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| Ruins of Nalanda University, Bihar. |
Over a period of time two system of education developed the Vedic and the Buddhist.
As the name indicates in the former system Vedas, Vedangas, Upanishads and other allied subjects were taught while in the latter system, thoughts of all the major school of Buddhism was taught.
While Sanskrit was the medium of instruction in the Vedic system of education, Pali was the medium of instruction in the Buddhist system of education.
But both system offered vocational education apart from religious education of their respective faiths.
There was also a purely vocational system of education wherein master craftsmen and artisans taught their skills to students who worked as apprentice under them.
This
system collapsed during the Muslim invasion. And later British education system
or Lord Cornwallis education system of making clerks started which is
continuing till date, which put the education level down in India.
Famous
Educational Institutions:
This was a chief center of learning in 6th century B.C. Here sixteen branches of learning were taught in different schools; each presided by a special professor.
There were schools of
painting, sculpture, image making and handicrafts.
But this university was
reputed for its medical school.
Some famous student of this medical school
was Jivaka who cured king Bimbasara of Magadha and the great Buddha.
Jivaka had studied here for seven years under the Rishi Atreya. Chanakaya
was the greatest student of this great centre, everyone knows about him.
Chandragupta Maurya pupil of Chanakaya, first Maurya Emperor and conqueror
of Nanda and Seleucus Nicator.
King Puru who fought with Alexander the Great.
It was a center of learning from
the fifth century BC to 1200 AD.
Renowned
for its cosmopolitan and catholic character, the University of Nalanda was
famous for its faculty of Logic, Buddhist literature, Sukta, Mimansa,
Hindu and Buddhist Philosophy, Ayurveda, Astrology etc.
It was also a
great center of Pali, Prakrit, and Mahayana. It had 7 storied Library.
There were 2,000 teachers and 10, 000 students. The teacher - student
ratio was 1/5.
While Nalanda
was the famous seat of learning in eastern India, Vallabhi was the
renowned seat of learning in the western India.
If Nalanda was
specializing in the higher studies of Mahayana Buddhism, Vallabhi was the
center for the advanced learning in Hinyana Buddhism.
Secular subjects
like Arthasastra (economics), Niti Shastra (law) and Chikitsa Sastra
(medicine) were also taught here and like Nalanda students from all parts
of India used to come here to study.
Students who graduated from this
university used to be employed in the royal courts as administrators with
huge responsibilities.
Just like Nalanda University was destroyed by Muslim
invaders, Vallabhi also met the same fate.
It was an important Centre of learning. It
had 27 hostels for its students who hailed from different provinces.
This
college was richly endowed in 945 A.D. by Narayana the minister of Krishna
III with the revenues of houses, land and levies on marriages and other
ceremonies.
This institution provided free boarding and tuition to 340
students. Other important centers of learning in South India were Sringeri
and Kanchi.
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