Indians | Ep 5: Nalanda and the Decline of Buddhism | A Brief History of a Civilization

Research, Script and Narration by Namit Arora;
Producer: The Wire;
Director: Natasha Badhwar;
Camera: Ajmal Jami;
Video Editor: Anam Sheikh.
Made possible by a grant from The Raza Foundation and contributions to The Wire by viewers like you. Join The Wire's KZbin membership program and help fund many such initiatives.
The story of India is one of profound and continuous change. It has been shaped by the dynamic of migration, conflict, mixing, coexistence, and cooperation. In this ten-part web series, Namit Arora tells the story of Indians and our civilization by exploring some of our greatest historical sites, most of which were lost to memory and were dug out by archaeologists. He will also focus on ancient and medieval foreign travellers whose idiosyncratic accounts conceal surprising insights about us Indians. All along, Arora surveys India’s long and exciting churn of cultural ideas, beliefs, and values-some that still shape us today, and others that have been lost forever. The series mostly mirrors-and often extends-the contents of his book, Indians: A Brief History of a Civilization. Bibliography appears below.
EPISODE 5: NALANDA AND THE DECLINE OF BUDDHISM
Nalanda was a Buddhist monastery founded in the 5th century during the Gupta period (319-543 CE)-a creative age for literature, art, architecture, maths and science. Nalanda became the greatest centre of Buddhist learning in the world, lasting more than 800 years until the 13th century. It attracted student monks from across Asia, including three from China whose travel accounts contain fascinating insights into the social life of India and academic life at Nalanda in the 5-7th centuries. They describe urban life, laws, medicine, obsessions with purity and pollution, food taboos, untouchability and religious conflicts. They relate the rhythms of daily life at Nalanda, its curriculum, star teachers, academic debates, funding sources and more.
In this episode, Namit Arora will also explore the many causes for the decline of Buddhism in India, starting in the second half of the first millennium. By the time of the Turko-Persian invasions, most Buddhist sites had already been abandoned, destroyed, or converted into Brahminical sites across much of India. Buddhist artifacts and texts were wiped out and Buddhism vanished from India's public memory. By the early colonial period, Indians had even forgotten that a man called the Buddha had existed in their past! Only in the 19th century did Indians rediscover Nalanda and their amazing Buddhist heritage through archaeology, texts that survived in foreign lands, accounts of Chinese and Tibetan monks, and other sources.
PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY / FURTHER READING
Asher, Frederick M., Nalanda: Situating the Great Monastery, The Marg Foundation, 2015
Beal, Samuel, The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang, Rupa Publications, 2012
Chandra Bagchi, Prabodh, India and China: A Thousand Years of Sino-Indian Contact, 1944
Chattopadhyaya, Debiprasad; Science and Philosophy in Ancient India; Aakar Books, 2013
Chos-dar, Upasaka; Roerich, Dr. George (Trans.); Biography of Dharmasvamin: A Tibetan Monk Pilgrim, 1959
Faxian, A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms / Being an account by the Chinese monk Fa-hsien of travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist books of discipline, Oxford, 1886
Fogelin, Lars, An Archaeological History of Indian Buddhism, OUP, 2015
Ganeri, Jonardon (Editor), The Oxford Handbook of Indian Philosophy, OUP, 2017
I-ching (Yijing), J. Takakusu (translator), A record of the Buddhist religion as practised in India and the Malay Archipelago, Oxford, The Clarendon press, 1896
Jha, DN, 'Monumental Absence: The destruction of ancient Buddhist sites', The Caravan, June 2018
Nanda, Meera; Science in Saffron: Skeptical Essays on History of Science; Three Essays Collective, 2016
Thapar, Romila, The Past as Present, Aleph Book Company, 2013
Tsiang, Hiuen and Beal, Samuel (translator), Si Yu Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co Ltd., 1906
Waley, Arthur, The Real Tripitaka and Other Pieces, Allen and Unwin, London, 1952
Xuanzang, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, July 2009
Yijing, Latika Lahiri (translator), Chinese Monks in India, or Biography of Eminent Monks who Went to the Western World in Search of the Law during the Great T’ang Dynasty, Motilal Banarasidas Publishers, Delhi, 2015. First edition 1986
Join The Wire's KZbin Membership and get exclusive content, member-only emojis, live interaction with The Wire's founders, editors and reporters and much more. Memberships to The Wire Crew start at Rs 89/month. / @thewirenews

[@mujahedmohiuddin1826]

It's an eye opener, how society evolved and religions rise and decline, what and how it affects identity as whole.

[@drjagritisingh6569]

The fact that the historian is literally telling our ncerts from school, sadly people don't study at school properly.

[@sanjeevsharma-jh8jo]

I am of the firm opinion that this history series must be brought out in Hindi and our other languages otherwise millions of our people and coming generations will miss out due language obstacle. Please consider this hard truth about our huge nation and an ancient civilisation.

[@sathyansundar]

I partly agree with you on the Hindi part. Yes! Because the Hindi speaking cow belt is pulling the nation in the regressive path. The whole narration by Mr. Arora is nothing new to people in the South. That is what excavations in Keezhadi & Muziris (Pattinam) is proving, which the hideous ASI is keen on burying. Now you know the reason why the state of TN is opposed to the Saffronized National Education Policy and NEET. You can spend millions but you'll never excavate the Ramayana & Mahabharatha set to the Indians by archeology. Not my words....Mr Amarnath Ramakrishna's verdict on the state of deplorable ASI. Sanskrit was never and will never be the mother of Indian languages.

[@subramaniyamm2288]

You forgot your own mother language and asking for imposed language Hindi. Please excavate your identity and history.

[@sanjeevsharma-jh8jo]

@@subramaniyamm2288 Please read my views again. Did I talk about imposition of one language over other languages? It is a matter of educating maximum people in various languages. Enabler.

[@Che_Guna]

I agree. This have to be in Hindi so the non English people in North India also get this knowledge

[@grapeshott]

​English is now an Indian language. Most middle class people have better command over English than Hindi etc. But there are many people who don't know English, just like how we don't know Tamil or Kannada ​@@subramaniyamm2288

[@AnirimaGhosh]

It would be unreasonable to have a teacher like you in school. Never liked history in school 😂. But have been enjoying your videos so much. I love when you take a dig at hindu sanatanis 😂😂😂. There’s nothing eternal in this world. Everything born, thrive and perish here. Plz plz more episodes ❤❤❤❤

[@imaginedragons257]

I loved when I read that Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar clearly wrote that the IslamoFascist Invaders were the enemy of the, "But", means Idol and destroyed Buddhism, taking a dig at the Hindu Sanatanis does not require any guts because the Hindu Sanatanis always encouraged criticism and questioning which is proven by the failed attempt at mockery by a member of the Hindu Sanatani family like however taking a dig at the IslamoFascist Jihadi Terrorists takes guts which he does not have which is why he said that the IslamoFascist Invasion was a minor cause for the decline of the Buddhism and tried to blame the Sanatani Hindus for the decline of Buddhism even though Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar clearly blamed the IslamoFascists for the Decline and the Destruction of Buddhism There can be no doubt that the fall of Buddhism in India was due to the invasions of the Musalmans. Islam came out as the enemy of the ‘But’. The word ‘But’ as everybody knows is an Arabic word and means an idol. Not many people however know what the derivation of the word ‘But’ is ‘But’ is the Arabic corruption of Buddha. Thus the origin of the word indicates that in the Moslem mind idol worship had come to be identified with the Religion of the Buddha. To the Muslims, they were one and the same thing. The mission to break the idols thus became the mission to destroy Buddhism. Islam destroyed Buddhism not only in India but wherever it went. Before Islam came into being Buddhism was the religion of Bactria, Parthia, Afghanistan, Gandhar and Chinese Turkestan, as it was of the whole of Asia.1 In all these countries Islam destroyed Buddhism. advocatetanmoy.com/2020/05/19/the-decline-and-fall-of-buddhism-b-r-ambedkar/

[@AnirimaGhosh]

@@imaginedragons257 problem with you guys is that you don’t read history or you read selective history, and almost never read any books written in the past centuries. ‘ Hindu sanatanis always encouraged criticism’…😅😅😅. You have a very grand idea about hindu sanatanis. I don’t know what you mean by that but even 100 years back there was no sanatani back then. Only upper caste and lower caste caste and with a suffocating society for women and Dalit. You know when Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar was fighting hard for women’s education and widow marriage, you know what Hindu sanatanis did? They pelted his house with stones and excreta. And I do not remember exactly, it was either Raja Harshavardhan or Shashank who destroyed Buddha stupa and hunted Buddhist in Bengal region. You have to read history books they are written based on evidence, not on someone’s ideology. And read books. Not some website.

[@saddha1]

Great scholarly, unbiased reporting. May India have more scholars like you so we can come out of the historical darkness of missing records.

[@criticphil]

oh come on! Namit is computer science engineer who condensed the history that already exists in Marxist school of history. He didn't establish anything new and history telling by default is biased. There is no unbiased history. Here, Namit Arora seems to make a meta point about "hindu nationalism". please don't give praise to undeserved.

