द ब्यूटीफुल ट्री: १८वीं सदी में भारत की स्वदेशी गुरुकुल शिक्षा (धर्मपाल)

form and sound of the letters have been taught without regard to their size and relative proportion; but the master with an iron- style now writes on the palm-leaf letters of a determinate size and in due proportion to each other, and the scholar is required to trace them on the same leaf with a reed-pen and with charcoal-ink which easily rubs out. This process is repeated over and over again on the same leaf until the scholar no longer requires the use of the copy to guide him in the formation of the letters of a fit size and proportion and he is consequently next made to write them on another leaf which has no copy to direct him. He is afterwards exercised in writing and pronouncing the compound consonants, the syllables formed by the junction of vowels with consonants, and the most common names of persons. In other parts of the country, the names of castes, rivers, mountains, etc., are written as well as of persons; but here the names of persons only are employed as a school- exercise. The scholar is then taught to write and read, and by frequent repetition he commits to memory the Cowrie Table, the Numeration Table as far as 100, the Katha Table (a land- measure table), and the Ser Table (a dry-measure table). There are other tables in use elsewhere which are not taught in the schools of this district. The third stage of instruction extends from two to three years which are employed in writing on the plantain-leaf. In some districts the tables just mentioned are postponed to this stage, but in this district they are included in the exercises of the second stage. The first exercise taught on the plantain-leaf is to initiate the scholar into the simplest forms of letter writing, to instruct him to connect words in composition with each other, and to distinguish the written from the spoken forms of Bengali vocables. The written forms are often abbreviated in speech by the omission of a vowel or a consonant, or by the running of two syllables into one, and the scholar is taught to use in writing the full not the abbreviated forms. The correct orthography of words of Sanscrit origin which abound in the language of the people, is beyond the reach of the ordinary class of teachers. About the same time the scholar is taught the rules of arithmetic, beginning with addition and subtraction, but multiplication and division are not taught as separate rules—all the arithmetical processes hereafter mentioned being effected by addition and subtraction with the aid of a multiplication table which extends to the number 20, and which is repeated aloud once every morning by the whole school and is thus acquired not as a separate task by each boy, but by the mere force of joint repetition and mutual imitation. After addition and subtraction, the arithmetical rules taught divide 277

themselves into two classes, agricultural and commercial, in one or both of which instruction is given more or less fully according to the capacity of the teacher and the wishes of the parents. The rules applied to agricultural accounts explain the forms of keeping debit and credit accounts; the calculation of the value of daily or monthly labour at a given monthly or annual rate; the calculation of the area of land whose sides measure a given number of kathas or bigas; the description of the boundaries of land and the determination of its length, breadth, and contents; and the form of revenue accounts for a given quantity of land. There are numerous other forms of agricultural accounts, but no others appear to be taught in the schools of this district. The rules of commercial accounts explain the mode of calculating the value of a given number of sers at a given price per maund; the price of a given number of quarters and chataks at a given price per ser; the price of a tola at a given rate per chatak; the number of cowries in a given number of annas at a given number of cowries per rupee; the interest of money; and the discount chargeable on the exchange of the inferior sorts of rupees. There are other forms of commercial account also in common use, but they are not taught in the schools. The fourth and last stage of instruction generally includes a period of two years, often less and seldom more. The accounts briefly and superficially taught in the preceding stage are now taught more thoroughly and at a greater length, and this is accompanied by the composition of business letters, petitions, grants, leases, acceptances, notes of hand, etc., together with the forms of address belonging to the different grades of rank and station. When the scholars have written on paper about a year, they are considered qualified to engage in the unassisted perusal of Bengali works, and they often read at home productions as the translation of the Ramayana, Manasa Mangal, etc., etc. This sketch of a course of Bengali instruction must be regarded rather as what it is intended to be than what it is, for most of the school-masters whom I have seen, as far as I could judge from necessarily brief and limited opportunities of observation, were unqualified to give all the instruction here described, although I have thus placed the amount of their pretensions on record. All, however, do not even pretend to teach the whole of what is here enumerated; some, as will be seen from Table II, professing to limit themselves to agricultural, and others to include commercial accounts. The most of them appeared to have a very superficial acquaintance with both.

