Valabhi University

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Between 600 CE and 1400 CE, Valabhi University stood as a stronghold of Hinayana Buddhist teaching. In September 2017, the Indian central government took up a proposal aimed at reviving the ancient institution. The plan came from an organisation named Sanghkaya, and the Union ministry of culture agreed to take it forward. What made this Buddhist teaching centre worth bringing back, centuries after it fell silent? Who studied there, who taught there, and who paid to keep its doors open?

• 2. Capital of the Maitrakas

  ›

  Ships and traders passed through Valabhi, which functioned as a major port for international commerce on the coast of Saurashtra. The city itself was more than a trading hub. From 480 to 775 CE, it served as the capital of the Maitraka empire. Its modern namesake still exists in Bhavnagar district, in the western Indian state of Gujarat. That town matches what was once known as the old state of Vala.

• 3. Beyond Buddhist Doctrine

  ›

  The school's own allegiance leaned toward Nikaya Buddhism, and specifically its Pudgalavada Sammitiya branch. Even so, Valabhi never closed its doors to other traditions, and Brahmanical sciences were taught there right alongside Buddhist doctrine. Records mention Brahmanic students who traveled to Valabhi specifically to study. The course list stretched well past religion. Students could study Niti, political science and statesmanship, or Varta, business and agriculture. Administration, law, and economics and accountancy rounded out the practical side. Religious thought and philosophy remained central too, with particular weight given to Buddhist philosophy. Graduates typically went on to serve kings, helping run the daily business of governing a kingdom.

• 4. A Trusted Seal of Approval

  ›

  Northern India knew Valabhi's name. The Kathasaritsagara, a collection of stories, tells of a Brahmana father determined to send his son there. He chose Valabhi over both Nalanda and Banaras. Two of its Panditas, Gunamati and Sthiramati, are remembered by name, though little survives about the other scholars who taught there. When those Panditas put their stamp of approval on a scholar's doctrines, kingdoms elsewhere in the learned world took the endorsement seriously. Yijing arrived toward the end of the 7th century. He judged Valabhi's education to be on par with that of Nalanda, the Buddhist monastic centre in Bihar.

• 5. Monks, Monasteries, and Patrons

  ›

  When Xuanzang made his way to Valabhi in the middle of the 7th century, he counted more than 6000 monks studying at the institution. About 100 monasteries had been built to house them. Funding on that scale did not come from the state alone. The citizens of Valabhi, many of them wealthy and generous, contributed money that kept the university running. The ruling Maitraka kings acted as patrons too, granting resources to support the institution and to equip its libraries. Those grants were meant to outlast any single ruler, keeping Valabhi's shelves stocked long after Xuanzang had already come and gone.