[@pudur_artspudur_arts624]

An example, How history should be taught not to favour and neglect any sides, but to present facts as it was leading to logical conclusion plus the depth of this empirical research earns our respect. Proud to be a history student. Need more of such eye opening episodes

[@RupaAbdi]

Such an unbiased presentation is like a breath of fresh air in these times of pseudo-history. Please keep up the good work 👍

[@jestfuldemigod]

Unbiased? Sure 😂 The black soot on the walls of Nalanda must be cause of the havans by brahmins 😂

[@sarthak.yeager]

​@@jestfuldemigodwhat

[@ariseenviro112]

​

[@venkatasuryassrinivasula4158]

​@@jestfuldemigodthanks I am not going to read other comments. I already know people not completely fallen for this "The Wire" propaganda. This professor know what they ate in lunch but there is no enough historical avoidance who distroyed it 😂

[@kathirko]

@@jestfuldemigod so brahmins conducted havens after the removal of white wash ? 🤔

[@thukstandorjay5962]

I am overwhelmed by this bold testimony and courage of the narrator. Buddhism indeed succumbed mostly due to the political, social, religious politics of Brahmins and reformists like adi shankaracharya etc. Even when everything was wiped off, but still rocks, edicts, Buddha idols,stupas and monasteries emerges from the earth wherever they dig in India, south east asain countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan etc And even today Buddhism is taken to be part of Hinduism which isn't and should not morally be for any hindu. Buddhism is beyond religion it's what the tathaghat taught , it's a unending chain of rosary that shall continue until the end of samsara. Many vaishnu, Shiva temples across the nation are hiding all the Buddhist sites upon which they were built. These tragedies are incomparable to that of Babri masjid and gyanvapi masjid. But today there is evidence around us to get all these information through research and contemplate upon the fact. One should not be sentimental of being devalued due to one's faith to particular religion. Fact is fact, history can't be repeated nor changed. We only learn from these and hope that our hindu brother won't blatantly claim that Buddha is Vishnu avatar and Buddhism is part of Hinduism. Hinduism has its own place according to Vedas and respect that. Buddhism has its own place and respect that.

[@riteshpandit1282]

Thankyou soo much sir to deliver such a golden Buddhist history of India to us 🙏

[@shaktisingh07_]

Decline and fall of Buddhism was a great tragedy in ancient India

[@MrNataphong]

How?

[@shaktisingh07_]

@@MrNataphong find out by yourself.

[@MrNataphong]

@@shaktisingh07_ I mean why a great tragedy in only ancient India not for other?

[@Huang_Teh.]

You can still practice it ....but not in gandhar or taxila , kambhoj again.

[@ChakmaNet]

Definitely these series must be televised and shown in TV! It shows how ignorant the general public are and forgot the authentic history of India’s origin. These series are gems!!!

[@user-is4xo6fv3z]

Keep it up, Namit. The Indian youth desperately need such clear-headed interpretation of Indian history not only to save themselves from dangerous political spins but also to understand that their rich heritage lies in a range of free-wheeling schools of philosophical thoughts, in which the brand of 'hindutya' peddled today played no role worth a mention.

[@AjayKumar-qg6jm]

History repeating now, Brahmanism is the biggest curse on this land. Whenever time turn and give opportunity for prosperity of this land Brahmanism take centre seat and ruined all possibilities. It's very sad and matter of great research what is in Brahmanism that capture people's mind without delivering anything real and meaningful that can make life easier. 🤯🤯

[@saddha1]

Indeed it's sanskrit - sounds nice and old - except no one knows how all their gods got cursed.

[@Aryaveer_jadli]

Keep crying and coping. Proud Brahmin here.

[@Ahmedahmed-tu8zn]

​@@Aryaveer_jadli lol 😂 pajeet

[@Chrisbbilger-yp4fz]

​@@Aryaveer_jadli we don't drink Gaumutra.😂😂 We proud of that. Great Buddhists.

[@Aryaveer_jadli]

@@Chrisbbilger-yp4fz shut up bhangi..your opinion is irrelevant.

