[Buddha-l] Nalanda's library destruction

[Dan Lusthaus]

>The burning of Nalanda's library was attributed to tirthikas, according to 
>Tibetan source, provided in my initial email.

A tirthika is any non-Buddhist. That could include muslims. It's too vague 
to be a meaningful category. What is the date of the source you are citing?

>Is this being disputed? Any evidence to the contrary?

Try Wikipedia:

"Nalanda was ransacked and destroyed by an army under Bakhtiyar Khilji in 
1193. The great library of Nalanda University was so vast that it is 
reported to have burned for three months after the invaders set fire to it, 
ransacked and destroyed the monasteries, and drove the monks from the site."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda

For Bakhtiyar Khilji, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakhtiyar_Khilji

"Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji (also known as Malik Ghazi 
Ikhtiyar 'l-Din Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji or Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji) 
(died 1206) was a Turkic military general of Qutb-ud-din Aybak."

"...Khilji's career took flight with a campaign which subjugated Bihar in 
1203. This effort earned him political clout in the court at Delhi. In the 
same year he took his forces into Bengal. As he came upon the city of 
Nabadwip, it is said that he advanced so rapidly that only 18 horsemen from 
his army could keep up. Khilji went on to capture the capital Gaur and 
intruded into much of Bengal. [5][6] He was also responsible for the 
destruction of Nalanda, which was an ancient Buddhist University in Bihar, 
India, nearby to the stronghold of Bihar. The main Persian source for 
this[7] explains Khilji attacked the fortress unaware that it was a 
University.[8][9] the sacking of a Buddhist institution such as Nalanda 
would be characteristic of the regime's reported iconoclasm.[10]"


Dan