Indian Education: Ancient, Medieval and Modern

*Mangesh M. Ghonge, Rohit Bag and Aniket Singh*

## **Abstract**

Education is a platform in which young generations are trained and make them future-ready. Education provides knowledge and skills which help the person to be employable. The Indian education system is very popular and diversified among other countries' education systems due to its change in the evolution from ancient to the modern education system. During the ancient and medieval periods of education, students were trained by teachers in such a manner that they can survive and live in that era. After independence, there is a tremendous growth in the Indian education system providing teaching and training in all aspects, but it does not satisfy the global demands of the market. This chapter focuses on teaching methodology, curriculum, characteristics, methods of learning, aims of the Indian education system during the ancient and medieval period and how it differed in today's modern education and what are the things that our today's modern education need to learn and implement from ancient and medieval education. The mentioned points are used to differentiate ancient, medieval, and modern education with advantages and disadvantages. Through this chapter, students, teachers will get to know the difference in the education system and what else to be adapted in the future to overcome all the problems.

**Keywords:** education, learning, curriculum, ancient, medieval, modern

### **1. Introduction**

Technological improvement has boosted the economic growth in India. Science and technology have an important role in the economic development of India. Compared to other developed countries, India has more youth manpower. Proper education will play a significant role in making youth future-ready and increasing economic growth by providing skilled persons which will also boost industrial development. In the modern era of education, every institution or university is adapting new teaching methods using their teaching methodologies. Indian education is the biggest and well-known education systems in the world. During ancient education, there were 5 big well-known universities like Takshashila, Nalanda, Vallabhi, etc., which focus on the all-round development of students and those in the medieval period there exists 2 institutions madrasah and maqtabs which mostly focus on building student religious and leaders of the future. In modern education, there are well known autonomous institutes like IITs and IIMs which are famous all around the world.

During ancient education, students live away from their parents, their education comprises of subjects like physical education, mental education, politics, economics, etc. They were shaped in a way that they can live in any condition considering how difficult the situation will be? Medieval education also followed the same protocol as ancient education in spite that their education mostly focuses on religion. In today's modern era of big institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs), everything is changed like the living standard of students, curriculum, all-round development. The principle objective of the student has been to just achieve its goal and be successful. Only the big institutes like IITs, IIMs, and some other private and aided universities have adopted modern methods of learning. There is a difference in curriculum, teaching methods, and living standards of students in every institute. The syllabus of the current education system is not industry-oriented and also not according to new upcoming trends. The main objective of education is mostly theoretical and not practically implemented [1].

The main purpose of this paper is to convey what all the things need to adopt in our current education system from ancient and medieval times and also some new trends associated with it. The paper is mainly categorized into three sections Ancient, Medieval and Modern education system, including sub-sections such as curriculum, method of learning, the aim of education, characteristics of education, educational institutes, higher educational institutes, advantages, and disadvantages of the particular education system.

#### **2. Ancient education**

During the ancient period, two systems of education were developed, Vedic, and Buddhist. The medium of language during the Vedic system was Sanskrit, while those in the Buddhist system were pali. During those times the education was of Vedas, Brahmanas, Upnishads, and Dharmasutras. From the Rigveda onwards, our ancient education started with the objective of developing the students not only in the outer body but also on the inner body. The ancient education focused on imparting ethics like humility, truthfulness, discipline, self-reliance, and respecting all creations to the students. The education was mostly imparted in ashrams, gurukuls, temples, houses. Sometimes pujaris of the temples used to teach students. The education system of ancient India has some special features and uniqueness which was not found in any other ancient education system of the other countries. The education was mostly given in forests under the blue sky, which keeps the student's mind fresh and alive. During ancient times people used to live a simple life and doing their work with devotion and hard work [2].

#### **2.1 Aim of education**

The main objective of education was to equip the students with a good quality of education. The education mostly focused on the enrichment of culture, character, and personality, development, and cultivation of noble ideals. The objective was gaining the mental, physical, and intellectual personality of students, to make the students future-ready and survive in any situation [3].

#### **2.2 Characteristics of education**

During the ancient period, the state government and the people did not interfere in designing curriculum, payments of fees, regulation of teaching hours. There was

*Indian Education: Ancient, Medieval and Modern DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93420*

a strong bonding between teacher and student. Every student was allotted with one teacher and more emphasis was given to the student-teacher relationship, each student used to meet teachers personally to learn and gain instructions from them. During ancient times, royal families, as well as kings of states, used to donate their wealth to improve the education system and quality. The syllabus was designed in accordance with the demands of that era. At that time students used to leave their houses and went to live with their gurus until their education was completed. During the early Vedic period, women's education was also given more emphasis. The education focuses on the physical and mental development of students. The course duration was about 10–12 years, as there were no books so students used to memorize all things, memory played a crucial role during learning. The education was imparted in forests away from cities and peoples to give students a pleasant and silent environment of study.

### **2.3 Curriculum**

Curriculum plays an essential role in the education system. It was dynamic and not static; it was made up of different stages. The fundamental goal of building a good curriculum was to develop students physically and mentally. The curriculum consists of four Vedas, six vedangas, Upnishads, darshanas, Puranas, Tarka Shastra. The six vedangas were Shiksha, Chhandas, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Jyotisha, and Kalpawhile the darshanas were Nyaya, Baiseshika, Yoga, Vedanta, Sankhya, Mimasa. Algebra, Geometry, and grammar were also given more importance at that time. Panini was famous in the domain of grammar at that time. The curriculum of the Buddhist system consists of pitakas, Abhidharma, and sutras. Besides this medicine, Vedas were also given importance. Hindu learning was a part of Buddhist learning, although more emphasis was given to Buddhist learning. Both the systems were going hand in hand at that time. The education was totally through orals and debates, and the exams were conducted every year. The education system of the ancient period focused on subjects like warfare, military, politics, religion.

#### **2.4 Methods of learning**

The teachers at that time paid special focus to their students and teach them according to their knowledge and skill level. Teaching was basically via orals and debates, and the different methods were as follows:

