WRITTEN BY R. NANJAPPA                        

Post No. 8557

Date uploaded in London – – – 23 August 2020   

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge; this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.

                                      BOOKS INDIANS SHOULD READ – 24

                                                      R. Nanjappa

                         THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF DHARAMPAL-4.

                                                 Chapter 9 – Part 3

LEITNER’S SURVEY OF INDIGENOUS EDUCATION IN THE PUNJAB: 1882


DR. Leitner, one time Principal of Govt.College, Lahore and an acting Director of Public

Instruction, prepared an elaborate survey of education in the Punjab. Not being a Britisher,

he did not try to please anyone. His language is direct, and not complimentary to the British.

 He said that at the time of its annexation by the British (April, 1849), there were at least

3,30,000 students in the various schools there, acquainted with reading, writing and some arithmetic, whereas in 1882, there were only 1,90,000. He said that 35-40 years previously, “thousands of them belonged to Arabic and Sanskrit colleges, in which oriental Literature

and systems of  oriental Law, Logic, Philosophy and Medicine were taught to the highest

standards.”

Leitner studied the earlier writing and covered district by district. He then made his own

survey as of 1882. He remarked:

“I am about to relate the history of the contact of a form of European with one of Asiatic

civilisation: how…the true education of the Punjab was crippled, checked, and is

nearly destroyed; how opportunities for its healthy revival and development were

either neglected or perverted; and how, far beyond the blame attaching to

individuals, our system stands convicted or worse than official failure.

Respect for learning has always been the redeeming feature of ‘the East’. To this the

Punjab has formed no exception. Torn by invasion and civil war, it ever preserved and

added to educational endowments…. There was not a mosque, a temple, a dharmasala

that had not a school attached to it, to which the youth flocked chiefly for religious

education…..There were also thousands of secular schools, frequented alike by

Mahomedans, Hindus and Sikhs, in which Persian or Lunde was taught. There were

hundreds of learned men who gratuitously taught their coreligionists, and sometimes

all-comers, for the sake of God. There was not a single villager who did not take a pride in

devoting a portion of his produce to a respected teacher…. Through all schools there

breathed a spirit of devotion to education for its own sake and for its influence on the

character and on religious culture….We have changed all this. The annexation disturbed

the minds  of believers in Providence, and all that was respectable kept, as much as

possible, aloof from the invader, – just as the best Englishman would not be the first to

seek the favour of a foreign conqueror.”

This is self-explanatory, and is a strong indictment of British Policy.

ALEXANDER WALKER ON INDIAN EDUCATION, LITERATURE, ETC C.1820

Brigadier General Alexander Walker of Bowland.(1764-1831)

Christchurch Art Gallery
Alexander Walker of Bowland commented on some aspects of the educational and literary

scene in the Malabar. He commented on how they had made progress, how they had their

own system of writing without paper and pen, using only natural material. He said, among

other things:

The literature of Malabar has the same foundation, and consists of the same materials, as

that of all Hindoo nations.

It is natural to suppose that sciences would first prosper where men were not exposed to

excessive labour in order to procure the necessaries of life; plenty and tranquility would leave

them at liberty to cultivate knowledge, to apply their minds to books, and learning. 

Education with them is an early and important business in every family. Many of their

women are taught to read and write…The children are instructed without violence and

by a process peculiarly simple.It is the same system which has caused so much

controversy ….in this country. …..The system was borrowed from the Bramans and

brought from India to Europe. It has been made the foundation of National Education in

every enlightened country. Some gratitude is due to a people from whom we have learnt

to diffuse among the lower ranks of society instruction by one of the most unerring and

economical methods which has ever been invented. The pupils are the monitors of each

other…Reading and writing are acquired at the same time, and by the same process.

The Missionaries have now honestly owned that the system upon which these

schools are now taught was borrowed from India.

No people probably appreciate more justly the importance of instruction than the Hindoos;

…they have formed institutions themselves to meet various cases of ignorance and misery.

They are not averse to a spirit of enquiry and discussion. All they wanted was a

government that would not check and discourage this spirit.

