Learning from history
Founded in the fifth century, India's Nalanda University was a seat of scholarly endeavour for 800 years. Now, nearly a millennium later, an international effort is being made to revive the once-great institution, writes Amrit Dhillon
At a time when Europe was mired in the Dark Ages, one lamp of learning shone brightly in the East, illuminating generations upon generations of minds. Nalanda University, an ancient seat of Buddhist learning and one of India's lost glories, was founded in the fifth century and earned a reputation for intellectual excellence long before Oxford or Cambridge universities were built.
In the 12th century, that light went out. Muslim invaders rampaged through Bihar, in the northeast of India, sacking Nalanda. Legend has it that the multi-storey library and its great towers, bejewelled and gilded to reflect the rays of the sun, was so vast it took weeks to burn. Persian historian Minhaj-i-Siraj narrated how "smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills".
The marauders destroyed what many say was the world's first university. Its name and reputation were known across Asia, even as far away as Greece. For 800 years, it was a centre of knowledge not only for Buddhist studies but for philosophy, medicine, astronomy and mathematics. Nalanda ceased to exist just when other universities were opening in Bologna, Italy, Paris, France, and Oxford, England.
Now, almost 1,000 years later, a group of men and women are working to revive Nalanda University. The institution is being recreated close to the spot it occupied a millennium ago - where only a few ruins remain of the original red-brick complex - and the hope is that it, too, will become an international centre of learning, with top faculty and students from around the world.
The idea was conceived by Indian Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, and efforts are being driven by scholars and statesmen. Given the scale of the US$500 million project - and the fact that India does not have much recent experience of establishing grand universities - China, Japan, Thailand and Singapore are lending their support.
"The history of Nalanda is an inspiration for the future of Asia. It's a legacy that has enriched Asia and I hope the new university will bring Asia together," says George Yeo Yong Boon, a former minister in Singapore and now a vice-chairman of Hong Kong's Kerry Group (the controlling shareholder of the SCMP Group, which publishes this magazine).
Faculty are being recruited and admissions are about to begin for the first intake of students. Invitations have been sent to research fellows and scholars. Vice-chancellor Gopa Sabharwal says she is pushing to have the residential building and other amenities ready in time because she wasn't happy with the original plan, which was to use temporary premises.
