Rebirth of a famed seat of learning

The ancient name of Bihar was Magadha and the ancient name of its capital Patna was Pataliputra. Both Magadha and Pataliputra played a significant role in the history of ancient India. Bihar was then known as the centre of power, learning and culture in the  classical India.
Nalanda University, the world's first residential international university of higher education is the home of Bihar which is about 56 miles (90 km) southwest of Patna. There are many versions of what the term Nalanda means. One of the versions is, Nalam denotes lotus and Da means to give. In India, lotus symbolises knowledge. As a result, Nalanda means the Giver of Knowledge.
Historical sources indicate that the Nalanda University continued its operation for 800 years, from the 5th century to the 12th century. It was founded by the Gupta emperors. Even though it was sacked by Muslim invaders in 1197, it was also attacked by the Huns during Gupta period and by the Gaudas in the early 7th century during the reign of Harshavardhana (606-648).
Students from all over India as well as China, Korea, Japan, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and East South Asia used to come to  Nalanda University to fulfil their academic dreams  on the Buddhist scriptures and the Vedas, the curriculums included philosophy, theology, logic, grammar, linguistics, astronomy, mathematics, medicine and crafts. The ancient texts state that over 2,000 teachers and 10,000 students were associated with the Nalanda University. The famous Chinese scholar Hiuen-Tsang (602-664) was a student and a teacher of Nalanda University. During his time, the chancellor of Nalanda University was Shilbhadra, a Bangalee scholar.
It was hard nut to crack to enroll in the Nalada University. The next Chinese scholar after Hiuen Tsang was I-Tsing (635-713) who arrived in India in 673. He  wrote, "There was only one gate by which to enter in the compound, which was in the south wall and attended by a gatekeeper. Strangers who came to the university were screened with questions by this keeper in order to determine the extent of their previous education before they were allowed to enter. Only 2 or 3 visitors out of every 10 managed to pass this difficult test."
After 800 years, the Nalanda University was restored in 2010 as per special Act of the Indian parliament. Nalanda University will be formulated of 7 schools and they are: Historical Studies; Ecology and Environment Studies; Buddhist Studies, Philosophy and Comparative Religions; Linguistics and Literature; International Relations and Peace Studies; Information Science and Technology, and Economics and Management.
The Nalanda University will offer Master's, MPhil and PhD degrees.
In the upcoming Fall of 2014, the Nalanda University will commence with 2 inaugural schools of Historical Studies and Ecology and Environmental Studies.  
Amartya Sen, the native of Bangladesh and the citizen and Nobel laureate in economics of India is the Chancellor of Nalanda University.
It may be mentioned here that the world's oldest universities were also established by Muslims. These are: the University of Al-Karaouine which was established in 859 in Fez, Morocco and the Al-Azhar University, which was established in 975 in Cairo, Egypt. The oldest western universities were established in Europe. These are the University of Bologna, Italy, which was established in 1088, the University of Paris, France, was established 1150, the University of Oxford, England, was established in 1167 and the University of Cambridge, England, was established in 1209.
Email: iftuahmed@sbcglobal.net