Walker wrote this around 1820. Unfortunately, the British colonial powers did

exactly check and discourage the Indian Spirit

FRA PAOLINO DA BARTOLOMEO

He was born as John Phillip Wesdin in Austria. He was a missionary in the Malabar and

studied its education systems in 1776-1789. He published his account in Rome in 1796.

He writes:

The education of youth in India is much simpler, and not near so expensive as in Europe.

(After describing how the children learn to write on the floor, and how the teacher

supervises them, he says)

This method of teaching writing was introduced into India two hundred years

before the birth of  Christ, according to the testimony of Megasthenes, and still

continues to be practised. 

He explains how the teacher employs short verses or slokas to teach and how these contain

ethical and moral precepts which guide through life. He explains how religious instruction

is provided. He lists the other sciences which are taught: Poetry,Fencing, Botany and

medicine;Navigation; some martial art; Logic. Astrology, Law;Swadyaya: silence, Mauna.

He then explains how education serves each one in strengthening his profession which

comes by heredity. (Here, he refers to the writings of Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Arrian and

other Greek writers.) He then says:

Indians do not follow that general and superficial method of education by which children

are treated as if they were all intended for the same condition and for discharging the

same duties……

By this establishment the knowledge of a great many things necessary for the public good

is not only widely diffused, but transmitted to posterity; who are thereby enabled still farther

to improve them, and bring them nearer to perfection. By the time of Alexander the Great,

the Indians had acquired such skill in the mechanical arts that Nearchus, the commander

of his fleet, was much amazed at the dexterity with which they imitated  the accoutrements

of the Grecian soldiers.

It, however, cannot be denied, that the arts and sciences in India have greatly

declined since the foreign conquerors expelled the native kings;by which several

provinces have been laid extremely waste, and the castes confounded with each other.

Before this period, the different kingdoms were in a flourishing condition; the laws

were respected, and justice and civil order prevailed; but, unfortunately, at present

everything in many of the provinces must give way to absolute authority and despotic  sway.

                                                                   *** Chapter 9 to be continued

WRITTEN BY LONDON SWAMINATHAN

Post No. 8554

Date uploaded in London – 22 August 2020   

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tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com

குப்பை என்ற சொல் மீண்டும் மீண்டும் பல மொழிகளில் வந்தாலும் ஒரு சொல்

ஒரு இடத்தில் மட்டுமே இருக்கும். கொண்டு கூட்டிப் பொருள் கொள்க

1.குப்பை உயரும் கோபுரம் தாழும்

2.குப்பையில் கிடந்தாலும் குன்றிமணி நிறம் போகுமா

3.குப்பைக் கீரைத் தண்டு கப்பலுக்கு பாய் மரமாகுமா

4.குப்பை ஏறிக் கூவா த கோழி கோபுரம் ஏறி வைகுண்டம் காட்டுமா

5.குப்பையில் முளைத்த கொடி கோபுரம் ஏறினது  போல 6.குப்பையின்றிப் பயிர் விளையாது.

WRITTEN BY R. NANJAPPA                        

Post No. 8552

Date uploaded in London – – – 22 August 2020   

Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com

Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge; this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.

BOOKS INDIANS SHOULD READ – 23

                                                      R. Nanjappa

                      THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF DHARAMPAL-4.

                                                 Chapter 9 – Part 2

EDUCATION AND CHARITY

Most students were fed by the teachers or by the village community.
This was especially so in the case of Brahmins who were usually poor. The teacher himself

being poor, the boys were fed by different families in turn. The Collector of Cuddapah stated:

“They receive some portion of the alms daily at the door of every Brahmin in the

village, and this is conceded to them with a cheerfulness which considering the

object in view must be esteemed as a most honourable trait in the native

character and its unobtrusiveness ought to enhance the value of it.”

The Collector of Guntoor also said about the teaching of theology, law, astronomy:

“These sciences are privately taught to some scholars or disciples generally by

the Brahmins learned in them without payment of any fee or reward.” 

These Brahmins were from families who had received some grants of land (maunyams) from

the Zamindar in the past, though not specifically for this purpose.
If the student is poor, “the student procures his daily subsistence from the houses

in the villages.. which willingly furnish such by turns.”

