To
The Editor,
Organiser,
Sanskriti Bhavan, D.B. Gupta Road,
Jhandewalan
New Delhi - 110 055
For Favour of Publication
Reference Mr. MSN Menon’s article on Nalanda
I come from Bihar and share the sense of pride all Biharis and all India nurse on Nalanda. However, the allegation that Bhaktiyar Khilji destroyed Nalanda in 1197 is false because historically it has been proved that Nalanda had declined with the stoppage of royal support from the kings of Bengal and Bihar, to monastery with high walls, with very few monks as teachers and schools. Moreover, resurgent Hinduism had already destroyed Buddhist institutions and vestiges all over the country.

The writer has cited the case of the Library of Alexandria. It is now proved beyond doubt that it was destroyed much before the Muslims from Arabia set their foot in Egypt.

The article has attributed an unfounded meaning to Jawaharlal Nehru’s statement on the Muslim rule. Almost every Sultan in Delhi or an independent principality promoted learning. The emperor himself did. You can see the remains of Hauz Khas, the great madrasa built by the Khiljis in Delhi. 

The point is that throughout the world the Islamic madrasas followed their own syllabi but they were not confined to theology but covered all  known dimensions of knowledge including mathematics, geography, astronomy, history, literature. The madrasas were not called  ‘colleges’  but the fact is that it is these madrasas in Spain under the Arab rule which became the fountain head for the Enlightenment of medieval Europe.