Why Muslims destroyed world's 1st university

Bodhisattva, Jan. 30, 2022; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Why Muhammed Bakhtiyar Khilji burnt the Nalanda Buddhist University: the real reasons and firsthand accounts

(Bodhisattva) Why did Khilji slaughter thousands of monks and why did he then set the entire university on fire?

Was this the result of some misunderstanding or done on purpose with the objective of bringing Islam and driving Buddhism out of India? What do the accounts of the eyewitnesses of this unthinkable massacre tell us? Do they report a different motive for the bloodshed and burning of 9 million books?

Bakhtiyar Khilji arrived at Nalanda University with only 200 Central Asian horsemen. The six-story maha-vihara ("great monastery") looked like a huge military fort without any beginning or end.

Khilji killed thousands of monks and burned the nine-story library of the university. At any given time more than 1,500 Buddhist teachers and 10,000 students (first monastics then open to lay people from all over Asia) used to live in this university.

CHAPTERS

• 0:00 - Intro
• 2:02 - Eyewitness Accounts
• 5:01 - History and Significance of Nalanda University
• 8:28 - Destruction by Bakhtiyar Khilji
• 9:41- Impact on Buddhism

They were caught completely unaware of the impending attack. The next several hours were some of the most shameful hours in the long history of India (Great Bharat).

Every single teacher and student was murdered in one of the most horrible massacres the country has ever seen. The destruction was so complete that when he asked his soldiers to bring someone who could explain the content of the books, the soldiers could not find a single person alive.

They discovered that the entire city and hundreds of buildings spread in several kilometers was not a "fort" but a university, which the locals called Bihar (Vihar = monastic complex).

Khilji looted the monastery and obtained a great quantity of plunder. Before leaving the monastery, Khalji ordered the library and university to be set on fire.

With that, all the knowledge that was stored in those books and manuscripts was burned to ashes along with the bodies of the murdered monastics.

The millions of books of the library kept on burning for more than three months. But why did General Khalji kill thousands of innocent and unarmed monks, and why did he set the entire library and university on fire?

Was this result of some accidental misunderstanding or on purpose? What do the accounts of the eyewitnesses of this massacre tell us? Do they paint a better motive for the bloodshed and burning of millions of books?

Let’s explore one of the most shameful events in the history of humankind. #Nalanda #Khilji #University

CREDITS

• Timurid Siege of Multan (Mydust)
• Konark palm leaf manuscript (Amshpatten)
• Sanskrit written on the Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur (Matthew T. Rader)
• Ancient Monasteries Bihar Sharif (Odantapuribs)
• Front view of Vikramshila Monastery (Deepak Kumar Sharma)
• Buddhaghosa with three copies of Visuddhimagga (Photo Dharma)
• Painting of Battle of Tarain - Rajput States (Amit20081980)
• 1572-The Wounding of Khan Kilan by Rajputs-Akbarnama (Victoria and Albert Museum)
• Maharaja Chhatrasal (SPVCA)
• Nalanda University India (Hiroki Ogawa)