प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

VII] PRIMARY EDUCATION 179
may have been the case throughout the earlier history.
In some localities in Madras presidency teachers used
to receive grain-shares at the time of harvest just like
carpenters or smiths ; this system does not seem to
have been universal,¹ for the services of a teacher
were not required by every villager, as was the case
with those of a smith or potter. Primary teachers
usually belonged to the families of the village
accountants, priests, writers (Kayasthas) or traders,
which were invariably literate. Like the teachers of
the Vedas, they were not exclusively Brahmanas.
This was the case even in the Smṛiti period ; for some
of the Smṛiti writers refer with disapproval to the
custom of non-Brahmanas being the teachers of
Brahmanas.
Extent of Literacy at c. 800 A. D. :—Upanayana,
which had given an indirect inpetus to the spread of
literacy, gradually ceased to be performed in the case
of the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas during the first five
centuries of the Christian era. Automatic initiation
into the 3 R’s, which was ensured by this ritual, thus
ceased gradually to be a reality with the majority of
the Aryans. This gave a setback to the spread of
literacy during this period. Vaishyas engaged in trade
were literate and often cultured ; the members of the
guild of weavers at Mandsore in Malva were well
versed in folklore and astrology during the 5th century
A.D.² The same may have been the case with better
class traders and merchants during this period.
Kshatriyas engaged in administrative work were of
course literate. It is however doubtful whether the
ordinary agriculturist or soldier, who had inherited no
¹ Report of the Madras Provincial Committee, Evidence, pp. 20,
154, 173.
² Fleet, Gupta Inscriptions, p.p. 80-7.