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Education in Ancient India c7.s1: Taxila

Education in Ancient India c7.s1

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English

Taxila

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¹ The correct ancient spelling of the city's name is Takshaśilā. The popular present-day spelling is used in the book.

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Prehistoric Times :— Taxila, situated about 20 miles west of Rawalpindi, was undoubtedly the most important and ancient seat of learning in Ancient India. It was the capital of the important province of Gandhāra and its history goes back into hoary antiquity. It was founded by Bharata and named after his son Taksha, who was established there as its ruler². Janamejaya's serpent sacrifice was perfomed at this very place.³ Not much is known of its early educational activities; but by the 7th century B. C., it was a famous seat of learning, attracting scholars from distant cities like Rājagṛiha, Benares, and Mithilā. It was famous for its philosophers in the days of Alexander the Great.

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² Rāmāyaṇa VII, 101, 10-16

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³ Mbh., I, 3, 20

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Unfortunately we know very little about its educational activities from non-Jātaka sources.

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Political Vicissitudes:—Taxila was conquered and occupied by the Persians in the 6th century B. C., by the Indo-Baktrians in the 2nd century B. C. by the Scythians in the 1st century B. C., by the Kushāṇas in the 1st century A. D. and by the Hūṇas in the 5th century A. D. We do not know what effects these political vicissitudes had over educational activity of the place. The ruins give traces of three different city sites occupied at the beginning of the Baktrian, Scythian and Kushāṇa periods. It is quite possible that these political vicissitudes may have told upon the city's prosperity, which may in turn have affected the cause of education. Every successive power, however, continued to maintain its provincial headquarters at Taxila; this circumstance must have soon obliterated the ravages of war.

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Their Effects on Education: The Persian and Greek occupation must have affected the curricula of schools and colleges; we have, however, only circumstantial evidence on the point. Epigraphical testimony shows conclusively that the Persian occupation resulted in the replacement of the national Brāhmī script by the foreign Kharoshṭrī alphabet. The Scythian and Kushāṇa conquerors had no culture or civilisation of their own, but the Indo-Baktrian rulers were the inheritors of the rich Greek civilisation. Their rule in Taxila extended over a century and a quarter, and must have made some impression on the educational system of the place. It is quite possible that a few of the ‘world renowned’ teachers of Taxila may have learnt and opened classes in Greek language and literature in order to facilitate the appointment of their students in government services under the Greek administration.

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Among the 'sippas' taught at Taxila may have been included a training in Greek processes of coinage and sculpture. There was as yet no prejudice against foreign culture. It is quite possible that Greek dramas may have been performed in the courts of some of the numerous Greek princes and princelings. Some Indians also may have read and appreciated Sophocles and Eurepedes. The working knowlege of Greek language may have been possessed by several classes of society, as it was the language of the conqueror.¹ Greek orientation in Taxila studies could not however have been considerable. Indo-Greek rulers themselves were cut off from their mother country, and many of the conquerors soon succumbed to the culture and religion of the conquered. It is, however, a great pity that the historian of ancient Indian education should still be unable to supply authentic information about the precise extent of Greek influence on the system of education at Taxila.

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¹ From the romantic history of Apollonius of Tyana by Philostratus we learn that in the 1st century A.D. Indians and Greeks at Taxila knew each other's philosophy and that the villagers around the Gandhāra capital could understand and speak Greek. There may be some exaggeration in this picture, but recent excavations at Taxila have confirmed some of the topographical details given by Philostratus (Guide to Taxila by Sir John Marshal, pp. 15 & 97). We may, therefore, conclude that his information about Indians' acquaintance with Greek language and literature may be at least partly true. Greek studies, therefore, must have figured in Taxila curriculum during the Greek rule.

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No organised Institutions:—It may be observed at the outset that Taxila did not possess any college or university in the modern sense of the term. It was simply a centre of education. It had many famous teachers to whom hundreds of students flocked for higher education from all parts of northern India. But these teachers were not members of any institutions like professors in a modern college, nor were they teaching any courses prescribed by any central body like a modern university. Every teacher, assisted by his advanced students, formed an institution by himself. He admitted as many students as he liked. He taught what his students were anxious to learn. Students terminated their courses according to their individual convenience. There were no degree examinations, and therefore no degrees or diplomas.

