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Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c7: Chapter IV. Muhammadan Education

Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c7

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English

Contents

Chapter IV. Muhammadan Education

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THE Muhammadans first appeared in India in the eighth century A.D., but the real storm of Muhammadan aggression burst on India under Mahmūd of Ghaznī, who is said to have made no less than seventeen raids into India from 1000 to 1026 A.D. He was a stern opponent of idolatry, and with fierce iconoclastic zeal he broke down temples and smashed idols and carried off many captives and much wealth to his own capital. To the inhabitants of India Mahmūd must have appeared as anything but a promoter of education and learning, for during his raids the Brāhman educational centres often suffered severely, and the learned Brāhmans, who lived and taught there, were often killed or put to flight. In his own kingdom of Ghaznī, Mahmūd,¹ however, was a great patron of education on Muhammadan lines. He gave large sums of money for the support of learned men and poets, and at his capital he established a seat of learning which was resorted to by literary men from far and near. Amongst them was the poet Firdausī. Mahmūd’s immediate successor is said to have founded schools and colleges, and the patronage of learning was continued. All this, however, was really outside India.

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¹ N. N. Law, *Promotion of Learning in India by Muhammadans*, pp. 3 ff. ; Ferishta (trans. by J. Briggs), i. 61.

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The permanent settlement of Muhammadans in India, and the conversion, whether by force or persuasion, of some of the inhabitants to Islām meant the establishment of mosques, and as in other Muhammadan countries, the mosque, especially in towns, was a centre of instruction and of literary activity. Muhammadan educational institutions are distinguished as *maktabs* or *madrasahs*. The *maktab* is a primary school attached to a mosque, the chief business of which is to instruct boys in those portions of the Korān which a Muhammadan is expected to know by heart in order to perform his devotions and other religious functions. Sometimes instruction in reading, writing, and simple arithmetic is also included in the curriculum. The *madrasah* is a school or college of higher learning.

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Mahmūd’s successors were unable to hold what their father had won, and a new power arose at Ghor, west of Ghaznī, which overthrew the Ghaznawids. It was Muhammad Ghorī (1174-1206) who really laid the foundations of the Muhammadan domination of India. In 1192 he established his power at Delhi. Muhammad Ghorī is reported to have destroyed some temples at Ajmere, and to have built in their places mosques and colleges.¹ He had a great fancy for adopting some of his promising young slaves and giving them a good education. This education combined training in the work of governing with literary instruction. Amongst the slaves whom he thus educated was Kutb-ud-dīn, who succeeded his master in 1210 at Delhi, and was the first of what is called the Slave Dynasty. Kutb-ud-dīn was a man of literary tastes, and although, like many other Muhammadan rulers, he destroyed Hindu temples, he built many mosques which were centres not only of religious worship but also of education. An officer of his, named Bakhtiyār, destroyed at Vikramaśilā in Bihār a Buddhist monastic institution which was a place of learning, but he also is said to have been an establisher of mosques and colleges.² There is mention³ of a *madrasah*, or college, built by Altamsh (1210-1236), the successor of Kutb-ud-dīn; and his daughter Razīya, who ruled after her father's death, was a woman of some education, and was a patron of learning. A college existed at Delhi during her reign.¹ Nasīr-ud-dīn (1246-1266) and Balban (1266-1287) both encouraged learning.² The former is said to have been a student, and in Balban's reign many literary societies are said to have flourished at Delhi under the patronage of his son, Prince Muhammad.³ There is mention of a college at Jalandhar in the reign of Nasīr-ud-dīn. Balban's successor was a profligate youth who gave no encouragement to men of letters.

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¹ Law, pp. 17, 18.

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² *Ibid.*, pp. 19, 20; Ferishta, i. 190.

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³ Law, p. 21.

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¹ Law, p. 22.

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² Ibid., p. 25.

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³ Ibid., p. 24.

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In the Khalji dynasty⁴ (1290-1320) Jalāl-ud-dīn was a man of great literary tastes, but not so Alā-ud-dīn, who not only showed no favour to learned men but confiscated the endowments which had been given for their support by his predecessors. By this time, however, Delhi had become a great centre of learning, and continued to be so in spite of the discouraging policy of Alā-ud-dīn. The endowments were restored by his successor, who was in other ways a worthless character.

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⁴ Ibid., pp. 30-41.

