Bakhtiyar Khalji's Involvement in Nalanda's Incineration Is a Case of 'Selective Narration'

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 9 July 2024 "The invasions of the likes of warlord Bhakhtiyar Khalji (late in the 12th Century) were also responsible for Nalanda’s decay, albeit their impact is overstated in popular imagination. As Kumar points out, “It seems illogical that more than five-hundred-year-old traditions of Nalanda had all of a sudden met with their end by an attack”. In fact, he says, there is ample historical evidence that “the mega monastery of Nalanda continued as a functioning institution of Buddhist education well into the thirteenth century”. Ruins of Nalanda University ----- There's no denying the fact that by incinerating ancient Nalanda University in 1200 CE, Bakhtiyar Khalji put the (final) nail in the coffin of Nalanda. But Nalanda University's decline began nearly 300 years before its destruction. In the book, " Buddhism: The Marxist Approach" authors Rahul Sankrityayan (primary author) and Mulk Raj Anand (secondary author) commented that out of four Buddhist Universities, Nalanda and Vikramshila in Bihar, Takshshila (Taxila, now in Pakistan's Punjab Province) and Dhanyakatak near Ujjain in Central India, it was only Nalanda that was vandalised. The question remains, why did invaders leave the other three (varsities)? Moreover, Bakhtiyar Khalji didn't incinerate the whole university. This was not a watered-down version offered by Muslim historians to defend the Turko-Afghan plunderer. Hindu historians like Ram Sharan Sharma, Bipan Chandra, Satish Chandra and Dwijendra Narayan Jha were of the opinion that Nalanda became a battleground for the scholars and exponents of all three sects of Buddhism, viz, Heenyana, Mahayana and Vajrayan (similar to Tantra of Hinduism). Monks of these three sects started fighting among themselves. Vajrayanis already vandalised a huge part of its library nearly fifty years before Bakhtiyar's coup de grace. Monks themselves contributed to its vandalisation. WhatsApp University may claim that Khalji destroyed Nalanda as he was jealous of oriental wisdom when Acharya Rahul Sribhadra of Nalanda University saved his life. This is preposterous. No Buddhist or Hindu monk/doctor ever saved Bakhtiyar's life. Bakhtiyar's involvement in Nalanda's destruction is a case of selective narration and episodic occurrence. Those condemning him don't even know that he wasn't an Arab. He was a member of the Khalji Dynasty. That doesn't mean he's being defended or exonerated. Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji had his role in Nalanda's desecration but he wasn't solely responsible for it. To encapsulate, rape of ancient Nalanda has become some impassioned cri de coeur for today's Hindutva forces. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/bakhtiyar-khalji-nalanda-s-incineration-narration/d/132661 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism