CHAPTER I t A BRIEF GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL BACK GROUND OF nJ^LANDK

Nalanda which Is sltxiated about 95 kms south east of and 10 kms north of Rajglr# ancient Rajagrha« is famous for its monastic establishment. It is located at 25°8» N latitude and 85®27*^E longitude, is known to have played a significant role in the history of later Buddhism* Archaeologists and historians have identified this place with the modem village of

Baragaon in the district of Patna^. The name Baragaon has been derived from the original name vihara^ - grama.

A The climate of this region is characterised by a pleasant cold-season, a hot and somewhat dry summer and a monsoon season with its moist heat and oppressive nights*

The winter starts early in November and lasts till about the middle of M a r c h , The summer follows and continues till mid - J\ine when the South-west monsoons commence. The monsoon season is generally over by thps end of September; October is transition month* In the alluvial region which forms the greater portion of the Patna« Gaya and Nalanda districts rlce« wheat# pulses, sugar-cane and a great variety of other

crops are extensively grown* The areas not xinder

cultivation are bare or dotted over by clumps of bamboos

and mango orchards* Throughout this tract the mango*, plpal and banyan are connon# the other principal trees being the Bel« Nlm, Slrls« Slsu^ Jack-fruit*

The carnivora of the districts ccraprlse leopard,

hyaena and some smaller animals, such as Jackal, fox

and wild cat* Nilgai (baselaphus tragocamelus)# Black

buck (antllope cervlcapra) and wild pigs also Inhabit

the area* Leopards are occasionally found In the

southern hills extending south - west wards from Glrlak

and confine their depredations to cattle, sheep, goats,

dogs and small ponies* The black bear (Ursus lablatus)

is also occasionally sighted in the Rajglr hills, wild

pig is seen in the neighbourhood, and also on the chars

and dlaras of the son and the Ganga*

The game birds in the hills consist of Pea-fowl,

J\ingle fowl, grey partridge, black partridge and the

bush Quail* Green pigeons eu:e conmon and rock pigeons

also visit the plains during harvest time. The Ganga and Son contain a great number of edible £lshes» Fish of all kinds and all sizes are caught* but the most valuable belong to the Carp family* such as Rohu and Katla.

Propoises abound in the Ganga and tortoises are also coramon. Both the snub-nosed crocodile and the gharial are found in the same river* Various species of snakes are found throughout the region*

It has been claimed that Buddha and Mahavira visited Nalanda several times. The mango grove of Pavarika (Pava) was Buddha *a favourite ha\int* Being the bixrth place as veil as the place of demise of

Sariputta received for the Buddhist sanctities* Taranatha* the celebrated Buddhist scholar, mentions that As^'oka worshipped the Chaitya of Sariputta and erected a temple there*

According to some Jaina texts# it was* perhaps# — — M 8 at the same place that Mahavira met Mankkhali Gosala •

The early history of the monastic establishment of Nalanda can be traced back to the reign of the great

Mauryan King# A&oka* According to Taranatha Asoka gave offerings to the Chaitya of Sariputra and constructed a

temple* However# archaeological excavations at Nalanda have not yet revealed any proof that it was occupied prior to the time of the Imperial Guptas* Undoubtedly it began to asstime importance from the time of the late

Gupta Kings (5th-6th century A.D.)* Epigraphic#

Numismatic and literary evidences shed light on the flourishing state of monastic establishments at Nalanda from the 5th to the end of 12th centuries A.D* Yuan- chwang# the celebrated Chinese pilgrim# who had spent some time in one of the monasteries of Nalanda# presented a detailed graphic account of the various Buddhist establishments* According to him "A foimer king of the country named Sakraditya selected by augury a luc3cy spot' and built here a monastery* His successors Budhagupta#

Tathagata gupta* Baladitya and Vajra built some monasteries near lay Sakradity *s^* Sakraditya has been identified by Yuan chwang as Kumara gupta I (413-455 A.D.)# the mona­ steries of Nalanda were founded during his reign* That the monasteries of Nalanda were the creation of the Gupta kings* beginning with Kumara gupta I receives further confirmation from the fact that Fa-Hien, the Chinese