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Under the Tughlak monarchs⁵ (1325-1413) Muhammadan education in India seems to have made considerable progress. It was encouraged by Ghiyās-ud-dīn Tughlak; and his successor, Muhammad Tughlak, is said to have been a man of great learning who gave great encouragement and help to scholars. But his good intentions and efforts were to a great extent spoiled by the wild scheme he projected of building a capital at Daulatābād and compelling all the inhabitants of Delhi to migrate to the new city. This caused great misery, which was hardly alleviated by the citizens being allowed to return to their old homes when the scheme fell through. This was a great set-back to Delhi as a centre of education and learning, as it became bereft of its scholars. It was some time before it could recover. Fīrūz Tughlak was more successful in his attempt to found a new Delhi, which he called Fīrūzābād. This city became famous as a literary centre, and Fīrūz, who was himself an educated man, gave great encouragement to scholars, and bestowed gifts and pensions upon them.¹ Like some of the Muhammadan sovereigns of India before him he had a special interest in educating young slaves, though he carried it to a further extent than any of his predecessors. It is said that he maintained no fewer than eighteen thousand of these lads, and large sums must have been spent by him for their support and education. He had some of them apprenticed to craftsmen, while others were set to learn the Korān or the art of copying manuscripts. In the inscription which Fīrūz placed upon a mosque in his capital of Fīrūzābād, he mentions ² amongst his other good works the repair of schools and the alienation of revenue for their support. The Muhammadan historian Ferishta says ³ that Fīrūz built no less than thirty colleges with mosques attached. In the college which he founded at his capital students and professors all lived together in the institution, and stipends and scholarships were given for their support. It is evident that under this sovereign considerable advance must have been made in the education of Muhammadans. The invasion of Taimūr (1398), with its horrors of bloodshed and rapine, must have been as great a set-back to education as it was to the political power of the Delhi kingdom. In the time of Sayyid Alā-ud-dīn, Badaun became a great centre of learning,⁴ and under Sikandar Lodī, Agra, which had been made the capital by his predecessor, also came into prominence as a literary centre.⁵ Sikandar insisted on all his military officers having a literary education.

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⁵ Ibid., pp. 42 ff.

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¹ Ferishta, i. 462. ² Ibid., i. 464, 465. ³ Ibid., i. 464, 465. ⁴ Law, p. 71. ⁵ Ibid., p. 73.

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The madrasahs and maktabs were confined to Muhammadans, but by this time Hindus and Muhammadans had begun to study one another's languages. The sacred language of Islām was, of course, Arabic, but Persian was the court language of the Muhammadan conquerors of India, and a knowledge of Persian, and perhaps sometimes also of Arabic, would be necessary for Hindus who held important offices under government. The appointment of Hindus to such offices was beginning to take place. Fīrūz Shāh, for instance, gave to two Hindus very responsible posts in his administration.¹ The Muhammadans also were beginning to translate Hindu books into Persian, which involved a knowledge of the Hindu languages. In the reign of Sikandar Lodī the movement developed greatly,² and it was about that time that the study of Persian by Hindus began in earnest. The intercourse between the Muhammadans and Hindus led to the formation of a new language which came to be called Urdu.³ It is an application of Western Hindi to the common purposes of all classes. It is generally written in Persian characters and has many words of Arabic and Persian origin. The word Urdu means literally 'camp', but the Mughals of India used it only with regard to the Imperial Camp.⁴ Urdu was thus the 'camp language' in that sense.

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¹ Law, p. 64.

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² Ibid., p. 75.

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³ Calcutta Rev., 1884, art. 'Mediæval India', by H. G. Keene, pp. 74, 75.

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⁴ Keene, Moghul Empire, p. 6.

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While the paramount sovereigns at Delhi were thus developing education amongst their Muhammadan subjects, many of the monarchs of the lesser Muhammadan states, which had become independent of Delhi during the period of disorder which had followed the death of Fīrūz Shah, were also showing great activity in this direction. In the Bahmanī kingdom of the Deccan there is the record of the founding of several colleges and schools.¹ The college which Mahmūd Gāwān, minister of Muhammad Shāh (1463-1482), built at Bidar, is said to have possessed a library of three thousand volumes. Some of the Bahmanī sovereigns made provision for the education of orphans, appointing funds for their support, and for the learned men engaged to teach them. It has been said that this kingdom possessed a high standard of education according to the current Muhammadan ideas, and that there were many village schools. Education was also encouraged and colleges built in the states of Bījāpur, Golkonda, Mālwā, Khāndesh, Jaunpur, Mūltān, and Bengal.² The Chahār Minār, which still exists in Haidarābād (Golkonda), once contained a college. In the state of Jaunpur, the capital city of the same name was one of the most famous seats of Muhammadan learning in India in the Middle Ages. It came into prominence during the reign of Ibrāhīm Sharki (1402-1440), and although Sikandar Lodī destroyed its colleges when he conquered Jaunpur, it regained its position as an educational centre. Scholars from far and near came to study here, and amongst the students was one at least, Sher Shāh,³ who afterwards became the paramount Muhammadan sovereign of India. Having quarrelled with his father, who was ruling in Bengal, he went to Jaunpur, and when his father wrote demanding his return, he replied that Jaunpur was a better place of education than Sasarām. The subjects which he studied were history, poetry, and philosophy, and he learnt by heart the Persian poems of Sa'dī. He also learnt Arabic. In the time of Ibrāhīm Sharki it is said that Jaunpur contained hundreds of colleges and mosques, and up to the time of the Emperor Shāh Jahān (1627-1658) it was still in a flourishing condition. Afterwards it declined in influence, though it still continued as a place of learning well into the eighteenth century.

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¹ Law, pp. 80-90.

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² Ibid., pp. 91-113.

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³ Ibid., p. 136.

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Besides the efforts of ruling sovereigns there is evidence that the patronage and encouragement of learning, and the foundation of colleges and schools, were also undertaken by many of the nobility and gentry. By the time, then, that the Mughal emperors began to reign in India there must have already existed a great many Muhammadan colleges and schools in various parts of India. We cannot, of course, always rely on the statements of the historians, many of whom were court favourites, and anxious to show in the best light the activities of their patrons. It seems that colleges which were called into being by royal patrons, and existed by the subsidies they allowed, easily came to nought if patronage was not continued by their successors, or in times of distress, like Taimūr’s invasion. And a college does not necessarily mean a large institution. It may mean no more than a class attached to a mosque with a single teacher in charge. Moreover, it was chiefly in the capitals and other important centres that monarchs are said to have established colleges. But, even making all allowance for exaggeration, it seems quite evident that Muhammadan higher education, before the invasion of Bābar, must have been established in many important centres, and probably a large number of mosques had attached to them a *maktab*, in which pupils learnt some passages of the Korān by heart, and sometimes also the three R’s. Many learned men also taught pupils in their own houses. It is all the more surprising, therefore, that the Emperor Bābar, in his interesting memoirs, says that Hindustān had no colleges. He writes ¹: ‘The people of Hindustān have no good horses, no good flesh, no grapes or musk-melons, no good fruits, no ice or cold water, no good food or bread in their bazars, no baths or colleges, no candles, no torches, not a candlestick.’ It has, indeed, been pointed out that he was speaking of Upper India,² the only part known to him at the time, and, of course, of Muhammadan colleges, and that thus limited his statement is probably correct; but it seems evident that the fame of colleges in India could not have spread beyond its borders, and it may be, therefore, that they were not so numerous nor so flourishing as the court historians would lead us to suppose.

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¹ Talbot’s *Memoirs of Bābar*, p. 190.

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² Mr. H. Beveridge in Introd. to *Promotion of Learning in India by Muhammadans*, p. xxv.

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Bābar, the first of the Mughal emperors (1526-1530), was a man of great accomplishments, with a knowledge of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, and a taste for poetry; but he had barely won his kingdom in India when he died at the early age of forty-eight. His son, Humāyūn (1530-1556), was, like his father, an accomplished scholar, who gave great encouragement to learned men; but he was for a long time banished from India, when his throne was occupied by Sher Shāh (1540-1545). A college was built by Humāyūn at Delhi,¹ and by Sher Shāh at Narnaul.² The tomb of Humāyūn also for some time had a college attached to it.³

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¹ Law, p. 133.

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² Ibid., p. 137.

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³ Ibid., p. 134.

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Akbar (1556-1605) was the most brilliant of all the Mughal emperors, but it is remarkable that he is generally supposed to have been unable to read or write. This, indeed, has been disputed,⁴ but whether it was so or not we cannot call him an uneducated man, and he was deeply interested in the work of spreading education and learning. Several Muhammadan sovereigns in India seem to have been active in founding libraries. We have already mentioned the library of three thousand volumes at Bīdar,⁵ in the Bahmanī kingdom, and it was by falling from the balcony of his library that Humāyūn met his death. Akbar⁶ was particularly zealous in building up a great library, and almost every day he had books from it read to him. He was a patron not only of Muhammadan learning but also of Hindu learning, and had a large number of Sanskrit and other books translated into Persian. Akbar, like other sovereigns, was a builder of colleges, not only at his new city of Fathpur Sīkrī, but also at Agra and other places. Colleges, it seems, were not always residential institutions, and one scholar in giving an account of himself says that he used to go twice a day, morning and evening, to a college at Delhi, although he lived two miles away.¹ Colleges also were erected by private individuals, and amongst others by Māham Anaga, who was Akbar’s nurse. This lady erected a college at Delhi, the ruins of which are still to be seen. Painting, music, and calligraphy were encouraged by Akbar, as well as other fine arts.

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⁴ Ibid., pp. 139-142.

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⁵ See p. 119.

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⁶ For Akbar as a patron of learning, see Law, pp. 139-172.

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¹ Elliot, *Hist. of India as told by its own Historians*, vi. 176.

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Akbar, who in his later years was very tolerant in religious matters, made arrangements for Hindu youths to be educated at the *madrasahs* as well as Muhammadans. His great finance minister was a Hindu named Todar Mal. Todar Mal ordered all official accounts to be kept in Persian, and this regulation, by compelling many Hindus to study that language, helped the growth and development of Urdu also, and its acceptance as the *lingua franca* of a great part of India.²

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² Grierson, *Literature of Hindustan*, p. 35.

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At the new city of Fathpur Sīkrī, Akbar erected a hall called the Ibādat Khāna, where discussions were frequently held in his presence. Not only were the representatives of various religions invited to put forward the claims of their respective faiths, but many other debates were held on religious, philosophical, scientific, and historical questions. A matter which was discussed at one of these debates led to Akbar making a strange experiment which is not without interest to educationists.

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It is said that one day it was being debated as to what was the first language of mankind. The Muhammadans declared that it was Arabic, the Jews said it was Hebrew, while the Brāhmans maintained that it was Sanskrit. Akbar wished to discover the truth of this matter, and so he ordered twelve new-born infants to be secured and brought up in strict seclusion by dumb nurses. Not a word was to be spoken in their hearing till they had reached twelve years of age. When the time arrived the children were brought before the royal presence, and experts in the various learned tongues were present to catch the first words which fell from the lips of the children, and to decide to which language it belonged. As might have been expected, they could not utter a word, but communicated with each other only by signs. The children were afterwards taught to speak, but with the greatest possible difficulty. This is the story as it is related by Father Catrou,¹ who based his history of the Mughal dynasty on the memoirs of the Italian Manucci, who was for forty-eight years physician to the Mughal emperors. Badaunī, the Muhammadan historian, who was unfriendly to Akbar, gives a slightly different version of the story,² which is simpler and perhaps nearer the truth. He says that several suckling infants were kept in a secluded place far from habitations, where they were not to hear a word spoken. Well-disciplined nurses were placed with them, who were to refrain from giving any instruction in speaking, so as to test the accuracy of the tradition which says that every one that is born is born with an inclination to religion, by ascertaining what religion and sect these infants would incline to, and, above all, what creed they would repeat. Badaunī also says that about twenty infants were thus segregated, and that after three or four years some had died, but the others were all dumb. The experiment may, indeed, appear a somewhat foolish one, and not without a shade of cruelty, but educationists may perhaps envy Akbar the power of carrying out a psychological investigation of this kind, and wish he had used his opportunity for conducting experiments which would have been more useful.