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With the exception of the Multiplication Table, the rhyming arithmetical rules of Subhankar, and the form of address to Saraswati, all which the younger scholars learn by mere imitation of sounds incessantly repeated by the elder boys, without for a long time understanding what those sounds convey—with these exceptions, native school-boys learn everything that they do learn not merely by reading but by writing it. They read to the master or to one of the oldest scholars what they have previously written, and thus the hand, the eye, and the ear are equally called into requisition. This appears preferable to the mode of early instruction current amongst ourselves, according to which the elements of language are first taught only with the aid of the eye and the ear, and writing is left to be subsequently acquired. It would thus appear also that the statement which represents the native system as teaching chiefly by the ear, to the neglect of eye, is founded on a misapprehension, for how can the aid of the eye be said to be neglected when with the exceptions above-mentioned, nothing appears to be learned which is not rendered palpable to the sense by the act of writing? It is almost unnecessary to add that the use of monitors or leaders has long prevailed in the common schools of India, and is well known in those of Bengali. The disadvantages arising from the want of school-houses and from the confined and inappropriate construction of the buildings or apartments used as school-rooms have already been mentioned. Poverty still more than ignorance leads to the adoption of modes of instruction and economical arrangements which, under more favourable circumstances, would be readily abandoned. In the matter of instruction there are some grounds for commendation for the course I have described has a direct practical tendency; and, if it were taught in all its parts, is well adapted to qualify the scholar for engaging in the actual business of native society. My recollections of the village schools of Scotland do not enable me to pronounce that the instruction given in them has a more direct bearing upon the daily interests of life than that which I find given, or professed to be given, in the humbler village schools of Bengal. ELEMENTARY PERSIAN SCHOOLS: (pp.148-153) The Persian schools in Nattore are four in number, containing twenty-three scholars, who enter school at any age varying from four and a half to thirteen years, and leave it at an age varying from twelve to seventeen. The whole time stated to 279

be spent at school varies from four to eight years. The teachers intellectually are of a higher grade than the teachers of Bengali schools, although that grade is not high compared with what is to be desired and is attainable. Morally, they appear to have as little notion as Bengali teachers of the salutary influence they might exercise on the dispositions and characters of their pupils. They have no fees from the scholars and are paid in the form of fixed monthly allowances with perquisites. The monthly allowances vary from one rupee eight annas to four rupees, and they are paid by one, two or three families, who are the principal supporters of the school. The perquisites, which are estimated at two rupees eight annas to six rupees a month, and consist of food, washing, and other personal expenses, are provided either by the same parties or by those parents who do not contribute to the monthly allowance. The total remuneration of a teacher varies from four to ten rupees per month, averaging about seven rupees. The principal object of the patrons of these schools is the instruction of their own children; but in one instance a worthy old Mussalman, who has no children, contributes a small monthly allowance, without which the teacher would not have sufficient inducement to continue his labours; and in another case besides two children of the family, ten other boys are admitted, on whom instruction, food, and clothing, are gratuitously bestowed. Two of the schools have separate school- houses, which were built by the benevolent patrons who principally support them. The scholars of the other two assemble in out-buildings belonging to one or other of the families whose children receive instruction. Although in the Persian schools printed books are unknown, yet manuscript works are in constant use. The general course of instruction has no very marked stages or gradations into which it is divided. Like the Hindus, however, the Mussalmans formally initiate their children into the study of letters. When a child, whether a boy or a girl, is four years, four months, and four days old, the friends of the family assemble, and the child is dressed in his best clothes, brought in to the company, and seated on a cushion in the presence of all. The alphabet, the form of letters used for computation, the introduction to the Koran, some verses of Chapter LV, and the whole of Chapter LXXXVII, are placed before him, and he is taught to pronounce them in succession. If the child is self- willed, and refuses to read, he is made to pronounce the Bismillah, which answers every purpose, and from that day his education is deemed to have commenced. At school he is taught the alphabet, as with 280

ourselves, by the eye and ear, the forms of the letters being presented to him in writing and their names pronounced in his hearing, which he is required to repeat until he is able to connect the names and the forms with each other in his mind. The scholar is afterwards made to read the thirteenth section of the Koran, the chapters of which are short, and are generally used at the times of prayer and in the burial service. The words are marked with the diacritical points in order that the knowledge of letters, their junction and correct orthography and their pronunciation from the appropriate organs may be thoroughly acquired; but the sense is entirely unknown. The next book put into his hands is the Pandanameh of Sadi, a collection of moral sayings, many of which are above his comprehension, but he is not taught or required to understand any of them. The work is solely used for the purpose of instructing him in the art of reading and of forming a correct pronunciation, without any regard to the sense of the words pronounced. It is generally after this that the scholar is taught to write the letters, to join vowels and consonants, and to form syllables. The next book is the Amadnameh, exhibiting the forms of conjugating the Persian verbs which are read to the master and by frequent repetition committed to memory. The first book which is read for the purpose of being understood is the Gulistan of Sadi, containing lessons on life and manners and this followed or accompanied by the Bostan of the same author. Two or three sections of each are read; and simultaneously short Persian sentences relating to going and coming, sitting and standing, and the common affairs of life, are read and explained. The pupil is afterwards made to write Persian names, then Arabic names and next Hindi names, especially such as contain letters to the writing or pronunciation of which difficulty is supposed to attach. Elegant penmanship is considered a great accomplishment, and those who devote themselves to this art employ from three to six hours every day in the exercise of it, writing first single letters, then double or treble, then couplets, quatrains, etc. They first write upon a board with a thick pen, then with a finer pen on pieces of paper pasted together; and last of all, when they have acquired considerable command of the pen, they begin to write upon paper in single fold. This is accompanied or followed by the perusal of some of the most popular poetical productions such as Joseph and Zuleikha, founded on a well-known incident in Hebrew history; the loves of Leila and Majnun; the Secundar Nameh an account of the exploits of Alexander the Great, etc., etc. The mode of computing by the Abjad, or letters of the alphabet, is also taught, 281

