Buddhist Education in Early Medieval India

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In early medieval India, the Buddhist (monastic) system of education was well developed. It was somewhat different from the Vedic and Brahamanical system of education, though some similarities can be noticed between them. The Viharas and Mahaviharas became centers of Buddhist education. Most of these Buddhist educational institutions were located in the then Bihar and Bengal. The most important of these Mahaviharas were Nalanda, Odantapuri and Vikramshila. They developed their own system of education.

Dr. Kameshwar Prasad (b.1947) did his MA in History (Gold Medalist) and Ph.D. from Patna University. He joined Department of History, Patna University as a Lecturer and superannuated as Head of the Department. His field of specialisation has been ancient Indian history, especially economic history and history of Bihar. He has contributed more than 70 research papers in reputed historical journals. He is a prolific author and has written several books in English and Hindi. His important books are Cities, Crafts and Commerce under the Kushanas, New Delhi (1984), The Glory That was Vaishali, Patna (2015) and Teach Yourself History of India in four volumes (in Hindi).

Indian contributions in the field of education has been of exceptional significance. It has left a rich heritage of education system for the posterity. Many educational centers flourished throughout India from ancient times onwards. Takshashila (Taxila) presently in Pakistan, was the earliest educational centre, renowned all over India, even before the emergence of the Mahaviharas as centres of higher Buddhist learning. In india two systems of education flourished side by side - the Brahamanical and the Buddhist or monastic. The former evolved around. individual teachers and gurukulas or acaryakulas, temples, mathas and agraharas. With the spread of Buddhism several Viharas and Mahaviharas emerged as centres of Buddhist education throughout India in early medieval times, particularly in Bihar and Bengal. The most important of these were Nalanda, Odantapuri, Vikramshila, Jagaddal, Somapura and Vallabhi. Nalanda and Vikramshila acquired the status of international universities where students and scholars not only from every nook and corner of India but China, Tibet, Srilanka, Java, Sumatra, Nepal and other parts of globe congregated in large numbers in search of knowledge, particularly Buddhism.

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