Nalanda was a renowned Buddhist mahavihara in ancient and medieval Magadha, eastern India. Widely considered to be among the greatest centres of learning in the ancient world, and often referred to as "the world's first residential university", it was located near the city of Rajagriha, roughly 90 kilometres (56 mi) southeast of Pataliputra. Operating from 427 CE until around 1400 CE, Nalanda played a vital role in promoting the patronage of arts and academics during the 5th and 6th century CE, a period that has since been described as the "Golden Age of India" by scholars.
Xuanzang, born Chen Hui or Chen Yi, also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645, his efforts to bring at least 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts. He was only able to translate 75 distinct sections of a total of 1335 chapters, but his translations included some of the most important Mahayana scriptures.
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire on the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century CE to mid 6th century CE. It was the seventh ruling dynasty of Magadha. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period has been considered as the Golden Age of India by historians, although this characterisation has been disputed by some other historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Gupta and the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II, Kumaragupta I and Skandagupta.
East Asian Yogācāra refers to the traditions in East Asia which developed out of the Indian Buddhist Yogācāra systems. In East Asia, this school of Buddhist idealism was known by the names of "Consciousness-Only school" and "Dharma Characteristics school" traditional Chinese: 法相宗; ; pinyin: Fǎxiàng-zōng; Japanese pronunciation: Hossō-shū; Korean: 법상종).
The Pudgalavāda was a Buddhist philosophical view and also refers to a group of Nikaya Buddhist schools that arose from the Sthavira nikāya. The school is believed to have been founded by the elder Vātsīputra in the third century BCE. They were a widely influential school in India and became particularly popular during the reign of emperor Harshavadana. Harsha's sister Rajyasri was said to have joined the school as a nun. According to Dan Lusthaus, they were "one of the most popular mainstream Buddhist sects in India for more than a thousand years."
The history of Buddhism can be traced back to the 5th century BCE. Buddhism arose in Ancient India, in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha, and is based on the teachings of the renunciate Siddhārtha Gautama. The religion evolved as it spread from the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent throughout Central, East, and Southeast Asia. At one time or another, it influenced most of Asia.
Sthiramati was a 6th-century Indian Buddhist scholar-monk. Sthiramati was a student of a Yogācāra scholar named Gunamati, and he was also a contemporary of another 6th century Yogācāra scholar, Dharmapala of Nālandā. Sthiramati is connected with Valābhi university, and also with Nālandā. Evidence from two inscriptions indicate that a figure named Sthiramati founded a monastery at Valābhi.
The Maitraka dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Valabhi in western India from approximately 475 to 776 from their capital at Vallabhi. With the sole exception of Dharapaṭṭa, who is associated with sun-worship, they were followers of Shaivism. Their origin is uncertain but they were probably Chandravanshi Kshatriyas.
Buddhism, which originated in India, gradually dwindled starting in the 4th-6th century CE, and was replaced by Hinduism approximately the 12th century, in a centuries-long process. Lack of appeal among the rural masses, who instead embraced Brahmanical Hinduism formed in the Hindu synthesis, and dwindling financial support from trading communities and royal elites, were major factors in the decline of Buddhism.
Vallabhi is an ancient city located in the Saurashtra peninsula of Gujarat, near Bhavnagar in western India. It is also known as Vallabhipura and was the capital of the Kingdom of Valabhi, an early medieval state ruled by the Chandravanshi Maitraka Dynasty.
Buddhism is an ancient Indian religion, which arose in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha. It is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE and was deemed a "Buddha". However, Buddhist doctrine holds that there were other Buddhas before him. Buddhism spread outside of Magadha starting in the Buddha's lifetime.
Bhaskarbarman was king of medieval Kamarupa and the last of the Barman dynasty. After being captured by the Gauda king during the reign of his father, he was able to re-establish the rule of the Varmans. He made political alliances with Harshavardhana of Thaneswar, against the alliance of the Gauda and East Malwa. He was visited by Xuanzang and Wang Xuance, the envoys of the Tang dynasty who have left accounts of the king and the kingdom.
The Records of the Western Regions, also known by its Chinese name as the Datang Xiyuji or Da Tang Xiyu Ji and by various other translations and Romanized transcriptions, is a narrative of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang's nineteen-year journey from Tang China through the Western Regions to medieval India and back during the mid-7th century CE.
A variety of ancient higher-learning institutions were developed in many cultures to provide institutional frameworks for scholarly activities. These ancient centres were sponsored and overseen by courts; by religious institutions, which sponsored cathedral schools, monastic schools, and madrasas; by scientific institutions, such as museums, hospitals, and observatories; and by respective scholars. They are to be distinguished from the Western-style university, an autonomous organization of scholars that originated in medieval Europe and has been adopted in other regions in modern times.
The Gurjaras of Lata, also known as Gurjaras of Nandipuri or Bharuch Gurjaras, was a dynasty which ruled Lata region as a feudatory of different dynasties from c. 580 CE to c. 738 CE.
Śīlabhadra (529–645) was a Buddhist monk and philosopher. He is best known as being an abbot of Nālandā monastery in India, as being an expert on Yogācāra teachings, and for being the personal tutor of the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang.
Yijing, formerly romanized as I-ching or I-tsing, born Zhang Wenming, was a Tang-era Chinese Buddhist monk famed as a traveller and translator. His account of his travels are an important source for the history of the medieval kingdoms along the sea route between China and India, especially Srivijaya in Indonesia. He also gave accounts of the Gupta Period. A student of the Buddhist university at Nālandā, he was also responsible for the translation of many Buddhist texts from Sanskrit and Pali into Chinese.
Shiladitya of "Mo-la-po" was a 6th-century king of India, known only from the writings of the 7th-century Chinese traveler Xuanzang. Several modern scholars identify this king as the Maitraka king Shiladitya I alias Dharmaditya, although alternative theories exist.
The Indian subcontinent has a long history of education and learning from the era of Indus Valley civilization. Important ancient institutions of learning in ancient India are the Buddhist Mahaviharas of Takshashila, Kashmir Smast, Nalanda, Valabhi, Pushpagiri, Odantapuri, Vikramashila, Somapura, Bikrampur, Jagaddala.
The Kingdom of Valabhi was an early medieval kingdom in Western India from 475 to 776. It was founded by Bhatarka, a warlord in the Magadhan Empire, and ruled by the Maitraka dynasty.
