Vikramashila

Also called: Vikramashila Mahavihara · Topic: Early Medieval North India: Harsha to the Rajputs · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries"; Class 7, Ch 4 "Turning Tides: The 11th and 12th Centuries"; Class 9, Ch 5 "State and Society up to 1000 CE"

Meaning

Vikramashila (also called Vikramashila Mahavihara; mahavihara means "great monastery") was a Buddhist monastic university. The Pala king Dharmapala founded it in the late 8th century at what is now Antichak, Bhagalpur district, Bihar [2]. It ran for about four centuries and collapsed in the early 13th century CE [2].

It matters because it was one of the main centres of learning in early medieval India, along with Nalanda. Its teachers took Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet.

Explanation

Background: why the Palas built it

• The Palas ruled eastern India (today's Bihar and Bengal). Gopala founded the dynasty in 750 CE. An inscription says the people chose him as king.
• Dharmapala was the strongest Pala king. He fought in the Tripartite Struggle (the three-sided fight for Kannauj) against the Gurjara-Pratiharas and the Rashtrakutas.
• War and learning went together. Kings spent their wealth on monasteries and temples to show they were greater than their rivals.
• Dharmapala founded Vikramashila and Somapura.

• The Palas also gave money and land to the older Nalanda.

• The Palas supported Mahayana Buddhism (the branch of Buddhism that honours bodhisattvas, beings who put off their own salvation to help others).

How it worked

• Size: it had six colleges, about 3,000 scholars and a huge library.
• Entry was by test. A dvarapandita ("scholar gatekeeper") tested anyone who wanted to join. Only those who passed got in.
• Main subject: Vajrayana Buddhism (the "thunderbolt vehicle", a form of Buddhism that uses mantras and rituals).
• Link with Tibet:
• Vikramashila teachers carried Vajrayana Buddhism north into Tibet.
• The dig found a Tibetan temple near the monastery, which is hard proof of this link [2].

The site plan

• A huge square monastery, each side 330 metres long [2].
• 208 cells, 52 on each of the four sides, all opening onto one shared verandah [2].
• A cruciform stupa (a cross-shaped stupa) in the middle [2].
• A library building and a group of votive stupas (small stupas given as offerings) [2].
• To the north were scattered buildings, including a Tibetan temple and a Hindu temple. This shows Hindus and Buddhists lived side by side [2].

Decline

• The university ran for about four centuries [2].
• It collapsed in the early 13th century CE [2].

Time, place and evidence

• Period: founded in the late 8th century by Dharmapala. ASI dates the founding to the late 8th or early 9th century CE [2]. It ended in the early 13th century CE [2].
• Dynasty: the Palas of eastern India.
• Place: village Antichak, Bhagalpur district, Bihar. It is about 50 km east of Bhagalpur and 13 km north-east of Kahalgaon [2].
• How we know: excavation.
• Patna University dug the site first, in 1960–69 [2].

• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) dug it next, in 1972–82 [2].

• Numbers differ by source:

• ASI's description says it had "more than a hundred teachers and about one thousand students" [2].
• NCERT gives about 3,000 scholars. Use the NCERT figure in the exam.
• The gap is probably because one figure counts the people living there at one time and the other counts total strength.

Don't confuse with

• Nalanda: Nalanda was older. The Palas only gave it money and land, but they founded Vikramashila.
• Somapura: Dharmapala founded this one too, but it is in Bengal. Vikramashila is in Bhagalpur, Bihar.
• Mahayana vs Vajrayana: the Palas as a dynasty supported Mahayana Buddhism. Vikramashila is known in particular for Vajrayana, the mantra-and-ritual form it took to Tibet.
• Kailasanatha temple, Ellora: this is another great building from the same period, but the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I built it in the Deccan [3]. It was not a Pala project.

Prelims Hooks

• Vikramashila was founded by Dharmapala of the Pala dynasty, which also founded Somapura.
• Site–state pair: Vikramashila ruins are at Antichak, Bhagalpur district, Bihar, about 50 km east of Bhagalpur [2].
• Excavation order: Patna University (1960–69), then ASI (1972–82) [2].
• Monastery plan: a square with 330 m sides, 208 cells (52 per side) and a cruciform stupa in the centre [2].
• Dvarapandita = the "scholar gatekeeper" who tested people before they could join Vikramashila.
• Trap: the Palas patronised Nalanda but did not found it. They founded Vikramashila and Somapura.

Mains Points

• Political rivalry, cultural boom. The Tripartite Struggle had no winner, but it did not weaken culture.
• Dharmapala spent his wealth on Vikramashila [2]. In the same period the Rashtrakutas built Kailasanatha at Ellora [3].

• Kings used learning and art to show their power.

• Learning as soft power. Vikramashila's teachers took Vajrayana to Tibet, and the dig found a Tibetan temple [2].

• Add the Pala sea trade with Southeast Asia, which carried monks and ideas as well as goods.

• Together these make Bengal–Bihar a hub that linked India to the rest of Asia. This is useful for GS-I questions on India's cultural contacts abroad.

• Shared religious space. The Hindu temple found next to a Buddhist university [2] shows the two faiths lived side by side. Use it to argue that early medieval India was a time of exchange, not only of decline and division.

Related concepts

• Tripartite struggle
• Matsyanyaya
• Gopala
• Pala dynasty
• Dharmapala
• Devapala
• Odantapuri
• Somapura Mahavihara
• Atisha Dipankara
• Pala school of art

Read more

• The Tripartite Struggle for Kannauj