EDUCATION SYSTEM IN INDIA THROUGH AGES & TRUE STORY OF TRAGEDY OF NALANDA

1. EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA
   India is recognised as one of the oldest civilisations of the world. Historically, India was a centre of higher learning and education has maintained enormous significance in Indian civilisation from the Vedic times. Gurukuls and ashrams were the primary places of learning. Their impact on development and literature was profound, fostering intellectual growth, producing seminal literary works, and preserving ancient texts through meticulous scholarship. Since thousands of years, thousands of Rishis (sages) and the Gurus imparted knowledge to shishyas or sons with tradition of remembrance generally through shlokas. For hundreds and thousands of years before the Vedas were compiled, there were shrutis (what is heard). This is the reason why when one listens to Sanskrit chants from the Vedas and other scriptures, the positive energy is added and the aura is energised.
   Education policy in ancient India in its traditional form was closely related to religion. Over a while, two systems of education developed- the Vedic and the Buddhist. Vedic system is further subdivided into Brahminic and post-Vedic.
   Vedic Period: In this period, the gurukuls were the centres of higher education. The widespread policy of the Vedic tradition followed the norms as laid down in the Vedas and Smritis. In later Vedic period and during Mahabharat era, students in groups, stayed at the Guru’s ashrams until their education was completed. Bigger Gurukuls served as universities i.e. centres of higher education. In addition to Gurukuls and universities, temples and mutts emerged as learning centres. Preservation of ancient culture, character building, study of scriptures, development of personality, religious duties, inculcation of spirit of individual roles towards family and society, discipline and self-dependence were the key factors while imparting education.
   Buddhist period: In this period, monasteries emerged as the centres of learning. The study of the Buddhist texts took place at these centres. Monasteries attracted many foreign students from China, Nepal, Tibet, etc. Veda, Vedang, Lokayat, Astronomy, Sanskrit and Pali literature were part of the curriculum in the institutions of learning in ancient India.
   Many diverse subjects were taught in ancient Indian universities. In fact, India only had universities where students from all over world came for education. There are authentic details of subjects that were taught in these universities. During Pala dynasty itself about thirty universities were set up between 6th century CE to 8th century CE. It is estimated that more than 40 universities existed in India, but details of about 24 universities are only available. Many more ancient universities are being discovered.
   1.1 SUBJECTS TAUGHT IN ANCIENT UNIVERSITIES & GURUKULS
   Following disciplines were taught in our Gurukuls (in the Sanatan culture)
   • Antriksh Vidya (Space Science)
   • Srishti Vidya (Cosmoligy)
   • Jal Vidya (Water)
   • Vayu Vidya (Wind)
   • Prithvi Vidya (Environment)
   • Surya Vidya (Solar Study)
   • Chandra and Lok Vidya (Lunar Study)
   • Megh Vidya (Weather Forecast)
   • Khagol Vigyan (Astronomy)
   • Aakarshan Vidya (Gravity)
   • Mathematics
   • Philosophy
   • Metaphysics
   • Niti Shastra (Political Science, Administration and Statesmanship)
   • Nyay Shastra (Law)
   • Vyakaran (Grammar)
   • Tark Shastra (Logic, Reasoning, Argumentation)
   • Agni Vidya (Heat & Metallurgy)
   • Bhugol Vidya (Geography)
   • Bhoogarbh Vidya (Geology, Mineralogy & Mining)
   • Prakash Vidya (Light Energy)
   • Kaal Vidya (Time studies)
   • Sanchaar Vidya (Communication)
   • Vimaan Vidya
   • Yaan Vidya (Mechanics)
   • Jalayan Vidya (Water Vessels)
   • Vehicle Designing
   • Dhanurvidya (Self Defence & Warfrae)
   • Agneya Astra Vidya (Arms & Ammunition)
   • Varta/Vyapaar Vidya (Business & Commerce)
   • Dhaatu Urja Vidya (Battery energy)
   • Vaastukaar Vidya (Architecture)
   • Jeevavigyaan Vidya (Biology, Zoology, Botany)
   • Chikitsa (Medicine)
   • Krishi Vidya (Agriculture)
   • Van Vidya (Forestry)
   • Baagvaani (Horticulture)
   • Pashu Palan {Animal Husbandry) and Pakshi Paalan (Bird Keeping)
   • Gaushala Management (Cow Breeding)
   • Ratn Vidya (Gemstones and Metals) and Ratankar (Gems & Jewellery Designing)
   • Yagna Vidya (Materials)
   • Jal Marg (Waterways Management)
   • Vaahan Vidya (Driving)
   • Laghu (Metallurgy & Blacksmith)
   • Lekha (Accountancy)
   • Rajjukar (Logistics)
   • Other basic trades lke Kumbhkari (Pottery) etc.
   All the above disciplines were not taught in all the universities, Mutts or Gurukuls through all the periods, but at different institutions during one or other time period.
