Macaulay State of Indian Education before Macaulay’s English Education act, 1835
Major Data Sources
Official Survey of Indigenous Education in Madras: 1822–26, which was order by the British Government and executed by the district collectors in accordance with the circular sent from the Board of Revenue
Extracts from W. Adam’s State of Education in Bengal: 1835–38
Unofficial survey made by G.W. Leitner in Punjab: 1882
Overview of the higher education system (universities) a millenium before Macaulay — universities at Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramashila
Universities in Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramashila flourished under the patronage of the Hindu Gupta Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries CE and later under Harsha, the emperor of Kannauj. From the large numbers of texts that Yijing carried back with him after his 10-year residence at Nalanda, it is obvious that there must have been a well-equipped library in the university.
Libraries of Nalanda (Dharmaganja) — 3 Large multi-storeyed buildings
It is estimated that they housed many hundreds of thousands of books:
The Ratnodadhi (Sea of Jewels): nine storeys high and housed the most sacred manuscripts
The Ratnasagar (Ocean of Jewels)
The Ratnaranjaka (Jewel-adorned)
Destroyed — the burning of the libraries
It was ransacked and destroyed by an army of the Mamluk Dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate under Bakhtiyar Khilji c. 1200 CE. It is said when Bakhtiyar Khilji’s army invaded they burned the biggest Vedic library in the history of mankind.
There were so many books that the fire burnt continuously for 6 months
Burning of one the Libraries of Nalanda
What was lost?
Religious manuscripts, Grammar, Logic, Literature, Astrology, Astronomy, zoology, botany, medicine and much more — the 64 arts and sciences of Hindu civilisation. The Nalanda library had a classification scheme which was based on a text classification scheme developed by the Sanskrit linguist, Panini. Buddhist texts were most likely divided into three classes based on the Tripitaka’s three main divisions: the Vinaya, Sutra, and the Abhidhamma.
What was destroyed included, extensive research and development documents in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, consciousness, arts, architecture, construction, civil engineering and medicine.
We don’t even know what we lost!
It can be easily understood by the following example. Aryabhata, one of the pioneers in the field of mathematics and astronomy is from that era. Aryabhata’s value for the length of the sidereal year at 365 days 6 hours 12 minutes 30 seconds is only 3 minutes 20 seconds longer than the modern scientific value of 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes 10 seconds.
Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics
The achievements of Kerala School of mathematics were documented by the Englishman C. M. Whish in 1835. This is about nine years after the date of the Survey of Indigenous Education in the Madras 1822–26.
In attempting to solve astronomical problems, the Kerala school independently created a number of important mathematical concepts.
Some noteworthy discoveries and contributions were made in the field of: infinite series, calculus (differentiation and integration), functions, trigonometric functions, derivatives of trigonometric functions (later know as Taylor-Maclaurin), infinite series of sin(x), cos(x) and arctan(x), Leibniz method using quadrature, infinite series of arctan(x), infinite series expression for π (later known as Gregory series), rational approximation of the error for the finite sum of their series, special infinite series to obtain a more rapidly converging series for π.
Traces of Sanskrit Terminologies
Until a few thousand years ago, and in some cases just up until a few hundred years ago, India was the only civilization which had already made important discoveries in mathematics, trigonometry, calculus, medicine, metallurgy etc. Hence all those terminologies were already part of Sanskrit.
As the Arabic and European “civilizations” adopted the study of these sciences, the words evolved into their modern forms but it is well established that that knowledge has its root in India.
The number of words in other languages which have originated from Sanskrit is vast.
Overview of the primary school education system immediately before Macaulay
The Indian Education system, which was at least a few thousand years old, older than most Abrahamic religions, was completely wiped out, in about a century, during the British Rule.
Based on the reports, the Governor, Sir Thomas Munro, was of the view that institutional education of the boys between the ages of 5 to 10 years appeared to be more than 1/4th, nearer to 1/3rd of the boys of that age in the Presidency as a whole,while the rest were educated at home. Madras Presidency represented nearly 1/3rd of India then.
The survey carried out in Madras Presidency was done to a specific prescribed format. The numbers of schools, colleges were to be mentioned. The student population had to be described as per gender (male, female, transgender) and as Brahmin, Vaishya, Shudra and other castes.
Sir Thomas Munro, the Governor, observed that the Indian education would certainly have been far superior during its glorious peak, that is during the times of Takshila and Nalanda University. But right then, during the 1830s, Indian education system was already damaged and suffering due to a series of invasions and increasing impoverishment of the population.
As per W. Adam’s report, there was at least one school in every village. He observed that there existed about 1,00,000 village schools in Bengal and Bihar around the 1830s.
How the Indian Education compared with the state of education in Europe, particularly in England
The content of studies was better than what was then studied in England, which was almost only the bible!
The economy at which education was imparted impressed British collectors that they suggested it to be replicated in Britain, which indeed did inspire the British education later on.
