It was common for religious institutions to also be places of higher learning during this era.

The Nalanda Mahavihara (Buddhist grand monastery) is regarded as world’s oldest residential university. It is in present day India, though not operating today. Scholars such as Xuanzang (known as far Mokṣadeva in Sanskrit) travelled from China (in his case Luoyang) to Nalanda for his studies and returned with thousands of sutras. It was knowledge transfer through this university during the Tang dynasty that brought the number system we use (it’s original form created by Bhramagupta) today to China.