Misplaced Pages

#462537

90-476: Recent archaeological evidences have pushed back NBPW date to 1200 BCE at Nalanda district, in Bihar , where its earliest occurrences have been recorded and carbon dated from the site of Juafardih. Similarly sites at Akra and Ter Kala Dheri from Bannu have provided carbon dating of 900-790 BCE and 1000-400 BCE, and at Ayodhya around 13th century BC or 1000 BCE. The diagnostic artifact and namesake of this culture

180-475: A copper plate inscription unearthed at Nalanda, details an endowment by the Shailendra King, Balaputradeva of Suvarnadvipa ( Sumatra in modern-day Indonesia ). This Srivijayan king, "attracted by the manifold excellences of Nalanda" had built a monastery there and had requested Devapala to grant the revenue of five villages for its upkeep, a request which was granted. The Ghosrawan inscription

270-505: A black section, a thin slip, very thick walls, and the typical thali shape. Rakesh Tewari comments that Verardi has noticed the presence of proto-NBPW at Gotihawa in 900-800 BCE and observed "that Proto-NBPW may exist at all the NBPW sites of the region dated to or earlier than the 9th-8th century BCE", and Tewari suggests this pottery can be at least two centuries older than c.  800 BCE . Some notable NBPW sites, associated with

360-645: A blank or a minute symbol on the reverse side. Symbols include boat, lobster, fish in hook or scorpion, cross leaf etc. that are uncommon in contemporary coins found in the other regions of India. It is postulated that these coins were used as local currency in the Vanga Kingdom and are distinct from the coins used in Anga , found in Chandraketugarh in West Bengal , India. Wari-Bateshwar yielded

450-662: A copper dagger, high-tin Bronze and ceramic knobbed ware, Black and red ware , Northern Black Polished Ware and Black Slipped Ware. No inscription or written record was found in this site. Although stratigraphic evidence points to earlier urban settlement, radiometric dating of the artifacts places the peak active period of the Wari-Bateshwar urban center in the mid-1st millennium BC. The discovery of rouletted and knobbed ware, and stone beads of eclectic nature implies southeast Asiatic and Roman contacts through river routes. It

540-531: A lack of any archaeological discoveries of pre-400 CE monuments in Nalanda, the silence in Faxian's memoir suggests that Nalanda monastery-university did not exist around 400 CE. Nalanda's dateable history begins in the 5th century. A seal discovered at the site identifies a monarch named Shakraditya ( Śakrāditya - r. c. 415–455 CE) as its founder and attributes the foundation of a sangharama (monastery) at

630-560: A local dynasty known as the Pithipatis of Bodh Gaya of which the King, Buddhasena, belonged to. His account states: There resided a venerable and learned monk who was more than ninety years old, the Guru and Mahapandita Rahulasribhadra. Raja Buddhasena of Magadha honored this Guru and four other Panditas, and about seventy venerable ones (monks). While he stayed there for six months under

720-584: A monastery in the heart of Tibet, staffing it with monk-scholars from diverse Buddhist schools, and name it the "Nalanda monastery" in the honour of the ancient Nalanda, according to the Blue Annals (Tibetan: དེབ་ཐེར་སྔོན་པོ). This institution emerged north of Lhasa in 1436 through the efforts of Rongtön Mawé Sengge, then expanded in the 15th century. It is now called the Tibetan Nalanda, to distinguish it from this site. Tibetan Buddhist tradition

810-585: A nearby mango grove named Pavarika and one of his two chief disciples, Shariputra , was born in the area and later attained nirvana there. These Buddhist texts were written down centuries after the death of the Buddha, are not consistent in either the name or the relative locations. For example, texts such as the Mahasudassana Jataka states that Nalaka or Nalakagrama is about a yojana (10 miles) from Rajagriha, while texts such as Mahavastu call

900-649: A number of newspaper articles and books describing the artifacts. Nevertheless, the site took a while to attract the attention of academics and archaeologists in Bangladesh. In 2000, a team led by Sufi Mostafizur Rahman, an archeologist from Jahangir Nagar University , started excavation in the site. The excavation revealed a 600m x 600m fortified enclosure or citadel surrounded by a 30m wide moat, with an additional 5.8 km long, 5m wide and 2–5 m high mud rampart—locally known as Asom Rajar Gorh—to its west and south west. A series of excavation events took place over

990-505: A stepped water-wall. The complex has a red mud-floor anointed with grey-colored clay, but the floor of the granary is made with lime-surki. This matches the chalcolithic pit-dwelling site at Inamgaon in Southern India, dated 1500–1000 BC, which also features a lime-surki floor. Artifacts found in Wari-Bateshwar include semi-precious stone beads, glass beads, a large number of punch-marked coins, iron axe and knives, copper bangles,