and is of two sorts; in the first, the letters of the alphabet in the order of the Abjad being taken to denote units, tens, and hundreds to a thousand; and in the second the letters composing the names of the letters of the alphabet being employed for the same purpose. Arithmetic, by means of the Arabic numerals, and instruction at great length in the different styles of address, and in the forms of correspondence, petitions, etc., etc., complete a course of Persian instruction. But in the Persian schools of this district, this course is very superficially taught, and some of the teachers do not even profess to carry their pupils beyond the Gulistan and Bostan. In a Persian school, after the years of mere childhood, when the pupils are assumed to be capable of stricter application, the hours of study with interval extend from six in the morning to nine at night. In the first place in the morning they revise the lessons of the previous day, after which a new lesson is read, committed to memory, and reported to the master. About mid-day they have leave of absence for an hour when they dine, and on their return to school they are instructed in writing. About three o’clock they have another reading lesson which is also committed to memory, and about an hour before the close of day they have leave to play. The practice with regard to the forenoon and afternoon lessons in reading, is to join the perusal of a work in prose with that of a work in verse; as the Gulistan with the Bostan and Abdulfazl’s letters with the Secundar Nameh, the forenoon lesson being taken from one and the afternoon lesson from the other. In the evening they repeat the lessons of that day several times, until they have them perfectly at command; and, after making some preparation for the lessons of the next day, they have leave to retire. Thursday every week is devoted to the revision of old lessons; and when that is completed, the pupils seek instruction or amusement according to their own pleasure in the perusal of forms of prayer and stanzas of poetry, and are dismissed on that day at three o’clock without any new lesson. On Friday, the sacred day of Mussalmans, there is no schooling. In other districts in respectable or wealthy Mussalman families, besides the literary instructor called Miyan or Akhun, there is also a domestic tutor or Censor Morum called Atalik, a kind of head-servant whose duty it is to train the children of the family to good manners, and to see that they do not neglect any duty assigned to them; but I do not find any trace of this practice in Rajshahi. 282

Upon the whole the course of Persian instruction, even in its less perfect forms such as are found to exist in this district, has a more comprehensive character and a more liberal tendency than pursued in the Bengali schools. The systematic use of books although in manuscript is a great step in advance, accustoming the minds of the pupils to forms of regular composition, to correct and elegant language, and to trains of consecutive thought, and thus aiding both to stimulate the intellect and to form the taste. It might be supposed that the moral bearing of some of the text books would have a beneficial effect on the character of the pupils; but as far as I have been able to observe or ascertain, those books are employed like all the rest solely for the purpose of conveying lessons in language— lessons in the knowledge of sounds and words in the construction of sentences, or in anecdotal information, but not for the purpose of sharpening the moral perceptions or strengthening the moral habits. This in general native estimation does not belong to the business of instruction, and it never appears to be thought of or attempted. Others will judge from their own observation and experience whether the Mussalman character, as we see it in India, has been formed or influenced by such a course of instruction. The result of my own observations is that of two classes of persons, one exclusively educated in Mahomedan, and the other in Hindu literature; the former appears to me to possess an intellectual superiority, but the moral superiority does not seem to exist. ELEMENTARY ARABIC SCHOOLS: (pp.152-153) The Arabic schools, or schools for instruction in the formal or ceremonial reading of certain passages of the Koran, are eleven in number, and contain 42 scholars, who begin to read at an age varying from 7 to 14, and leave school at an age varying from 8 to 18. The whole time stated to be spent at school varies from one to five years. The teachers possess the lowest degree of attainment to which it is possible to assign the task of instruc- tion. They do not pretend to be able even to sign their names; and they disclaim altogether the ability to understand that which they read and teach. The mere forms, names, and sounds, of certain letters and combinations of letters they know and teach, and what they teach is all that they know of written language, without presuming, or pretending, or aiming to elicit the feeblest glimmering of meaning from these empty vocables. This whole class of schools is as consummate a burlesque upon mere forms of instruction, separate from a rational meaning and 283