   1.2 ANCIENT UNIVERSITIES IN INDIA
   As already mentioned, during Pala dynasty itself about thirty universities were set up between 6th century CE to 8th century CE. A large number of universities existed in India, but details of about 24 universities are only available. (770 CE to 810 CE) by Maharaja Dharmapala, the second emperor of the Pala Empire emperor of the Pala Empire. Following are names of important universities of ancient India, that have been discovered so far:
   (i) Ujjaini University: (c. 1000 BCE – 10th century CE)
   One university that simply stands out for its academic output in astronomy and mathematics is Ujjaini (also called Ujjain), Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. This university was the most widely recognized seat of all art forms, sports, science, literature and astronomical calculation. It is believed that around 3000 years ago Guru Sandipan, moved to Ujjayini from Kashi, and it was in Ujjayini , in his Ashram his disciples Lord Krishna, Balram and Sudama were initiated into the learning of Vedas and Vedanta. The torch of learning has been burning unabated since. During the Mauryan period around 4th century BCE, students from all over the world came to Ujjayini in pursuit of knowledge. By the end of the 4th century CE under the Gupta king Vikramaditya, the glory of this seat of learning spread farther. It reached its pinnacle of fame during the reign of king Asoka and Samvat Pravartak, King Vikramaditya Chandragupta II, who promoted Sanskrit over Prakrat.
   This University was equipped with an elaborate observatory and stood on the zero meridians of longitude of those times. Brahmagupta was among the most celebrated astronomers of Ujjaini university who continued the tradition of Varahamihira and made significant contributions to mathematics. He worked on trigonometrical formulae, quadratic equations, area of a cyclic quadrilateral, arithmetic progression, and improved Aryabhata’s sine tables. In his treatise Brahmasphutasiddhanta, he was the first to treat zero as a number in its own right, rather than as simply a placeholder digit. Brahmagupta’s works reached the court of Khalifa al-Mansur in Baghdad and played a pathbreaking role in making the Arabs conversant with Indian astronomy and mathematics. Later, this knowledge was transmitted to Europe. The tradition of Brahmagupta was continued by Bhaskara II, also called Bhaskaracharya who became the head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjaini.
   Bhaskaracharya wrote the famous Siddhantasiromani and Lilavati. JJ O’Connor and EF Robertson (creators of the MacTutor History of Mathematics archive; co-authors of over 100 research articles, mainly on mathematics; co-authors of 17 textbooks) have said in their paper for the School of Mathematics and Statistics that “Bhaskaracharya reached an understanding of the number systems and solving equations, which was not to be achieved in Europe for several centuries.” He was hailed as the first mathematician to write a work with full and systematic use of the decimal number system.
   Bhaskaracharya is also considered the founder of differential calculus, who applied it centuries before Newton and Leibniz. He too had a profound impact on Islamic mathematicians just like the earlier acharyas of Ujjaini.
   The Paramara dynasty’s influence in Malwa ended in 946 CE, leading to a period of decline and loss of Ujjayini’s ancient glory due to repeated attacks. The shifting of the capital to Gwalior also contributed to a decline in Ujjain’s commercial importance.

(ii) Varanasi: (1000 BCE to modern times) By 1000 BCE, Kashi was well established as the seat of learning of philosophy, which we know today as Hindu scriptures It is mentioned in the Vedas, Puranas, the epics Ramayana and Mahabharat and also many Buddhist and Jain texts. In ancient India, Kashi was a great centre of education not only for the Hindus but for other religions such as Buddhism and Jainism. Students were taught the Vedas, Upanishads and other schools of philosophy. The city of Varanasi is also associated with famous religious personalities such as Panini, Sankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhavachrya and Gorakshanath.
(iii) Takshshila (600 BCE -500 BCE) was a center of the Gurukula system of Brahmanical education in Taxila, Gandhara, in present-day Punjab, Pakistan, near the bank of the Indus River. It was established as a centre of education in religious topics. It started as a Vedic seat of learning.
(iv) Kanchi matha: (482 BCE – till date) is a Hindu monastic institution founded in 482 BCE by the Hindu saint and commentator Adi Sankaracharya (509 BCE – 477 BCE) in Kanchipuram, Karnataka. According to the Sri Kanchi matha documents, the matha relocated completely to Kumbakonam in the mid-18th century to escape wars and persecution, returning to Kanchi in the 19th century due to “fear of Muslim atrocities” from Nawab of Arcot, Mysore’s Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. The matha offers Vedic studies to male Brahmin students in a number of pathasalas. Under the leadership of Jayendra Saraswati, the peetham took a more liberal stance, also reaching out to a non-Brahmin audience.