[@kalebj7001]

Imagine telling to today's audience about the historical timeline of the Ram bhakthi movement and how Saket turned into Ayodhya

[@tsetenwangyal1407]

As a Tibetan bhuddist I really feel cry when I see nalanda and taxshila university , I remember those days in India, I don’t blame Brahman or Muslim, eventually we lost diamond search for gold 😢😢😢😢

[@CelestialEnlight]

who says buddism is lost in india? this concept of someone has to be from some religion comes to india from abrahamic faiths else , for most indians lord budda and lord rama or other lords were just like same god different forms, still today when you will say take the name of lord budda ,,people will remember him as god not as forgotten god but just like our other god. if a common hindu will go to tibet , you will find him to be equally resppecting and accepting buddist culture , and if any buddist will come to india, we won't even realize that he is different !! that is the best part of eastern religion , its not about tolerance it is about acceptance, buddist and hindus accept each other , for people it is alien concept , how one can accept others god , but you also know and I also for me lord budda is god, for you vishnu ,, shiva are also respectable gods.

[@tsetenwangyal1407]

@@CelestialEnlight I am not saying Buddhism is lost I meant to say ancient India, modern day we call India actually we Buddhist call India is our Arya Bhumi like ( father land )gurukul system we lost

[@dineshthakur3947]

There was not rivalry between Hinduism and Buddhism as shown in This vedeo and many vedeos like this, this is Islamic and leftist point of view, how many leftists and islamists condemned and protested when Budh Pratima in bamiyan was destroyed by Taliban. They want to dig a deep rift between the two so that they can fight with both of them. After independence temples of Hindus And baudhs were decimated in Pakistan with no distinction, here in this vedeo as well several factually wrong things have told to mislead , his how left intellectual propaganda goes on.

[@CelestialEnlight]

@@tsetenwangyal1407 brother we hindus also lost many things just like buddist due to continuous invasions, afganistan used to be buddist's land, so wrong decisions at wrong times, we lost some key battles and suddenly our ancient culture was gone, mid ages in north india has little hindu-biddist impact all persian or islamic, if it were all indian powers I am sure Buddhism would have got a large following by now !! Even me. Ambedkar accepted Buddhism , so I am sure Buddhism would have resurfaced, but since it was invading powers ruling us , so people actually became more conservative about beliefs we are seeing the result of that even today, Pakistan and Bangladesh became a seperate country just because they were muslims, whereas a buddist wrote a constitution for india which has majority of hindus

[@tsetenwangyal1407]

@@CelestialEnlight on 1947 when separation time I wish that time taxshila is also part of india

[@kavinanil7406]

Why cant the Indian government build universities like Nalanda University and hospitals just like in these times, learn about social evils like endogamy, untouchability, caste system, unclean public places, instead of selectively funding for Ram temple..?

[@bengalkaladka3401]

IITs aur AIIMS kya h fir

[@kavinanil7406]

@@bengalkaladka3401 how many can study in IIT and AIIMS..?

[@wakeupsid-zz1cz]

@@kavinanil7406 there are nit / other colleges as well

[@kavinanil7406]

@@wakeupsid-zz1cz can the whole 140crore Indians study in nit, iit, aiims ..? But why Is the government or the PM visiting temples and creating infrastructure around it rather than on educational and medical institutions...?

[@wakeupsid-zz1cz]

@@kavinanil7406 answer lies in your question friend // should we have increased our population to 140 crores // can india a much smaller geographic area than china afford more population than china // can one even build schools , hospitals to cater 140 crore indians my brother // ask yourself honestly // population control is the main core issue nad everyone beats around it no one addresses elephant in the room which is population // all reservations, scholarships will have no impact if you dont control population // sorry for long reply

[@antihero69420]

Dhamma must return, Reclaim Dhamma ☸️🗿

[@jidrit999]

Start with Afghanistan

[@RationalismIsFuture]

Very hard

[@Huang_Teh.]

Start from gandhar

[@dk1064]

@@jidrit999 first start india

[@jidrit999]

@@dk1064 India is secular

[@shahrukhali4465]

This series is very interesting to know about myself being an Indian.❤

[@VijayKumarIITSrExecutive]

When no one in India was interested in history, when Brahmins had forgotten meaning of Sanskrit shlokas, its the foreign historians who discovered and praised IVC, deciphered Brahmi script, made Sanskrit/Buddhism/Yoga/Indian Temple architecture popular. Our ruling party blindly loves it when narrative fits their agenda, but claims as European conspiracy when it doesnt. Hypocrisy ki bhi seema hoti hai. PS: The whole world can see that this is a narcissistic bipolar attitude and they harbor a deep inferiority feeling driven by a hurt pride. Feel sorry for them. A civilization doesn't have to be the oldest to be respected. Else there would have been no respect for Roman history. I am still proud of our ancient culture and Arya Maryada Purushottam Ram is my role model.

