Education during Mughal Period

Education during Mughal Period

Education during Mughal Period

All the Mughal rulers were scholars and lovers of literature and arts. They had keen interest in education. Before the advent of the Mughals, a system of education had already been evolved in India which aimed at the safety of Islam and to preach the canons of Islam. Sadr-us-Sadra was in charge of the religious and academic activities of the empire. Akbar introduced various reforms in this department. Mostly the Maktabs (schools) and Madarsas (Colleges) of the Muslims and the Pathshalas and Vidyapiths of the Hindus were managed by private management but the contribution of the Mughal emperors was also significant in the progress and development of these schools and colleges as they were themselves interested in it.

Both Babur and Humayun were lovers of education. Babur established a Madarsa inDelhi in which besides Theology, Mathematics, Geography and Astrology were taught. Humayun also founded Madarsas in Agra and Delhi and he used to established contacts with the learned men on Thursdays and Saturdays. Akbar was himself uneducated but he took keen interest in the progress of education and established various Maktabs and Madarsas. He also introduces some reforms in the syllabi of these schools and colleges for the good of the people. Abul Fazl writes, “Everybody ought to read books on morals, arithmetic, the notation peculiar to arithmetic, agriculture, mensuration, geometry, astronomy, physiognomy, households matters, rules of government, medicine, logic science and history, all of which may be gradually acquired.”

Jahangir also took keen interest in the development of education and he ordered that if a man had died without successor all his property should be utilized in the development of schools and colleges. He also got repaired all those schools which were not being used for educational purposed and thus contributed to its expansion. Shahjahan also established a Madarsa in Delhi near Jama Masjid. Aurangzeb following in the footsteps of his ancestors also established schools and colleges and awarded scholarships to the poor and needy students but stressed theological education as he was a fanatic and narrow-minded ruler. Keene writes that he “founded numberless colleges and schools.”

Education received a further setback in the reign of the later Mughals who could not pay attention towards the development of education due to their unstable position but the loss in education was made good by the provincial rulers. They contributed much to the development of education during the period of later Mughals.

There was no examination system at that time. Dr. Yasuf Husain writes, “Students were promoted from a lower to higher class according to the opinion of the teacher concerned who took into account the total academic career of the students whom they knew very intimately; there was no regular system of annual examination.” Three types of degrees, viz. Fazil, Alim and Kabil, were awarded to the students on the basic of their performances. Agra, Delhi Fatehpur Sikri, Ambala, Lucknow, Gwalior, Allahabad, Kashmir, Sialkot, Lahore and Jaunpur were the centers of Muslim education and Persian was the medium of instruction.

During the Mughal period, Banaras, Mathura, Allahabad, Nadiad, Ayodhya, Srinagar and Mithila were prominent centres for the education of the Hindus. Most of the students received their education at their dwellings. Theology, geography, medicine, grammar and mathematics were popular subjects but the Hindus did not pay much attention to religious education. Beranier and Tavernier have praised Banaras as a centre of education. In the beginning, the children were sent to the Pathshalas at the age of five which were attached to the temples and after completing their primary education, they were admitted to the Vidyapith for higher education.

There were no separate educational institutions for girls. They had to go to the boys’ schools if they at all wished to get education. Hindu kings and nobles paid attention to the education of their women but the education of Muslim women remained almost neglected. Strict Purdah system proved to be the greatest hurdle in the way of their education but the royal Muslim ladies were imparted education. Generally the higher education to the ladies was given at their homes, Monserrate mentions, “Akbar paid great care and attention to the education of princesses. They were taught to read and write and were trained in other ways by matrons.”

Thus, it is evident that the Mughal system of education was quite satisfactory. Education institutions and scholars were patronized by royal persons and nobles of the empire but there were some serious defects in the education system. The Mughal emperor paid no attention towards the education if women, technical education and professional education. Moreover no attention was paid by the imperial authorities towards the education of the general masses. It resulted in backwardness of the country as the people failed to understand the meaning of democracy and autocracy and led a life like a speechless animal. Had proper scientific and technical education been given to all, the country would have flourished immensely.

Milan Tomic

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