Pilgrim, who visited early 5th century A.D./ in the time of Chandra gupta II Vikramaditya, does not mention the monastic establishment at Nalanda* Fa-Hien referred the village 'Nalo• is one Yojana or Seven miles away from Rajagriha where Giryek temple is located* Yuan chwang also supported the view and said that Nalanda was one Yojana away from Raj agriha* l^Uan chwang further cononented that Nalanda was situated about seven Yojanas i#e«« about fortynine miles away from the holy pipal tree# at Bodh-gaya/ under which the Buddha attained

Salvation^. This is really a correct description since by road» it measured Nalanda, will be forty miles away from Bodh-gaya. According to the Sarayutta Nikaya there was a road from Raj agriha to Nalanda and the Buddha took this road in course of one of his journeys and during 7 his travel« once he was seen seated on the road side*

The present site of Nalanda was identified in the past by various other names* It was known as Nalaka or Nalakagramaka • It is possible that Nala, Nalaka«

Nalakagrama and Nalanda were different names for the same place* some ancient legends suggest that the name

Nalanda is derived frc»i the name of a dragon called

Nalanda believed to have lived in a pool to the south of Nalanda near a mango grove* Yaan chwang narrate a similar story - that the place was named after the Naga who resided in a local pond* To him, in one of his previous births the Buddha became a king and his capital

— — 9 — « was at Nalanda * In the Mahavastu^, the place has been referred to as Nalanda grama3ca^®« I-Tsing# another

Chinese Traveller who visited India after ^ a n chwang believed that Nalanda derived Its name frcxn Nagananda^^. considering the two contradictory statements of Yuan chwang and I-Tsing, Sankalia Surmises that I-Tsing referred to the name of a Naga where as Yuan chwang recorded the name which Naga acquired afterwardso According to Sankalia this Naga came to be known as the Naga of

Nalanda that was subsequently shortened into Naganalanda or Nalandanaga^^. Incidentally it may be mentioned that

Cunningham, who carried out excavations at Nalanda repoirted the existence of a small tank called Kargidya

Pokhar# the location of which corresponds exactly to that of the Nalanda tank mentioned in written records and is the identical part of the Naga^^.

Beal came forward with a new idea regarding to the name Nalanda* He tried to analyse the etymological

» —1 4 meaning of the term Nalanda • He divided the word

Nalanda as 'na-alam-da' which means *not giving enough* or *not having enough to give.' This meaning, however# does not seem to fit# considering the famous reputation acquired by the Institutions at Nalanda. Contrary to this suggestion a C h in e s e source came forward to state that in one of his former births the Buddha was b o m as the king of this place and was known for his charities*

He never uttered such words as 'na-alam-da* by which the place came to be known as Nalanda^^. In the account of this Chinese traveller the name Nalanda derived from the lotus-pool (Lotus stand for Nala); a place of lotuses.

The history of the territory now comprising the state of , though It has some degree of unity in great extent the history of two distinct regions, separated by the Ganga* The North of the great river Ganga stretched towards and to the forward the south. Mlthlla was first aryanlzed, but It lost prominence to , which became the centre of great empires. The former was usually a strong hold of Brahraanic orthodoxy, while the latter was one of the earliest homes of Buddhism, and it continued as the centre of that faith vintll the musllm conquest. Thus the character and fortunes of the two parts of Bihar have been very different#

The districts of Nalanda and Patna formed a part of Magadha, it is curious and interesting to examine how the word “Magadha" originated and what it signifies.

The Rgveda does not mention this word. In the Yajurveda we often find minstrels, called , singing on the t 16 occasion of Sacrifice . Martin is of the opinion that

Magadha was named after the Maga caste of Brahmanas who are said to have come from SakadvTpa^^. However, we know that the region was known by the name of Magadha long before the ^akas had penetrated India. Zimmer^® and 8

19 Weber Identify Magadha with the region knovm as Klkata in the Rgveda.

The word Magadha actually occurs in the Atharvaveda^®^ where its inhabitants are held in deep contempt together with the Afigas« Gandharas and others. According to

Varaha - mihira MagadhST was situated in the eastern division of India. However# the Vayu-Purana• 22 included

Magadha in earlier texts, often considered a non-Aryan land in the Madhya desa*

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata often refer to

Magadha. Asoka used the word Magadha in one of his 23 Inscriptions . None of the so\irces present a clear pictiire of the exact extent of Magadha. In modern times

Magadha is identified with the districts Nalanda# Patna#

Gaya# Nawadah and the northern part of the Hazaribagh.

