Back in the eleventh century, when Muslim rulers were new to Delhi, the Sultan of the Khilji Dynasty, named Bhaktiyar Khilji, fell ill. Islamic doctors from his court were not able to cure him. Medicine in those days was closely associated with religion, unlike now. Someone from Khilji’s court asked him to consult the principal of Nalanda University, named Rahul Sri Bhadra, for the cure. This principal was a Buddhist monk.
Khilji could not accept that a Buddhist monk was better at healing than Islamic doctors. Yet he had to swallow his pride when his condition worsened. But he only accepted a cure from Bhadra if the monk did not use the medicine. Bhadra agreed. The monk only asked Khilji to read the Holy Koran. The words of Allah served as medicine, and the Sultan was cured. This, however, made him angrier.
Khilji was miffed that a Buddhist monk was able to do what his Islamic doctors couldn’t. The Sultan decided to terminate the source of this ability by burning down the Nalanda University library, destroying around 9 million books, and effectively suppressing Buddhism. It took 3 months to burn down the library. Persian historian who lived at the time of Khilji Minhaj-i-Riraj in his book Tabaqat-i-Nasari said, “Smoke from the burning manuscripts hung for days like a dark pall over the low hills.”
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