Scientific
Nalanda
Suzerain and envoy bonuses summarised in our own words from the game data.
Suzerain bonus
Builders can construct the Mahavihara: +2 Science, +1 Housing, +1 Faith per adjacent Holy Site and +1 Science per adjacent Campus (another after Scientific Theory). Your first one grants a random technology. Flat terrain only, not next to another Mahavihara.
Game data trace
MINOR_CIV_NALANDA_FREE_TECHNOLOGY, MINOR_CIV_NALANDA_UNIQUE_INFLUENCE_BONUSStrategy guide
The Mahavihara is a builder-made mini-Campus: +2 Science, housing, faith next to Holy Sites and science next to Campuses — and your first one grants a free random tech. Slot them between Campus and Holy Site districts to double-dip both adjacencies.
Best civs & plans
Science-faith hybrid kits — Arabia, Ethiopia's hill cities — profit twice; strong for anyone short on Campus slots in a tall empire.
Envoy plan
Nalanda is a suzerainty-only prize: the Mahavihara unlocks the moment you hold the title with 3 envoys, and nothing about it improves at 6, so budget exactly enough to stay one ahead of the nearest AI and no more. The scientific-type rewards along the way are a welcome side effect rather than the goal — the first envoy's science in the capital and every Library stays with you even if you lose the race, and the third envoy's University science lands right when your Campuses are filling in. Good sources to divert here are the first envoy under the Diplomatic League policy, which counts double, and Amani, whose presence alone counts as two envoys and can be moved once Nalanda is safe. Push to six only when a neighbour keeps re-taking the title or you are stacking Research Labs late.
Value by era
The free technology from the first Mahavihara scales with the era it is claimed in — a random pick from the current tree saves far more beakers in the Renaissance than in the ancient era — but waiting also means fewer open flat tiles and busier Builders, so the sweet spot is usually the classical or early medieval window, when the second wave of Builders is out and Campuses are already placed. The improvement's own science stays modest until Scientific Theory doubles the per-Campus adjacency, which makes the industrial era a second peak worth planning a Builder around. Late in the game the housing still matters for tall cities, and a suzerainty picked up in the atomic era is still worth a couple of Builder charges if spare flat land sits between a Campus and a Holy Site.
Pitfalls and how to protect it
The classic mistake is grabbing the free tech by dropping the first Mahavihara on the nearest flat tile, which later turns out to be the only spot for an Industrial Zone or an Aqueduct — sketch the district layout first, then fit the Mahaviharas into the gaps. Because two of them cannot touch, a chain needs one tile of spacing, and a checkerboard around a Campus is the usual pattern. Nalanda sits wherever the map placed it, so if it borders a warmonger keep a unit or two within reach; if it does fall, join the liberation effort, since a liberated city-state normally comes back with its liberator as suzerain. Conquest of Nalanda stops new Mahaviharas but the ones already standing keep working. On hill- or forest-heavy land with no flat tiles to spare, spend the envoys elsewhere.
Envoy bonuses
- 1 envoy+1 Science in your capital and in each Library you own.
- 3 envoys+2 Science in each University and each Consulate you own.
- 6 envoys+3 Science in each Research Lab and each Chancery you own.
Envoy bonuses are shared by every city-state of the same type.
Other Scientific city-states
Related guides
- City-States and Envoys: Where Your Influence Should GoWhere envoys come from, how to spend the first handful, which city-state types match each victory plan, how to win and keep suzerainty against the AI, and when conquering a city-state is the right call.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
- Diplomatic Victory: Earning and Spending FavorA working plan for the Gathering Storm diplomatic victory: where Diplomatic Favor actually comes from, how World Congress sessions and votes turn into victory points, which emergencies, competitions and wonders matter, how to keep alliances alive, and when to spend favor versus hold it against a rival's lead.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
- Early District Planning: The First 100 TurnsHow to read city sites for future adjacency, decide between settling for yields now or reserving tile clusters, and know when a planned layout should be abandoned.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03