But ancient Magadha seems to have covered a larger area than these districts. The Champeya Jataka states that the river Champa flowed between Anga and Magadha# which indicates that at least a portion of the Modem Bhagalpur district was actually in Magadha. The Ganga was the northern limit of Magadha as it flowed between the states of Lichchavl and Magadha. Malalsekara says that "At the time of Buddha, the kingdom of Magadha was bounded on the east by the vindhyan mountains on the west by the Sona 9

24 and on the north by the Ganga •" However, he gives no

reason for his specification of the southern and western

boundaries which are not described in any source known

to us, Pr

there was a state called Modagiri between Magadha and

Aftga* Modagiri is identified as Monghyr# and the existence

of this kingdom is also proved by Yuan chwang •

The extent of Magadha on the south has not been

defined clearly^ though Malalsekara seems to be right

when he says that Magadha extended towards the south

upto the Vindhyan hills which would have formed a natural

boundary* The people of North Hazaribagh district still

use the Magahi dialect and therefore this area may have

formed a part of Magadha in ancient days.

27 On the west N.L. Dey thinks that Magadha extended upto Benaras* Cunningham^® contracts the western limit

to the Karmanala which is at present the western limit

of Bihar. His arguments based on the distances given by

Yaan chwang*

In the there are hills at Rajgrha,

Giriak and only* We find mention of the mountains of Rajagrha in Pali» Prakrit and Sanskrit

literature* 10

The Vimana-Vatthu'— s commentary 29 and some other • • Buddhist texts mention the five hills of Rajgrha* Their

statements are corroborated by the Ramayana^® and the

Mahabharata^^•

All these hills have different names in different periods. The Isigilli-Sutta^^ states the hills at

Rajgrha except the Issigilli had different names in

different ages* The Mahabharata supplies two lists of

the hills at Rajgrha. The Buddhist texts invariably use

the same names, but they differ in their evidence for

the location of the hills.

The golden age of Nalanda started after the period

of Guptas. The Chinese traveller# Fa-Hien# who travelled

and visited Nalanda in the Gupta period# noted the

existence of a stupa of Sariputta but did not mention anything about the hundred and eight temples referred to

by Taranatha as having been constructed earlier by one

Suvisnu. The existence of these temples is dubious since • • Pa-Hien does not mention them any where©

"^an chwang clearly refers to the Gupta kings and

their patronage at Nalanda; He mentions Biladitya# possibly a Gupta ruler# who built a temple there. Besides - - / - Baladitya#, e king Sakraditya and his son and Successor

Budhagupta built two monasteries at Nalanda. Another 11

monastery was added by Tathagata gupta whose son Vajra built the fifth SaAgharama and raised the sixth monastery.

Sankalia considers the kings mentioned by Y\ian chwang as the Gupta rulers, and identifies the king of mid India as king Harshavardhana and he has been referred twice by the Chinese Pilgrim in relation to the Universityo Harsha­ vardhana openly favoured Buddhism and patronised a Samgharama at Nalanda* No other king of mid India is known to have built a samgharama at that time in Nalanda^^* / _ _ Sakraditya has been identified by some scholars as Kumara gupta I (413-455 A.D.)* Buddhagupta is associated with the Buddhagupta of the imperial Gupta line who ruled frcxn

476-496 A*D« Yuan chwang mentions Baladitya as the person who faught with the HUna Chief Mlhiralcula^^*

It is however, a matter of serious consideration whether the Guptas who were basically Hindu by faith, cane forward to patronise Buddhist monasteries at Nalanda*

Although Fa-Hien visited Nalanda in 410 A.D« his accounts

Contain no reference to the educational importance of

Nalanda* Sankalia, a^ter having carefully studied the A writings of Pa-Hien, concluded that Fa-Hien never visited

Nalanda therefore fails to give a d ear picture of the place. In fact Fa-Hien did not even refer to the correct name of village although the place was known as Nalanda for centuries after Buddha^^. The association between 12 the Gupta rulers and Nalanda has however been established by the discovery of a nximber seals of Narasimha gupta#

