Vikramasila University was one of the two most important centres of Buddhist learning in India during the Pala dynasty, along with Nālandā University.Vikramasila was established by King Dharmapala (783 to 820) in response to a supposed decline in the quality of scholarship at Nalanda.

Vikramasila (village Antichak, district Bhagalpur, Bihar) is located at about 50 km east of Bhagalpur and about 13 km north-east of Kahalgaon, a railway station on Bhagalpur-Sahebganj section of Eastern Railway.

Vikramaśila was founded by Pala king Dharmapala in the late 8th or early 9th century. It prospered for about four centuries before it was destroyed by Bakhtiyar Khilji during fighting with the Sena dynasty along with the other major centers of Buddhism in India  around 1200.

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Vikramasila is known to us mainly through Tibetan sources, especially the writings of Taranatha, the Tibetan monk-historian of the 16th-17th centuries.

Vikramasila was one of the largest Buddhist universities, with more than one hundred teachers and about one thousand students. It produced eminent scholars who were often invited by foreign countries to spread Buddhist learning, culture, and religion.

The most distinguished and eminent among all was Atisa Dipankara, a founder of the Sarma traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Subjects like philosophy, grammar, metaphysics,  Indian logic etc. were taught here, but the most important branch of learning was tantrism.

A fortified Vikramaśīla was destroyed by Muslim invaders fighting the Sena dynasty along with the other major centers of Buddhism in India around 1200. The remains of the ancient university have been partially excavated at village Antichak in the Bhagalpur district, Bihar state, India, and the process is still underway.

The university lies on top of the hill on the banks of the River Ganga. There was a temple at the center of university enshrining the life-size copy of the Mahabodhi tree. 53 small temples were in the vicinity for the study of the Guhyasamaja Tantra. Another 54 ordinary temples were also there. The main temples had statues of Nagarjuna and Atisa at the entrance. Santipa, Jetari, Ratnavajra, Jnanasrimitra, Naropa and Atisa were great scholars at Vikramshila University at that period of time.

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Vikramasila was one of the largest Buddhist universities, with more than one hundred teachers and about one thousand students. It produced eminent scholars who were often invited by foreign countries to spread Buddhist learning, culture, and religion. The most distinguished and eminent among all was Atiśa Dipankara, a founder of the Sarma traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Subjects like philosophy, grammar, metaphysics, Indian logic etc. were taught here, but the most important branch of learning was tantrism.

Vikramasila was a centre for Vajrayana and employed Tantric preceptors. The first was Buddhajnanapada, followed by Dipaṁkarabhadra and Jayabadhra. The first two were active during Dharmapāla’s reign, the third in the early to mid portion of the 9th century. Jayabadhra was the first prominent commentator on the Cakrasamvara tantra. Sridhara was the next preceptor, followed by Bhavabhaṭṭa. The latter, also a prominent commentator on Cakrasamvara, may have been the maha Siddha Bhadrapada. He, in turn, was succeeding by three more prominent Cakrasamvara commentators, Bhavyakirti, Durjayacandra, and Tathagatarakṣita.

The Vikramshila site is the place for Vikramshila Mahotsav, which is held annually during the month of February.

Vikramasila was neglected for years which contributed to extensive damages to the monument A.S.I. is now planning to develop the excavated site of Vikramshila University.

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On the evening of 30th January, 1948, at his daily prayer meeting Gandhiji was shot dead by a young man from Pune named Nathuram Godse. Coincidently Nathuram Godse was the editor of an extremist Hindu Newspaper that had declared Gandhiji as ‘an appeaser of Muslims”.

Rich tributes were paid to him from across the political class in India and moving appreciations came from international figures like Albert Einstein and George Orwell.

Time Magazine compared his martyrdom to that of Abraham Lincoln. Time wrote “The world knew that it had, in a sense too deep, too simple for the world to understand, connived to his (Gandhiji’s) death as it had connived to Lincoln’s.”