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¹ Banerjee's trans., p. 117.

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² J. Talboys Wheeler, *Hist. of India*, iv. 174; Elliot, ii. 288.

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Akbar’s interest in, and care for, education is shown by a most remarkable passage in the Āīn-i-Akbarī (or institutes of Akbar). This work, which was composed by Abul Fazl, Akbar’s personal friend and minister, contains a most interesting account of his administration. The following passage refers to education¹ :—

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¹ Blo mann’s trans., p. 278; see also Gladwin’s trans., i. 223.

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‘In every country, but especially in Hindustān, boys are kept for years at school, where they learn the consonants and vowels. A great portion of the life of the students is wasted by making them read many books. His majesty orders that every schoolboy should first learn to write the letters of the alphabet, and also learn to trace their several forms. He ought to learn the shape and name of each letter, which may be done in two days, when the boy should proceed to write the joined letters. They may be practised for a week, after which the boy should learn some prose and poetry by heart, and then commit to memory some verses to the praise of God, or moral sentences, each written separately. Care is to be taken that he learns to understand everything himself, but the teacher may assist him a little. He then ought for some time to be daily practised in writing a hemistich or a verse, and will soon acquire a current hand. The teacher ought specially to look after five things, knowledge of the letters; meanings of words; the hemistich; the verse; the former lesson. If this method of teaching be adopted a boy will learn in a month, or even in a day, what it took others years to understand, so much so that people will get quite astonished. Every boy ought to read books on morals, arithmetic, the notation peculiar to arithmetic, agriculture, mensuration, geometry,

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astronomy, physiognomy, household matters, the rules of government, medicine, logic, the tabī'ī, riyāzī, and ilāhī sciences, and history; all of which may be gradually acquired.¹ In studying Sanskrit students ought to learn the Bayākaran, Niyāī, Bedānta, and Patanjal. No one should be allowed to neglect those things which the present time requires. These regulations shed a new light on schools, and cast a bright lustre over madrasahs.’

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¹ ‘The tabī'ī, riyāzī, and ilāhī sciences are the names of the threefold divisions of sciences. Ilāhī, or divine, sciences comprise everything connected with theology, and the means of acquiring a knowledge of God. Riyāzī sciences treat of quantity, and comprise mathematics, astronomy, music, and mechanics. Tabī'ī sciences comprehend physical sciences.’

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This most interesting statement illustrates Akbar’s great concern for education. It seems intended to bring about certain reforms in the schools, but the exact nature of those reforms is difficult to understand in the absence of information as to the state of affairs which it was intended to replace. Like many other reformers Akbar seems to have thought that too much time was spent in learning the mechanical arts of reading and writing, and he was probably trying to overcome the difficulties which the Persian character presents to the beginner. He seems to be recommending, in the first place, a quicker method of teaching these subjects. In the chapter on popular education it will be shown how in Hindu schools writing was taught before reading, and by the pupil running his pen over letters traced by the master, whereas in the Muhammadan Persian schools reading was taught before writing. Is it not possible that Akbar was impressed by the more rapid progress made in Hindu schools, in learning reading and writing, and wished to introduce these methods into Muhammadan schools also? His broad tolerance and interest in Hindus as well as Muhammadans makes this not unlikely. With regard to his regulations for learning by heart it is, again, not clear what reform is intended. It may be that he wished to reduce the time spent on this also, and make it more intelligent by insisting on the pupils understanding what they were learning, and writing out what they learnt.

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It is noteworthy that among the five things which the teacher is urged specially to look after are the meanings of words and the revision of the former lesson. Akbar evidently intended whatever was done to be done thoroughly. The injunction that ‘care is to be taken that he (the pupil) learns to understand everything himself, but the teacher may assist him a little,’ sounds almost like a quotation from a modern textbook on education. While, however, we must be careful not to read too much into this or any other statement of this document we can say at least that it shows that Akbar saw the need of intelligent co-operation on the part of the pupil in the work of education, and that true progress can only be made when the pupil is learning to think out his own problems. The curriculum which is put forward as suitable for ‘every boy’ must evidently be intended for the *madrasah* rather than for the primary schools. Even so it is a very wide one. It is to be noticed that in the earlier portion of the document Akbar laments the fact that a great portion of the life of students is wasted by making them read ‘many books’, and yet he here recommends the study of a very large number of subjects. But the two things are not inconsistent. The former statement evidently refers to the reading of many books without understanding them, or of books which his majesty would not consider of much practical use, as, for example, the vapid *belles lettres* in Persian.