Kuralra gupta# Buddha gupta and Vlsnu gupta. An inscription • • of Yalovannroadeva (8th century A*D«) clearly mention^^ the offering of some gifts and a permanent grant to the image of the Buddha in a temple built by Baladitya*

YUan chwang refers to Pumavarmana who patronised - -37 an Eighty feet high copper image of Buddha at Nalanda •

He also refers to Harsa of KanauJ (606-647 A«D*} as a king who did a lot for the development of Nalanda* According to Yuan chwang, Harsa channelized the revenue collected from hundred villages and two hundred house 38 holders towards the maintenance of Nalanda monasteries •

He further writes that Harsa built a great monastery with ♦ brass plates and constructed high walls around all the monasteries • Sankalia is of the view that the provisions sanctioned by Harshavardhana were for the maintenance 40 of students and towards the expenses of Scholars •

By the time Yuan chwang visited Nalanda# it had already developed into an important centre of learning*

Nalanda retained its glorius reputation from 7th centxiry to 12th century A*D* Yuan chwang stayed at Nalanda and studied Buddhist religion and philosophy during the first half of the 7th century A.D* Thereafter# a number of

Chinese and Korean travellers followed suit* Y\aan chwang *s Ij account of Nalanda did not end with references to Harsha's patronization.

He further mentioned that building activities at

Nalanda were continued by a number of kings after Harsa. This statement is not very clear "A long succession of kings'*# who continued the building activities is a difficult phrase coined by YUan chwang. Perhaps it would be better to conclude that a number of kings after

Baladitya and before Harsa continued the building activities at Nalanda* A scholar in this field# takes this phrase to mean a long succession of kings belonging to the line of the so called later guptas and other who flourished after Harsa*^. Next to the Guptas and Harshavardhana, the dynasty that took interest in Nalanda and its activities were the Varroans# who were Maukharis. Yuan chwang refers to a monximental image# in copper of Buddha# donated by

Pumavarman# whom he identifies as belonging to the

Maukhari dynasty. Of the few titular Vartnan seals discovered at Nalanda^, one of them contains the name of

Suresvannana • But information from these seals being scanty# is not very illuminative* The subsequent discovery of a stone inscription firmly established the case of Varmanas and their patronisation in Nalanda— *-43 •

In this connection a reference may be made of Ya&ovarmadeva# 14

probably the same name of the king who had his capital 44 at KanauJ and who flourished between Clr. 728-745 A.D. •

The history of Nalandi here after was largely controlled by the Pala kings of Bengal and Bihar who extended generous gifts for the maintenance of monasteries there. With incessent royal patronage and lavish bounties#

Nalanda became a great centre of Mahayana - Vajrayana# fr(»a where Buddhist monks diffused the teachings to distant lands.

The Palas established their supremacy in 8th century A.D.» and continued to rule in Bengal and Bihar upto the 12th century A.D. The kings in this royal succession were Buddhists. Epigraphic and literary sources provide ample testimony to the patronage they — -45 — extended in support of Buddhism at Nalanda • Gopala, the first ruler of the Pala dynasty is said to have established another University in Uddandapura (odd- antapura of oddantapuri) present Biharsharif, Bihar# with a batch of scholars from Nalanda.

Prom this time onwards, Nalanda made contacts with Tibet. A great scholar named ^antarakshlta went from Nalanda to Tibet on the invitation of the Tibetan

King and died there in 762 A.D. Padmasambhava a renowned scholar of Nalanda also went to Tibet around the same 15

time and became the fcninder of Lamaism, the state religion of Tlbet^^.

A copper plate grant discovered at Nalanda speaks of Dharmapaladeva# son of Gopala who must have patronised

Nalanda* The name Dharmapaladevah is inscribed in the copper plate below the outline of "Dharmachakra. **

Dharmapala is known to have founded, with a batch of scholars from Nalanda* the University of vikram &ila

(9 kms frcxn present Kahalgaon railway station between

Sahibganj and Bhagalpur on the eastern railway loop line).