(v) ⁠Telhare (1st Century CE – 12th century CE)
(also called Telhara and formerly known as Telāḍhaka) was a Buddhist monastic establishment in Nalanda district of Bihar, India dating back to the 1st-century CE and active till at least the 12th-century CE. It is notable as it has been mentioned in the travelogues of Chinese monks including Xuanzang. It has been mentioned as Teladhaka in the writings of the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang, who visited the place in the 7th century CE. Historian D R Patil writes about Hiuen Tsang’s description of Telhara. “Hiuen Tsang describes Telhara or Tilas-akiya as containing a number of monasteries or viharas, about seven in number, accommodating about 1,000 monks studying in Mahayan. These buildings, he says, had courtyards, three-storeyed pavilions, towers, gates and were crowned by cupolas with hanging bells. The doors and windows, pillars and beams have bas relieves (sculptures in guilded copper). In the middle vihara is a statue of Tara Bodhisatva and to the right (is) one of Avlokiteshwar”. During excavation work, the ASI team stumbled upon a 1.5-foot-thick layer of ash. This suggests that the Telhara University was destroyed and burnt like Nalanda and Vikramshila Universities. Further excavations and studies are going on by the Archaeological Survey of India.
(vi) Nagarjunakonda: (C 1st century CE – 4th/11th century CE) Nagarjunakonda means “Nagarjuna’s Hill;” it is named after the great Buddhist teacher Nagarjuna himself, who is traditionally believed to have founded the site in the first or second century A.D. During the early centuries, the site housed more than 30 Buddhist monasteries was once the location of a large Buddhist monastic university complex, attracting students from as far as China, Gandhara, Bengal and Sri Lanka. Some brick shrines were constructed in the Krishna River valley between 7th and 12th centuries, when the region was controlled by the Chalukyas of Vengi. Later, the site formed the part of the Kakatiya kingdom and the Delhi Sultanate. It is one of India’s richest Buddhist sites, and now lies almost entirely under the lake created by the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. With the construction of the dam, the archaeological relics at Nagarjunakonda were submerged, and had to be excavated and transferred to higher land, which has become an island.
(vii) Abhayagiri Vihāra (2nd Century BCE- 13th century CE) Abhayagiri Vihara was a major monastery site of Mahayana, Theravada and Vajrayana Buddhism that was situated in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is one of the most extensive ruins in the world and one of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage cities in the nation. Historically it was a great monastic centre as well as a royal capital, with magnificent monasteries rising to many stories “Abhayagiri”, one of seventeen such religious units in Anuradhapura and the largest of its five major viharas. One of the focal points of the complex is an ancient stupa, the Abhayagiri Dagaba. Surrounding the humped dagaba, Abhayagiri Vihara was a seat of the Northern Monastery, or Uttara Vihara and the original custodian of the Tooth relic (relic of the tooth of the Buddha) in the island. Founded in the 2nd century BC, it had grown into an international institution by the 1st century AD, attracting scholars from all over the world and encompassing all shades of Buddhist philosophy. Its influence can be traced to other parts of the world, through branches established elsewhere. Thus, the Abhayagiri Vihara developed as a great institution vis‑a‑vis the Mahavihara and the Jetavana Buddhist monastic sects in the ancient Sri Lankan capital of Anuradhapura. the Abhayagiri monastery advanced in prestige and wealth under the patronage of King Gajabāhu I (AD 113–135). Abhayagiri continued to flourish until Anurādhapura was abandoned in the 13th century. Even then, two of its main colleges continued to operate until the 16th century.
(viii) ⁠Pushpagiri (3rd century CE- 11th century CE) Pushpagiri University was an ancient Buddhist monastery and university in the Kalinga kingdom of India, which is now the state of Odisha. It was a major center of learning and an important Buddhist site and was spread across the Jajpur and Cuttack districts. The Chinese traveler Xuanzang mentioned Pushpagiri in his writings. Pushpagiri University was not just a center of Buddhist learning but also a hub for intellectual exchange. Scholars from across India and beyond came here to study a variety of subjects, ranging from philosophy to medicine and the arts. The teachings at Pushpagiri played a vital role in spreading Buddhist thought across Asia. Monks trained at Pushpagiri traveled to places like China, Japan, and Indonesia, helping to spread Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings. This cross-cultural exchange made Pushpagiri a crucial link in the chain of Buddhist propagation. Archaeological excavations in the Langudi Hills revealed the remains of the monastery. The remnants may still be seen above the Langudi hills, some 90 kilometres from the Mahanadi delta, in the Odisha districts of Jajpur and Cuttack. The entire university that was spread over three campuses on the tops of three adjacent hills, Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri, and Udayagiri, had multiple stupas, monasteries, temples, and sculptures in the Gupta architectural style. Udayagiri is an Odisha Buddhist complex that, along with Udayagiri and Lalitgiri, forms Pushpagiri University and is home to several notable stupas and temples (viharas). According to an epigraphic artefact discovered in the region, Udayagiri was known in the past as ‘Madhavapura Mahavihara. Like many other ancient centers of learning, Pushpagiri faced decline due to foreign invasions.
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