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He seems, in fact, to be taking the line so often taken by practical men of affairs, and to deprecate mere book-learning as contrasted with the acquisition of practical knowledge. The curriculum which he lays down contains a preponderance of scientific subjects, but these were, no doubt, those usually taught in the *madrasahs*. We can, however, hardly suppose that any one *madrasah* taught them all, or that many students could get a thorough grasp of such a wide range of subjects. The order of subjects in Akbar’s scheme seems to give a preference to those which were of practical utility, which suits the character of Akbar, who was himself an inventor and encouraged the mechanical arts. It is to be noted, however, that the subject of morals heads the list, and theology was also included. The short reference at the end of the document to Hindu education shows Akbar’s interest in that also. It apparently only records what was the usual practice in teaching Sanskrit students, and the emperor would hardly have dared to work out reforms for the Brāhmanic education, but the injunction that ‘no one should be allowed to neglect those things which the present time requires’ may be taken as a suggestion that the practical side of education should not be neglected.

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These regulations certainly bring out in a very favourable light not only Akbar’s interest in and care for the education of his people, but also his attempt to make that education efficient. It is possible that Abul Fazl or other ministers of Akbar may have had a hand in framing such regulations, but it is probable that Akbar himself also had at least some part in the matter, for they suit the practical bent of his character. The question may well be asked as to how far these regulations were carried into practical effect and what was their result. There was no such thing as an education department, nor were there inspectors of schools in those days, and even supposing this document to have been circulated to all local officials and to all schools it is not unlikely that it may have, to a large extent, remained a dead letter, except by way of suggestion to the more enterprising teachers. No doubt in schools which came under the personal notice of the emperor or of any officials as interested as he was, and as anxious for reform, there may have been some notice taken of it, but it is hardly likely that the conservative traditions of the schools would have been altered very easily.

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Akbar’s son and successor, Jahāngīr¹ (1605-1627), was in many ways a less able sovereign than his father. He was not, however, without some predilections for learning, and he wrote, with the assistance of others, his own memoirs. He was a lover of books and paintings, and gave great encouragement to artists. Some of these he employed to illustrate his own memoirs. Agra was at this time still a great centre of learning, and the exponents of various religious faiths are said to have come to live in the city to set forth their respective creeds. In the matter of building colleges Jahāngīr was active, and it is recorded that he repaired some colleges which for thirty years had been desolate and inhabited only by birds and beasts. Jahāngīr not only repaired them, but supplied them again with teachers and pupils. He made a law that when any wealthy man died without leaving an heir his property was to escheat to the crown and be used for the repair of colleges, monasteries, and other religious buildings. Shāh Jahān’s reign² (1627-1658) is specially famous for the erection of many fine buildings, but does not seem to be marked by any remarkable educational progress. He did not, however, reverse the policy of his predecessors in the encouragement of learning, and like them also he was a patron of music and painting and the fine arts. A college was founded at Delhi in this reign close by the great mosque of that city, and another college in Delhi was repaired and re-established. Shāh Jahān’s son, Prince Dārā Shukoh, was a great scholar, with a strong leaning towards Hindu philosophy. He translated many Sanskrit works into Persian, among others the Upanishads.

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¹ Law, pp. 173-180.

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² Ibid., pp. 180-186.

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The French traveller Bernier visited India during the reign of Shāh Jahān, and it is remarkable that he draws a most unsatisfactory picture of the state of education in India. He says¹—

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¹ *Bernier’s Travels* (Constable’s trans.), p. 229.

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‘A profound and universal ignorance is the natural consequence of such a state of society as I have endeavoured to describe. Is it possible to establish in Hindustān academies and colleges properly endowed? Where shall we seek for founders? Or, should they be found, where are the scholars? Where are the individuals whose property is sufficient to support their children at colleges? or if such individuals exist who would venture to display so clear a proof of wealth? Lastly, if any persons should be tempted to commit this great imprudence, yet where are the benefices, the employments, the offices of trust and dignity, that require ability and science, and are calculated to excite the emulation and the hopes of the young student?’

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When one thinks of the record of the founding of numerous colleges during the reigns of the Mughal emperors, to say nothing of those that were founded by earlier Muhammadan sovereigns, and also of the zeal for, and interest in, education shown by sovereigns like Fīrūz Shāh and Akbar, and of the mention also of educational institutions started by many private patrons, it is difficult to imagine how such a melancholy view of the state of education could have been taken by this seventeenth-century traveller. It is interesting to compare his view with that taken by the Emperor Bābar in his memoirs. Like many other visitors from the West, Bernier no doubt judged the state of affairs in India too much by European standards, and relied too much on casual observation for the formation of his opinion. But he could hardly have written such a paragraph if education had been as widespread in India as we might be tempted to suppose by the numerous references to the building of colleges. An interesting sidelight is thrown on the situation by the frequent mention of the repair of colleges which had fallen into disuse and bad repair. Thus Jahāngīr is said to have repaired and re-established no less than thirty of such colleges which had become so ruined as to be inhabited by birds and beasts, while Shāh Jahān also did the same for a college in the royal city of Delhi; and this was subsequent to the reign of Akbar when education was so highly favoured and encouraged. It certainly looks as though some colleges were quickly deserted by tutors and scholars when the pious founder died or his interest languished. They migrated in many cases to a newer institution which offered better conditions. And it may be that in the latter part of his statement, where Bernier laments the lack of suitable employments and positions for young men who have studied, he is reflecting the opinion of some with whom he came into contact who may have given as their reason for not pursuing higher studies the lack of certainty in obtaining suitable employment when their course was completed. Brāhman education, carried on largely in secluded places and without any royal provision for its support, save the encouragement given by princes like Akbar and Dārā Shukoh, probably escaped his notice. While, therefore, we must discount a great deal the unfavourable opinion of Bernier, it will help us, on the other hand, not to over-estimate the progress of education in India even under the best of the Mughal emperors.