[@DS-rr8ih]

These historians mare following the foot steps of BRITISHERS because they started the excavation of IVC. We faced Islamic rule of more than 1000 years , many Brahmins were killed. No one was allowed to go to temple without tax. And you are blaming an NGO RSS . Many temples were demolished by islamic rulers since 712 AD by mmhd bin qasim. Somnath is prominent example. Don't look historians on the basis of your ideology. India as Islamic nation is on its way because these guys want India to be an ÏSLÆMic nation. ALL of their research based on assumptions. It was ADI SHANKARACHARYA who saved SANATAN DHARMA . The day is not far when they will say that there was no ay ADI SHANKARACHARYA.

[@pardeeptandon]

We must accept that it was the Britishers who created the Hindu religion for their administrative ease. In history, there has never been any king who called himself a Hindu. Even Vads, Upanishads, Ramayana or Bhagwat Gita do not refer to the existence of Hindu Dharma or religion.

[@DS-rr8ih]

@@pardeeptandon read book Indica. Persian always called us HINDU AND Greek Indu 140 crore bharatiya are Hindus

[@DS-rr8ih]

Historians? Did you forget ADI SHANKARACHARYA? DID YOU forget the kings who were fighting @gainst barbarians? Lakhs of BRAHMINS were killed by ÏSLÆMIC RULERS. WE were under Islamic invasion since 712AD nalanda University , takshashila all were destroyed. Again we were under BRITISH RULE so it was obvious . Anyway they found it accidentally when they were laying railway track.

[@pardeeptandon]

@@DS-rr8ih: Since when has your address become your Religion?

[@TheGJOSHI]

Thanks for this series, much required for the brainwashed youth of the nation

[@Al.shazly]

This was amezing. Good to see unbiased history.❤ I was sick of blame game history

[@PB-hf9of]

Is it unbiased ? Do you know contemporary Muslim historians has described how Khilji destroyed Nalanda, still he says there is no historical evidence!

[@hshakeem]

Amazing. Architecture of Nalanda is very similar to Taxila.

[@jamilkhan715]

Great as usual. Very revealing that worship places of one relegion has been replaced by another at different times of history, as a matter of course. We are grateful to presenter that his series will promote harmony and brotherhood amongst different faiths and ethnic groups in the sub continent. Grateful, sir.

[@tantrichill192]

Kudos to the host and the team for this video. Remarkable job and good digging. Totally unbiased and transparent contain. Yes and indeed , the destruction of Nalanda was not by only one party but there are more than one who hated Buddhists immensely and Buddha dhamma overall. Jealousy, popularity and ego was the key reason for Brahmins to totally annihilate Nalanda from the face of the earth which is very saddening and tragedy. I don't think behavior of the most Brahmins in this day and age has changed. They still control many Important Buddhist sites such as Bodhgaya and Lumbini ( Nepal), All the revenue collected from Buddhists pilgrims goes to Brahmins first. 21st century and there is still oppression on Buddhists by Brahminism authorized by the Hindu Government bodies in India and Nepal. The quick reaction by the Hindus on every Buddhist videos on social medias is unbelievable and farce. They claim Buddhism is part of their branch and Shakyamuni is 9th avatar of Vishnu just like you mentioned. There are 84,000 thousands suttas taught by the Shakyamuni and not even single sutta mention Shakyamuni being Hindu god. Shakyamuni quoted himself he is not god or any form of god in " Dona sutta" angutara Nikaya. I think it was not anything but the motive of Shakyamuni being called Hindu god by the brahmins was fabricated story and strategy to convert left over Buddhists in the sub-continent after the mass genocide of Buddhists by these folks.

[@syambandi5247]

It's an engaging presentation of Buddhism. I really like the reason explained for the decline of Buddhism in India. On a minor note, since I am from Andhra, I wondered where the Telangana is on the India map.

[@mooncatcher1]

As expected an excellent summary of Indian history based on real historical data and well presented in easy to understand format

[@sanjayyadav-ld6wk]

इस सीरियल को हिंदी में भी लाने की कृपा करें महराज,इसी लिए सक्रआइव किए है नहीं तो......

[@Achin_Jain]

महाराज, जिसको हिन्दी नहीं आती वो कैसे समझेगा? 🤔

[@krissharyan5547]

Waise bhi hindi wale RSS ki history hi samajhte hai (most north Indian Hindi supporters understand only RSS history)

[@yashagrawal88]

​@@Achin_Jain इसलिए तो इंग्लिश में है।

[@roudribagchi4019]

It is crucial for every person in India to be educated on these facts.

[@iamvishal5258]

Indian history is battle between buddhists and aryans - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

[@ameya7723]

Says a fake NEO BUDDHIST of 1956

[@Chrisbbilger-yp4fz]

Bitter truth. 💯

[@Chrisbbilger-yp4fz]

​@@ameya7723pure fictional character follower, casteist keep drinking Gaumutra. 😂🤣😂😂

[@Huang_Teh.]

​@@Chrisbbilger-yp4fzevery religion is fictional 🤣 .

[@Huang_Teh.]

Aryans are older than birth of buddha🤣

[@patternobserver2777]

Love this series ❤

[@jayajashrinatarajan]

Excellent. These episodes show how real facts never really match any ideology, how the reality of life is always multifaceted and is always more rich and complexe than any belief system, opinion. May our faith come from real life experience, may we be wise enough to reject all propaganda...

[@himmsingz]

We need such evidence based historical narratives. Too much politics is going into current popular versions of our history.

[@VijayKumarIITSrExecutive]

Struggling to understand how we Indians will benefit from ruling party's drive of changing history books. Pls enlighten me.

[@saq3329]

You won't, they might

[@vijaygarikipati6087]

Who is saying "changing"? It is correcting, updating and "proportionalizing" Indian history texts. Indian history did not start 1000-1500 years ago. Bulk of it today is just that period in text books. Simple example - Indian independence struggle is mostly weighted towards Gandhiji's non-violence and Nehru's whatever. Gandhiji definitely mobilized India. Netaji and many others are greatly under played in history books. Netaji was a big contributor to Indian freedom struggle. Look around even today, the west only understand violence. The British would have never left India purely on Ghandhiji’s non- violence. Netaji's dharmic violence troubled and shook the British. They took Gandhiji's moral exit path to save face. Hope this picturization helps.

[@VijayKumarIITSrExecutive]

@@vijaygarikipati6087 If it is just what you said, i have no problem with that. Problem happens when they start publishing "claims" without evidence instead of documented history with scientific evidence as accepted by academia.

[@kunalsarkar1984]

@@VijayKumarIITSrExecutive Claim without evidence has been practised for a very long time. Ashoka converted to Buddhism after the battle of Kalinga ( well established that Ashoka was a convert before the war ) Ghazni came for loot and not to destroy Somnath ( He came to destroy idol worshipping Hindus and the like of those pagan worshippers who were visiting somnath all the way from Persia) Aurangzeb perhaps build more temple than he destroyed ( Romila Thapar ) His own destruction of temples are recorded in his Court writing including Gyanwapi Mosque Destruction. British took over from Mughals ( Fake narrative as Marthas and Sikh empires eventually controlled India from Attack to Cuttack and british took over from them and not from the Mughals )

[@Huang_Teh.]

Lmao this is not the first time book is bring changed

[@vvramanan1]

An excellent presentation that is true to the two key requisites for any historiography- veracity and causality. Notwithstanding a few mispronunciations (for instance, Yogacara, IAST Yogācāra is pronunced yogachara - yoga + ācāra), a flawless effort. Waiting for the next episode!

[@centtenzin8793]

Sir, u ‘re largely right but I have a small difference of opinion, where u stated..it was oldest university or not….reason for not being a university..had conditions like…being Buddhist & celibate…that reason is purely logical & moral..cuz Buddhist philosophy is anatma & more moral..with no family clinging & striving for buddhahood/ moksha. Excellent. Salutations to your research!! I knew all the reasons. But I needed to hear from like-minded Indians 🎊🌈

[@learningsage-2255]

I get goosebumps everytime i study history with peoples like arora sir ❤

[@siddhantDevansh99677]

Sir i read that xuenzang wrote avalokiteshvara and you call it shiva...

[@jampalhundup1846]

Well unbiased presentation❤

[@MrVictorcalling]

I was, in fact, waiting for this video! And to be honest it sufficed my wait and thrust for knowledge! Thank you Mr. Namit Arora, The Wire and the team!

[@ansacha1]

Brilliant series! Has helped make sense of why we hit a wall as we go back into Indian history in the popular world. Reading the book..

[@rajeshkumarbhagat]

Very educational and understandable

[@sanjeevsharma-jh8jo]

The most important period of our history is captured excellently. Truth always prevails !

[@leengkhiam1963]

Thank you... 🎉🎉🎉

[@tenzinnorlha6644]

Bold and straight forward, no bakwas!

[@ngawanglodoephundetsang5482]

Chinese travelers more popular because of of 19th century Chinese popularity, actually Tibetan scholars who visited India In between 6 centuries to End Nalanda university are more in numbers and very highly educated than Chinese . They have translated more than three hundreds texts of Indian . Everyone can check in their written Texts.

