Nalanda through time
Now Nalanda, near Rajgir, Bihar
Theme 9 · 5th century BCE to 13th century CE
Buddhism and Jainism: later development and decline
Under Kumaragupta I and then the Palas, 5th to 12th century; destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khilji about 1193
Theme 10 · 319 to 550 CE
Founded under Kumaragupta I; the greatest monastic university of the ancient world, lasting to the end of the twelfth century
Theme 12b · 606 to 1036 CE
North India: Harsha, Palas, Pratiharas
Xuanzang describes ten thousand students, with free food and lodging; the Sailendra king sought Devapala's leave to build a monastery here
Theme M3 · 1150 to 1210 CE
The second Turkish invasion and the Rajput kingdoms
Sacked in Bakhtiyar's campaigns about 1200 to 1203; Dharmasvamin found a handful of monks still teaching here in 1235