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It was part of the policy of Aurangzīb¹ (1658-1707), who was a strict and orthodox Muhammadan, to give great encouragement to Muhammadan education. He was hard indeed on the Hindus, and in 1669 ordered the destruction of temples and the prohibition of Hindu teaching and worship at Benares and other places. He also once confiscated the buildings belonging to the Dutch in Lucknow and made them over to a Muhammadan for use as a college. Towards Muhammadan education, however, Aurangzīb showed great favour. In the *Mirāt-i-Ālam*¹ we read: ‘All the mosques in the empire are repaired at the public expense. Imāms, criers to the daily prayers, and readers of the *khutba*, have been appointed to each of them, so that a large sum of money has been and is still laid out in these disbursements. In all the cities and towns of this extensive country, pensions and allowances and lands have been given to learned men and professors, and stipends have been fixed for scholars according to their abilities and qualifications.’ Besides these stipends for professors and students Aurangzīb founded a large number of colleges and schools. He sent orders to the provinces of Gujarāt and other places that all Muhammadan students were to be given pecuniary help. He also took steps to have the Bohras of Gujarāt educated, and for this purpose teachers were appointed and monthly examinations were to be held, the results of which were to be reported to the emperor. Colleges were also erected in this reign by private individuals, and at this time Sialkot, which began to be a place of learning about the time of Akbar, came into prominence as an educational centre. Aurangzīb added to the Imperial Library many Muhammadan theological works. Though narrow in his literary and theological outlook he was not without learning, and he not only knew his mother tongue of Turkish, but could read and write Arabic and Persian with great facility. He had learnt the Korān by heart and also the Hādīs, or traditions, and was well versed in Muhammadan theology.

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¹ Law, pp. 187-193.

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¹ Elliot, vii. 159.

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We learn that it was the practice with young princes when they reached the age of four years, four months, and four days, to perform the ‘*maktab* ceremony.’ The child was seated in the schoolhouse and formally handed over to tutors for his instruction to commence. We read of this ceremony being performed in the case of Humāyūn, and it is also said to have taken place in the case of Akbar, although there is a doubt about his literacy. This custom seems also to have become common amongst other Muhammadan boys, and is still in use in India.¹ The young princes were first taught to read and write their mother tongue. With regard to their education Catrou, following Manucci, says ²: ‘Whilst the princes remain in the harem, under the eye of their father, a eunuch is charged with their education. They are taught to read and sometimes to write in Arabic and in Persian. Their bodies are formed to military exercises, and they are instructed in the principles of equity. They are taught to decide rationally upon subjects of dispute which occur, or on supposititious suits at law. Finally they are instructed in the Muhammadan religion, and in the interests of the nation, which they may be called one day to govern.’ There is an incident in the life of Aurangzīb which throws a valuable sidelight on the education of the young Muhammadan princes, and also gives to us that monarch’s views upon the subject. It is related to us by the French traveller Bernier, who got a report of the incident from one who was present.³

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¹ In the Panjab the ‘maktab ceremony’ is called ‘bismi’ llah’.

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² Catrou, p. 288.

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³ Bernier’s Travels, pp. 155 ff.

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Aurangzīb’s old tutor, Mulla Shāh, hearing of his pupil’s success in gaining the throne, went to visit him, expecting reward and advancement. For three months Aurangzīb refused to see him, and when at last he saw him he spoke as follows: ‘Pray, what is your pleasure with me, Mulla-ji? Do you pretend that I ought to exalt you to the first honours of the State? Let us examine your title to any mark of distinction. I do not deny you would possess such a title if you had filled my young mind with suitable instruction. Show me a well-educated youth and I will say that it is doubtful who has the stronger claim to his gratitude, his father or his tutor. But what was the knowledge I derived under your tuition?

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You taught us that the whole of Franguistan (Europe) was no more than some inconsiderable island, of which the most powerful monarch was formerly the king of Portugal, then he of Holland, and afterwards the king of England. In regard to the other sovereigns of Franguistan, such as the king of France and him of Andalusia, you told me that they resembled our petty *rājas*, and that the potentates of Hindustān eclipsed the glory of all other kings; that they alone were Humāyūns, Akbars, Jahāngīrs or Shāh Jahāns; the Happy, the Great, the Conquerors of the World and the Kings of the World ¹; and that Persia, Usbec, Kashgar, Tartary, and Cathay, Pegu, Siam, China, trembled at the names of the kings of the Indies. Admirable geographer! deeply-read historian! Was it not incumbent upon my preceptor to make me acquainted with thè distinguishing features of every nation of the earth; its resources and strength; its mode of warfare, its manners, religion, form of government, and wherein its interests principally consist; and by a regular course of historical reading to render me familiar with the origin of states, their progress and decline; the events, accidents, or errors, owing to which such great changes and mighty revolutions have been effected? Far from having imparted to me a profound and comprehensive knowledge of the history of mankind, scarcely did I learn from you the names of my ancestors, the renowned founders of this empire. You kept me in total ignorance of their lives, of the events which preceded, and the extraordinary talents that enabled them to achieve their extensive conquests. A familiarity with the languages of surrounding nations may be indispensable in a king; but you would teach me to read and write Arabic, doubtless conceiving that you placed me under an everlasting obligation for sacrificing so large a portion of time to the study of a language wherein no one can hope to become proficient without ten or twelve years of close application.