[@rajraman4385]

EXCELLANT I FULLY AGREE THAT LORD RAMA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH AYODYA GOOD NARATER AND AN EYE OPENER THANK YOU SIR 👃👃👃

[@Chopraviraj]

Excellent. Thank you

[@ankursharma116]

Another brilliant episode full of facts and incredible story telling

[@tashmivyas]

This is a brilliant series, based only and only on the historical facts/findings. Great initiative by the Wire, should consider releasing it in other languages mainly Hindi for a larger reach in the Hindi heartland as it will help squash many myths and misbeliefs.

[@kaushalgagan6723]

With every new episode i get to know some knew stuff that I never heard before 😂 Your history narration is unbiased and amazing keep it up🎉

[@kaushalgagan6723]

​@@anantkris6350 yeah some teachers teach their subjects by putting their own biased beliefs and try their best to hide the truth. you should feel sorry for yourself to 😂

[@kaushalgagan6723]

@@anantkris6350 I am not professor of history so I asked chatgpt is there any evidence that bakhtiyar destroyed nalanda? ChatGPT- There is some historical evidence that suggests that Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, a Turko-Afghan military general of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor, was responsible for destroying Nalanda mahavihara, a renowned Buddhist university in ancient India, around the year 1200 CE12 According to some sources, Khalji attacked Nalanda as part of his conquest of northern and eastern India, spreading his empire and the Islamic faith. As Nalanda was an institution of Buddhist knowledge, it was destroyed largely to eliminate intellectual and spiritual traditions that competed with Islam34 However, some scholars have questioned the reliability and accuracy of the accounts that attribute the destruction of Nalanda to Khalji, and have suggested alternative causes such as gradual decline, sectarian conflicts, or natural disasters5 *Therefore, the evidence for Khalji’s role in destroying Nalanda is not conclusive, and the topic remains a subject of debate and controversy among historians.* My suggestion - Before coming to conclusion look for the evidence don't come up with your own beliefs and stories and teach history to everyone so go read and confirm with evidence first then say it for sure otherwise just shut the fuck up.

[@kaushalgagan6723]

@@anantkris6350 if you have the courage to listen my points then don't try to remove my comments.

[@chrislusk3497]

Wonderful series, thank you!

[@genuinebombayite1966]

Excellent work, Namit. Please continue with this clear-headed work on Indian history. I am a huge fan.

[@thomasvaittadan]

I am very much thankful to your presentation going deep into the past without bias

[@okramronan]

Loving the series

[@johnlogan4303]

This video is less about Nalanda, and more about what Chinese travellers said about India. And remember that these are just travelogues with biases of the writers and not objective historical truth.

[@AnnapoornaPosaniKalakruti]

Sir since 11 year old I have been following Bhuddhist trails started from Nagarjuna Sagar excavations of Ikshvakus and history of Shatavahana dynasty Budhissm embraced belonging to Amaravathi the Dhanya katakam where Bhuddha started kalachakra. Being from sudhra community followed Bhuddhism those times are told as stories still in some families. I find the narration true to facts. Visited many Buddhist sites including China I visited

[@Huang_Teh.]

Satvahanas supported vedic religion too ....check the titles adopted by Gautamiputra satakarni.

[@user-le4os2ch2j]

Sri lankan Buddhists always standing with Indian and pakistan buddhists

[@Huang_Teh.]

How many buddhist alive in Pakistan

[@user-le4os2ch2j]

@@Huang_Teh. 650 families

[@nazimrizvi7743]

Loss of Buddhism is the greatest blunder in the entire civilization history of India

[@rameshsnayar]

So who blew up the Bamian Buddhas? Sankaracharya or was it Vivekananda?

[@roudribagchi4019]

Eagerly waiting for the next episode.

[@mutharasan2010]

Wonderfully narrated; I like the references and sources noted. A nice bibliography would aid folks such as I. Thank you very much. You are doing a wonderful service, particularly because leaders of the nation are fabricating history

[@yolandadesa250]

Excellent sumary of past Indian historical events. Wish all success for more such episodes to educate the masses.

[@azimshaikh8772]

Beautiful, eloquent, and factual history telling

[@user-gd5ne9kb2k]

SubhaanAllah, Ma Bahan ki chaddi sunghna to RasoolAllah ki sunnat he, Nabi paak Muhammad Sallahuwalewasallam bhi apni ammi huzoor ki Chaddi sungh Kar UNGH UNGH ki avaaz nikala karate the, or mast ho Kar nanga naach Kiya karate the, MashahAllah

[@farhanjalil9866]

Great effort by the wire team. Thank you so much.

[@sukhoi5967]

What a great episode and abundance of knowledge!