A few other kings of this dynasty established centres of learning at Paharpur (Rajasahi) and Jagaddala (Bangla desh) etc., and monasteries used to provide large grants - -47 to the parent university of Nalanda •

Other inscriptions discovered' at Nalanda contain references to one Vipulferlmitra# who built a temple in

Somapura monastery (Paharpur) for the goddess Tara and renovated a monastery there* He is also known to have constructed a third monastery at Nalanda which was

“Verily# an ornament of the whole world/ surpassing in existence of Vaijayanta, the place of Indra, the king of the gods.” * yy' 16

Nalanda has yielded a number of Inscribed Images and two copper plate Inscriptions containing particular reference to King Devapala, A copper plate inscription recovered from monastery No, 1, states that the king

Balaputradeva« King of Suvemadvipa (Sumatra) being attracted by its fame# built a monasteiry at Nalanda, and requested king Devapala through his envoys to make five village rent free to meet the expenses of the scholars engaged there in preparing copies of manuscript^®*

This provide# 9th century A.D.# can be said to be as the hey-day of Nalanda. Another copper plate inscription, namely, Ghosrawan inscription, refers to a learned brahmin, named vTradeva who came to Nalanda after visiting many centres of leaimlng and was subsec[uently appointed as head of the SaAgha by an assembly of monks. Some scholars find, in this inscription a clue of king Devapala's intervention in the affairs of Nalanda's administration*

A ntimber of Pala kings here after maintained good relations with Nalanda. The name of one of them Gopala II, finds mention on the pedestal of an image of Vagi&vari,. with a slight alteration as Gopaladeva along with a reference to his first regnal year. It has been identified by Banarjee that Gopaladeva is likely to be none other — 49 than Gopala II • \^en Mahipala I recaptured Magadha,

Nalanda started receiving royal patronage once again. 17

In the colo-phone page of an illustrated Asta Sahasrika • • Prajnaparamita the name of one Kalyanamitra CintSnani occurs who wrote that the copy of this manuscript was made in the sixth regnal year of Mahipala*^ the son of

Vigrahapala Sometime in the 8th or 9th regnal year of Mahipala# it is presumed that the great temple built by Baladitya«. was burnt down and there is no evidence of

Mahipala ever having repaired or restored the temple.

There is however, one reference to the reconstruction of the temple by a person named Baladitya who hailed from

Kaus^ambi^^ •

A copy of an astasahasrikaprajnaparamita was » — 52 written in the fourth regnal year of king Ramapala •

According to Scholars Ramapala# being engaged in many battles where his luck alternated between success and defeat# could hardly afford the time and resources to attend to the activities and development of Nalanda.

The last Pala ruler who patronised Nalanda was perhaps

Govindapaladeva who died in 1197 A.D. Thereafter the palas ceased to patronise monasteries at Nalanda.

At Nalanda a nxamber of coins of Adivaraha or

Bhoja I (circa 840-890 A.D.) and of Govindacandra of the

Gahadavala dynasty (1114-1154 A*D.) were recovered. It is very difficult given the present state of our knowledge 18

to suggest that these dynasties ever extended their generous hands in the development of Nalanda^^.

The Sculptures of Nalanda were fashioned from different kinds of stones sc»ne of which not being locally available were brought from different regions of Bihar and north Bengal* A few sculptures of Nalanda were carved fjrom dark grey andalustte containing beotite schist which was transported from one of the several out crops of precambrian rocks on the chotanagpur plateau in the central part of Bihar* Other sculptures were carved from grey brown schist stone. In this kind of stone# the content of sericite is greater than the Quartz content. Some sculptures at Nalanda were carved from chlorite muscovite schist. Por majority of the Sculptures at Nalanda*. dark grey graphite phyllite# available south of the river Ganges was used. This material offers the possibility of intricate carving and can be polished to give sculptures a metallic finish. Qaly a limited number of sculptures at Nalanda were made from slate procured from

Suta Kabbar in the Monghyr district^^.

Bhakhtiyar Khilji’s (1197-1203 A.D.) invasion of

Nalanda during the last years of 12th century A.D. marks the beginning of a period of doom in the history of Nalanda*

When Dharmasvamin visited Nalanda in 1235-36 A.D., what l a

remained was merely a shadow of its glorious past. The viharas and temples at Nalanda were damaged and demolished by the Turushkas and there was none to look after them.

They tell into disuse and no offering were made there^^.

