Important universities of ancient India

Ancient Universities of India

1)Taxila University:

 Taxila University was world's first and oldest University which was established in 700 B.C. It was an ancient Brahmanical University located on bank of Indus river. Taxila was the capital city of Gandhara kingdom (Now it is in Pakistan). This University to be at par with Nalanda and Vikramshila universities. Takshila was influenced by Greece culture it was called intellectual capital of India on that time.

This University was famous learning center for Brahmanical and Buddhist education. According to Valmiki Ramayana the name Takshashila come from Taksa(The son of Bharata who was the brother of lord Rama). Alexander Cunningham discovered the ruins of this University in the mid of 19th century.Taxila had so many famous scholars including Chanakya, Panini, Vishnu Sharma,Charaka etc.

In this university education was free of cost, students from different countries came for education. Minimum age level for entering into Takshila University was 16. The university taught various subjects such as Vedas, dance, medical, music, astronomy etc. In 1980 this university was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

2)Nalanda University: 

Nalanda was world's first residential University which was established during 5th century near Rajgriha(Bihar). It was a famous learning centre operating from 427 to 1197CE. The university was built by Gupta emperor Kumar GuptaI (Shankara aditya).Nalanda was consist of 10000 students and 2000 teachers that made it was one amongst the greatest universities like Oxford, Cambridge and Paris universities. During 1197 CE this was ransacked  and burnt by Bakhtiar khilzi.

Nalanda University had specialized training on subject of Tantra shastra. Shilabhadra was the chancellor of the university. Minimum age limit for admission was 20 years, Dhawar pindi was the incharge of admission and entrance examination was very tough, only 20% students was getting the admission into the university. Nalanda was consist of a famous library called Dharma gunja it means mountains of knowledge which was divided into three parts known as Rantasagara, Ratnodevi and Ratnayanjak. Nalanda provided dormitories for the 10000 students documentation for 2000 professors. Nalanda was attracted the students and teachers from different countries such as China,Indonesia,Japan,Sri Lanka,Korea etc. In 2014 modern Nalanda University was established near Rajgir.

3) Odantapuri university:

Odanthapuri or Uddantapura University was built during 7th century by the king of pala density Gopala pala. It was also one of the famous Buddhist University which was located in Bihar near Magadha. Odantapuri was considered as a second oldest University Of ancient India. During 12th century this was destroyed by Mahammad bin bakhtiyar Khilzi along with Nalanda University. According to Tibetan records this university consists of nearly 1000 monks and 12000 students Which served as a model and inspiration for Tibetan buddhists. Odanthapuri Was well known for specialized training centre on subject of tantra(Tantrism).

During 749  Sam-Ye (Bsam-yas) the monastery was model upon odanthapuri and that several distinguished Tibetan scholars studied there.

4)Vallabhi university:

Vallabhi University was another famous Buddhist learning centre which was operated between 600 to 1400CE. Vallabhi  was one of the major trade port in Saurashtra which was located in Bhavanagar (Gujarat) established by the  Bhattaraka the maitraka king. Vallabhi was Hinayana Buddhist learning centre. Along with Buddhism political science, business, agriculture,economic and law etc different courses were available to students. Gunamati and Sthiramati are the two well known Buddhist scholars of this university.

During 7th century a Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang was visited to vallabhi University while Yijing visited at the end of the century. According to these pilgrim vallabhi University was par with famous Buddhist learning centre Nalanda. According to Xuanzang there were about 6000 monks studying there.

5)Jagaddala university:

Jagaddala Mahavihara was built by pal king Raja Rampal this is located at Varendra(North Bengal, Bangladesh). Some famous Buddhist scholars of jagadala university was Vibhuti Chandra, Dhanashila,Mokshakara Gupta,Subhakara Gupta etc.Jagaddala was as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1999.It remained as a centre of Buddhism for about 100 years and it was destroyed in 1203CE. During the period of this university the books were translated in Tibetan languages.

6)Nadia university:

Nadia university was located in Bangal on the bank of Ganga and Jalangi river. University was formerly called as a Navadweep. This university was divided into three parts namely Navadweep, Shantipur,Gopalapura. It is a said that this university was formed after destruction of Nalanda and Takshila Universities.

7) Vikramshila University:

The pala king Raja dharmpal was established Vikramashila University during 8th century in Northern magadha, which is located in Bhagalpur district of Bihar. It is on bank of river Ganga. Most of the students and scholars of Vikramshila University from Tibet. The Vikramshila University known to us only by Tibetan sources by the writings of taranath.Over 1000 students were thought by 100 teachers and it was attracted the students from all over the country as well as from other countries. It was a centre of Vajrayana Buddhism

Important subjects of teaching were logic, philosophy, economics, law, Vedas etc. This university was consist of six colleges and Central building was called Vigyan Bhavan. One of the student at this university was Atia Dipankara founder of Tibetan Buddhist Shakra traditions.  During 1203CE it was destroyed by Mahammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilzi.

8)Mithila University: 

Mithila was another ancient University of India founded by King Janaka the father of Seeta.It is located at Jagban village of Madhubani district in Mithila reason of Bihar. This university was famous for nyaya Shastra and logical science(Tarka shastra) and also famous for Brahmanical system of education. Students receive the degrees after clearing the Salaka pariksha during their studies.

9)Somapura Mahavihara:

Somapura mahavihara was one of the worlds grandest and important learning centre of ancient Bengal. It was also called paharpura vihar. This historic Buddhist learning centre was established by dharma pala during 8th century and flourished up to 12th century and then it was destroyed by Vangala army. Somapura Mahavihara means great monastery which was one of the important intellectual centre of dharmic traditions such as Buddhism Jainism and Hinduism etc. This learning centre was declared as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1985.

10)Pushpagiri:

The pushpagiri mahavihara was established in 3rd century AD, which presently located in Langudi hills of Jaipur district,Odisha. much of the mahavihara's history is remain unknown  because As per the report of 2017 ruins of mahavihara had not fully excavated. Pushpagiri is referenced in the writings of Chinese traveller Xuanzang. This mahavihara contains of three types of monastery complexes i.e Lalithagiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri which were  rich in ancient archaeological monuments,these three monastery complexes were called as a diamond triangles.