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Strength of private Schools: Jātakas usually state that the ‘world renowned’ teachers of Taxila used to have five hundred students under their charge. This figure seems to be more conventional than real, as has been shown at pp. 82-3. We get only one instance in the Sutasoma Jātaka¹ of what appears to be a real number of students reading under one teacher. Under the ‘world renowned’ teacher of this Jātaka, we are told that 103 princes from different parts of the country were learning archery. This teacher may have had very probably many assistants under him. Normally speaking, however, the number of students working under one teacher does not seem to have been more than 20 (ante, p. 82). The excavations at Taxila have not so far unearthed any extensive buildings, which can be taken to be big hostels or lecture halls, necessary for big colleges having 500 students on their rolls.

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¹ Vol. V, p. 457

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The Fame of Taxila: As a centre of learning the fame of the city was unrivalled in the 6th century B. C. In those days communications were so difficult and dangerous that when their sons used to return home, parents used to congratulate themselves on having seen them returning during their own life time.¹ And yet we find students flocking to Taxila from far off cities like Benares,² Rājagṛiha,³ Mithilā⁴ and Ujjayinī.⁵ Kuru and Kośala countries sent their own quota of students. One of the archery schools at Taxilā had on its muster roll, as we have seen already, 103 princes from different parts of India. Heir-apparents of Benares are usually seen being educated at the same place in the Jātakas. King Prasenajit of Kośala, a contemporary of the Buddha, was educated in the Gandhara capital.⁶ Prince Jīvaka, an illegitimate son of Bimbisāra, spent seven years at Taxila in learning medicine and surgery.⁷ As Paṇini hailed from Śalātura near Attok, he also must have been an alumni of Taxila university. The same was the case with Kauṭilya, the author of the *Arthaśāstra*.

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¹ Jātaka No 456.

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² Tilamuṭṭhi Jātaka, No. 252.

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³ Jātaka, No. 378.

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⁴ *Ibid*, No. 489.

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⁵ *Ibid*, No. 336.

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⁶ M.V. chap. VIII.

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⁷ Jātaka, No. 498.

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Boarding and Lodging Arrangements :—Students used to go to Taxila only for higher education. They were usually 16 when they came to seek admission there. As a general rule, they stayed in the houses of their teachers. The well-to-do students used to pay their lodging and boarding expenses along with their fees, sometimes even at the beginning of their course. Some of them, who were very rich like prince Juṇha from Benares, used to engage special houses for their residence (Jā. No. 456). Poor students, who could not pay any fees, used to work in their teacher’s house by day; special classes were held for them at night.

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Subjects of Study :—As stated above, Taxila provided only higher education and students went there for specialisation only. Jīvaka had gone to the city for studying medicine and surgery and two youths from Benares had repaired there for studying archery and elephant lore. The three Vedas, grammar, philosophy and eighteen *sippas* were the principal subjects selected for specialisation at Taxila. Among the latter were included medicine, surgery, archery and allied military arts, astronomy, astrology, divination, accountancy, commerce, agriculture, conveyancing, magic, snake charming, the art of finding treasures, music, dancing, and painting. There were no caste restrictions on the choice of subjects; Kshatriyas used to study the Vedas along with Brahmanas and the latter used to specialise in archery along with the Kshatriyas. A Brahmana royal priest of Benares had once sent his son to Taxila not to learn the Vedas but to specialise in archery (Jā. N. 522)

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Later History and Destruction : We know very little about the educational activities of Taxila subsequent to the beginning of the Christian era. But it is very probable that it continued to flourish down to the end of the Kushāṇa rule (*c.* 250 A. D.) The Little Yueh-chis, who succeeded the Kushāṇas in the government of Taxila, were barbarous chiefs, as their coins indicate, and the cause of education must have suffered under their unenlightened administration. At the beginning of the 5th century A. D. when Fa Hsien visited the place, there was nothing there of any educational importance.¹ Worse days, however, were in store for this Queen of Learning. The Hūṇa avalanche came at the middle of the 5th century A. D. and ruined whatever was left after the Little Yueh-chi depradations. At the time when Yuan Chwang visited the city in the 7th century A. D., it had lost all its glory and importance. The famous monastery of Kumāralabdha, where that celebrated Sautrāntika scholar had composed his expository works, was in ruins and the condition of the vast majority of the remaining Buddhist establishments was no better.¹ When it is remembered that the inhabitants of Taxila at this time were plucky and devoted adherents of Buddhism, the sad plight of their monasteries will at once convince us that the city was completely wrecked by the Hūṇa invasions. Gone were the days of its former educational glory, never to return.

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¹ Legge, Fa Hsien, p. 32

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¹ Watters, I, p. 240, p. 245

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