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Brief Biography of Mahatma Gandhi

The beginning

Monandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2nd October, 1869 at Porbandar in Gujarat. His father was Diwan in a small principality of Rajkot. He went to England for his degree in law.

Days in South Africa

After getting degree he started his legal practice in Bombay and from there he went to South Africa in 1893.

A famous historian, Chandran Devanesan, has said, South Africa was “the making of the Mahatma”. It was during the course of his struggle against the policy of the racial discrimination of the South African Government, he forged the distinctive techniques of Satyagraha (non-violent protest for truth and justice).

Return back to India

Gandhiji returned to India in January, 1915, after two decades to residence in a foreign country. He was then forty six years old.

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First public appearance of Gandhi

Gandhiji’s first important public appearance was at the opening ceremony of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in February, 1916.

There in his speech he emphatically said, “There is no salvation for India unless you strip yourself of this jewellery that hold it in trust for your countrymen in India,” he went on “our salvation can only come through the farmer; neither the lawyers, nor the doctors, nor the rich landlords are going to secure it.”

Sabarmati Ashram

Gandhiji founded Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmedabad in 1916, to promote and practice the ideas of truth and non-violence.

Champaran Satyagraha

In December, 1916, at the annual session of Congress that was held in Lucknow, he was approached by a peasand from Champaran (in Bihar) who narrated him about the harsh treatment of peasants by British Indigo planters.

From Champaran Gandhiji’s first experiment in Satyagraha initiated. Gandhiji defied the orders of the officials and refused to leave the place. Eventually he succeeded in clinching some relief for the peasants.

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Fast unto death for mill workers in Ahemadabad

In 1918, Gandhiji undertook fast unto death to resolve a dispute between the workers and millowners of Ahmedabad. His fast forced mill owners to compromise and they agreed to raise the wages of the workers up to thirty five percent.

Rowlatt Act and Satyagraha Sabha

Gandhiji in order to oppose the Rowlatt Act, founded the Satyagraha Sabha in 1919. March 30, 1919 was celebrated as Satyagraha Day all over India.

Hartal of 1919

Gandhiji gave a call for hartal on April 6, 1919 that culminated Jallianwalla Bagh massacre. The Satyagraha continued till April 18, 1919.

Non-cooperation Movement

In August, 1920, Gandhiji started his Non-cooperation movement. The movement, a non-violent one, spread all over India with great speed. As a consequence of this movement, for the first time since the revolt of 1857, British Raj was shaken to its foundations.

However in February 1922, a violent incident happened at Chauri Chaura in which a mob attacked and torched a police station in which twenty two policemen died.

This incident prompted Mahatma Gandhi to immediately suspend the movement altogether.

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Charge of sedition and arrest

Gandhiji was arrested on the charge of Sedition in March 1922. He was released from the prison in February, 1924.

Works for Social Empowerment

From 1924 to 1928 Gandhiji remained busy in promoting Khadi (home spun cloth) and the abolition of untouchability.

Dandi March and Civil Disobedience Movement

Gandhiji Started his Civil Disobedience Movement by his famous Dandi March on March 12, 1930. The movement continued amidst the repressive policy of the Government till the beginning of 1931.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact and Second Round Table Conference

Eventually in 1931, Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed, on which basis the movement was halted for a year, Gandhiji went to London in 1931 to take part in the Second Round table conference as the sole representative of the Congress.

However this conference failed, and Gandhi ji returned to India as a frustrated person and resumed Civil Disobedience.

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Communal Award

In 1932, Gandhiji went on fast unto death against the Communal Award declared by the British Prime Minister Macdonald.

Civil Disobedience Movement finally revoked in 1934.

Quit India Movement

In August 1942, “Quit India Campaign” was launched by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi jee was put behind the bar at once. ‘Quit India’ was genuinely a mass movement in which hundreds of thousands of ordinary Indians took part.