SECTION 10

#1732765223463

1080-399: A system of weights, punch-marked coins , and writing (in the form of Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts, including inscribed stamp seals ). Scholars have noted similarities between NBP and the much earlier Harappan cultures, among them the ivory dice and combs and a similar system of weights. Other similarities include the utilization of mud , baked bricks and stone in architecture,

1170-510: A very large variety of semi-precious stone bids, which is unprecedented in Indian archaeology of the period. Bead materials include various kinds of quartz—Rock Crystal, Citrine , Amethyst , Agate , Carnelian , Chalcedony , and green or red Jasper . Stratigraphic analysis shows that the layers containing signs of the vibrant bead culture were abruptly interrupted by sedimentary layers dating around 200 BCE, which implies possible displacement of

1260-534: Is credited with applying the principles of Sanskrit and its grammar to remodel Tibetan language and its script. It was after Sambhota's first return from Nalanda that the Tibetan king adopted Buddhism and committed to making it the religion of his people. Tibetan monks lived closer to Nepal, Sikkim and eastern India, with simpler travel itineraries than the Koreans and others. Tibetans continued to visit Magadha during

1350-471: Is offered in support. While such a reading is misplaced, it is true that the Nalanda was raided by Khalji. The Tibetan records are the second source of the events at Nalanda in the late 12th century and much of the 13th century. These were the decades of widespread systematic destruction of monasteries in this region, and historical records in Tibet affirm that monks from Nalanda and nearby monasteries such as

1440-513: Is one of the oldest urban archaeological sites in Bangladesh. Excavation in the site unearthed a fortified urban center, paved roads and suburban dwelling. The site was primarily occupied during the Iron Age , from 400 to 100 BCE, as evidenced by the abundance of punch-marked coins and Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) artifacts. The site also reveals signs of pit dwelling , a feature typically found in chalcolithic archaeological sites in

1530-492: Is postulated by Sufi Mostafizur Rahman, the leader of the first excavation team, that Wari-Bateshwar is the ancient emporium or trading post "Sounagora" mentioned by Ptolemy in Geographia . Two types of punch-marked coins were found in the site—Pre- Mauryan Janapada series regional coins (600-400 BCE) and Mauryan imperial series coins (500-200 BCE). The regional coins bear a set of four symbols on one side and either

1620-464: Is recorded as attending Nalanda from the age of eight indicating the continued operation of the university into the late thirteenth century. Tibetan texts such as the 18th-century work named Pag sam jon zang and 16th/17th-century Taranatha's account include fictional Tibetan legends. These include stories such as a king Cingalaraja had brought "all Hindus and Turuskas [Muslims]" up to Delhi under his control, and converted from Hinduism to Buddhism under

1710-529: Is regarded to be a continuation of the Nalanda tradition. The Dalai Lama states: Tibetan Buddhism is not an invention of the Tibetans. Rather, it is quite clear that it derives from the pure lineage of the tradition of the Nalanda Monastery. The master Nagarjuna hailed from this institution, as did many other important philosophers and logicians... The Dalai Lama refers to himself as a follower of

1800-468: Is remarkable, states Scharfe, that "many donors were not Buddhists; the emblems on their seals show Lakshmi, Ganesha, Shivalinga and Durga". Rulers in northeast India bequeathed villages to help fund Nalanda; the king of Sumatra contributed villages for the monastery's endowment. A special fund was also established to support scholars from China. After the decline of the Guptas, the most notable patron of

1890-529: Is said to have built the Sariputta stupa in Nalanda to honour him, and Sariputta's relics were also enshrined in stupas at Sanchi and Mathura. When Faxian , a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim monk, visited the city of Nalanda, there probably was no university yet. Faxian had come to India to acquire Buddhist texts, and spent 10 years in India in the early fifth century, visiting major Buddhist pilgrimage sites including

SECTION 20

#1732765223463

1980-535: Is same as Kumaragupta I. He was one of the kings in the Hindu dynasty of the Guptas . Further, numismatic evidence discovered at Nalanda corroborate that Kumaragupta I was the founder patron of the Nalanda monastery-university. His successors, Budhagupta , Tathagatagupta, Baladitya , and Vajra, later extended and expanded the institution by building additional monasteries and temples. Nalanda, thus flourished through

2070-646: Is the Northern Black Polished Ware, a luxury style of burnished pottery used by elites. This period is associated with the emergence of Indian subcontinent 's first large cities since the decline of the Indus Valley civilization ; this re-urbanization was accompanied by massive embankments and fortifications, significant population growth, increased social stratification, wide-ranging trade networks, specialized craft industries (e.g., carving of ivory, conch shells, and semi-precious stones),

