Education in Ancient India c7.3

c7.3

Different Types of Educational Centres :-It has been already shown in the last chapter how educational institutions came into existence in ancient India rather late in her history. Education was for a long time imparted by private teachers on their own responsibility. These were no doubt scattered all over the country, but they used to congregate in large numbers in certain places on account of the facilities they received there in their work. Such places were usually capitals of kingdoms or famous holy places (tīrthas). Kings and feudal chiefs were as a rule patrons of learning, and so learned Brahmanas were naturally attracted to their courts. It was this circumstance that made cities like Taxila, Pāṭaliputra, Kanauj, Mithilā and Dhārā in northern India and Malkhed, Kalyāṇī and Tanjore in southern India famous centres of education. Holy places have been since times immemorial famous centres of learning; the pilgrim traffic supplied a subsidiary source of income to the famous teachers residing there. It is this circumstance that made Benares, Kāñchī, Nasik, Karhāṭaka, etc. famous centres of learning. Sometimes kings used to found colonies of learned Brahmanas by inviting them to settle in a new village and providing for their maintenance. Such villages were known as agrahāra villages and they naturally became centres of learning. Causes that led to the development of centres of education in monasteries and temples have been already explained in Chap. IV. It is proposed to give a short and succinct account of important centres and institutions of education in this chapter. The places have been arranged from the point of their importance and antiquity.