Mathematics, Astronomy and Medical Sciences:
Aryabhata wrote ‘Surya Siddhanta’ and ‘Aryabhattiyam’.
He also calculated the value of Pi, length of the solar system, and problems in trigonometry.
He developed the Chakra yantra, Gola yantra and shadow devices
Varahmihira wrote ‘Brihat Samhita’, ‘Panch Siddhantika’
(the five treatises on Astronomy) and ‘Brihat Jataka’.
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Brahmagupta wrote ‘Brhamasaputa Siddhanta’ and ‘Khandakhadhyaka’.
• ‘Navanitakam’ was a medical work.
• Palakapya wrote ‘Hastyayurveda’ which is a work on veterinary sciences.
Nalanda University:
• Kumar Gupta, I founded this university.
• Nalanda enjoyed royal patronage under various dynasties including the Guptas and the Palas.
• Nalanda University was considered as a university in the modern sense, unlike Takshashila University, because:
• Nalanda boasted nearly all the infrastructure we associate with a modern university today, including multiple classrooms, an extensive library, dormitories for students, and accommodation for professors.
• The university had eight separate compounds, 10 temples, meditation halls, classrooms, lakes, and parks. Its nine-story library housed a vast collection of books, and monks carefully copied documents so that individual scholars could build their own collections.
• At its peak, according to Fa-Hein, Nalanda University, one of the world’s earliest residential universities, was home to 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. Hiuen Tsang also provides a detailed description of the university.
• Nalanda operated under a centralized system of education, with a structured syllabus, regular examinations, and the awarding of degrees to its students.
• Nalanda University attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.
• The famous Chinese pilgrims Hieun Tsang, Fi Hien and I’Tsing spend time studying at the university. Hieun Tsang had been a teacher too, in this university and received the Indian title ‘Mokshadeva’. He stayed at this place for more than twelve years and wrote in detail about this university.
Shilabhadra was an expert on ‘Yogacara’ teachings and was the personal tutor of Xuanzang. Shilabhadra lived for over a hundred years and is believed to be the only one to study all the major collections of ‘Sutras’ and ‘Shastras’ at Nalanda.
• Another revered scholar of Nalanda is Nagarjuna, a Mahayana Buddhist philosopher, who studied in the Nalanda University and formaliser of the concept of ‘Shunyata’ or ‘Emptiness’ and founded the Madhyamaka School of Mahayana Buddhism.
• Many of the texts composed at Nalanda played an important role in the development of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism including the Mahavairocana Tantra and the Bodhisattvacaryavatara of Shantideva.
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• Aryabhata is believed to have been the head of the Nalanda University and is also known to have set up an astronomical observatory for his work.
• Bakhtiyar Khilji of Mamluk dynasty destroyed it in 1200 CE.
• It is a UNESCO world heritage site