{"id":156433,"date":"2026-05-28T15:38:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=156433"},"modified":"2026-05-28T15:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:38:20","slug":"why-bakhtiyar-khilji-destroyed-indias-second-oldest-university-%e0%a5%a4-destroyed-before-nalanda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/05\/28\/why-bakhtiyar-khilji-destroyed-indias-second-oldest-university-%e0%a5%a4-destroyed-before-nalanda\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Bakhtiyar Khilji Destroyed India\u2019s Second Oldest University? \u0964 Destroyed before Nalanda"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>Senaka Weeraratna<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why Bakhtiyar Khilji Destroyed India\u2019s Second Oldest University? \u0964 Destroyed before Nalanda\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V-zC_PznvMM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For centuries, the destruction of Nalanda University has symbolized the tragic decline of Buddhism in India. But Nalanda was not the only great center of learning lost to history. In this documentary, we explore the forgotten story of Odantapuri Mahavihara \u2014 one of ancient India\u2019s oldest Buddhist universities \u2014 its rise, significance, scholars, and the devastating invasion led by Bakhtiyar Khilji that changed the intellectual landscape of Asia forever.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why was Odantapuri targeted? What made this university so important? And why has history almost forgotten its existence? This is the story of a lost civilization of knowledge. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hashtag\/odantapuri\">#Odantapuri<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hashtag\/nalanda\">#Nalanda<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hashtag\/bakhtiyarkhilji\">#BakhtiyarKhilji<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hashtag\/buddhisthistory\">#BuddhistHistory<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hashtag\/ancientindia\">#AncientIndia<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hashtag\/buddhism\">#Buddhism<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hashtag\/indianhistory\">#IndianHistory<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hashtag\/nalandauniversity\">#NalandaUniversity<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hashtag\/mahavihara\">#Mahavihara<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hashtag\/historydocumentary\">#HistoryDocumentary<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chapters : <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V-zC_PznvMM\">00:00<\/a> \u2013&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Introduction <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V-zC_PznvMM&amp;t=126s\">02:06<\/a> \u2013&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Birth of Odantapuri <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V-zC_PznvMM&amp;t=218s\">03:38<\/a> \u2013&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Age of Buddhist Universities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V-zC_PznvMM&amp;t=329s\">05:29<\/a> \u2013&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Life Inside the University <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V-zC_PznvMM&amp;t=426s\">07:06<\/a> \u2013&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Odantapuri\u2019s Influence <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V-zC_PznvMM&amp;t=512s\">08:32<\/a> \u2013&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Violent Destruction <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V-zC_PznvMM&amp;t=676s\">11:16<\/a> \u2013&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Impact on Buddhism <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V-zC_PznvMM&amp;t=811s\">13:31<\/a> \u2013&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why Odantapuri Was Forgotten <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=V-zC_PznvMM&amp;t=955s\">15:55<\/a> \u2013&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Legacy Credits: User:Haros based on map created by user:Planemad, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Gerd Eichmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Odantapuribs, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Odantapuribs, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Sumitsurai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Odantapuribs, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AI-generated video summary<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/youtube\/answer\/14089423\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Quality and accuracy may vary.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bodhisattva explores the history of Odantapuri, a powerful 8th-century center of learning established by the Pala dynasty. This institution functioned within a vast network of Buddhist universities, playing a critical role in shaping intellectual thought and monastic traditions across Asia before its sudden decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senaka Weeraratna For centuries, the destruction of Nalanda University has symbolized the tragic decline of Buddhism in India. But Nalanda was not the only great center of learning lost to history. In this documentary, we explore the forgotten story of Odantapuri Mahavihara \u2014 one of ancient India\u2019s oldest Buddhist universities \u2014 its rise, significance, scholars, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-senaka-weeraratna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156433"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156434,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156433\/revisions\/156434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}