purpose, as can well be imagined. The teachers are all Kath- Mollas, that is, the lowest grade of Mussalman priests who chiefly derive their support from the ignorance and superstition of the poor classes of their co-religionists; and the scholars are in training for the same office. The portion of the Koran which is taught is that which begins with Chapter LXXVIII of Sale's Koran, and extends to the close of the volume. The Mollas, besides teaching a few pupils the formal reading of this portion of the Koran, perform the marriage ceremony, for which they are paid from one to eight annas according to the means of the party; and also the funeral service with prayers for the dead continued from one to forty days, for which they get from two annas to one rupee, and it is in these services that the formal reading of the Koran is deemed essential. The Mollas also often perform the office of the village butcher, killing animals for food with the usual religious forms, without which their flesh cannot be eaten by Mussalmans; but for this they take no remuneration. In several cases, the teacher of the school depends for his livelihood on employment at marriages and burials, giving his instructions as a teacher gratuitously. In one instance a fixed allowance is received from the patron of the school, fees from some of the scholars, and perquisites besides, amounting in all to four rupees eight annas per month, and in this case the patron professes the intention to have the scholars hereafter taught Persian and Bengali. In another the patron merely lodges, feeds and clothes, the teacher who receives neither fixed allowance nor fees. In three instances the only remuneration the teacher receives is a salami or present of five or six rupees, from each scholar when he finally leaves school. In two instances the teachers have small farms from which they derive the means of subsistence in addition to their gains as Mollas. They give instruction either in their own houses, or in school-houses, which are also applied to the purposes of prayer and hospitality and of assembly on occasions of general interest. No institutions can be more insignificant and useless, and in every respect less worthy of notice, than these Arabic schools, viewed as places of instruction; but, however worthless in them- selves, they have a certain hold on the Native mind, which is proved by the increased respect and emoluments as Mollas, expected and acquired by some of the teachers on account of the instruction they give; the expense incurred by others of them in erecting school-houses; and by the general employment by the Mussalman population of those who receive and communicate the slender education which these schools bestow. In the eye of 284

the philanthropist or the statesman no institution however humble, will be overlooked, by which he may hope beneficially to influence the condition of any portion of mankind; and it is just in proportion to the gross ignorance of the multitude that he will look with anxiety for any loop-holes by which he may find an entrance to their understandings—some institutions, which are held by them in veneration and which have hitherto served the cause of ignorance, but which he may hope with discretion to turn to the service of knowledge. I do not despair that means might be employed, simple, cheap, and inoffensive, by which even the teachers of these schools might be reared to qualify themselves for communicating a much higher grade of instruction to a much greater number of learners without divesting them of any portion of the respect and attachment of which they are now the objects. 285

II W. ADAM ON INDIGENOUS SCHOOLS OF LEARNING GENERAL: (pp.16-23) Ward in his work on the Hindoos has given, on the whole, a cor- rect account of the state of indigenous learning and of the institutions by which it is preserved among the Hindoos. The principle which secures the perpetuation of these institutions, as long as the Hindoo religion subsists and is professed by the mass of the people and by a majority of the wealthy and powerful, is that it is deemed an act of religious merit to acquire a knowledge of the Hindoo shastras, or to extend the knowledge of them either by direct instruction or by pecuniary support or assistance given either to scholars or teachers. Hence the priva- tions to which the students submit in the prosecution of the prescribed course of study; the disinterestedness of the teachers in bestowing their instructions gratuitously with the addition, always of shelter, often of food, and sometimes of clothing; and the liberality of landholders and others shown by occasional endowments of land and frequent gifts of money both to teachers and scholars on the occasion of funeral feasts, weddings, dedica- tions, etc. The number of such institutions throughout the country is unknown nor are sufficient data possessed on which to rest a probable conjecture. In the district of Dinajpur, Dr Buchanan found only 16, and in that of Purniya not less than 119—a difference between two neighbouring districts in which some mistake may be suspected. The estimates of the number in other districts, besides those reported on by Dr Buchanan, are not the results of personal inquiries, and less dependence is, therefore, to be placed on them. If I were to hazard a conjecture founded on all the facts and statements I have met with, I should say that there are on an average probably 100 such institutions in each district of Bengal, which would give 1,800 for the whole province. An estimate of the total number of students must depend upon the approach to correctness of the conjecture respecting the total number of schools; but the following facts may help towards the formation of a correct opinion respecting the average number of students in each school. In 1818, Mr Ward enumerated 28 schools of Hindoo learning in Calcutta, in which 173 scholars received instructions, averaging upwards of six scholars to each school. He also enumerated 31 schools of Hindoo learning at Nuddea, in 286

