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

222 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
folk. Village women are often seen defending their
hearths and homes, in times of danger, and even laying
down their lives while doing so.¹ Inscriptions have
recorded the cases of governments of the day honour-
ing village heroines with the gift of suitable
ornaments.² The tradition of military training for
ladies in high Kshatriya families continued down to
the advent of the British rule. There still exists a
commemorative tablet in Shikarpur Taluka immorta-
lising the memory of a spirited lady, Hariyakkā by
name, who died fighting in 1446 A.D., while avenging
the murder of her father.³ Maratha and Rajput
princesses. could usually ply the sword and wield the
lance⁴.
Female Education and Economic Independence :
In ordinary families, literature and the fine arts were
usually the favourite topics of female education. This
education was of course not calculated to make women
economically self-sufficient, but we must note that
the theory that women ought to be economically
independent is of quite a recent origin. In the case of
emergency, however, the Hindu woman could eke out a
humble subsistence for herself and her children by
taking to spinning and weaving in her spare time.
In Pali literature we find instances of wives imploring
their dying husbands to keep composed by pointing
out that they could maintain the family by their skill
in spinning and weaving⁵. The Artha-śāstra of
Kauṭilya lays down that the state superintendent of

1. S.I.E.R., for 1911. 2. Ibid, I, No. 75.
2. E. C. VII. Shikarpur No. 2.
3. Malcolm, Memoirs, II, pp. 99-100.
4. Cf. कुसलाहं गहपति कप्पास॑ कंतितुं वेणिमोल्लिखितुं सक्काहं गहपति
   तवाच्चयेन दारके पोसेतुम् । Ang. Nik. Vol. III, p. 298.