At the time of the end of Second World War, in 1944, Gandhi ji was released after that Gandhi jee spent most of his life trying to bridge the gap between the Muslim League and the Congress. But he failed and India was divided into two countries. And the entire blame went to Gandhi ji.

Independent India and Gandhi

On 15th August 1947, Gandhi Jee was not present at the festivities in the capital. He marked the day with a 24 hour fast in Calcutta. He started to visit hospitals and refugee camps giving consolation to grief striken people.

End of a Life and birth of a legend

On 20 January 1948, some people attacked Gandhiji with an intention to kill him but he continued with his worked without any sign of weakness. At last a fanatic got the success on the evening of 30th January, 1948 and murdered the Mahatma which shook the soul of the entire nation.

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The world’s first University was established in Takshila or Taxila (now in Pakistan) in 700BC. Taxila is a town and an important archaeological site in Rawalpindi district of the Punjab province in Pakistan. This centre of learning was situated about 50 km west of Rawalpindi in Pakistan. Ancient Taxila (Takṣaśilā, literally meaning “City of Cut Stone” or “Rock of Taksha”) was situated at the pivotal junction of India, western Asia, and Central Asia. It was an important Vedic/Hindu and Buddhist center of learning.

Takshashila , the place where this university existed, is currently in Pakistan and gets its name from Taksha, who was the son of Bharatha (the brother of Rama). Taksha ruled over the kingdom of Taksha Khanda which even extended beyond modern-day Uzbekistan, and Tashkent -the present day Uzbek capital also gets its name from Taksha/Takshashila.

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The Vayu Purana traces the start of Takshashila, to Taksha, son of  Bharata (brother of Raghu Ram Chandra). Takshashila also finds a mention in Mahabharata – citing Dhaumya, as the acharya of Takshashila. It was at Takshashila, that Vaishampayana made the first recorded narration of the Mahabharata to Janmajeya.

Taxila also known as Takshashila, flourished from 600 BC to 500 AD, in the kingdom of Gandhara. 68 subjects were taught at this university and, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. At one stage, it had 10,500 students including those from Babylon, Greece, Syria, and China. Experienced masters taught the Vedas, languages, grammar, philosophy, medicine, surgery, archery, politics, warfare, astronomy, accounts, commerce, documentation, music, dance and other performing arts, futurology, the occult and mystical sciences, complex mathematical calculations.

Panini, the famous Sanskrit grammarian, Kautilya (Chanakya) and Charaka, the famous physician of ancient India, and Chandragupta Maurya were the products of this university. It gained its importance again during the reign of Kanishka. It was probably, the earliest of the ancient seats of higher education. Takshashila is perhaps best known because of its association with Chanakya. The famous treatise Arthashastra (Sanskrit for The knowledge of Economics) by Chanakya, is said to have been composed in Takshashila itself. The panel of masters at the university included legendary scholars like Jivak and Vishnu Sharma. Thus, the concept of a full-fledged university was developed in India.

The Vedas and the Eighteen Arts, which included skills such as archery, hunting, and elephant lore, were taught, in addition, Hunas ( to its law school, medical school, and school of military science. Takshila was specialized in the study of medicine.

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The ‘end’ of Takshashila

The colonial narrative traces the destruction of Takshashila in 499 AD, by theWestern history calls them White Huns, Romans called them Ephtalites; Arabs called them the Haytal;  The Chinese Ye Tha). Western ‘historians’ have ascribed the demise of Taxila to the White Huns, a Central Asian, nomadic tribe, roaming between Tibet to Tashkent, practicing polyandry.

The colonial narrative traces the destruction of Takshashila in 499 AD, by the Hunas (Western history calls them White Huns, Romans called them Ephtalites; Arabs called them the Haytal;  The Chinese Ye Tha). Western ‘historians’ have ascribed the demise of Taxila to the White Huns, a Central Asian, nomadic tribe, roaming between Tibet to Tashkent, practicing polyandry.

