प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

VIII] PROFESSIONAL AND USEFUL EDUCATION 195 family, their education would not terminate. Training in actual administration would begin after this period and last for about seven or eight years. At the age of 24 the education would become fully complete and princes were then regarded as eligible to become heir- apparents. COMMERCIAL EDUCATION General Condition of Commerce :—In the Vedic age, the Aryans had a greater liking for the sword than for the sclaes ; Paṇis who were then controlling commerce are contemptuously spoken of in the Vedas. Gradually however when there remained no fresh lands to conquer and acquire, the Aryans must have turned to commerce. There was considerable inter-provincial and foreign trade going on in the Mauryan period. The maritime activity of ancient India was considerable, and the trade with Rome was very profitable to India during the early centuries of the Christian era. Much of it however was in the hands of Dravidians. Scope of Commercial Education: We can get some idea of the scope and nature of commercial education from the training prescribed for the Vaishya caste by Manu,¹ and the qualifications required by Kauṭilya in the superintendent of commere.³ First of all a knowledge of the varieties in quality of the articles to be dealt with was imparted. Then came commercial geography, for the trader was expected to know the places where the different articles were produced and the nature of the route by which they had to be imported. Customs barriers in the period we are discussing were numerous, and profits often depended on selecting a route where the customs

1. IX, 381-882. 2. II, 16.