Nalanda and Buddhism in Harsha’s Age

At a Glance

• Centre Nalanda, Bihar
• Pilgrims Hsuan Tsang, I-tsing
• Students 10,000 per Hsuan Tsang; 3000 per I-tsing
• Support Revenue of 100 to 200 villages
• Assemblies Kanauj and Prayag
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Gupta Age and Post-Gupta Kingdoms

Where Does It Fit?

This is the twelfth topic of the category on the Gupta age and post-Gupta kingdoms. The previous topic covered Harsha, and this one covers his religious world and Nalanda. The next topic covers the Chalukyas, Pallavas and the Kalabhra revolt. Previous topic: Harsha and his Times.

What Was the State of Buddhism in the Seventh Century?

In short: Buddhism was split and weaker in its old centres, but Nalanda thrived as a Mahayana university.

The Buddhists were divided into eighteen sects when Hsuan Tsang was in India, and the old centres of Buddhism had fallen on bad days. The most famous centre was Nalanda, a great Buddhist university for monks, where Mahayana philosophy was taught. The Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang left China in AD 629, studied at Nalanda, collected Buddhist texts, and returned in AD 645; another account says he stayed about five years at the university. He reports that Nalanda had as many as 10,000 students, all monks. Excavations show a very impressive complex raised and renovated over seven hundred years from the fifth century onwards, but the exposed buildings could not hold 10,000 monks, and the pilgrim I-tsing, who visited in AD 670, says only 3000 monks lived there, which is more reasonable. According to Hsuan Tsang the monastery was supported by the revenues of 100 villages, and I-tsing raises the number to 200. Nalanda thus had a huge monastic establishment under Harshavardhana. The earlier Gupta-age foundations are in Gupta Art and Architecture.

What Did Nalanda Teach and Who Taught There?

Nalanda reached its utmost fame in this period. Students and scholars from Buddhist countries such as China, Japan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Tibet and from Central and South-east Asia stayed and studied there, according to another account. Shilabhadra, a reputed Buddhist scholar who probably came from Assam, was head of the university when Hsuan Tsang visited, and teachers included Dharmapala, Chandrapala, Bhadrihari, Jayasena, Devakara and Matanga, who had royal patronage. Hsuan Tsang spent about five years at Nalanda, and returned with 150 relics of the Buddha, many gold, silver and sandalwood Buddha images and 657 volumes of manuscripts. Nalanda continued to flourish as the chief seat of Buddhist learning under the Palas, who gave villages to maintain a monastery built by the king of Suvarnadipa. The site was ransacked about 1200 by the army of Bakhtiyar Khalji and later forgotten; excavations that began in 1915 uncovered 11 monasteries and 6 brick temples. The monastic education of this age is also described in Buddhist Councils, Decline of Buddhism and its Significance.

How Did Harsha Treat Buddhism?

Harsha followed a tolerant religious policy. A Shaiva in his early years, he gradually became a great patron of Buddhism, apparently under the influence of his sister Rajyasri and Hsuan Tsang. As a devout Buddhist he convened a grand assembly at Kanauj to publicise the doctrines of Mahayana. It was attended by Hsuan Tsang, Bhaskaravarman of Kamarupa, kings of twenty states and several thousand priests of different sects. Two thatched halls were built for 1000 persons each, and a huge tower held a golden statue of the Buddha as tall as the king. Hsuan Tsang opened the discussion on the virtues of Mahayana and challenged the audience to refute him; nobody came forward for five days, and then rivals plotted against his life. Harsha threatened to behead anyone harming the pilgrim. Then the tower caught fire and there was an attempt to assassinate Harsha; he arrested 500 brahmanas, banished most and executed a few, which shows that he was not as tolerant as portrayed. After Kanauj, a great assembly at Prayag was attended by tributary princes, ministers and nobles. A Buddha image was worshipped and discourses were given by Hsuan Tsang, and at its end Harsha made huge donations. Another account describes the Prayag assemblies as held every five years, called the Mahamoksha Parishad, with gifts to Buddhists, Vedic scholars and the poor.

As an analytical point, Harsha’s Buddhism was real but combined with support to brahmanas and Vedic scholars, which reflects the pluralism of the age, and the monastic wealth that grew in this period is a strand in the later story of Buddhism’s decline. The ruler is in Harsha and his Times, and the later development of eastern monasteries is in Brahmanisation, Land Grants and Peasant Protest in the Peninsula.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Nalanda Prelims favourite
• Source comparison Hsuan Tsang and I-tsing
• Religious policy Harsha’s tolerance

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the Chalukyas, Pallavas and the Kalabhra revolt. Next topic: Chalukyas, Pallavas and the Kalabhra Revolt.

Key People and Terms

• Nalanda Buddhist monastic university
• Hsuan Tsang Chinese pilgrim, prince of pilgrims
• I-tsing Chinese pilgrim, AD 670
• Mahayana Great Vehicle
• Shilabhadra Head of Nalanda
• Mahamoksha Parishad Prayag assembly of charity

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask about Nalanda and Harsha’s religion. These points add depth.

• Education Nalanda
• Royal policy Tolerance and limits
• Sources Pilgrims