The monastery university of Nalanda stands at its height, drawing thousands of monks and students from across Asia to its libraries, debate courtyards, and teachers; Xuanzang and Yijing describe a scholastic city whose curriculum joins the Mahayana philosophies with logic, medicine, and grammar.
Tagged: Buddhist Mahayana Vajrayana
The Event
- Date
- c. 8th–9th century (approximate)
- Era
- Classical; Standard periodization of Buddhist history
- Location
- Nalanda; today Bihar, India
- Traditions
- Buddhism
- Streams
- Mahayana, Vajrayana
Primary Sources
- Xuanzang, Da Tang Xiyu Ji
- Yijing, A Record of Buddhist Practices
Secondary Sources
- Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (Cambridge, 2nd ed. 2013)
- Buswell and Lopez, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton, 2014)
Provenance: HIST-0418; confidence 0.85; accessed 2026-10-27.
Related on This Site
- Asanga and Vasubandhu History Event
- Buddhism introduced to Japan History Event
- Destruction of Nalanda History Event
- Emergence of the Mahayana History Event
- Life of the Buddha History Event
- Nagarjuna History Event
- Reign of Ashoka History Event
- Xuanzang's journey to India History Event