Until the 13th century, there was no less than 20 to 40 different states on the Indian Subcontinent which hosted a variety of cultures, languages, writing systems and religions. In the beginning of the time period Buddhism was predominant throughout the area with the short lived Pala Empire on the Indo Gangetic Plain sponsoring the faith's institutions. One such institution was the Buddhist Nalanda University in modern-day Bihar, India a center of scholarship and brought a divided South Asia onto the global intellectual stage. Another accomplishment was the invention of the "Chaturanga" game which later was exported to Europe and became Chess.