Vikramashila in the context of Bhagalpur district

Atish Dipankar Shrijnan (Sanskrit transliteration: Atīśa Dīpaṅkara Śrījñāna) (c. 982–1054 CE) was a Bengali Buddhist religious teacher and leader. He is generally associated with his body of work authored at Vikramaśīla Monastery in modern day Bihar, India. He was a major figure in the spread of 11th-century Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism in Asia and traveled to Sumatra and Tibet. Atiśa, along with this chief disciple Dromtön, is regarded as the founder of the Kadam school, one of the New Translation schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In the 14th century, the Kadam school was supplanted by the Gelug tradition, which adopted its teachings and absorbed its monasteries.

Education in the Indian subcontinent began with the teaching of traditional subjects, including Indian religions, mathematics, and logic. Early Hindu and Buddhist centers of learning, such as the ancient Takshashila (in modern-day Pakistan), Nalanda (in India), Mithila (in India and Nepal), Vikramshila, Telhara, and Shaunaka Mahashala in the Naimisharanya forest, served as key sites for education. Islamic education became prominent with the establishment of Islamic empires in the region during the Middle Ages. Later, Europeans introduced Western education during the colonial period in India.

Haribhadra, also known as Shizi Xian (simplified Chinese: 狮子贤; traditional Chinese: 獅子賢; pinyin: Shīzixián) or Sengge Zangpo (Tibetan: སེང་གེ་བཟང་པོ་, Wylie: seng-ge bzang-po; both names mean "righteous lion") was an 8th-century CE Buddhist philosopher and commentator. He was one of the founding monks of the Vikramashila monastery in modern-day Bihar, India and he was also the preceptor of the Pala Emperor, Dharmapala.

A notable student of his was the monk Buddhajñānapāda who also played a role in founding Vikramashila.

Kahalgaon (formerly known as Colgong ) is a municipality town of Bhagalpur district of Bihar, India. It lies in the Anga region and located close to the Vikramashila University, that was once a famous centre of Buddhist learning across the world, along with Nalanda, during the Pala dynasty. The Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Plant (KhSTPP) is located 3 km from the town . Kahalgaon was capital (capital-in-exile) of Jaunpur Sultanate (1494–1505).

Nāropā (c. 1016 - 1100 CE) (Prakrit; Sanskrit: Nāropāda, Naḍapāda or Abhayakirti) was an Indian Buddhist Mahasiddha. He was the disciple of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner and pupil, of Niguma. As an Indian Mahasiddha, Naropa's instructions inform Vajrayana, particularly his six yogas of Naropa relevant to the completion stage of anuttarayogatantra.He was also one of the "gatekeepers" of Vikramashila monastery and was also associated with Nalanda monastery where he rose to the position of abbot.

Although some accounts relate that Naropa was the personal teacher of Marpa Lotsawa, other accounts suggest that Marpa held Naropa's lineage through intermediary disciples only.