Takshashila lying at the cross roads of the Uttarapatha (West calls it The Silk Route) – from Tibet, China, Central Asia, Iran – and India, fell to this mindless savagery, goes the ‘modern’ narrative. But specifically, there is no mention in Chinese, Persian, Indian texts of the Hunas who destroyed Takshashila.

The decline of Taksashila marked the destruction, persecution and decline in Indian education, thought, and structure. The destruction of Takshashila (Taxila) meant that students and scholars would need to travel for an extra 60 days to reach the other Indian Universities of the time. This was a traumatic event in the status of the Indian ethos – even the Asiatic ethos.

Takshila was considered to be amongst the earliest universities in the world and some Historians even suggest that it was the first University in the world making it the oldest university in the world.

In 1980, Taxila has been listed by the UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites.

After the fall of Takshashila, in 499 AD – by the Huna Buddhism soon became a religion.

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The twin processes of drain and de-industrialization were carried out extensively through the various stages of British rule in India (colonial rule).

In the beginning

The process itself started from 1757 when with the battle of Plassey, the East India Company, representing the British mercantile class, took over the Indian control. During the same period, a fundamental change was taking place in Britain by a series of inventions leading to the Industrial Revolution.

For example spinning-Jenny of Hargreaves in 1764; Watt’s steam engine in 1765; water-frame of Arkwright in 1769; Crompton’s mule in 1779; Cartwright’s power-loom in 1785; and the steam-engine applied to blast furnaces in 1788. Before these inventions, the Bank of England was established in 1694 and plunder of India helped capital accumulation and inventions helped in generating Industrial Revolution.

The transformation in England created new interests and East India Company became the target of attacks in England and finally its fate was sealed by the War of Indian Independence in 1857.

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Impact of British Rule

The impact of the British rule, in the initial stages, has been summed up by R.P. Dutt:

“While machine-made cotton goods from England ruined the weavers, machine- made twist ruined the spinners. Between 1818 and 1836, the export of cotton twist from England to India rose 5,200 times.

The same process could be traced in respect of silk goods, woolen goods, iron, pottery, glass and paper.

The effects of this wholesale destruction of the Indian manufacturing industries on the economy of the country can be imagined. In England the ruin of the old handloom weavers was accompanied by the growth of the new machine industry. But in India, the ruin of the millions of artisans and craftsmen was not accompanied by any alternative growth of new forms of industry…. The old populous manufacturing towns, Dacca, Murshidabad, … Surat and the like, were in a few years rendered desolate under the ‘Pax-Brittanica’ with a completeness which no ravages of the most destructive war or foreign conquest could have accomplished”.

The merchant capital of the British, found new opportunities in India, when, Company started its conquests, in which monopolistic buying of Indian material was undertaken by the revenue earned from India, and they were exported to foreign markets with maximum profits. The pre-industrial British capital, instead of making so-called “investments”, were buying Indian commodities for profitable exports on the basis of money earned from revenue in India.

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Thus, the conquest of India by the British East India Company gave it the ‘power to levy and collect land revenue and other taxes’, and, on the basis of the gross profits the Company exploited Indian commodities. This ‘semi-bondage’ situation of India made the British mercantile capitalism earn “tribute from conquest”. According to Professor Habib, during the later half of eighteenth-century, the total British imports from India increased from 12 per cent to 24 per cent, and the British exports to India increased from 6.4 per cent to only 9 per cent of the total British exports.

The phase of merchant capitalism gave way to the phase of Industrial Capitalism towards the beginning of the 19th century. Now the emphasis shifted from revenue collection and trade to new forms of surplus appropriation. Indian economy was now geared to serve the interests of industrial England. India was now used to provide raw material to the industries of England and a market for the ready made British manufactured industrial goods. Indian resources continued to be drained out to England, although in different forms. Similarly, the process of de-industrialization also got accelerated.