which 747 scholars received instruction, averaging upwards of 24 scholars to each school. In 1830, Mr H.H. Wilson ascertained by personal inquiry at Nuddea, that there were then about 25 schools in which between 5 and 600 scholars received instruction, and taking the number of scholars at 550 the average to each school will be 22. The average of these three estimates would give 17½ scholars to each school. The lowest or Calcutta average, that of six scholars to each school, I consider more probable than the others, for the instances are numerous throughout the country in which a learned Hindoo teacher has not more than three or four pupils. Assuming the Calcutta average and the previous estimate of the total number of schools, there will appear to be 10,800 students of Hindoo learning throughout Bengal. The total number of teachers and students of Hindoo learning will thus be 12,600; and this number is exclusive of a large class of individuals who, after having received instruction in a school of learning, and become in the technical sense of the term Pundits or learned men, from various causes decline to engage in the profession of teaching. If further inquiry should show that the lowest estimate, which is that I have assumed, is one-half in excess of the truth, there will still remain a large and influential class of men who either have received or are engaged in giving and receiving a Hindoo collegiate education. The Hindoo colleges or schools in which the higher branches of Hindoo learning are taught are generally built of clay. Sometimes three or five rooms are erected, and in others nine or eleven, with a reading-room which is also of clay. These huts are frequently erected at the expense of the teacher, who not only solicits alms to raise the building, but also to feed his pupils. In some cases rent is paid for the ground; but the ground is commonly, and in particular instances both the ground and the expenses of the building are, a gift. After a school-room and lodging-rooms have been thus built to secure the success of the school, the teacher invites a few Brahmans and respectable inhabitants to an entertainment at the close of which the Brahmans are dismissed with some trifling presents. If the teacher finds a difficulty in obtaining scholars, he begins the college with a few junior relatives, and by instructing them and distinguishing himself in the disputations that take place on public occasions, he establishes his reputation. The school opens early every morning by the teacher and pupils assembling in the open reading-room, when the different classes read in turns. Study is continued till towards mid-day, after which three hours are devoted to bathing, worship, eating and sleep; and at three they 287

resume their studies which are continued till twilight. Nearly two hours are then devoted to evening-worship, eating, smoking and relaxation, and the studies are again resumed and continued till ten or eleven at night. The evening studies consist of a revision of the lessons already learned, in order that what the pupils have read may be impressed more distinctly on the memory. These studies are frequently pursued, especially by the students of logic, till two or three o’clock in the morning. There are three kinds of colleges in Bengal—one in which chiefly grammar, general literature, and rhetoric, and occasionally the great mythological poems and law are taught; a second, in which chiefly law and sometimes the mythological poems are studied; and third, in which logic is made the principal object of attention. In all these colleges select works are read and their meaning explained; but instruction is not conveyed in the form of lectures. In the first class of colleges, the pupils repeat assigned lessons from the grammar used in each college, and the teacher communicates the meaning of the lessons after they have been committed to memory. In the others the pupils are divided into classes according to their progress. The pupils of each class having one or more books before them seat themselves in the presence of the teacher, when the best reader of the class reads aloud, and the teacher gives the meaning as often as asked, and thus they proceed from day to day till the work is completed. The study of grammar is pursued during two, three, or six years, and where the work of Panini is studied, not less than ten, and sometimes twelve, years are devoted to it. As soon as a student has obtained such a knowledge of grammar as to be able to read and understand a poem, a law book, or a work on philosophy, he may commence this course of reading also, and carry on at the same time the remainder of his grammar-studies. Those who study law or logic continue reading either at one college or another for six, eight, or even ten years. When a person has obtained all the knowledge possessed by one teacher, he makes some respectful excuse to his guide and avails himself of the instructions of another. Mr Ward, from whom many of the preceding details have been copied estimates that ‘amongst one hundred thousand Brah- mans, there may be one thousand who learn the grammar of the Sunskritu, of whom four or five hundred may read some parts of the kavyu (or poetical literature), and fifty some parts of the ulunkaru (or rhetorical) shastras. Four hundred of this thousand may read some of the smriti (or law works); but not more than ten any part of the tuntrus (or the mystical and magical treatises of modern Hinduism). Three hundred may

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study the nyayu (or logic), but only five or six the meemangsu, (explanatory of the ritual of the veds), the sunkhyu (a system of philosophical materialism), the vedantu (illustrative of the spiritual portions of the veds), the patunjulu (a system of philosophical asceticism), the vaisheshika (a system of philosophical anti-materialism), or the veda (the most ancient and sacred writings of Hindoos). Ten persons in this number of Brahmans may become learned in the astronomical shastras, while ten more understand these very imperfectly. Fifty of this thousand may read the shree bhaguvutu, and some of the pooranas.' At the present day probably the alankar shastras and the tantras are more studied than is here represented. The astronomical works also receive more attention. The colleges are invariably closed and all study suspended on the eighth day of the waxing and waning of the moon; on the day in which it may happen to thunder; whenever a person or an animal passes between the teacher and the pupil while reading; when a honorable person arrives, or a guest; at the festival of Saraswati during three days; in some parts during the whole of the rainy season, or at least during two months which include the Doorga, the Kali, and other festivals, and at many other times. When a student is about to commence the study of law or of logic, his fellow students, with the concurrence and approbation of the teacher, bestow on him an honorary title descriptive of the nature of his pursuit, and always differing from any title enjoyed by any of his learned ancestors. In some parts of the country, the title is bestowed by an assembly of Pundits convened for the purpose; and in others the assembly is held in the presence of a raja or zemindar who may be desirous of encouraging learning and who at the same time bestows a dress of honour on the student and places a mark on his forehead. When the student finally leaves college and enters on the business of life, he is commonly addressed by that title. The means employed by the Mahomedan population of Bengal to preserve the appropriate learning of their faith and race are less systematic and organised than those adopted by the Hindoos; and to whatever extent they may exist, less enquiry has been made and less information is possessed respecting them. It is believed, however, that in the Lower as well as the Western Provinces, there are many private Mahomedan schools begun and conducted by individuals of studious habits who have made the cultivation of letters the chief occupation of their lives, and by whom the profession of learning is followed, not merely as a means of livelihood, but as a meritorious work productive of moral and religious benefit to themselves and their fellow 289