2160-482: Is the other inscription from Devapala's time and it mentions that he received and patronised a bhikṣu named Viradeva, who had studied all the Vedas in his youth, and who was later elected the head of Nalanda. Inscriptions issued between the 9th and 12th centuries attest gifts and support to Nalanda for the upkeep of the monastery, maintenance of the monks, copying of palm leaf manuscripts (necessary for preservation given

2250-578: Is truly marvellous to behold". In accordance with the ancient Indian traditions of supporting temples and monasteries, inscriptions found at Nalanda suggest that it received gifts, including grants of villages by kings to support its work. Harsha himself granted 100 villages and directed 200 households from each of these villages to supply the institution's monks with requisite daily supplies such as of rice, butter, and milk. This supported over 1,500 faculty and 10,000 student monks at Nalanda. These numbers, however, may be exaggerated. They are inconsistent with

2340-468: Is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas. According to the early 7th-century Tang dynasty Chinese pilgrim, Xuanzang , the local tradition explains that the name Nālandā ( Hindi / Magahi : नालन्दा) came from a nāga (serpent deity in Indian religions) whose name was Nalanda . He offers an alternate meaning "charity without intermission", from "na-alam-da"; however, this split does not mean this. Hiranand Sastri , an archaeologist who headed

2430-521: Is where Mahavira (6th/5th century BCE) spent fourteen varshas – a term that refers to a traditional retreat during monsoons for the monks in Indian religions. This is corroborated in the Kalpasutra , another cherished text in Jainism. However, other than the mention of Nalanda, Jaina texts do not provide further details, nor were they written down for nearly a millennium after Mahavira's death. Like

2520-601: The Mahavairocana Tantra . The ancient site of Nalanda is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In 2010, the Government of India passed a resolution to revive the ancient university, and a contemporary institute, Nālandā University , was established at Rajgir. It has been listed as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India. Nalanda is about 16 kilometres (10 mi) north of

2610-531: The Mahavihara . In the detailed account of his stay at Nalanda, the pilgrim describes the view out of the window of his quarters thus, Moreover, the whole establishment is surrounded by a brick wall, which encloses the entire convent from without. One gate opens into the great college, from which are separated eight other halls standing in the middle (of the Sangharama) . The richly adorned towers, and

2700-570: The Vedas , grammar , medicine , logic , mathematics , astronomy and alchemy . The mahavihara had a renowned library that was a key source for the Sanskrit texts that were transmitted to East Asia by pilgrims like Xuanzang and Yijing . Many texts composed at Nalanda played an important role in the development of Mahayana and Vajrayana . They include the works of Dharmakirti , the Sanskrit text Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra of Shantideva , and

2790-1418: The mahajanapadas , are as follows: Other sites where Northern Black Polished Ware have been found are Mahasthangarh , Chandraketugarh , Wari-Bateshwar , Bangarh and Mangalkot (all in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India ). Sites in Sri Lanka such as Anuradhapura have also yielded Northern Black polished ware during the period 500 BC-250 BC indicating interaction with the gangetic valley. Sites in Southern Thailand include Tam Sǔa in La Un district, Kapoe in Kapoe district and Phu Khao Tong in Suk Samran district in Ranong province and at Khao Sam Kaeo in Muang district and Tam Tuay in Thung Tako district in Chumphon province, although they cannot be considered as "classical" NBPW but local KSK-Black Polished Wares produced in Thailand. A number of ancient sites where

Northern Black Polished Ware - Misplaced Pages Continue

2880-619: The 12th century, they were a Buddhist dynasty. However, under the Palas, the traditional Mahayana Buddhism of Nalanda that inspired East Asian pilgrims such as Xuanzang was superseded by the then newly emerging Vajrayana tradition, a Tantra -imbibed, eros- and deity-inclusive esoteric version of Buddhism. Nalanda continued to get support from the Palas, but they subscribed to Vajrayana Buddhism and they were prolific builders of new monasteries on Vajrayana mandala ideas such as those at Jagaddala , Odantapura , Somapura , and Vikramashila . Odantapura

2970-403: The 13th and 19th century, or of any significant Nalanda repairs in or after the 13th century. Johan Elverskog – a scholar of religious studies and history, states that it is incorrect to say Nalanda's end was sudden and complete by about 1202, because it continued to have some students well into the 13th century. Elverskog, relying on Arthur Waley's 1932 paper, states that this is confirmed by

3060-498: The 14th century as the Indian monk, Dhyānabhadra was said to have been a monk at Nalanda prior to his travels in East Asia. After its decline, Nalanda was largely forgotten until Francis Buchanan-Hamilton surveyed the site in 1811–1812 after locals in the vicinity drew his attention to some Buddhist and Hindu images and ruins in the area. He, however, did not associate the mounds of earth and debris with famed Nalanda. That link

