Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c5.92

c5.92

The system of education, then, for the lads of each particular trade was a domestic one.⁴ They had practically no choice in the matter, but were, as a matter of course, brought up to the same trade as their fathers. Where the father was living and in good health he would usually train up his own son, and the young craftsman was, from the beginning, trained in the actual workshop. Thus not only was there a most affectionate relation between teacher and pupil, but the training was free from the artificiality of the schoolroom. The boy was taught by observing and handling real things, and the father would take a great delight in passing on to his son the skill which he himself possessed. In the collection of jade at the Indian museum there is a large engraved bowl on which a family in the employ of the emperors of Delhi was engaged for three generations.¹