creatures. Few, accordingly, give instruction for any stipulated pecuniary remuneration, and what they may receive is both ten- dered and accepted as an interchange of kindness and civility between the master and his disciple. The number of those who thus resort to the private instruction of masters is not great. Their attendance and application are guided by the mutual convenience and inclination of both parties, neither of whom is placed under any system nor particular rule of conduct. The success and progress of the scholar depend entirely on his own assiduity. The least dispute or disagreement puts an end to study, no check being imposed on either party, and no tie subsisting between them beyond that of casual reciprocal advantages which a thousand accidents may weaken or dissolve. The number of pupils seldom exceeds six. They are sometimes permanent residents under the roof of their masters, and in other instances live in their own families; and in the former case, if Mussalmans, they are supported at the teacher’s expense. In return, they are required to carry messages, buy articles in the bazar, and perform menial services in the house. The scholars in consequence often change their teachers, learning the alphabet and the other introductory parts of the Persian language of one, the Pandnameh of a second, the Gulistan of a third, and so on from one place to another, till they are able to write a tolerable letter and think they have learned enough to assume the title of Munshi, when they look out for some permanent means of subsistence as hangers-on at the Company’s Courts. The chief aim is the attainment of such a proficiency in the Persian language as may enable the student to earn a livelihood; but not, unfrequently, the Arabic is also studied, its grammar, literature, theology and law. A proper estimate of such a desultory and capricious mode of education is impossible. The number of institutions of Hindoo learning, now existing in Calcutta and the Twenty-four Pergunahs, is not accurately known. Mr Ward in his work published in 1818 enumerates 28 schools of Hindoo learning in Calcutta, naming the teacher of each school, the quarter of the city in which the school was situated, and the number of students receiving instruction. These institutions are also mentioned as only some amongst others to be found in Calcutta. The nyaya and smriti shastras chiefly were taught in them; and the total number of scholars belonging to the colleges actually enumerated was 173, of whom not less than three, and not more than fifteen, received the instructions of the same teacher. The enumeration to which I refer is subjoined in Mr Ward’s words:— 290

‘The following among other colleges are found in Calcutta; and in these the nyaya and smriti shastras are principally taught— Ununtu-Ramu-Vidya-Vageeshu, of Hati-Bagan, fifteen students— Ramu-Koomaru-Turkalunkaru, of ditto, eight students— Ramu-Toshunu-Vidylunkaru, of ditto, eight ditto— Ramu-Doolalu-Chooramunee, of ditto, five ditto— Gorru-Munee-Nyayalunkaru, of ditto, four ditto— Kashee-Nathu-Turka-Vegeeshu, of Ghoshalu-Bagan, six ditto— Ramu-Shevu-Ku-Vidya-Vegeeshu, of Shikdarer-Bagan, four ditto— Mrityoon-juyu-Vidyalunkaru, of Bag-Bazar, fifteen ditto— Ramu-Kishoru-Turku-Chooramunee, of ditto, six ditto— Ramu-Koomaru-Shiromunee, of ditto, four ditto— Juyu-Narayunu-Turku-Punchanum, of Talar-Bagan, five ditto— Shumbhoo-Vachusputee, of ditto, six ditto— Sivu-Ramu-Nayayu-Vageeshu, of Lal-Bagan, ten ditto— Gouru-Mohunu-Vidya-Bhooshunu, of ditto, four ditto— Huree-Prusadu-Turku-Punchanunu, of Hatti-Bagan, four ditto— Ramu-Narayunu-Turku-Punchanunu, of Shimila, five ditto— Ramu-Huree-Vidya-Bhooshun, of Huree-Tukee-Bagan, six ditto— Kumula-Kantu-Vidyalunkaru, of Aru-koolee, six ditto— Govindu-Turku-Punchanunu, of ditto, five ditto— Peetamburu-Nayayu-Bhooshunu, of ditto, five ditto— Parvutee-Turku-Bhooshunu, of T’hunt’-huniya, four ditto— Kashee-Nathu-Turkalunkaru, of ditto, three ditto— Ramu-Nathu-Vaschusputee, of Shimila, nine ditto— Ramu-Tunoo-Turku-Siddhantu, of Mulunga, six ditto— Ramu-Tunoo-Vidya-Vageeshu, of Sobha-Bazar, five ditto— Ramu-Koomaru-Turku-Punchanunu, of Veerupara, five ditto— Kalee-Dasu-Vidya-Vageeshu, of Italee, five ditto— Ramu-Dhunu-Turku-Vageeshu, of Shimila, five ditto.’ Hamilton states that in 1801 there were within the limits of the Twenty-four Pergunnahs, and as I suppose must be understood beyond the limits of the town of Calcutta, 190 291

seminaries in which Hindoo law, grammar, and metaphysics were taught. These institutions are stated to have been maintained by the voluntary contributions of opulent Hindoos and the produce of charity lands, the total annual expense being rupees 19,500. No details are given, but it may be inferred, although it is not expressly mentioned, that the statement rests on the authority of official documents. No cause has been in operation in the intermediate period to render it probable that the number of such seminaries within this district has since then been materially diminished. Mr Ward mentions that at Juyunugur and Mujilee Pooru seventeen or eighteen similar schools were found, and at Andoolee ten or twelve, these villages, according to my information, being within the limits of the district; but it is probable that they are included in the more comprehensive enumeration mentioned by Hamilton. I do not find any account on record of any private institutions for the promotion of Mahomedan learning either in Calcutta or in the surrounding district. Hamilton states that in 1801 there was one and but one, madrasa or college for instruction in Mahomedan law, but he does not mention its particular locality, and it is not improbable that he refers to the institution endowed by Warren Hastings, and now under the superintendence of the General Committee of Public Instruction. There can be no doubt, however, that in this as well as in other districts of Bengal in which he have no authentic account of the state of Mahomedan learning, that loose system of private tuition already described prevails to a greater or less extent. MIDNAPORE: (pp.50-51) Hamilton states that in this district there are no schools where the Hindoo or Mahomedan laws are taught. There was formerly a Mahomedan college in the town of Midnapore, and even yet the establishment is said to exist, but no law is taught. Persian and Arabic are taught by maulavis who in general have a few scholars in their houses, whom they support as well as instruct. These Persian and Arabic students, although of respectable families, are considered as living on charity; and they are total strangers to expense and dissipation. The alleged absence of schools of Hindoo learning in a population of which six-seventh are said to be Hindoos is incredible, and denied by learned natives who have resided in the district and are personally acquainted with several schools of that description within its limits. They are not so numerous as the domestic schools of learning 292

which prevail amongst the Mahomedan population; but they are not so few as to be wholly neglected. There are probably, I am told, about 40 in the district. It may be offered as a general remark to account for such incorrect statements, that the greater attention given by Europeans to the Mahomedan than to the Hindoo languages and literature, combined with the unobtrusive and retiring character of learned Hindoos, sometimes leads the public functionary to overlook institutions of Hindoo origin. It is probably from some such official authority that Hamilton has borrowed the statement to which I refer. CUTTACK: (p.54) Mr Stirling, in the elaborate account of this district, from which the preceding details are abridged, gives no information whatever on the state of education as conducted by natives, either in elementary schools or schools of learning. In the description of the town of Puri Jugunnath, it is stated that ‘the principal street is composed almost entirely of the religious establishments called maths’, a name applied in other parts of the country, both in the west and south, to convents of ascetics in which the various branches of Hindoo learning are taught. It may be inferred that they are applied to the same use in Jugun- nath Puri. HUGLY: (pp.57-59) The number of Hindoo schools of learning in this district is considerable. Mr Ward in 1818 stated that at Vansvariya, a vil- lage not far from the town of Hugly, there were twelve or fourteen colleges, in all of which logic was almost exclusively studied. There were then also seven or eight in the town of Triveni, one of which had been lately taught by Jugannath Tarka Panchanan, supposed to be the most learned as well as the oldest man in Bengal, being 109 years old at the time of his death. He was acquainted in some measure with the veda, and is said to have studied the vedanta, the sankhya, the patanjala, the nyaya, the smriti, the tantra, the kavya, the pooranas and other shastras. Mr Ward also mentions that Gundulpara and Bhudreshwuru contained each about ten nyaya schools, and Valee two or three, all villages in this district. Hamilton states that in 1801 there were altogether about 150 private schools in which the principles of Hindoo law were taught by Pundits, each school containing from five to twenty scholars. There is no reason to suppose that the number of schools is now less, and the 293