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¹ These are the meanings of the names of these sovereigns.

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Forgetting how many important subjects ought to be embraced in the education of a prince, you acted as if it were chiefly necessary that he should possess great skill in grammar, and such knowledge as belongs to a doctor of law; and thus did you waste the precious hours of my youth in the dry, unprofitable, and never-ending task of learning words.’ Bernier goes on to say that some of the learned men, either wishing to flatter the monarch and add energy to his speech, or actuated by jealousy of the *mulla*, affirm that the king’s reproof did not end here, but that, when he had spoken for a short time on other subjects, he continued his speech as follows :—

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‘Were you not aware that it is during the period of infancy, when the memory is commonly so retentive, that the mind may receive a thousand wise precepts; and be easily furnished with such valuable instructions as will elevate it with lofty conceptions, and render the individual capable of glorious deeds? Can we repeat our prayers, or acquire a knowledge of law and of the sciences only through the medium of Arabic? May not our devotions be offered up as acceptably, and solid information communicated as easily, in our mother tongue? You gave my father, Shāh Jahān, to understand that you instructed me in philosophy; and, indeed, I have a perfect remembrance of your having, during several years, harassed my brain with idle and foolish propositions, the solution of which yield no satisfaction to the mind—propositions which seldom enter into the business of life; wild and extravagant reveries conceived with great labour and forgotten as soon as conceived; whose only effect is to fatigue and ruin the intellect, and to render a man headstrong and insufferable. O yes, you caused me to devote the most valuable years of my life to your favourite hypotheses, or systems, and when I left you, I could boast of no greater attainment in the sciences than the use of many obscure and uncouth terms,

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calculated to discourage, confound, and appal a youth of the most masculine understanding; terms invented to cover the vanity and ignorance of pretenders to philosophy; of men who, like yourself, would impose the belief that they transcend others of their species in wisdom, and that their dark and ambiguous jargon conceals many profound mysteries known only to themselves. If you had taught me that philosophy which adapts the mind to reason, and will not suffer it to rest satisfied with anything short of the most solid arguments; if you had inculcated lessons which elevate the soul and fortify it against the assaults of fortune, tending to produce that enviable equanimity which is neither insolently elated by prosperity, nor basely depressed by adversity, if you had made me acquainted with the nature of men; accustomed me always to refer to first principles, and given me a sublime and adequate conception of the universe, and of the order and regular motion of its parts; if such, I say, had been the nature of the philosophy imbibed under your tuition, I should be more indebted to you than Alexander was to Aristotle, and should consider it my duty to bestow a very different reward on you than Aristotle received from that Prince. Answer me, sycophant, ought you not to have instructed me on one point at least, so essential to be known by a king; namely, on the reciprocal duties between the sovereign and his subjects? Ought you not also to have foreseen that I might, at some future period, be compelled to contend with my brothers, sword in hand, for the crown, and for my very existence? Such, as you must well know, has been the fate of the children of almost every king of Hindustān. Did you ever instruct me in the art of war, how to besiege a town, or draw up an army in battle array? Happy for me that I consulted wiser heads than thine on these subjects! Go. Withdraw to thy village. Henceforth let no person know either who thou art, or what is become of thee.’

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Making all due allowance for any embellishments added consciously or unconsciously by Bernier, this pronouncement upon the subject of education is most interesting and noteworthy. It makes very little difference whether part of it came from Aurangzib's counsellors or not, for taking it as it stands it gives the view of Muhammadan education held by the seventeenth-century men of affairs in India and their criticism of its defects. Aurangzib's part in this pronouncement is all the more remarkable from the fact of his being an orthodox Muhammadan, who himself had a good knowledge of Arabic and delighted to read and study Muhammadan theological works. He was not a broad-minded student of human nature like Akbar, whose philosophic outlook was a species of eclecticism. But narrow as were Aurangzib's views on some questions he was a shrewd and able ruler, and saw the need of a more satisfactory education than he himself had received. He was not objecting to the theological basis of his education, but to the pedantry and formalism which characterized it. He objects to the mere learning of words and terms without the power to understand or use them, and which had no vital connection with the world outside the school. The study of Arabic must have become as formal as the study of the classics had become in the schools of seventeenth-century Europe, and Aurangzib objects to the wasting of so much time in obtaining mere skill in grammar. We have seen how Akbar seems to have placed a great emphasis on the teaching of scientific subjects. Aurangzib appears to be pleading for a broad humanism in which history, geography, and the languages of the surrounding nations would have a large place. The formation of high ideals, and of such habits of thought and action as would enable the pupil to meet all the difficulties of life with wisdom and courage are also set forth as necessary to a good education. The desirability of connecting the education given with the vocation to be followed by the pupil in after-life is another educational aim which Aurangzib proposes. All this has the appearance of being very modern, and it is of the highest interest to find these two monarchs, Akbar and Aurangzib, who are amongst the greatest rulers of India, and who were in so many ways different from each other in character and outlook on life, each advocating some of those very reforms in education which are being called for loudly at the present time. The only pity is that neither of them seems to have gone very far in giving practical effect to the educational ideals which they set forth.