BOOKS USED IN SCHOOLS

Reading, writing and arithmetic formed the core subjects, But a number of books were used.
In Bellary
A.Most commonly used:
Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavatam
B.Used by children of Manufacturing Classes:
Nagalingayna Katha, Vishvakarma Purana, Kumalesherra Kalika Mahata
C.Used by Lingayat Children:
Buwapurana, Raghavan-Kunkauya, Geeeruja Kullana, Unbhavamoorta, Chenna Basaveswara

Purana, Gurilagooloo, etc
D.Lighter Literature:
Panchatantra, Bhatalapunchavunsatee, Punklee-soopooktahuller, Mahantarangenee,
E.Dictionaries and Grammars:
Nikantoo, Amara, Subdamumburee, Shubdeemunee-Darpana, Vyacurna, Andradeepeca,

Andranamasangraha, etc.
About 43 books were used in the schools of Rajhamundry.
Different books were used in higher learning.
Apart from the Vedas, its 6 subsidiaries like Tarkam, Jyotisham seem to have been taught,

along with Dharma Sastra and Kavyas.

EDUCATION AT HOME
More than school enrollment

Most of the Collectors said that a large number of boys, and especially girls, were receiving

education at home. In the Malabar, the number of such students were 21 times the number

attending the regular institution of higher learning. Theology, Astronomy, Metaphysics,

Ethics, Poetry, Literature, Medical Science, Music and Dance were learnt in this way. In

Madras, the number privately studying at home was reported to be 4.73 times the number

attending regular schools. Most girls were educated this way. The Collectors of Masulipatam,

Madura and Tinnevelly reported that the girls who attended schools were usually

dancing girls.

These surveys are full of interesting details. They show how the network of indigenous

education flourished, covering all castes, with minimum of outlay, that too largely provided

and maintained by the community. Change of rulers did not affect this, till the British came.

Education then meant more than formal schooling.

                                                                
EDUCATION IN THE BENGAL PROVINCE
Adam’s Reports: 1835-38

W.Adam came to India as a Methodist Missionary, but later turned a journalist. He undertook

three surveys of the education scene in Bengal province, which then included parts of Bihar.

He was a typical British product of his day, combining the zeal to evangelise and Westernise.

He wanted to show that education was in a decayed state, but his surveys reveal much

information about the number of schools, caste-wise composition of students and teachers,

the books used, etc.

The greatest controversy he created was in regard to numbers. He said that every village

had at least one school. With Bengal and Bihar having 1,50,748 villages, “there will still be

1,00,000″ villages that have these schools. He also informed that there were at least 100

institutions of higher learning in each district. He said that while the elementary schools

were generally held in the residence of some respectable villagers, the schools of higher

learning had their own structures. The scholars were usually fed and clothed by the teachers,

and were often assisted by the villagers. He presented the data district by district.

Bengali, Hindi, Oriya, Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic were the languages taught. English was

taught in 8 schools.
He said that there were four stages in elementary education, beginning with forming

letters on the ground with a small stick; the second stage  (covering from 2.5 to 4 years)

covered writing on palm leaf, learning to read and write, commit to memory numeration

table; they also had to learn land measurement tables. The third stage, lasting 2 to

3 years, covered writing on plantain leaf, in addition to learning addition, subtraction, etc.

In the fourth stage, lasting up to two years, writing was done on paper. The student was

then expected to be able to read the Ramayana at home, and also be competent in

accounts, be able to write letters, draft petitions, etc.

The teachers and the taught came from a wide variety of social groups. While many

teachers came from Kayastha, Brahmin, Sadgop and Aguri communities, a large number

came from 30 other castes, including 6 from Chandalas! The students came from all castes,

the Brahmins and Kayasthas no where exceeding 40%, while in the two districts of Bihar,

they formed only 15 to 16%. In Burdwan large number of students  in the native schools

were from the 16 lowest castes.

There were 353 Sanskritic schools. The teachers were predominantly Brahmins. The

subjects taught were: Grammar, Logic, Law, Literature, Mythology, Astrology, Lexicology,

Rhetoric, Medicine, Vedanta, Tantra, Mimamsa, Sankhya. The age of entry and duration

of study varied depending on the subject. lasting from 7 to 15 years.
The teachers were mostly in their thirties.

                                                                ***   Chapter 9  to be continued