The Rashtrakutas and their Times c23.s1.2

c23.s1.2

Our epigraphical materials do not throw any light on the arrangements made in the ordinary village for the primary education. Nor do the Smritis or the foreign travellers help us in the matter. It would seem that the village priest, or accountant, or some members of their families were undertaking the task of giving primary education to such village boys as cared to have it. The guardians were very probably paying the fees annually at the time of the harvest, according to their means, rather than according to a fixed scale. The teacher could supplement his income by the customary gifts in kind or cash that he used to receive on festivals like Dasara, or at the times of the thread or marriage ceremonies in the houses of his pupils. In many cases the teacher probably possessed some elementary knowledge of medicine and was also employed for writing letters, bonds and leases. Some such system prevailed in the Deccan at the advent of the British rule as I have learnt from many an octogenarian, and it is very likely that the state of affairs may have been similar in our period.