Scholarly and Religious Activity at Nalanda Monastery

Timeline

1. 1141–1144Nalanda · BiharPala rulers continued to provide Nalanda with land, grain, and silver donations, maintaining daily provisions for thousands of monks. The monastery administration organized daily life according to the Vinaya, and eight great colleges divided the teaching of different Buddhist schools.
2. 1144–1147Nalanda college · BiharTibetan and Nepalese scholars studied at Nalanda under Indian masters, systematically translating treatises on Madhyamaka, Yogacara, and tantra. The tradition of debate remained active in the monastery's lecture halls, and Nalanda's function as a hub for exporting Buddhist knowledge was undiminished.
3. 1147–1150Nalanda · BiharThe monastery continued to compile and copy manuscripts on birch bark and palm leaves, and the nine-story library still held a large collection of Sanskrit Buddhist texts. Scholarly activity remained vigorous into the late 1140s, but military pressure from the northwest had already raised the sangha's anxieties about the future.