3150-655: The 19th century and have been well published. After mid-20th century, the Korean pilgrim journeys have come to light. For example, monks such as Kyom-ik began visiting Indian monasteries by the mid-6th century. They too carried Indian texts and translated them, producing 72 chuan of translated texts. In the mid-7th century, the Silla (Korean: 신라) monk Hyon-jo visited and stayed at several Indian monasteries, including three years at Nalanda, his visit corroborated by Yingji. He sent his students Hye-ryun and Hyon-gak to Nalanda for studies,

3240-518: The 5th and 6th centuries under the Guptas. These Gupta-era contributions to Nalanda are corroborated by the numerous Buddhist and Hindu seals, artwork, iconography and inscriptions discovered at Nalanda, which are in the Gupta-style and Gupta-era scripts. During this period, the Gupta kings were not the only patrons of Nalanda. They reflect a broad and religiously diverse community of supporters. It

3330-524: The 5th and 6th century CE, a period that has since been described as the " Golden Age of India " by scholars. Nalanda was established by emperor Kumaragupta I of the Gupta Empire around 427 CE, and was supported by numerous Indian and Javanese patrons – both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Nalanda continued to thrive with the support of the rulers of the Pala Empire (r. 750–1161 CE). After

3420-535: The Buddhist texts, this has raised questions about reliability and whether the current Nalanda is same as the one in Jaina texts. According to Scharfe, though the Buddhist and Jaina texts generate problems with place identification, it is "virtually certain" that the modern Nalanda is near or the site these texts are referring to. Sariputta, a prominent disciple of the Buddha, was born and died in Nalanda. King Ashoka

3510-691: The Central Gangetic Plain, which was the center of the NBP, was culturally distinct from the Painted Grey Ware culture of the Vedic Aryans of Kuru-Pancala west of it, and saw an independent development toward urbanisation and the use of iron. The end of the NBP culture around 200 BCE was marked by the replacement of the NBP ware with a different style of pottery, namely red ware decorated with stamped and incised designs. However,

3600-476: The Indian sub-continent. The site sprawls across Wari and Bateshwar, two adjacent villages in the Belabo Upazila of Narsingdi district, about 17 km north-west of the confluence of the rivers Old Brahmaputra and Meghna at the lower end of Sylhet basin. Borehole records show that the site lies on the remnants of a Pleistocene fluvial terrace about 15 metre above sea level and 6-8 metre above

3690-465: The Indian tropical climate). One inscription also mentions the destruction of a Nalanda library of manuscripts by fire, and support for its restoration. Another 10th-century inscription quotes Bhadracari of the Sautrantikas tradition, attesting the activity of diverse schools of Buddhism at Nalanda. Another Nalanda inscription from the 11th century mentions a gift of "revolving bookcase". While

Northern Black Polished Ware - Misplaced Pages Continue

3780-624: The Juafardih site about three kilometres away, have yielded black ware and other items. These have been carbon dated to about 1200 BCE. This suggests that the region around Nalanda in Magadha had a human settlement centuries before the birth of the Mahavira and the Buddha. Early Buddhist texts state that Buddha visited a town near Rajagriha (modern Rajgir – the capital of Magadha ) called Nalanda on his peregrinations. He delivered lectures in

3870-637: The NBPW has been found, such as Ayodhya and Sringaverapura , are mentioned in the Hindu epic, the Ramayana . Samuel, Geoffrey (2010), The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century , Cambridge University Press Nalanda Nalanda ( IAST : Nālandā , pronounced [naːlən̪d̪aː] ) was a renowned Buddhist mahavihara (great monastery ) in ancient and medieval Magadha (modern-day Bihar ), eastern India . Widely considered to be among

3960-571: The Nalanda Mahavihara was Harsha (known as Śīlāditya in some Buddhist records). He was a seventh-century emperor with a capital at Kannauj (Kanyakubja). According to Xuanzang, Harsha was a third generation Hindu king from the Vaishya caste, who built majestic Buddhist viharas, as well as three temples – Buddha, Surya and Shiva, all of the same size. He states (c. 637 CE), "a long succession of kings" had built up Nalanda till "the whole

4050-406: The Nalanda area. He also wrote a travelogue, which inspired other Chinese and Korean Buddhists to visit India over the centuries; in it he mentions many Buddhist monasteries and monuments across India. However, he makes no mention of any monastery or university at Nalanda even though he was looking for Sanskrit texts and took a large number of them from other parts of India back to China. Combined with

4140-401: The Nalanda site was many times larger than numerous excavations have so far discovered and what Xuanzang describes. Xuanzang travelled around India between 630 and 643 CE, visiting Nalanda in 637 and 642, spending a total of around two years at the monastery. He was warmly welcomed in Nalanda where he received the Indian name of Mokshadeva and studied under the guidance of Shilabhadra ,