After 1857, when the British Government took on direct control of India, some British capital also started pouring into the Indian market, along with the manufactured goods. This was the result of the accumulation of capital at an unprecedented level in the leading industrial countries. Now England needed India, not only as a market for their goods but also as a favorable ground for the investment of their capital.

As a result, India started getting industrialized, but only on foreign capital. All the major industries like Railways, Jute, Iron, and Steel (with the exception of cotton textiles) were being run by British capital. Its result was a further drain of wealth, as all the profits made on British capital were going back to England.

Thus, up to the end of the nineteenth-century India was sucked by the British during both phases of colonialism i.e., during mercantile capitalism and industrial revolution in England.

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Colonial Exploitation of Indian Economy

The Radcliffe Line became the international border between India and Pakistan (which also included what is now Bangladesh) during the partition of India. The line divided Bengal into Indian-held West Bengal and East Bengal which became East Pakistan.

The line was decided by the Border Commissions headed by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who was to divide equitably 175,000 square miles (450,000 km2) of territory with 88 million people. The line took effect on 17 August 1947 after the Partition of India.

On 15 July 1947, the Indian Independence Act 1947 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom stipulated that British rule in India would come to an end just one month later, on 15 August 1947. The Act also stipulated the partition of the Provinces of British India into two new sovereign dominions: the Union of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.

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The idea behind the Radcliffe Line was to create a boundary which would divide India along religious demographics, under which Muslim majority provinces would become part of the new nation of Pakistan and Hindu and Sikh majority provinces would remain in India. Pakistan was intended to be a homeland for Indian Muslims and India with a Hindu majority was to be a secular nation.

Since the Partition of India was done on the basis of religious demographics, Muslim-majority regions in the north of India were to become part of Pakistan. Baluchistan and Sindh (which had a clear Muslim majority) automatically became part of Pakistan.

The challenge, however, lay in the two provinces of Punjab (55.7% Muslims) and Bengal (54.4% Muslims) which did not have an overpowering majority. Eventually, the Western part of Punjab became part of West Pakistan and the Eastern part became part of India (Eastern Punjab was later divided into three other Indian states).

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The state of Bengal was also partitioned into East Bengal (which became part of Pakistan) and West Bengal, which remained in India. After Independence, the North West Frontier Province (located near Afghanistan) voted with a decision to join Pakistan.

Each boundary commission consisted of 5 people – a chairman (Radcliffe), 2 members nominated by the Indian National Congress and 2 members nominated by the Muslim league. The Bengal Boundary Commission consisted of Justices C. C. Biswas, B. K. Mukherji, Abu Saleh Mohamed Akram and S.A.Rahman. The members of the Punjab Commission were Justices Mehr Chand Mahajan, Teja Singh, Din Mohamed and Muhammad Munir.

Radcliffe arrived in India on 8th July 1947 and was given five weeks to work on the border. Upon meeting with Mountbatten, Radcliffe traveled to Lahore and Kolkata to meet his Boundary Commission members, who were primarily Jawaharlal Nehru representing the Congress and Muhammad Ali Jinnah representing the Muslim League.

On July 8, the British lawyer Sir Cyril Radcliffe arrived in Indian with a brief for a line on the map that would divide Hindu-majority lands from Muslim-majority ones in as equitable a manner as possible. Radcliffe was a brilliant legal mind, but he had no border-making experience, nor had he ever been to India — though such “impartiality” was judged to be an advantage by all parties involved.

Both parties were keen that the boundary was finalized by 15th August 1947, in time for the British to leave India. As requested by both Nehru and Jinnah, Radcliffe completed the boundary line a few days before Independence, but due to some political reasons the Radcliffe Line was only formally revealed on 17th August 1947, two days after Independence.

There were two major disputes regarding the Radcliffe Line, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and the Gurdaspur District. Minor disputes evolved around the districts of Malda, Khulna, and Murshidabad of Bengal and the sub-division of Karimganj of Assam.

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