The University of Nalanda c16.27

c16.27

Needless to say, the description of the so called fort of Bihar refers to the capture and destruction of a Buddhist monastery. Now this monastery has been identified² with the monastery of Odantapuri, founded by Rāmapāla, on the strength of the remarks of Taranath. He observes, “In the country between the Ganges and the Jumna the Turuṣka king appeared and by means of several Bhikṣus who were his messengers, he with other small kings of the Turuṣkas living in Bengal and other parts of the country, invaded and he conquered the whole of Magadha, killed many clerics in Odandapura, destroyed this as well as Vikramaśilā and on the spot of the old Vihāra a fortress of the Turuṣkas was erected.”³ Samaddar places this event in 1199 A.D. and generalizes: “This was the year of the destruction of all the Buddhistic places of learning in Bihar, Nālandā, Vikramaśilā and Odandapura.”⁴