Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c7.51

c7.51

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.