A band of turushkas soldiers from their base camp of odantapuri (Bihar sharif) marched towards Nalanda and destroyed many of its buildings and Sculptures* Only two

Viharas remained in a restorable condition* A band of

Turushka soldiers are reported to have been to Nalanda and killed everyone there. In the wake of such threats

Nalanda was soon deserted by the monks* The only subsequent reference to Nalanda is in a Korean inscription that refers to a Dhyanabhadra# a resident of Magadha who studied in the institution before he went to ceylon* Even the name of Nalanda was forgotten by people of neighboxaring localities* The place came to be known as Baragaon till it was identified by Alexander cxinningham as Nalanda* His identification is corroborated by the discoveiY of a ntimber of seals with the word Nalanda Mahavihara inscribed on them* 2 0

REFERENCES

1. Kumar# N* Patna District Gazetteers# Govt of

Bihar 1970, pp 646-47; vide# Mitra# Debala#

Buddhist Mon\iments# Calcutta# 1971# p. 85.

2. Cunningham# A*# Ancient Geography of India, Ed.

Surendranath Majumdar Sastri# Calcutta# 1924,

p. 468,

3. Dey, N.L,# Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and

Mediaeval India# II, London, 1927, p. 136, vide

also kuraishi# M.H. A short guide to the Buddhist

remains excavated at Nalanda; Govt of India#

Calcutta# 1970# p. 1.

4. Kumar, N. Patna (Bihar District Gazetters) Govt

of Bihar, 1970, p. 1-23.

5. Sankalia, H.D. The University of Nalanda p. 49.

6. Cunningham, A«, op. cit., Delhi, 1972, p. 28#

vide also Beal's Fa-Hien, CXXVIII, vide James,

Legge., The Travels of Fa-Hien, Delhi, 1981, p. 80;

n, 4, see also Giles, H.A., the Travels of Fa-Hien#

London, 1959 3rd edition, p. 48, Indian Antiquary,

p. 19. 2 1

?• Cunningham, A.* op, cit. p. 28# vide also Julien*s

Hwen Thsang, 1,, p. 143« see also Indian Antiquary/

op. cit.# p. 30.

8. Samjrutta Nikaya# II, Ed. Leon Fear, M, David# Rhys,

P.T.S. London, 1884-1904, p. 220, vide also law,

B.C. op. cit*, p. 286.

9. SchiePner, A Taranatha's (Genuan) "geschichte des

Buddhimus in Indien"; p. 65, vide also Dey, N.L,

op. cit., p. 137.

10. Law, B.C., Geography of Early Buddhism, London,

1927, p. 31,

11# Sen, A.C., Raj agriha and Nalanda^ published by

Indian publicity society, Calcutta# 1964, p. 79.

12. Sankalia# H.D.♦ op. cit., p. 37, vide also

the Indian Antiquary, op. cit., p. 30*

13. Op. cit., Cunningham, A.# A.S.I. (Journal) Vol-I,

Simla, 1871, p. 30 vide also op. cit., Dey N.L.,

p. 137, see Sankalia# H.D.# op. cit*, p. 38, and

Indian Antiquary, op. cit., p. 30.

14. Beal, Samuel, Hiuen-Taang, Buddhist record of

the western world-II (1906) p. 168. 2 2

15* Watters, Thomas, Cn YUan chwang's Travels in

India Ed. by T.W. Rhys David vol.II, 1904, p. 166,

vide also, op, cit.. Law, B.C., p. 286, also see,

op. cit. Sankalia, H.D., p. 38, vide also, op. cit..

Sen A.C. p. 79.

16. Vajasaneyi SaAhita XXX, 5-22; Taittiriya Brahmana

III, 5, 1.1.

17. Martin, Eastern India, vol. I, p. 406.

18. Zinuner, In disches Leben 31. 118.

19. Ibid III 53. 14

20* Atharvaveda - 22. 14

21. BrhatasaAhita, ch. XVI-6.

22. Vayu-Purana, ch. 45 III

23. C.I.I., vol. I, pp. 172-73.

24. Malalsekara, G.P. Dictionary of Pali proper

Names, II, 30. 21• « 25. Mahabharata; II, 30. 21.

