Education in India during Medieval period

Dr. V.K.MaheshwariM.A (Socio, Phil) B.Sc. M. Ed, Ph.D

Former Principal, K.L.D.A.V. (P.G) College, Roorkee, India

The period under review covers the system of education in India during Muslim rule i.e. from about the 10th century A.D. to the middle of the 18th century, i.e. before the British rule.

Medieval period witnessed a radical transformation in the Indian subcontinent. The country was invaded by various foreign rulers and several traders from around the world came and settled in the country. The tradesmen and the invaders brought with them their own cultures and intermingled with the people of the each district of the state. Besides, religion, society and culture, Education in medieval India also experienced a new perspective. Later on when the Muslim rulers established permanent empire in India, they introduced a new system of education. Consequently the ancient system of education was greatly changed. In fact, the education during the Muslim period was much inferior than that of the Hindu period. No Muslim ruler except Akbar did commendable works in the field of education. Education in medieval India flourished mostly during the Mughal rule from the beginning of 1526 until the end of Mughal political presence in 1848

The foremost aim of education during the Muslim period was the extension of knowledge and the propagation of Islam. During this period education was imparted for the propagation of Islamic principles, laws and social conventions. Education was based on religion and its aim was to make persons religious minded. It further aimed as the achievement of material prosperity.

Education in medieval India was shaped with the founding of the institutions of learning. Muslim rulers promoted urban education by bestowing libraries and literary societies. They founded primary schools (maktabs) in which students learned reading, writing, and basic Islamic prayers, and secondary schools (madrasas) to teach advanced language skills In India. Several Madrasahs were set up by Sultans, nobles, and their influential ladies. The main objective of these Madrasahs was to train and educate scholar who would become eligible for the civil service as well as performing duties as judge

Iltutmish was the first to establish a madrasah at Delhi, naming it “Madrasah-e-Muizzi”, after the name of Muizzuddin Muhammad Ghori. Balban, the Chief Minister of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud, founded “Madrasah Nasiriyya” after the name of his master. Minhajus Siraj, the author of “Tabaqat Nasiri”, was appointed its principal. Gradually many madrasahs came into being. In Muhammad Tughlag’s period there were 1000 madrasahs only in Delhi. Sultan Firoz Shah founded “Madrasah Firoz Shahi” on the southern side of the Hauz Khaz in Delhi. There were many Madrasahs in small and big, rural and urban areas. However, the important scholars were only in the madrasah of important centers.

The grants, which were given to ulama in the form of Madad-e-Ma’ash (financial support) lead to the foundation of many madrasahs. The education was given in Sufi centers also. This trend of education continued during the Khilji Dynasty. Though Alauddin himself was uneducated and it was proved as a threat to the future of his dynasty. However, Delhi continued to project as an important centre of knowledge, scholars and writers. Due to the influence of Hz. Nizamuddin, there was demand for religious and mystic teachers as well.

The minister of Alauddin Khilji, Shamsul Malik patronized the knowledge. During this period there was a tremendous progress in  theology, lexicography and exegetic writing during this period. The study of Greco-Arab medicine was also given special attention. The most important physician of this period was Badruddin Dimashqi and Juwaini.

There is a strong evidence to suggest that in medieval  India, the reputed theologians and scholars who earned name and fame by their scholarly  works were appointed teachers in Madarsas and Maktabs. The celebrated Minhas-i-Siraj  was one such example who was appointed the principal of Nasiriya college founded by Sultan Nasruddin Mahmud. These scholars aggrandized their wealth of knowledge and education through several ways. For instance, it was not uncommon for an ‘allama’ (scholar) or a  ‘muballigh’ (preacher)  who,  whether commissioned by a king or by his own conscience, came to deliver a lecture or a sermon.  Teachers were benefitted greatly  by such  lectures as they added to their already  vast bank of  knowledge.

Then there were ‘Mushairas’ or poetical symposiums which were frequently held and they, in their own way, contributed a good deal to the same cause.

Sultans and Emperors also provided opportunities to these scholars turned teachers to develop their education. Sultan Balban’s son prince Muhammad frequently organized philosophic discourses and  invited his scholar friends to participate  in them. These discourses, as in ancient India, helped greatly the learned men to further enhance their education. S.M Jaffar(1972) has quoted Balban telling his officers : ” Spare no pains to discover men of genius, learning and courage. You must cherish them by kindness and munificence that they may prove the soul of your councils and instruments of your authority. ” Such an environment led to the foundation of  literary societies which, in short time, became a valuable asset to the education. About the court of prince Muhammad, Barni writes, “The court of the young prince was frequented by the most learned, excellent and talented men of the age. ” Gradually, such societies honeycombed  the whole Sultanat of Delhi. Another such society was founded by Muhammad’s brother prince Kurra Bughra Khan, the second son of Balban. The example  set forth   by the Imperial House was followed by the nobility and the middle class muslims, with the result that within a brief spell of time numerous  such societies sprang up  in the Sultanat  of Delhi and  helped the cause of teacher  education so much that  travellers from distant  parts of the  world were  drawn  towards them for the cultivation of high standard of education.

Several books on theological  and secular topics  were written during  this period which also helped in the cause of teacher  education. For instance, on the initiative of  Sultan Sikandar Lodhi,  the learned physicians  of India and outside put their  heads together and compiled ‘Tibb-i-Sikandari’, a book named after the Sultan himself. ‘Waqiyat-i-Mushtaqi’ has the following passage on this book:

” Miyan Budh succeeded  to the late Khwas Khan and was confirmed to the dignity. He got together fine calligraphists  and learned men, and employed them in writing books on every science. He brought books from Khurasan and gave them to learned and good men. Writers were continuously engaged  in this work. He assembled the physicians of Hind and Khurasan,  and collecting books upon the science of medicine, he had a selection made. The book so compiled received the name of Tibb-i-Sikandari , and there is no work of greater  authority in India”.

This book, like several others, served as one of the basic sources of information for not only the experts and practitioners of  the respective fields but also for the teachers    of different subjects.

Libraries also served as a rich source of teacher education. The Imperial Library of Bijapur, a modicum of which still exists in Asari Mahal, had a rich collection of such books which could be highly interesting for the scholars of Arabic and Persian literature.

The rulers helped in the spread of education. They built educational institutions and universities. They endowed them with the funds. Big landlord also provided financial help for the spread of education. The rulers patronized the men of learning. The rules neither claim any authority over the educational institutions nor interfered with their management.

The whole educational system was saturated with the religious ideals which influenced the aim, the contents of study, and even the daily life of the pupils.” The pupils acquired knowledge as a religious obligation. Through education was primarily religion- oriented, it included the study of many intellectual activities like mathematics, astronomy, grammar, polity and politics. Art and literature were also encouraged.

In the Muslim period also the teacher was respected as during the Brahmanic or Budhist period. There was intimate relationship between the teacher and the pupil, although the practice of living with the teacher was not as common with the Muslim as it was in the case of Brahmanic and Budhist period. Teachers took to teaching for love of learning. They were held in high esteem. Learning was prized for its own sake and as a mark of the highest human development and teaching was never handicapped by examination requirements.

The social status of teacher was high and they are men of character, though their emoluments were small they commanded universal respect and confidence. A teacher was never confronted with any serious problem of discipline. Pupils were humble, submissive and obedient owing to the high honour and prestige of teachers in society.

A Muslim teacher‘s conducted, whether in public or in privacy, should correspond to his assertions. If the teacher‘s person does not reflect Islamic character, students may not be expected to be sincere to him in learning from him. This disturbance of relationship between the teacher and the taught may disturb the whole process of education, causing students to feel confused. )   Learned teachers: Teachers took to teaching for love of learning.