4230-517: The Pala era, and beyond through the 14th century, thereby participated in the crucible of ideas at Nalanda and other monasteries in Bihar and Bengal. However, after the 8th century, it was the esoteric mandala and deities-driven Vajrayana Buddhism that increasingly dominated the exchange. The Palas established themselves in eastern regions of India in mid-8th century and reigned until the last quarter of

4320-651: The Palas continued to patronise Nalanda liberally, the fame and influence of Nalanda helped the Palas. The Srivijaya kingdom of southeast Asia maintained a direct contact with Nalanda and the Palas, thus influencing the 9th to 12th century art in Sumatra, Java, southern Thailand and regions that actively traded with the Srivijaya kingdom. The influence extended to the Indonesian Shailendra dynasty. The Indonesian bronzes and votive tablets from this period show

4410-474: The Turushka (Turks, a common term for Muslims in historic Indic and Tibetan texts). Their armies, asserts Taranatha, destroyed Odantapuri as well as Vikramashila. Given the hundreds of years of gap between the events and Taranatha's account, and no clear chain of sources within the Tibetan tradition of record keeping, its reliability is questionable. The Buddhist monk, Dhyānabhadra who was born in 1289 A.D.,

4500-685: The Vikramashila monastery who "survived the slaughter, fled to Tibet", according to Scharfe. Among the Tibetan records, the most useful is the biography of the Tibetan monk-pilgrim, Dharmasvamin discovered in 1936 and in bsdus-yig style, Tibetan script. It is useful because Dharmasvamin met the fleeing monks and famous scholars during his studies from about mid 1200s to 1226, he had learnt Indian languages and Sanskrit, he walked to and stayed in Nepal starting in 1226 and visited Bihar about 1234, including spending one monsoon season in Nalanda. He described

4590-528: The Wari-Bateshwar people (and loss of bead culture) by a course change of the Old Brahmaputra River. Despite the lack of inscription or written records, symbols on the discovered artifacts shed light on the cultural elements of the Wari-Bateshwar society. The punch-marked coins bear the solar and six-armed symbols, mountain with three arches surmounted by a crescent, Nandipada or taurine symbol and various animal motifs and geometric figures. On

SECTION 50

#1732765223463

4680-406: The anxiety of [the Buddhist community of] those days." Chapter 10 of Dharmasvamin's biography describes Nalanda in c. 1235 CE. Dharmasvamin found it "largely damaged and deserted". Despite the perils, some had re-gathered and resumed the scholastic activities in Nalanda, but at a vastly smaller scale and with donations from a wealthy Brahmin layperson named Jayadeva. The monks were patronised by

4770-431: The availability of archeological artifacts, especially silver punch-marked coins and semi-precious gemstone beads in the area. In the 1930s, Hanif Pathan , a local school teacher, started collecting these artifacts, and later inspired his son Habibulla Pathan to continue the exploration. The father-son duo created a local museum called Bateshwar Sangrahashala to store and exhibit their collection. Habibulla Pathan published

4860-777: The brand memory of "Nalanda" remained the most revered in Tibet . The last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakyashri Bhadra of Kashmir, fled to Tibet in 1204 at the invitation of the Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa ( Khro-phu Lo-tsa-ba Byams-pa dpal ). Some of the surviving Nalanda books were taken by fleeing monks to Tibet. He took with him several Indian masters: Sugataśrī, (an expert in Madhyamaka and Prajñāpāramitā); Jayadatta (Vinaya); Vibhūticandra (grammar and Abhidharma), Dānaśīla (logic), Saṅghaśrī (Candavyākaraṇa), Jīvagupta (books of Maitreya), Mahābodhi,(Bodhicaryāvatāra); and Kālacandra (Kālacakra). In 1351, Tibetans committed to recreating

4950-436: The city of Rajgir and about 90 kilometres (56 mi) southeast of Patna, connected via NH 31, 20 and 120 to India's highway network. It is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) northeast of Bodh Gaya – another important Buddhist site in Bihar. The Nalanda archaeological site is spread over a large area to the northwest of Bargaon (Nalanda) village, and is between the historical manmade lakes Gidhi, Panashokar and Indrapuskarani. On

5040-499: The condition in the decades after the sack of Nalanda and other Buddhist monasteries in Magadha-region of India. His account states that the destruction of Nalanda was not an accident or misunderstanding but a part of the widespread destruction of Buddhist monasteries and monuments including a destruction of Bodhgaya. The vast manuscript libraries of Magadha had been mostly lost. Other Tibetan monks and he had shifted to Nepal, as

