Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c3: Preface
Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c3
- Language
- English
Preface
c3.1
THE history of the ancient education of India is to a large extent an unexplored tract. Except for a short sketch in Laurie's *Historical Survey of Pre-Christian Education*, and outlines of the subject in cyclopædias, or references scattered in various books, hardly anything has been written on the subject. With regard to Muhammadan Education in India, however, Mr. Narendra Nath Law's recently published book on the *Promotion of Learning by Muhammadans* has brought together some most useful evidence.
c3.2
In attempting to write about the ancient education of India, one of the greatest difficulties has been to ascertain all the available material. The literature of India is very bulky, and only a small portion of it has been translated into English. References in it to education are not always numerous, and are scattered here and there amongst a vast amount of other material. I am well aware, therefore, that there may be more material available than I have yet been able to discover. The present attempt must be looked upon largely as a pioneer effort, but I hope that it may stimulate others also who are interested in Indian education to take up the work of research.
c3.3
Throughout the long centuries of India's history educational development was taking place. It began away back in the times when the hymns of the Vedas were being composed, and has gone on until the present time. The first beginnings were in connection with the sacrificial ritual, and this system of Brāhmanic education has had a continuous history from that time till now. It is to this that our attention will first be given. The introduction of Buddhism and its growth into a widespread religion under the patronage and favour of powerful monarchs brought a new influence into Indian education; for although Buddhism was closely connected in its origin with the more ancient forms of religion, it was not under Brāhman control. The Muhammadan conquest brought a foreign influence into Indian social life, and the establishment of a form of education which had no connection with that of the Brāhmans. The education of the young nobles, corresponding to the knightly education of the Middle Ages of Europe, and the education of the craftsmen and of women also deserve our attention, as well as the system of popular education which grew up at some time in India and was in full swing when education came under the influence and control of the British Government.
c3.4
In 1835 a momentous decision was made by the Government of Lord William Bentinck, acting on the advice of Macaulay's famous minute, to make English the medium of instruction in higher education in India. This largely accelerated the permeation of Indian life and ideas by Western thought, and has been one of the most powerful factors in producing that intellectual, social, political, and religious ferment which is going on in India to-day. Education in India has come under Western control and is being influenced by Western ideas. The spread of education in India is one of the most striking features of its present development, and already some of its most noble sons have believed that the time has come when it should be extended to all. Grave responsibilities rest upon those who have the control of Indian education to see that its development shall be on such lines as may be most suitable to the country, and likely to bring out the very best that is in the various races
c3.6
that inhabit the Indian Empire. Any attempt to foist even the most satisfactory of European systems of education upon India would be a doomed to failure, and even if successful would be a great disaster. India may learn and is learning from the West many useful lessons in all subjects, and in educational thought and practice no less than in others; but if a system is to be evolved for India which shall be truly Indian, it must, while assimilating much that is Western, also gather up what is best and most useful from its own ancient systems and weave them into the complex whole that is being built up. For this reason the study of ancient Indian education is most important, and deserving of far more attention than it has hitherto received. And it may be that in the investigation certain points will be brought out that may not be without interest even for Western educators.
c3.7
Amongst those who have given advice or suggestions I have specially to thank the Rev. Dr. H. U. Weitbrecht-Stanton, who read through the first draft of the chapter on Muhammadan Education, and made some valuable criticisms; and also Dr. J. N. Farquhar, to whom I am most deeply indebted for his interest and readiness to give counsel with regard to many points about which I have consulted him throughout. I am specially indebted to him for many suggestions with regard to the chapter on Brāhmanic education, and for reading the whole work in manuscript with great care, and suggesting many improvements.
c3.8
the *Gesta Romanorum*, the *Legenda Aurea* of Jacobus de Voragine, and the *Speculum Historiale* of Vincent of Beauvais. These were the books that fed the imagination of the Middle Ages, and they were the books that the Church, in its wisdom, provided for the instruction and edification of the faithful.
c3.9
But the Church did not merely provide books; it also provided the means of their dissemination. The monastic scriptoria, where monks labored in silence to copy the sacred texts, were the precursors of the printing press. And when the press finally arrived, it was the Church that first harnessed its power, using it to spread the word of God to the corners of the earth. The Gutenberg Bible, the first major book printed in Europe, was a testament to the Church's commitment to the written word.
c3.10
Yet, even as the Church championed the spread of knowledge, it also sought to control it. The *Index Librorum Prohibitorum*, or List of Prohibited Books, was a tool used by the Church to suppress ideas it deemed dangerous or heretical. This tension between the desire to educate and the need to control would define the Church's relationship with literature for centuries to come.
c3.11
It is a complex history, one that is marked by both enlightenment and suppression. But it is a history that cannot be ignored, for it is the history of the very foundation of Western civilization. The Church, in its role as the guardian of knowledge, has shaped the way we think, the way we write, and the way we understand the world around us.
c3.12
the *Gesta Romanorum*, the *Legenda Aurea* of Jacobus de Voragine, and the *Speculum Historiale* of Vincent of Beauvais. These were the books that fed the imagination of the Middle Ages, and they were the books that the Church, in its wisdom, provided for the instruction and edification of the faithful.
c3.13
But the Church did not merely provide books; it also provided the means of their dissemination. The monastic scriptoria, where monks labored in silence to copy the sacred texts, were the precursors of the printing press. And when the press finally arrived, it was the Church that first harnessed its power, using it to spread the word of God to the corners of the earth. The Gutenberg Bible, the first major book printed in Europe, was a testament to the Church's commitment to the written word.
c3.14
Yet, even as the Church championed the spread of knowledge, it also sought to control it. The *Index Librorum Prohibitorum*, or List of Prohibited Books, was a tool used by the Church to suppress ideas it deemed dangerous or heretical. This tension between the desire to educate and the need to control would define the Church's relationship with literature for centuries to come.
c3.15
It is a complex history, one that is marked by both enlightenment and suppression. But it is a history that cannot be ignored, for it is the history of the very foundation of Western civilization. The Church, in its role as the guardian of knowledge, has shaped the way we think, the way we write, and the way we understand the world around us.