The duration of study was more prolonged. The collectors (apart from Nellore and Salem) stated that the duration of study varied from a minimum of 5 to about a maximum of 15 years. Average schooling year in Britain was 1 year in 1835, and 2 years in 1852.
For Indian traditional schools typical age of enrollment was 5 years. The duration of schooling hours was also much longer. It started at 6 AM, had one or two short intervals for meals, finishing about at sunset.
The method of school teaching in India (which had prevailed in India for centuries) was considered superior and it is this very method that was introduced in England, which greatly helped the beginnings of popular (public) education in England.
School attendance, especially in the districts of Madras Presidency, even in the decayed state of the period 1822–25, was proportionately far higher than the numbers in all variety of schools in England in 1800.
The conditions under which teaching took place in the Indian schools were less dingy and more natural; and, it was observed, the teachers in the Indian schools were generally more dedicated and sober than in the English versions. Education was imparted without violence.
A few unique aspects of the Indian primary education (as identified by the British themselves)
Monitorial System — For the initial mode of learning a novel method of education existed where the pupils were monitors of each other. Example — The tutor would choose some 3–4 monitors and impart them a particular lesson. For example, the multiplication tables. The monitors would sit crossed legged on a sandy ground, and recite the multiplication table (sometimes like a song), “one by itself makes one.” Along with reciting, the monitor would also write the same on the sand with his finger. After this other students repeated the same task. The ground by now had to be planned for the next lesson. The monitors would then start with the multiplication table for two and so on. The process was unique as it involved the following:
Low cost to benefit ratio. No need for paper and pen.
Redundancy. There were 3–4 monitors and thus even if one of them made a mistake, he/she was likely to be corrected by the other three. All the four were unlikely to make the exact same mistake.
Scalability. The system allowed a single teacher to handle a large number of students.
The stolen idea. The system was adopted by the British, repackaged as Bell’s “Madras System” with the idea to produce a “Christian Education” and “train children in the practice of such moral habits as are conducive to the welfare of society.” The system was introduced in several countries. With time however it was replaced with other systems particularly — the lecture model of direct instruction delivered to passive students grouped into classes by age.
Teaching not confined to classroom and linked to nature.
Close relationship between student and teacher.
Memorization: The children were known to memorize multiplication tables as far as 100. In current era, it is often limited to 16, 12 or worse 10, if at all.
Imparted education to the commons
The term Scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribes did not exists during that era, but were mentioned as ‘other castes’ (also known as ‘panchamas’) in the report.
70% of the students (70% in Salem and Tinnevelly to over 84% in South Arcot) were from the ‘Shudra’ community and the ‘other castes’. This was the trend for most of country.
Around 20% of the students were from the ‘Brahmin’ and the ‘Vaishya’ community.
In some villages of Bihar, ‘Chandal’ and ‘Dom’ jati accounted for 50% of the students. In Bihar, the ‘Brahmin’ and ‘Kayastha’ jati accounted for more than 40% of the total students.
All professions, traditions were respected. There was dignity of labour, farmer, priest, every limb of the society. For example, a book on agriculture, used in that era, the second verse of the book, declares, “that if a learned priest who has knowledge of 4 vedas, even after learning 4 vedas if looks down at farming considering it inferior, that person is surely to suffer from poverty”. The context of this verse is that all professions, including farming should be respected.
Superficial look at the numbers seems to suggest that the Brahmin community has the maximum population of the school going children. But if one looks at the Tamil Nadu region, we will see that it is actually the Shudra community (as labeled by the British) which consists of the maximum school going children. If the average is taken of all regions put together, it is noticed the it is actually the Shudras which had the highest numbers of school going children. In such circumstances, the allegations made that the Hindus deprived non-Brahmin community from education is untenable as per the official colonial era Christian British records themselves.
Institutions of higher learning — Colleges
The term, ‘Institutions of Higher learning’ was used in the report to indicate colleges.
The exact data on total number of colleges is not reliably available, as many collectors had not reported the required data, but based on the districts that were rigorously surveyed, for every 10 schools, there was one ‘Institute of higher learning’.
Rajahmundry — 279 colleges — for about 1000 villages, Coimbatore — 173 colleges, Guntoor — 171 colleges, Tanjore — 109 colleges, Nellore — 107 colleges, North Arcot — 69 colleges, Salem — 53 colleges, Chingleput — 51 colleges, Masulipatam — 49
The disciplines of theology, metaphysics, ethics, and to a large extent of the study of law was dominated by the ‘Brahman’ community.
But the disciplines of astronomy, medical science and technology-based disciplines (such as iron work, metallurgy, ship building, mechanics, textile machinery) were dominated by other communities, notably the ‘Shudra’ community.
It should also be noted that adherence of a jati to discipline was not rigid. A person of ‘Shudra’ class, could very well be in a discipline dominated by the ‘Brahman’ class and vice-versa.