In Islamic scheme of education it holds a very crucial position It considers the teacher as guide (murshid), and the student as seeker (Taalib).  Both are to be sincere in their attitude towards each other. The relationship between the two is to be governed by certain Quran principles.

Since the number of students with the teacher was limited, he paid individual attention to each students .Punishments were quit severe. Truants and delinquents were caned on their palms and slapped on their faces. A strange mode of punishment was to make the children hold their ears by taking their hands from under their thighs while sitting on their tiptoes.

Sultan Sikandar Lodhi brought some changes in the system of education. Apart from religious educations, rational educations were also included. Under him the progress of philosophy took place. The students used to copy themselves since the books were rare. Learned men from Arabia, Persia and Central Asia were invited to take charge of education in India.

The tendency that started in the time of Sikandar Lodhi found its culmination in the reign of Akbar. He introduced reforms in the curriculum of primary schools and included the logic, arithmetic, moral, menstruation, geometry, astronomy, agriculture, physiognomy, and public administration, in the course of study. In studying Sanskrit, students ought to learn the Bayakaran, Niyai, Vedanta and Patanjal. Things continued the same way in Mughal period also.  This period had the good  fortune  of having an emperor like Akbar whose benevolent  munificence  helped a great number of scholars and teachers to  earn  renown.

The well known ‘Ibadat-Khana’ (literarily a house of worship but in fact a Debating Hall) at Fatehpur Sikri played a premier part in influencing the scholars and eminent teachers of that time. It was the meeting-place of the intellectuals of various nationailities and the centre of a set of brilliant scholars of the reign. In it the representatives of different schools of thought used to discuss minute points of  their religions. Its importance lay in the fact that it not only propagated unity of all religions, but indirectly served as a strong instrument through which the participating members enhanced their  learning.  Among others, such members included teachers also.

Several books of repute were also written during Akbar’s time which served the purpose of teacher education. Books like ‘Akbar Namah’ and ‘Ain-i-Akbari’ by Abul Fazl, ‘Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh’ by Abdul Qadir Badaoni, ‘Tabqat-i-Akbari’ by Nizam-ud-din Ahmad, ‘Munshial’ of Abul Fateh etc. are some of the most marvellous masterpieces of Persian literature produced in Muslim India during the reign of Akbar. A study of these books must have given rare insights into the world of liteature, political, social, cultural, economic and religious state of contemporary society to all the readers including teachers. Muslim scholars  further enhanced their knowledge by a large number of Sanskrit and Hindi books which were translated into Persian under the imperial patronage. ‘Ramayan’,  ‘Mahabharata’, ‘Atharva Veda’,   ‘Bhagvat Gita’, ‘Singhasana-Battisi’, ‘Rajtarangini’, and many other such books must have helped the teachers and scholars  to educate themselves about the life and times of the past of their country. Provision was also made for vocational, technical and professional education. Emperor Akbar took considerable interest in education as is evident from the passage of from the ‘Ain-in-Akbar’.

According to Krishnalal Ray(1984) the Imperial Library  of Akbar and his successors  flowed  richly  with the books on history, philosophy, science and religion. Any scholar who had access to this library must have had the rare opportunity of broadening his insights.

The system of education was then under the control of ulama who were in favor of Akbar’s curriculum. However, Hakim Fathullah Sirazi and his followers claimed a significant role in this system. Fathullah Sirazi was a philosopher, mathematician and scientist. His system was in later period developed by Mullah Nizamuddin. The curriculum of Mullah was known as “Dars Nizami”. The salient feature of the curriculum is to relate religious education with the Greek philosophy. For the practitioners of medicine, syllabus was different. They began their education with Arabic literature, grammar and philosophy, and then they start study “Canon fi al-Tibb” and “Kitab al-Shifa” of Ibn Sina. For the accountants and secretaries a separate curriculum was prepared at the end of Akbar’s reign.