5130-516: The construction of large units of public architecture, the systematic development of hydraulic features and a similar craft industry. There are also, however, important differences between these two cultures; for example, rice , millet and sorghum became more important in the NBP culture. The NBP culture may reflect the first state-level organization in the Indian Subcontinent. According to Geoffrey Samuel, following Tim Hopkins,

5220-409: The creativity of its people, yet the iconographic themes overlap with those found at Nalanda and nearby region. Monks from Indonesia, Myanmar and other parts of southeast Asia came to Nalanda during the Pala rule. Archeological excavations in the site during 1920-1921 discovered a thick layer of ashes on the uppermost strata, across many buildings separated by some distance; this suggests that Nalanda

5310-739: The current river level. The sediment consists of brownish red clay with interbedded sand layers, locally knows as Madhupur clay. The main stem of the Brahmaputra River shifted back and forth between the Brahmaputra- Jamuna and the Old Brahmaputra branches through history. Around 2500 BCE, avulsion of the main channel to the Brahmaputra-Jamuna branch gave rise to discontinuous peatlands throughout Sylhet basin. The evidence of early urban settlement on

5400-444: The excavation of the ruins, attributes the name to the abundance of nālas (lotus-stalks) in the area and believes that Nalanda would then represent the giver of lotus-stalks . In some Tibetan sources, including the 17th-century work of Taranatha , Nalanda is referred to as Nalendra , and is likely synonymous with Nala, Nalaka, Nalakagrama found in Tibetan literature. Archaeological excavations at sites near Nalanda, such as

5490-478: The fact a monk ordained in 13th-century Nalanda travelled to the court of Khubilai Khan . He adds that it is wrong to say that Buddhism ended in India around the 13th or 14th century or earlier, because "[Buddha] Dharma survived in India at least until the 17th-century". After the Islamic conquest, the destruction and the demise of Nalanda, other monasteries and Buddhist culture from the plains of Bihar and Bengal,

SECTION 60

#1732765223463

5580-480: The fairy-like turrets, like pointed hill-tops are congregated together. The observatories seem to be lost in the vapours (of the morning) , and the upper rooms tower above the clouds. Xuanzang returned to China with 657 Sanskrit texts and 150 relics carried by 20 horses in 520 cases. He translated 74 of the texts himself. In the thirty years following Xuanzang's return, no fewer than eleven travellers from China and Korea are known to have visited Nalanda, including

5670-448: The fall of the Palas, the monks of Nalanda were patronised by the Pithipatis of Bodh Gaya . Nalanda was likely attacked by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji (c. 1200), but it managed to remain operational for decades (or possibly even centuries) following the raids. Over some 750 years, Nalanda's faculty included some of the most revered scholars of Mahayana Buddhism. The historian William Dalrymple , said of Nalanda that "at its apex, it

5760-593: The geography and culture of seventh-century India, Yijing's account primarily concentrates on the practice of Buddhism in India and detailed descriptions of the customs, rules, and regulations of the monks at the monastery. In his chronicle, Yijing notes that revenues from 200 villages (as opposed to 100 in Xuanzang's time) had been assigned toward the maintenance of Nalanda. He described there being eight vihara with as many as 300 cells. According to him, Nalanda monastery has numerous daily Nikaya procedures and rules for

5850-419: The greatest centres of learning in the ancient world , and often referred to as "the world's first residential university", it was located near the city of Rajagriha (now Rajgir ), roughly 90 kilometres (56 mi) southeast of Pataliputra (now Patna ). Operating for almost a thousand years from 427 CE until around 1400 CE, Nalanda played a vital role in promoting the patronage of arts and academics during

5940-452: The influence of his queen, and him restoring the monasteries. Others state that a southern king built thousands of monasteries and temples again, Muslim robbers murdered this king, thereafter Nalanda was repaired by Mudita Bhadra and a minister named Kukutasiddha erected a temple there. However, there is no evidence for the existence of such a king (or sultan), minister, Muslim robbers, thousands of Buddhist monuments built in India between

6030-577: The latter died at Nalanda. They adopted Indian names to interact with the fellow students; for example, Hye-ryun was known as Prajnavarman and it is this name that is found in the records. According to Korean records, monks visited India through the ninth century – despite arduous travel challenges – to study at various monasteries, and Nalanda was the most revered. In and after the 7th century, Tibetan monks such as Thonmi Sambhota came to Nalanda and other Indian monasteries to study, not only Buddhism, but Sanskrit language, grammar and other subjects. Sambhota

6120-476: The lineage of the seventeen Nalanda masters. An Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra manuscript preserved at the Tsethang monastery has superbly painted and well preserved wooden covers and 139 leaves. According to its colophon it was donated by the mother of the great pandita Sri Asoka in the second year of the reign of King Surapala, at the very end of the 11th century. Nalanda still continued to operate into