Institutions of higher learning — medicine and surgery
The data on exact number of colleges that were offering medical sciences qualifications are not reliably available
The educators and practitioners of surgery were often of the ‘Shudra’ class. Amongst them the Nayi jati was considered to the best by the British. In the ‘modern’ era, however Nayis are considered to be marginal barbers.
The education in ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine) was based on ancient texts such as Charaka Saṃhitā.
Sutra Sthana (General principles), Nidana Sthana (Pathology), Vimana Sthana (training of a physician, ethics, etc), Śarira Sthana (embryology and anatomy of the human body (with a section on other living beings)), Indriya Sthana (sensory organ based prognosis), Cikitsa Sthana (therapeutics), Kalpa Sthana (pharmaceutics and toxicology), Siddhi Sthana (success in treatment)
Other text books: Sham Raj, Nighant, Sharang Dhar, Bhashya Parichehed, Madhava Nidan, Vagbhat
The education of surgery was based on ancient texts such as medico–surgical compendium Suśruta Saṃhitā (c. 500 BCE), which were written by the ayurvedic physician Sushruta (c. 800 BCE) who is considered the father of modern Surgery. It covers anatomy, treating fractures, general surgery, reconstructive plastic surgery, anaesthetics, rhinoplasty, perineal lithotomy, the suturing of wounds, and the extraction of foreign objects etc. The level of detail it covers goes into describing how foetus develops seven layers of skin, naming each layer and the specific diseases which may affect that layer in adult life, which is unimaginable for that era and made possible today only by high-powered microscopy and ultrasonography.
‘Cutting of nose’ or “naak kata leyna” has traditionally been considered as a sign of shame in India. There have been numerous cases when a British officer, a high ranking officer, or his subordinate, lost his nose partially or completely during war (with an Indian kingdom), as a sign of shame inflicted on him. Battles between Haider Ali and Colonel Coote being noteworthy examples. Sometimes the cut nose was completely burned to avoid being surgically fixed. Even such cases were treated by a complete reconstruction of nose along with nostrils. But it was only possible by an Indian surgeon (or Nayi). Interestingly such surgeons were available at the village level. In current era it is unimaginable to find a surgeon let alone a plastic surgeon in an Indian village. The Indian surgical practises were not only advanced they involved use of anaesthesia, which was unknown to the west. As such the surgical operation was not barbarous or painful as it was in the west.
Education and the practice of surgery was not limited to the male population. For example — W Adam, in his report, pp 119–122, for district Purneah, described an old woman surgeon who had become highly reputable for her speciality in extracting stones from the bladder.
The practical value of this traditional system of education of medical science and surgery was the presence of low cost yet reliable medical facilities even at the village level. W Adam for example in his report describes the Thana of Nattore in the district of Rajshahy. The population was 1,20,928; it had 485 villages had 123 native general medical practitioners, 205 village doctors, 21 smallpox inoculators, 297 women-midwives. In modern India, in 1973, the Kartar Singh Committee of the Government of India had recommended that there should be 1 midwife (auxiliary nurse midwife — ANM) available per 10,000–12,000 people.For Thana of Nattore as surveyed by W Adam, the ratio was amazingly 1 midwife per 408 people. This is 2456% more than what the government is recommending in the so-called ‘modern’ era. This shows that the availability of healthcare specialists and paramedics was amazing in the pre-British era. In the so-called ‘modern’ era the child mortality rate in India is extraordinarily high, at 48 per 1000 population, for the year 2015.
Smallpox inoculation (vaccination) is said to be the first vaccination developed, and Edward Jenner (in 1796) is credited to be the founding father. However, much like how the intellectual property (IP) for plastic surgery was obtained (stolen) from India, the IP for smallpox inoculation was as well learnt from India. It was a practice in India since time immemorial. However, unlike in surgery the credit has not been given to its Indian origin.
Destruction of the indigenous superior education system
Macaulay’s English Education Act, 1835 To Zachary Macaulay, 12 October 1836
Our English schools are flourishing wonderfully. We find it difficult, indeed at some places impossible, to provide instruction for all who want it. At the single town of Hoogley fourteen hundred boys are learning English. The effect of this education on the Hindoos is prodigious. No Hindoo who has received an English education ever continues to be sincerely attached to his religion. Some continue to profess it as a matter of policy. But many profess themselves pure Deists, and some embrace Christianity……. It is my firm belief that, if our plans of education are followed up, there will not be a single idolater among the respectable classes in Bengal thirty years hence. And this will be effected without any efforts to proselytise, without the smallest interference with religious liberty, merely by the natural operation of knowledge and reflection. I heartily rejoice in this prospect….
Without a doubt, native education decayed and illiteracy increased during the Christian British rule.
William Adam estimated that there was 11% literacy in the Thana of Nattore during 1830s. A century later the British considered this an accomplishment in many parts of India!