enquiries made in 1824 showed that there were some schools with thirty scholars. According to the reputation of the teacher is the number of the students, and in proportion to the number of the students is the number of invitations and the liberality of the gifts which the teacher receives on the occasion of the performance of important religious ceremonies in Hindoo families. The number of students has thus a double pecuniary operation. As they always derive a part of their subsistence from the teacher, they are a burden upon his means; and by the increased reputation which they confer upon him, they enable him to support that burden. Sometimes, however, students capable of living on their own means return home after school hours; and in other instances, the more wealthy inhabitants of the town or village are found to contribute towards the support of poor students whom the teacher cannot maintain. The first three or four years are occupied in the study of Sanscrit grammar and the next six or eight years in the study of law and logic, with which the generality of students finish their education, and are thenceforth classed among learned men, receiving from the teacher when they are leaving him an honorary title which they retain for life. There are few Mahomedan schools of learning in this district. Omitting reference to that at Hugly, supported by the endowment of Haji Mohammed Moshin, under the orders of the Board of Revenue, and about to be extended and improved under the superintendence of the General Committee of Public Instruction, I find mention made of only one other existing at Seetapore, a populous town, situated 22 miles in the interior of the district. It was originally supported by a grant of five rupees eight annas per diem, made by the English Government in consideration of the faithful services of Umsih-ood-din the founder. After his death, and in consequence of divisions among the surviving members of his family, who it seems had claim to a part of the grant for their maintenance, it was limited to rupees 50 per month, which, as far as my information extends, it continues to derive from government to the present day. According to Hamilton, in 1801, this college had 30 students who were instructed in Persian and Arabic, and according to the report made to the General Committee in 1824, it had 25 students who were taught only Persian. This institution does not appear ever to have come under the supervision of the Committee or of any public officer. The report of 1824 further alleges the existence of certain lands at Pandua in this district, which should be appropriated to the support of madrasas, but which have been diverted from that purpose. It is stated to be a well known fact that grants 294

were made to the ancestors of the late Mola Mir Gholam Hyder Mutawali, attached to the shrine of Shah Suffud-din Khan Shuhid at Pandua, together with Mola Myn-ud-din or Mola Taj- ud-din and Mir Gholam Mustafa, private persons who had no share in the superintendence. The grants are said to have specified certain villages or tracts of land to be exclusively appropriated to the support of three madrasas, in addition to those granted for the personal benefit of the grantees. The madrasas were kept up for a generation or two, but through carelessness or avarice were afterwards discontinued. It is added that there were persons then living so well acquainted with the circumstances as to be able to point out the estates that were specified in the grants for the support of the madrasas. The Collector, in the letter enclosing the report, intimated his intention to investigate the matter, and in the event of the alleged misappropriation being substantiated, to pursue the course directed in Regulation XIX of 1810. The result of the enquiry I have not been able to learn. BURDWAN: (pp.70-72) Hamilton says that in this district there are no regular schools for instruction in the Hindoo or Mahomedan law, and that the most learned professors of the former are procured from the district of Nuddea on the opposite side of the Hugly. The same remark may be applied to this statement that has already been made with reference to the state of learning in Midnapore. All that can be fairly understood from it is not that there are no native schools of learning in the district, but that there were none known to the writer, or to the public officer on whose authority the author relied. It is exceedingly improbable, from the analogy of other districts, that there are not some of those domestic schools of Mahomedan learning already described, and still more improbable that in a population of which five-sixths are Hindoos, there should not be a still greater number of schools of Hindoo learning. The following references to institutions of learning in this district were extracted from the proceedings of the Board of Revenue at Calcutta, and first published in the memoir prepared at the India House which I have mentioned as one of my authori- ties:— In September, 1818, the Collector of Burdwan was required to report upon a pension of rupees 60 per annum, claimed by 295

Rambullubh Bhattacharjya, for the support of a religious institution and seminary. The Collector deputed his ameen to the spot, to enquire whether the institution on which the pension was claimed was still maintained. The ameen reported that the institution appeared to be kept up, that the number of scholars generally entertained was about five or six, and that the allowance had been sanctioned by the government during the joint lives of Rambullubh Bhattacharjya and his deceased brother. Under these circumstances, the Revenue Board considered the claimant entitled to the full amount of the pension during his life, or as long as he should continue to appropriate it faithfully to the purposes for which it was originally granted. They accordingly authorised the future payment of this pension to Rambullubh Bhattacharjya, and the discharge of all arrears which had accrued subsequently to the decease of the claimant's brother. In March, 1819, the Collector of Burdwan applied to the Revenue Board for instructions respecting certain payments to a musjid and madrasa in the district, respecting which a suit had been instituted in the Calcutta Court of Appeal, and the question ordered by that Court to be determined by the Collector under Regulation XIX, of 1810. The establishment in question was in the hands of Musil-ud-deen, who was called upon to produce his accounts, which he appears not to have done satisfactorily. The Collector, therefore, sent his ameen to the place to ascertain to what extent the establishment was kept up. That officer reported favourably of the establishment on the authority of the inhabit- ants of the village in which the madrasa was situated, but with- out any documents to corroborate his statements. Under these circumstances, the Revenue Board desired the Collector to take an opportunity of visiting the spot, in order that he might himself ascertain the grounds on which a decision might be come to. Nothing further appears relating to this madrasa. In July, 1823, the Revenue Board reported an endowment for a College in Burdwan of 254 sicca rupees per annum, which was communicated to the General Committee of Public Instruction. JESSORE: (p.73) I have met with no reference to indigenous schools, either elementary or learned, in this district, but it is beyond all 296