The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c9.s3.t4: Learning
The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c9.s3.t4
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Learning
v1.c9.s3.t4.1
‘The people were fond of learning’, says Hiuen Tsang. Some idea of the training and education of princes has been given already. Inscriptions record several instances of grants made to learned scholars to enable them to devote themselves to the practice of education and religion untroubled by the problem of livelihood. The capital Vātāpi is described in an inscription of Vijayāditya as being adorned by the presence of several thousands of dvijas (twice-born) who were proficient in the ‘fourteen vidyās’;² while another record from the city makes a pointed reference to a kind of academy in the phrase *śri-mahāchāturvidya-samudāyam-irchchāsirvar*, i.e. the 2,000 of the academy of the four great sciences.³ Whether the four great sciences were included in the fourteen of the other inscription or were altogether different, we have no means of deciding. But it is well known that according to tradition the number fourteen refers to the four vedas, six angas, and the Purāṇa, Mīmāṃsā, Nyāya, and Dharmaśāstra, whereas the four vidyās are taken to be ānvikshikī (philosophy), trayī (Veda), vārttā (economics), and daṇḍanīti (politics). The language of the people, Kaṇṇaḍa, is called *prākṛtabhāshā*, the natural tongue, as opposed to the language of culture—*Saṃskṛta*—in the Bādāmi inscription of the reign of Vijayāditya.⁴ The presence of skilled and literate artisans who could engrave long inscriptions mostly in Sanskrit fairly correctly on stone and copper, and the practice of engraving stone inscriptions in public places frequented by the populace, such as the walls of temples and fortresses, may well be an indication of a fair proportion of literacy among the general public; we have little direct evidence about the level of popular education or on the organization and working of popular schools.
v1.c9.s3.t4.2
² Ibid., p. 9.
v1.c9.s3.t4.3
³ KI, p. 3.
v1.c9.s3.t4.4
⁴ Ibid., p. 3, text ll. 9-10.
Cites (1)
- Badami inscription (No. 350) — Kannada