Another Mugal prince Dara Shukoh had combined in himself the qualities of his two great ancestors Humayun and Akbar. The habit of passing more and more time in the Library to acquire knowledge was inherited by him from Humayun who had lost his life while descending from the stairs of the royal Library, while the interest in comparative religions, universal brotherhood, humanism and peace, came from the great emperor Akbar.

Credit goes to one tutor named Mulla Abdul Latif Saharanpuri, who inculcated in him the habit of reading and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

The prince witnessed change in his life after the initiation in the Qadiri order in 1640 A.D. and his close association with Mian Mir, Mulla Badakhashi and other saints. This was a remarkable phase of his life when he spent his major time in the royal Library busy in intensive studies in mysticism, the philosophy and the principles of the Qadiri order. This resulted in the publication of his major works on Sufism namely, the Safinat-ul-Auliya  (1640 A.D.), the Sakinat-ul-Auliya ( 1643A.D.) the Risala’i Haq Numa  (1647 A.D.), the Tariqat-ul-Haqiqat and the Hasanat-ul-Arifin (1653 A.D.). The first two books are biographical dictionaries of the Sufi saints and the last three contain his exposition of some of the Sufi fundamental doctrines.

Another phase is marked by Dara’s quest for understanding of the Hindu religious systems. For this he spent many years in the study of Sanskrit and employed a large number of Pundits from Banaras. His patronage of the language brought applaud from the contemporary scholars. Prominent among them were Jaganath Mishra, Pandit Kavindracharya and Banwali Das. Jaganath Mishra even wrote a book named Jagatsimha in praise of Dara.In his continuous search for the truth, his meeting with Baba Lal Das Bairagi proved quite enlightening. Dara had compiled a summary of these teachings in Makalama Baba Lal Wa Dara Shukoh, which consists of seven long conversations between the Baba and the Prince held in 1653 A.D. This text focuses particularly on certain similarities in the teachings of Hindu and Muslim mystics.

Similarly, he found some common elements in the Qadiri ashghal and the yogic meditational exercises of the Hindus which made him translate the Yoga Vasistha into Persian in 1650 A.D. he also translated the Bhagwatgita in the same year.Dara’s sustained researches in comparative religions came out in the form of an extremely remarkable book known as Majma-ul Bahrain, or the mingling of the two oceans.

He translated 50 Upanishads from Sanskrit to Persian. The text he prepared, the Sirr-i-Akbar, ‘the Great Secret’ was completed in 1657. He was of the firm opinion that the ‘Great Secret’ of the Upanishads is the monotheistic message, which is identical to that on which the Quran is based.

Education for girls was the exception rather than the rule. Muslim girls of affluent families studied at home Koranic exegesis, prophetic traditions, Islamic law (sharia), and related subjects. Often attached to mosques, Islamic schools were open to the poor but were gender segregated, often only for boys. Muslim girls of affluent families studied at home, if they received any education beyond learning to recite the Koran.

Although there was Pardah system during the Muslim period yet Islam did not oppose the education of women. These two contrary factors influence the education of women in two ways. The girls were entitled to receive education equal to that of the boys up to a definite age but thereafter their education was stopped. However, the girl to higher classes used to continue their studies at home.

One system which continued from ancient period till the medieval times was the ‘Monitorial System’. This system, as in the past, advocated the association of more intelligent and advanced students with their masters in the work of teaching. They were appointed as monitors for the assistance of teachers in conducting the class, maintaining order and giving lessons. They thus helped their teachers a good deal in their work and, in return, received good practical training in the art of teaching.

Islamic Education was devided mainly into two stages,Maktab( primary grade) and Madrasha (higher grade)-

Maktab (Arabic: (other transliterations include  Mekteb,  Mektep, Meqteb, Maqtab), also called kuttab (Arabic: ―school‖), is an Arabic word meaning elementary schools. Though it was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar and Islamic subjects(such as Qur’an recitations), other practical and theoretical subjects were also often taught.

