Which ancient centre of learning, a rival of Nalanda, was situated in Gujarat under the Maitraka rulers?
- A.Valabhi
- B.Jagaddala
- C.Pushpagiri
- D.Somapura
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Valabhi. Valabhi, in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, was the capital of the Maitraka rulers and a famous centre of Hinayana Buddhist learning; the pilgrim I-tsing wrote that it stood beside Nalanda in reputation, and students went from there into royal service. Option B is wrong because Jagaddala was a late Pala monastery in Bengal, founded by Ramapala, and lay far from Gujarat. Option C is wrong because Pushpagiri was a Buddhist centre in Odisha, in the hills near the Udayagiri and Ratnagiri complexes. Option D is wrong because Somapura Mahavihara stood at Paharpur in what is now Bangladesh and was founded by the Pala king Dharmapala, which makes it an eastern and not a western centre. Valabhi was finally ruined by an Arab raid in the eighth century, while Nalanda and the Pala monasteries survived until the attacks of Bakhtiyar Khalji.
Read the full article: Ancient Universities of India: Nalanda, Takshashila, PYQs
Practice Questions
View allThe Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, Xuan Zang, came to the Indian subcontinent about ______ years ago.
- A.1100
- B.1700
- C.2000
- D.1400
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Xuan Zang, also written Hiuen Tsang, travelled in India in the seventh century of the Christian era, during the reign of Harshavardhana of Kannauj, which is roughly fourteen hundred years before our own time.
Read the full explanation →The Nalanda Mahavihara was founded by which ruler?
- A.Ashoka
- B.Kumaragupta I
- C.Harshavardhana
- D.Dharmapala
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The Gupta ruler Kumaragupta I founded the Nalanda Mahavihara in the fifth century of the Christian era near Rajgir in present-day Bihar, and a seal bearing his name has been found at the site.
Read the full explanation →Vikramashila, the great centre of tantric Buddhist learning, was founded by which king?
- A.Gopala
- B.Dharmapala
- C.Devapala
- D.Mahipala
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The Pala king Dharmapala founded Vikramashila at Antichak in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar about the turn of the ninth century, and it became famous for tantric studies and for the scholars called dvarapanditas who examined candidates at its gates.
Read the full explanation →The ancient seat of learning Takshashila was situated in which region?
- A.Magadha
- B.Gandhara
- C.Avanti
- D.Vatsa
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Takshashila, called Taxila by Greek and later English writers, was the capital of the Mahajanapada of Gandhara in the north-west of the subcontinent, in what is now the Rawalpindi district of Pakistan, and it was already a famous centre of learning in the time of the Buddha.
Read the full explanation →Who was the head of the Nalanda Mahavihara when Xuan Zang studied there?
- A.Nagarjuna
- B.Shilabhadra
- C.Dharmakirti
- D.Atisha Dipankara
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The Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang studied the Yogachara philosophy at Nalanda under Shilabhadra, who was then the aged head of the monastery, during the reign of Harshavardhana in the seventh century.
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