalanda, Vikramshila, and so forth were obliterated around this period during the Muslim intrusion of India by the fan Bakhtiyar Khilji from Turkey in 1193 CE. The extraordinary library of Nalanda College was obliterated, stripped, and consumed by the fighters of Khilji’s military, and it is said that it was tremendous to where the compositions continued consuming for a quarter of a year.

An in-various number of old Indian original copies deliberately protected for millennia were obliterated in this fire. many priests in the College were scorched alive and decapitated by Khilji’s military. As per DC Ahir, the obliteration of these focuses on learning at Nalanda and different spots across northern India was answerable for the downfall of old Indian logical ideas in math, space science, speculative chemistry, and life systems.

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