6210-462: The monk Yijing . Unlike Faxian and Xuanzang, Yijing followed the sea route around Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. He arrived in 673 CE, and stayed in India for fourteen years, ten of which he spent at the Nalanda Mahavihara. When he returned to China in 695, he had with him 400 Sanskrit texts and 300 grains of Buddha relics which were subsequently translated in China. Unlike Xuanzang, who also described

6300-472: The monks of Nalanda. Jayadeva sends them a message that the Turushka soldiers are sure to kill "Guru [Rahulasribhadra] and his disciples" and they should "flee!". Dharmasvamin also provides an eyewitness account of an attack on the derelict Mahavihara by the Muslim soldiers stationed at nearby Odantapura (now Bihar Sharif ) which had been turned into a military headquarters. Only the Tibetan and his nonagenarian instructor stayed behind and hid themselves while

6390-476: The monks. He gives many examples. In one subsection he explains that the monastery has ten great pools. The morning begins with the ghanta (bell) being rung. Monks take their bathing sheets and go to one of these pools. They bathe with their underwear on, then get out slowly to avoid disturbing anyone else. They wipe their bodies, then wrap this 5-foot long and 1.5-foot wide sheet around the waist, change their clothes with this wrap in place. Then rinse, wring and dry

6480-433: The much lower numbers (over 3000) given by Yijing, another Chinese pilgrim who visited Nalanda a few decades later. According to Asher, while the excavated Nalanda site is large and the number of viharas so far found are impressive, they simply cannot support 10,000 or more student monks. The total number of known rooms and their small size is such that either the number of monks must have been far less than Xuanzang's claims or

6570-438: The next two decades that marked 48 archeological sites in the vicinity of the citadel. These suburban structures feature brick-built dwelling units, and a 160 m section of a street paved with lime-mortar and potshards. In 2004, a 2.60 m x 2.20 m x 0.52 pit-dwelling complex was unearthed to the east of the urban center. The complex houses a pit, a hearth, a granary with a circumference of 272 cm and depth of 74 cm, and

6660-421: The other hand, Nandipada and Swastika symbols are found on stone querns. These symbols indicate the presence of "Hinduism" in the Wari-Bateshwar society. Archaeobotanical study of carbonized seed and seed fragments reveals the predominance of rice agriculture. The subspecies cultivated was japonica rather than Indica , the more dominant cultivar in contemporary South India. Other crops included barley, oat,

6750-484: The peatlands at Wari-Bateshwar was found in stratigraphic layers dated ~1100 BCE. Human occupation continued for nearly a millennium until ~200 BCE, when the channel shifted back to the Old Brahmaputra branch. The resultant flooding possibly led to the abandonment of the Wari-Bateshwar urban center around 100 BCE. Eventually the 1762 Arakan earthquake again caused the main channel to shift to the Brahmaputra-Jamuna branch. Locals from Wari-Bateshwar have long been aware of

6840-447: The place Nalanda-gramaka and place it half a yojana away. A Buddhist text Nikayasamgraha does state that emperor Ashoka established a vihara (monastery) at Nalanda. However, archaeological excavations so far have not yielded any monuments from Ashoka period or from another 600 years after his death. Chapter 2.7 of the Jaina text Sutrakritanga states that Nalanda is a "suburb" of capital Rajagriha, has numerous buildings, and this

6930-577: The place to study, copy and move manuscripts to Tibet. According to his account, the Turushka-Qarluq (Turk) conquest extended from about 1193 to 1205, the destruction was systematic with "Turushka soldiers razing a monastery to the ground and throwing the stones into Ganges river", states Roerich. The fear of persecution was strong in the 1230s, and his colleagues dissuaded him from going to Magadha. According to George Roerich, "his [Chag lo-tsa-ba Chos-rje-dpal, Dharmasvamin] account conveys something of

7020-455: The rest of the monks fled. Another Tibetan source is that of Lama Taranatha, but this is from the late 16th century, and it is unclear what its sources were. The Taranatha account about Buddhism in India repeats the legendary accounts of Nalanda from the Buddha and Ashoka periods found in Xuanzang and other sources, then shifts to centuries of the 2nd-millennium. It describes Islamic raids in 12th-century India, states that whole of Magadha fell to

7110-870: The same cities continued to be inhabited, and the period from c.  200 BCE  – c.  300 CE was still "marked by urban prosperity all over the subcontinent," corresponding to the Shunga and Satavahana Dynasties, and the Kushan Empire . NBPW have also been reported from various sites in Southern Thailand which were engaged in maritime trade activity with India in 1st millennium BCE. However, archaeologist Phaedra Bouvet regards these shards as KSK-Black Polished Wares, not linked technically to NBPW, except from their shape and style, produced between fourth and second centuries BCE, but indeed in contact with real NBPW producing populations. Proto-NBPW

