Buddhist Education in Early Medieval India

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. The Chinese and the Tibetan sources enlighten us on the monastic complex, rules of admission, subjects of study, life of students and high discipline maintained by monks and students. Seals, sealings and inscriptions discovered from the sites of the Mahaviharas throw light on the management as well as patronage granted to these Buddhist educational centers. The Mahaviharas became centers of Mahayana Buddhism and Tantricism. Students and scholars came there in large numbers not only from different parts of India but Ceylon, Nepal, Tibet, China and other countries according them reputation of international educational centers of Buddhist studies. The Mahavaviharas flourished between C. 8th-12th centuries CE. Due to Turkish raids and other political, social, economic and religious factors these Mahavaviharas went out of the pages of history. On the whole, the present book gives a detailed and analytical account of the Buddhist system of education and is a valuable addition to the existing literature on the subject.