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

222 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. folk. Village women are often seen defending their hearths and homes, in times of danger, and even laying down their lives while doing so.¹ Inscriptions have recorded the cases of governments of the day honour- ing village heroines with the gift of suitable ornaments.² The tradition of military training for ladies in high Kshatriya families continued down to the advent of the British rule. There still exists a commemorative tablet in Shikarpur Taluka immorta- lising the memory of a spirited lady, Hariyakkā by name, who died fighting in 1446 A.D., while avenging the murder of her father.³ Maratha and Rajput princesses. could usually ply the sword and wield the lance⁴. Female Education and Economic Independence : In ordinary families, literature and the fine arts were usually the favourite topics of female education. This education was of course not calculated to make women economically self-sufficient, but we must note that the theory that women ought to be economically independent is of quite a recent origin. In the case of emergency, however, the Hindu woman could eke out a humble subsistence for herself and her children by taking to spinning and weaving in her spare time. In Pali literature we find instances of wives imploring their dying husbands to keep composed by pointing out that they could maintain the family by their skill in spinning and weaving⁵. The Artha-śāstra of Kauṭilya lays down that the state superintendent of

1. S.I.E.R., for 1911. 2. Ibid, I, No. 75.
2. E. C. VII. Shikarpur No. 2.
3. Malcolm, Memoirs, II, pp. 99-100.
4. Cf. कुसलाहं गहपति कप्पास॑ कंतितुं वेणिमोल्लिखितुं सक्काहं गहपति तवाच्चयेन दारके पोसेतुम् । Ang. Nik. Vol. III, p. 298.