Education in the 17th to 19th centuries

The essentials

Between the 17th and 19th centuries, India had a widespread system of indigenous schools. Pathshalas and tols taught Sanskrit and vernacular subjects, while maktabs and madrasas taught Persian, Arabic and other subjects. Village schools taught reading, writing and arithmetic, often in the local language, with pupils writing on sand, palm leaves or wooden boards.

Navadweep (Nabadwip) in Bengal was a renowned centre of Sanskrit learning, especially of Navya-Nyaya (new logic), associated with scholars such as Raghunatha Shiromani. Students came from distant regions to study there.

European travellers and officials described these schools. The Italian traveller Pietro Della Valle in the 17th century described children learning to write by tracing letters on the ground. The Scottish educationist Andrew Bell observed in Madras the practice of older pupils teaching younger ones; he took this idea to Britain, where it became known as the "Madras system" or monitorial system.

In the early 19th century, British officials conducted surveys of indigenous education. In the Madras Presidency, a survey was carried out under Thomas Munro in the 1820s. William Adam wrote reports on vernacular education in Bengal and Bihar in the 1830s, describing a very large number of village schools. The historian Dharampal compiled such records in his book "The Beautiful Tree" (1983), whose title refers to a phrase used by Gandhi in 1931.

Key points

• Pathshala, tol, maktab, madrasa.
• Navadweep – centre of Navya-Nyaya.
• Monitorial (Madras) system – pupils teaching pupils.
• Munro (Madras survey) and Adam (Bengal and Bihar reports).

Exam tips

• Match each person with his contribution or region.

Common mistakes

• Assuming there were no schools in India before colonial rule.
• Confusing William Adam's reports with Macaulay's Minute (1835), which dealt with English education policy.