Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c7.41

c7.41

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.