26. Watters, T.W., On Yuwan Chwang, II p. 178, 1905,

London. 23

27. Dey# N.L., Geographical Dictionary of Ancient

and Medieval India, p* 116.

28. Cunningham, Historical Geography of India# p. 518,

29. Vimana Vatthu Commentary (Pali Text society)

p. 82.

30. Ramayana Balkinda# 32.S.

31. Mahabharata II, 30, 3.

32* Majjhim Nikaya, III, p. 68,

33, J.B. O.R,S., vol. XIV, p. 15*

34* Roy Choudhuri, H,C, Political History of Ancient

India, Calcutta, 1923, p. 401,

35, Sankalia, H«D,, op, cit«, p, 42,

36, Sahai, Bhagwant, The Inscription ofBihar; Delhi

1983, p, 65,

37, Mitra, Debala, op. cit,, p, 86, vide Coomarswamy,

A.K«, History of Indian and Indonesian Art., Delhi

1972, p. 95, See also Sankalia, H,D,, op. cit,

p. 49.

38, Watters, Thomas, Life, pp. 112-13, 24

39, Hiuen-Tsang, op, cit., p. 170, vide Sankalia/ H.D.#

op, clt,# p. 61,

40* Ibid# p, 64,

41, Heras, J.B,0,R.S,, Vol. XIV, p, 12, No. 1,

42, This is based on a paper "The seal of Nalanda”

read by Dr. Hiranand Sastri at the first Historical

Congress, Bombay. The seals, he speaks of are

perhaps, the same referred to in A.S.I., A.R,

1917-18, pp. 44-45,

43, Nalanda stone Inscription of the reign of

Yaiovarmadeva, vide, E.I., vol. XX January 1929,

p. 37, See also Sankalia, H.D,, op. cit., p. 63,

44, J.R.A.S., 1908, pp. 775-777, vide also see Sankalia,

H.D., op. cit., p. 64.

45, Schiefner, Taranatha's, op. cit., p. 218,

46, Majiamdar, R.C, (Ed) The age of Imperial Kanauj

(History and CXilture of the Indian people) Vol.

IV, Bombay, 1955, p. 269, vide Sen, A.C,, op. cit.,

p. 87,

47, A.S.I., A.R., 1926-27, pp. 138-39, 25

48, Sen, op. clt,, p. 86, vide Mltra# Debala/

op* cit*, p, 86, See also Majumdar, R.C*, op, cit.,

p* 52# A«S»0«I«, A»R«, 1920^21/ p* 27* Also see

A*S*I* Central circle Report 1920-21# Sastrl, H,,

E*I. Vol-XVlI; pp. 310-327, Pi. VII; Bosch, 4.

Name of the five villages are Nandivanaka,

Manivataka, Natika, Hasti and Palamaka.

49, Sankalia, H.D., op. cit,, p. 68, vide Banarjee,

Adris, the Palas of Bengal; Memoirs of the Asiatic

society of Bengal, (M.A.S.B.) vol. Ill, 1915; p. 65,

also J «A.S(B. N.S. IV, p. 105*

50, Bendall, catalogue of Buddhist Sanskrit Manuscript

in the University library (Bodlian) Cambridge,

1983, p. 101,

51, J.A.S.B., IV, p. 106, pi. VI.

52, Sankalia, H.D., op. cit,, p. 69, vide catalogue of

Buddhist Sanskrit manuscript in the Bodlian library,

Cambridge, II, 1883, p. 250. These were sometimes

written in gold in Nepal; (Biography) p. 120, See

also J.B.A.S., NO. S. VIII (1876), p. 3; According

to a manuscript Astasahasrikaprajnaparamita was

copied in the fourth regnal year of the reign of

Govind apaladeva© 26

53, Sharma, Y.D.« Ancient India Bulletin of A.S.I,#

No. IX, 1953, Delhi*

54* ^7ew man, Richard; the stone Sculpture of India,

A study of the materials used by Indian Sculptor

from circa 2nd century B.C. - 16th century A.D.#

pp. 31-40, Har ward University Art Museum, Cambridge,

1984o

55. Roerich, G. and Altekar, A.S., Biography of

Dharmasvamin (Patna) 1959, p. 90, vide Mitra,

Debala, op. cit. p. 86*