Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.361

c8.361

The stone inscription of Bālāditya was found on the door of a temple belonging to Nālandā (Gauḍalekhamālā, I, p. 102). This temple was built by Bālāditya for the Buddha at Nālandā (E.I., XX, 37ff.). The terra-cotta seal of Viṣṇugupta was excavated from the monastery site No. 1 at Nālandā (E.I., XXVI, Pt. V, January, 1942). Two Maukhari seals were discovered at Nālandā at the monastery site No. 1 (E.I., XXIV, Pt. V, April, 1938). The Shahpur Stone Image Inscription of Ādityasena refers to it in the neighbourhood of Shahpur, being identified by Cunningham with the modern Baragaon, seven miles north of Rajgir. A stone image inscription, known as the Nālandā Vāgīśvarī Stone Image Inscription, has been discovered in the ruins of Nālandā. This inscription records the erection of a statue of Vāgīśvarī at Nālandā, in the first year of the reign of Gopāladeva (J.A.S.B., 1908, VI, new series, pp. 105-6). According to the Ghosrawan inscription of the time of Devapāladeva (I.A., XVII, 307ff.), Viradeva, son of Indragupta of Nāgarahāra, was entrusted with the administration of Nālandā (Nālandāparipālanāya niyataḥ Saṅghashite yaḥ sthitaḥ). Among the seals connected with the Buddhist Saṅghas, the majority belongs to the Mahāvihāra at Nālandā (E.I., XXI, 72ff.; Ibid., 307ff.). Nālandā had scholars well-known for their knowledge of the sacred texts and arts (E.I., XX, 43).