Nalanda destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khalji

1197

Turkish cavalry under the Ghurid general Bakhtiyar Khalji swept through the plains of Bihar and put the ancient Buddhist university of Nalanda to the torch. Monks were massacred, irreplaceable manuscripts heaped and burned, and the legendary library - one of the greatest repositories of knowledge in the entire ancient world - was reduced to smoke and rubble. Buddhism as a living tradition in India never recovered from the blow.