The University of Nalanda c9.57

c9.57

Nālandā, no sooner it was founded by Śakrāditya and extended by his son Buddhagupta-rājā and his successor Tathāgatagupta-rājā, than was destroyed by Mihirakula.¹ It stands to reason that Nālandā, as it was built by Śakrāditya must have come in to great prominence as an educational centre, otherwise his son and successors would not have expended their energy over institutions that were not prospering. On the contrary, the fact that they went on adding more colleges to the existing ones points to another fact that they responded to the growing need of greater accommodation for the ever increasing number of students. We have, thus, shown that the one period of the history of Nālandā exactly fits in with the first part of the prophecy. As to the second part, *viz.*, "much blood will be spilt", we have got archaeological evidence to show that Nālandā was destroyed more than once.²