[@user-gq3cq6qw4p]

Manusmriti physicians ko Tak shudra bol dete the kyu ki voh sick bodies ko heal karte the toh socho ek scientific desh kaise unscientific bana diya Manusmriti ne ... Aaj bhi manusmriti se grasit log society me hai jo Aaj bhi isss manuwadi bimari ke karan lower castes Hindus ko taklif Dena param dharma samazte hai ewwwwwww

[@kuldeeplohe3902]

Excellent

[@buntykinny]

better then Discovery's Buddhas relic series... wish this could pitch to big channels.

[@paradkarviveknewton]

I personally admire Wire. But this series is incredible! It intelligently rekindles the history that’s been wiped out from our memories. I personally love the historicity of Saket mentioned in the video. Good work!

[@ayonsg]

This is amazing, an eye opener and provides much needed information.

[@bluebuddy46422]

Amazing series, thank you. So much information was relayed in a very clear and concise way , I feel like I have been educated

[@hzf85073]

Thanks 🙏

[@smlanka4u]

Thank you so moch. 🙏❤

[@avneeshkumar5754]

Dhamma is eternal and universal! people may be perplexed but Dhamma remain as it is! Namobudhay !sadhu sadhu sadhu!🙏🙏🙏

[@mohittayde429]

Can u plzz dub this video in hindi....my parents can't understand English....I wanted to show them this video....

[@ShivaniChauhan-pw2wv]

At a point of time Jains and Buddhists also claimed the temple in Ayodhya might very well be theirs.

[@user-ky8pp4yk1t]

KING of Indian History "Namit Arora"

[@IamMe927]

Superb! I do believe that 90% of Indians were practicing Buddhism. Right from Afghanistan to Japan all countries were Buddhist.

[@jidrit999]

That's incorrect. Buddhism was popular mong trade class

[@Huang_Teh.]

And mahayana was best of all.

[@Huang_Teh.]

Kushans , gupta & others didn't prescribed to single religion, they were not toxic monotheist like radical neo buddhist, islamist & hypocrite brahmins.

[@Rigdoldrukpa800]

What a beautiful information, looking for more about this kind of history in future.....

[@lipibmahanta9033]

Wonderful video and content. But I still believe we mainly espouse that Hindu or Hinduism is not a religion as such. It is a way of life. Fanaticism is there in all religion.

[@farooqueazam2762]

this episode may prove to be antidot to what our youths are suffering from..whatsapp university syndrom.. i can only wish they watch it and learn their own history 🙏

[@almhi3267]

A very great presentation of our ancient history totally unbiased. Keep the good work going on sir..

[@PromaRaychaudhury]

Excellent narration and much needed initiative.

[@sahebraopatil8781]

Thank you for your candid and unbiased narration of ancient India.Do keep it up.

[@divyaca]

Excellent episode! Hope history in the school textbooks can be like this! Balanced and unbiased.

[@shivkantverma8497]

can anyone tell the name of Shudra Queen which Nimit ji mentions in this video

[@indusmartin]

That’s the need of the hour You set the target to the new gen Indians to know what is reality and who they are in reality !

[@RahulYadav-hz6nd]

Outstanding

[@Che_Guna]

This video brought tears 😢

[@user-oy9nc6ps7o]

Amazing episodes of indian histories of religions cultures societies in ancient times

[@pawanmohod6405]

Fantastic narration

[@ashishk81]

Buddhism will flourish again coming centuries...

[@kmenonsen]

This is so brilliantly done, a powerful counter to the toxic bilge that is finding its way into history books today. Keep them coming.

[@Huang_Teh.]

In history book of early medieval there is least mention about how nalanda University was burnt by invader baktiyar khilji

[@Che_Guna]

I thank the entire wire team from heart ☸️🙏

[@zgeorgem]

Imagine India where Hindus were 50 percent and 30 percent were budhists. Political dynamics would have been totally different!

[@SSCHUB]

India would have broken in 1947 itself

[@kanishkkumar5431]

This is what called history without any bias

[@taramehta2439]

Thankyou for bringing the true historical perspective.

[@ishtiyaqueahmed2022]

Thank you sir

[@user-gd5ne9kb2k]

SubhaanAllah, Mene is Chnadi ki Chut / Hazra-E-Aswat me Ghapa Gap apna tansul pela he, Vallh, maza a gya Or Nabi paak ko mirgiki doe pdate the or tab RasoolAllah ki kacche me tatti nikal jati thi, islie wo sharab nhi pite the, MashahAllah

[@ramandeepgrewal6124]

Very nice episode. Better way to learn history.

[@mailhitendra]

Very informative

[@swarnamohanty3121]

Excellent sir.