World's 1st university: Buddhist Nalanda (BBC)

BBC Reel, June 10, 2022; Bodhisattva; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How the world's oldest university was lost for 800 years (BBC)

(BBC Reel) Founded more than 1,500 years ago, India's ancient Nalanda [Buddhist monastic] University is thought to have been the world's first residential university.

The Buddha-to-be went to college at Taxila

Established more than 500 years before England's Oxford University, at its peak Nalanda hosted over 10,000 students from around the world.

It is considered by historians to be one of the great centers of learning of the ancient world.

• [Two other perhaps older universities were at Timbuktu, in Islamic Africa, and the school the Bodhisattva ("Buddha-to-be") attended along with Ananda in a previous life, Taxila/Takkasila, the capital of ancient Gandhara (modern Pakistan), which is mentioned in the Jataka Tales.]

Nalanda University was destroyed towards the end of the 12th Century AD. Its legendary library was burned to the ground, and much of its ancient knowledge was lost.

Now, 800 years later, it is being revived for the modern age.

Video by Mithun Pramanik. Commissioned by Dan John. #bbcnews #bbc #india #bbcreel #india #university #indian

Why did Muslims destroy it?

(Bodhisattva) Why Turko-Afghan mass murderer Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji burned down Nalanda Buddhist University and killed all of its resident monk teachers and monastic students: real reasons and firsthand accounts.

Where in the world is Timbuktu?

In its Golden Age, Timbuktu's numerous Islamic scholars and extensive trading network supported an important book trade, together with the campuses of Sankore Madrasa, an Islamic university.

This established Timbuktu as a scholarly center in Africa. Several notable historic writers, such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus, wrote about the city.

These stories fueled speculation in Europe, where the city's reputation shifted from being extremely rich to being mysterious. More

[So white Europeans destroyed it, took its knowledge, then denied it ever existed. This created the joke that "Timbuktu" is synonymous with "Podunk," a faraway or nonexistent place.]