In the medieval Islamic world, an  elementary  school was known as a Maktab, which dates back to at least the 10th century. Like Madrasah (which referred to higher education), a Maktab was often attached to a Mosque. In the 10th century, the Sunni Islamicjurist Ibn Hajar al-Haytami discussed Maktab schools.

Primary education was imparted through  the ‘Maktab’ which were attached with mosque or were independent of the mosque ‘Khanquahs’ of the saints also at some places served as centres of education. Several   learned men also taught students at their residences: Almost every village had at least, one ‘Maktab’. There were several ‘Maktabs’ in town and cities. The ‘Maktabs’ were run under the guidance of the learned ‘Maulavis’. They were supposed to be very pious.

Most of the Maktabs were either patronized by rulers or had endowment. They dependent on the charity of the philanthropists

At the age of four years, four months and four days, ‘Maktab’ ceremony or ‘Bismillah’ was performed to indicate the beginning of the child. This was considered as an auspicious moment for initiation or starting education. Good wishes were offered to the child.  ‘Surah-i-Iqra’ a chapter from the holy Quran was recited on this occasion.

In Maktabs children were made to remember the tenets of Quran‘(Koran). Reading, writing and primary arithmetic were imparted to them. Besides they were given the education of Arabic script, Persian language and script. The stories of Prophets and Muslim Fakirs‘were also told to the children. Children were also impacted the knowledge of art of writing and conversation. The system of oral education was mostly prevalent in those days.

The famous Persian Islamic philosopher and teacher, Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West), wrote that children can learn better if taught in classes instead of individual tuition from private  tutors, and he gave a number of reasons for why this is the case, citing the value of competition and emulationamong pupils as well as the usefulness of group  discussions and debates. Ibn Sina described the curriculum of a Maktab school in some detail, describing the curricula for two stages of education in a Maktab school

Ibn Sina refers to the secondary education stage of Maktab schooling as the period of specialization, when pupils should begin to acquire manual skills, regardless of their social status. He writes that children after the age of 14 should be given a choice to choose and specialize in subjects they have an interest in, whether it was reading, manual skills, literature, preaching, medicine,  geometry, trade and commerce,  craftsmanship, or any other subject or profession they would be interested in pursuing for a future career.

Madrasah literally means “a place where learning and studying are done”. The term ‘Madrasahs’ is derived from Arabic word ‘dars’ (a lecture) and means a place where lecture is given.  In the Arabic language, the word Madrasah simply means the same as  school does in the English language. Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious (of any religion). From the time of Iltutmish to the reign of Sikandar Lodhi the curriculum of the madrasahs followed a set pattern. According to Barani, the main subjects taught at the Madrasah Firoz Shahi were tafsir, hadith and fiqh. In ma’qulat, Sharhi Shamsiah and Sharhi Shafia were included. Besides these subjects, grammar, literature, logic, mysticism and scholasticism were also taught.

The children were sent to Madarsas after completing the primary education. There were separate teachers for different subjects. The ‘Madrasahs’ imparted secondary and higher education There was difference in principles between the Madrasa and other mosques. When a particular room was set apart in a mosque for the teaching purposes it was called a Madrasah. It functioned as college of higher education where eminent scholars taught different subjects by using the lecture method supplemented by discussions. Management was usually private supported by state grants and endowments. The content of the curriculum was both religious and secular and covered a period from 10 to 12 years. Religious education comprised deep study of the Quran, Islamic law and Sufism. Literature, logic, history, geography, astronomy , astrology, arithmetic, agriculture and medicine were the secular subjects taught in madrasa.

“Read in the  name of thy Lord who createth man from a clot”.(verse I)

“Read, and thy Lord is most bounteous, who teacheth by the pen”.(verse II)

“Teacheth man that which he knew not.” “.(verse III)

-Quran

chapter -Alaq

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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