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After the death of Aurangzib the glory of the Mughal empire began rapidly to wane, and the efforts made by emperors or private individuals to erect and endow educational institutions became much more rare. There is record of two madrasahs having been founded at Delhi during the reign of Aurangzib’s successor, Bahādur Shāh¹ (1707-1712). One of these buildings erected by Ghāzī-ud-dīn, an officer of Aurangzib, is still in existence though no longer used as a college. It is typical of many such buildings, having in the same enclosure the college, a mosque, and the tomb of the founder.² It was closed in 1793 for want of funds. The invasion of Nādir Shāh, which took place in 1739 and resulted in the sack of Delhi, must have been a great set-back to educational progress. Among other things the Imperial Library, which had been built up by the interest of many sovereigns, was carried away by Nādir Shāh to Persia.³

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¹ Law, p. 194.

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² Fanshawe's *Delhi Past and Present*, p. 64.

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³ Law, p. 198.

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With regard to the education of women⁴ it was just as much restricted amongst Muhammadans as amongst Hindus. The pardah system, which shut up all Muhammadan women, except young girls, in seclusion, made their education a matter of great difficulty even where it may have been desired, which does not seem to have been often the case. We have evidence¹ that sometimes young girls were taught in schools as well as boys, but their leaving school at a very early age must have prevented their education being carried very far. It seems that sometimes in the harem of kings or nobles some attempt was made to give education to the ladies who lived within, and some of them attained to great distinction. Ghiyās-ud-dīn, who was ruler of Mālwā from 1469-1500, is said² to have appointed school-mistresses for the ladies of his harem, and Akbar also made a similar arrangement for his household, and certain rooms were set apart at Fathpur Sīkrī for this purpose. Razīya, who sat on the throne of Delhi after her father Altamsh, was an educated princess and patronized men of learning. The daughter of Bābar, Gul-Badan Begam, wrote the *Humāyūn Nāmah*, or memoirs of her brother Humāyūn. It is said also that she had her own library and used to collect books. The niece of Humāyūn, who became one of Akbar's wives, wrote poems in Persian. The nurse of Akbar, Māham Anaga, mentioned above,³ was an educated lady. Nūr Jahān, the wife of Jahāngīr, who helped her husband to rule his empire, and her niece Mumtāz Mahal, who was the favourite wife of Shāh Jahān, and in memory of whom he erected the Tāj Mahal at Agra, were both educated. So also was Jahānārā Begam, the eldest daughter of Shāh Jahān, and she had been instructed by a learned lady named Satiunnisā. The eldest daughter of Aurangzīb, Zībunnisā Begam, was acquainted with both Persian and Arabic. It is probable that many other royal and noble ladies, whose names have not been recorded, also received some education behind the pardah, but even so they were few compared with the great mass of Muhammadan women who received no education at all, except a domestic training in the performance of the duties of the household.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, pp. 200 ff.

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¹ See Ja'far Sharif, *Qānūn-i-Islām*, p. 32.

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² Ferishta, iv. 237.

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³ See p. 122.

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It is very difficult to estimate the extent of Muhammadan education in early times. As we have seen, the Emperor Bābar, and at a later date the traveller Bernier, give a very unfavourable view of the extent of education in India. But their opinions cannot be accepted without considerable qualification, for we have, on the other hand, the record of the building of numerous *madrasahs* and of the existence of important educational centres, at places like Delhi, Agra, and Jaunpur. The Muhammadan population was, no doubt, in many places largely a town population as it is to-day (except in the Panjāb), and it was in the cities of importance that *madrasahs* are said to have been established. We have no idea as to the average number of students attending a college. Probably this varied considerably from just a few pupils with one teacher, to a large number with many teachers in the more important places. Probably most mosques had attached to them, if not a *madrasah*, then a *maktab*, or primary school. All Muhammadan boys were supposed to attend a *maktab* in order that they might at least learn the portions of the Korān required for the Muhammadan daily devotions, but we cannot be sure that they always did so. The content of the education given in the *maktabs* must have been very different in different places. When the Muhammadan boy begins to speak he should be taught to repeat the Muhammadan article of belief (the *kalima*). After that certain prescribed verses from the Korān have to be learnt by heart. At about seven years of age he begins to learn the Korān, and receives instructions in religious precepts and usages. This seems to be the minimum education given in a *maktab*. In some cases, however, reading and writing were also taught and some elementary arithmetic. To this might be added legends of prophets and anecdotes of Muhammadan saints, and perhaps some selections from poets. The teaching of Persian must have begun at some time during the Muhammadan rule, and Persian schools became widespread, as this language was required by those who wished for employment in government service. These schools are referred to again later in the chapter on popular education. With regard to modern survivals of Korān schools in India, the *Quinquennial Review of Education*¹ quotes Mr. de la Fosse as saying that these ‘are usually attached to a mosque . . . the scholars commence by studying the Arabic alphabet, and as soon as they can read are made to recite *suras*, or chapters of the Korān. Neither writing nor arithmetic is taught. So far as my experience goes instruction is usually confined to reading and memorizing, but sometimes an attempt is also made to explain the meaning of what is read. This, however, is rare.’

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