Nalanda University

The most famous center of learning during Harsha's era was Nalanda University. It was founded by Kumaragupta I. Nalanda was a Buddhist monastery. Later, it grew into one of the highest educational institutions in India. Many valuable information about Nalanda is available from the accounts of Xuanzang. He describes the building of the university, the academic discussions, and the details of the studies.

Nalanda University had all kinds of facilities. There were three libraries with excellent collections: (1) Ratna Sagar (2) Ratnadhati (3) Ratnarajak. There were facilities for staying and studying in Nalanda. About ten thousand students from home and abroad lived and studied there. Many students from China, Korea, Japan, and Mongolia studied at Nalanda. Students were admitted on the basis of merit. An entrance examination was also conducted to assess their intellectual ability. Only those with high knowledge and intelligence were admitted to Nalanda. Xuanzang had the rare privilege of studying and serving as a teacher at Nalanda.

Nalanda University was a corporate body. It was governed democratically. The university's expenses were met by the income from land donated by various kings. Harshan donated 100 villages to Nalanda. The teaching method at Nalanda was quite modern. Discussions and lectures enlivened the study at Nalanda. Grammar, medicine, crafts, logic, and philosophy were compulsory subjects. K.M. Panicker opines that it was a university of high quality comparable to modern-day Cambridge and Oxford.