7200-504: The sheet. The entire procedure, says Yijing, is explained in the Buddhist Nikaya procedures. The day must begin with bathing, but bathing after meals is forbidden. The Nalanda Nikaya has many such daily procedures and rituals set out for the monks to follow. In addition to Chinese pilgrims, Buddhist pilgrims from Korea also visited India about the same time as Xuanzang and Yingji. The Chinese travelogues about India became known in

7290-690: The site such as drainage to prevent damage to unearthed floors. After 1928, Kuraishi led two seasons of excavations, Chandra led the next four. The last season was led by Ghosh, but the excavations were abbreviated in 1937 for financial reasons and budget cuts. Chandra and final ASI team leaders noted that the "long row of monasteries extend further into the modern village of Bargaon" and the "extent of entire monastic establishment can only be determined by future excavations". Wari-Bateshwar The Wari-Bateshwar ( Bengali : উয়ারী-বটেশ্বর , Uari-Boŧeśśor ) ruins in Narsingdi , Dhaka Division , Bangladesh

7380-454: The site to him. This is corroborated by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang travelogue. The tradition of formalised Vedic learning "helped to inspire the formation of large teachings centres," such as Nalanda, Taxila, and Vikramashila . In the Indian tradition and texts, kings were called by many epithets and names. Scholars such as Andrea Pinkney and Hartmut Scharfe conclude that Shakraditya

7470-601: The south bank of the Indrapushkarani lake is the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara – a university founded in its memory. Similarly on the south west bank of the Indrapushkarani lake is Nalanda Open University , the state university named after the ancient Nalanda University. Mahavihara ( Mahāvihāra ) is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihāra (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and

7560-483: The tutelage of Rahula Shribhadra, Dharmasvamin makes no mention of the legendary library of Nalanda which possibly did not survive the initial wave of Turko-Afghan attacks. He also states that some structures had survived, with "eighty small viharas, built of bricks and many left undamaged" but "there was absolutely no one to look after them". He recites the arrest of their patron and lay-supporter Jayadeva by Muslim soldiers who threaten to kill him for honouring (supporting)

7650-538: The venerable head of the institution at the time. He believed that the aim of his arduous overland journey to India had been achieved as in Shilabhadra he had at last found an incomparable teacher to instruct him in Yogachara , a school of thought that had then only partially been transmitted to China. Besides Buddhist studies, the monk also attended courses in grammar, logic, and Sanskrit, and later also lectured at

7740-650: Was established by Major Markham Kittoe in 1847. Alexander Cunningham and the newly formed Archaeological Survey of India conducted an official survey in 1861–1862. Systematic excavation of the ruins by the ASI did not begin until 1915 and ended in 1937. The first four excavations were led by Spooner between 1915 and 1919. The next two were led by Sastri in 1920 and 1921. The next seven seasons of archaeological excavations through 1928 were led by Page. These efforts were not merely digging, observation and cataloguing of discoveries, they included conservation, restoration and changes to

7830-472: Was first reported by Giovanni Verardi in his excavations at Gotihawa in the Terai of Lumbini, Nepal, recognised as the transitional phase from Black Slipped Ware to Northern Black Polished Ware, which can be identified through its lustrous black surface with red spots, this spots are due to evident problems in the high temperature firing process, and this ware is dated between 12th and 8th centuries BCE, featuring

7920-615: Was founded by Gopala , the progenitor of the royal line, only 9.7 kilometres (6 mi) from Nalanda. These competing monasteries, some just a few kilometres away from Nalanda likely drew away a number of learned monks from Nalanda. Inscriptions, literary evidence, seals, and ruined artwork excavated at the Nalanda site suggest that Nalanda remained active and continued to thrive under the Palas. Kings Dharmapala and Devapala were active patrons. A number of 9th-century metallic statues containing references to Devapala have been found in its ruins as well as two notable inscriptions. The first,

8010-409: Was subject to a catastrophic fire. Traditionally, this is held to be arson, blamed upon the troops of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji who had plundered the region c. 1200 CE, and cited to be the leading cause of Nalanda's demise – a passage from Minhaj-i-Siraj 's Tabaqat-i Nasiri which actually describes the destruction of Odantapura Vihar (var. Bihar Sharif ), a monastery just a few miles from Nalanda,

8100-481: Was the undisputed scholarly centre of the Mahayana Buddhist world". The faculty and students associated with the monastery included Dharmapala , Nagarjuna , Dharmakirti , Asanga , Vasubandhu , Chandrakirti , Xuanzang , Śīlabhadra and Vajrabodhi . The curriculum of Nalanda included major Buddhist philosophies like Madhyamaka , Yogachara and Sarvastivada , as well as other subjects like

#462537