The Ashes of Nalanda: The Destruction of Knowledge and India’s Descent into Darkness

That dark year of 1193 was the most ominous turning point in the history of the Indian subcontinent. The world’s greatest centre of knowledge, located in Nalanda, Bihar—the Nalanda Mahavihara (great monastic university)—was burning fiercely. Over ninety lakh rare manuscripts housed across the three mammoth edifices of its nine-storey library ‘Dharmaganja’—‘Ratnasagara’, ‘Ratnodadhi’, and ‘Ratnaranjaka’—were going up in flames.

The Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj proudly records in his book ‘Tabaqat-i-Nasiri’ that the library of Nalanda burned continuously for six months! That smoke did not merely blacken the skies of Magadha; it plunged the entire intellectual future of India into darkness.

N. Singh, in his book ‘Buddha Dhamma (the teachings of the Buddha) and India’, paints a poignant depiction of this heartbreaking event, writing:

‘Nalanda was not merely a structure of bricks and stone; it was the very brain of ancient India. Ten thousand students from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia, and Turkey would come there to receive knowledge free of cost. There existed such a synthesis of Ayurveda, astronomy, mathematics, logic, metallurgy, and philosophy as was nowhere else to be seen in the contemporary world. Chinese travellers like Hiuen Tsang and Yijing have written that even the gatekeepers of Nalanda were so scholarly that any student unable to answer the gatekeeper’s questions was not even granted admission!
Yet the barbarity of Bakhtiyar Khilji reduced that great yajna (sacred offering) of knowledge to a heap of ashes. Unarmed Buddhist monks were burnt alive or decapitated. The few monks who survived fled to save their lives into the rugged, inaccessible mountains of Tibet and Nepal, clutching a handful of manuscripts to their chests. Along with Nalanda, India’s scientific thinking was also reduced to ashes.’
— ‘Buddha Dhamma and India’

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Nalanda and Vikramashila: The Capital of World Knowledge

To understand the greatness of Nalanda and Vikramashila, it is essential to consider a few historical facts:

1. Free and universal education: The expenses of these universities were sustained by revenues from two hundred villages granted by emperors. Not a single paisa was charged from any student for food, accommodation, or education.
2. International intellectual discourse: This was the place where Nagarjuna’s Shunyavada (doctrine of emptiness), Vasubandhu and Asanga’s Vijnanavada (doctrine of consciousness), and Aryabhata’s astronomy developed. Here, the atmosphere was not one of narrow sectarianism, but of open ideological debate.
3. Discipline and high ethical standards: Hiuen Tsang has recorded that across the seven-hundred-year history of Nalanda, not a single serious incident of indiscipline by any student ever came to light.

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What Impact Did the Destruction of Knowledge Have on India?

The destruction of Nalanda, Vikramashila, Odantapuri, and Jagaddala inflicted irreparable damage upon India:

• Stagnation of scientific progress: Following the burning of Nalanda, original research in mathematics, medicine, and astronomy in India came to a dead halt. In the country, fresh discoveries were replaced by the rote learning of antiquated manuscripts.
• The return of the Dark Ages and superstition: When the highest seats of knowledge and reason were destroyed, society was left entirely at the mercy of occult tantrics, astrologers, and ritualistic priests. Social evils such as sati (widow burning), child marriage, untouchability, and black magic spread voraciously across society.
• The end of global leadership: The very India that was hailed as Vishwaguru (world teacher) on account of its knowledge sank into the quagmire of illiteracy and ignorance after Nalanda was burnt.

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What Is the State of Our Educational Institutions Today?

Standing upon the ashes of Nalanda today, we must introspect on our present education system:

• Degree factories: Today, instead of being centres of knowledge, innovation, and research, our universities have been reduced to factories churning out an army of the unemployed.
• Appalling commercialisation of education: Whereas education at Nalanda was entirely free and merit-based, today, from primary schools to medical and engineering colleges, institutions have turned into mere shops for extorting money. The talented child of a poor family is left deprived of education.
• Ideological narrowness and attacks on autonomy: Today, the climate of open dialogue, questioning, and research in universities is being stifled, and narrow political agendas are being enforced.

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What Resolution Must We Take Today from the Ashes of Nalanda?

1. Revival of libraries and research culture: Modern public libraries and reading rooms must be opened in every village, neighbourhood, and town so that the poorest of poor children can gain access to knowledge.
2. Spending at least 6% of national GDP on education: Pressure must be brought upon governments to provide world-class laboratories and facilities in state schools and universities, instead of handing education over to corporates.
3. Scientific temper and the courage to question: Instead of turning children into obedient sheep, groom them into disciples of Nalanda who question, reason, and pursue the truth.

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A Question Worth Contemplating

Why are lakhs of youth in the very country that once shared the light of knowledge with students across the world standing in queues today for a single peon’s job?

To understand the glory of Nalanda, the causes of its destruction, and the real significance of knowledge, this chapter from N. Singh’s book ‘Buddha Dhamma and India’ is something every youth and teacher must read.