The University of Nalanda c2.1

c2.1

The monastic revolution started by Gautama Buddha in the sixth century before the Christian era developed into such an extraordinary institution that, even after its division into the two large branches of *Mahāyāna* and *Hinayāna*, it produced extraordinary results in knowledge and civilization. During a period that lasts roughly twelve centuries, all the wisdom of Northern India was centred round the Buddhist *vihāras* and *sanghārāmas*.