द ब्यूटीफुल ट्री: १८वीं सदी में भारत की स्वदेशी गुरुकुल शिक्षा (धर्मपाल)

study the nyayu (or logic), but only five or six the meemangsu,
(explanatory of the ritual of the veds), the sunkhyu (a system of
philosophical materialism), the vedantu (illustrative of the
spiritual portions of the veds), the patunjulu (a system of
philosophical asceticism), the vaisheshika (a system of
philosophical anti-materialism), or the veda (the most ancient
and sacred writings of Hindoos). Ten persons in this number of
Brahmans may become learned in the astronomical shastras,
while ten more understand these very imperfectly. Fifty of this
thousand may read the shree bhaguvutu, and some of the
pooranas.' At the present day probably the alankar shastras and
the tantras are more studied than is here represented. The
astronomical works also receive more attention. The colleges are
invariably closed and all study suspended on the eighth day of
the waxing and waning of the moon; on the day in which it may
happen to thunder; whenever a person or an animal passes
between the teacher and the pupil while reading; when a
honorable person arrives, or a guest; at the festival of Saraswati
during three days; in some parts during the whole of the rainy
season, or at least during two months which include the Doorga,
the Kali, and other festivals, and at many other times. When a
student is about to commence the study of law or of logic, his
fellow students, with the concurrence and approbation of the
teacher, bestow on him an honorary title descriptive of the
nature of his pursuit, and always differing from any title enjoyed
by any of his learned ancestors. In some parts of the country,
the title is bestowed by an assembly of Pundits convened for the
purpose; and in others the assembly is held in the presence of a
raja or zemindar who may be desirous of encouraging learning
and who at the same time bestows a dress of honour on the
student and places a mark on his forehead. When the student
finally leaves college and enters on the business of life, he is
commonly addressed by that title.
The means employed by the Mahomedan population of
Bengal to preserve the appropriate learning of their faith and
race are less systematic and organised than those adopted by
the Hindoos; and to whatever extent they may exist, less enquiry
has been made and less information is possessed respecting
them. It is believed, however, that in the Lower as well as the
Western Provinces, there are many private Mahomedan schools
begun and conducted by individuals of studious habits who have
made the cultivation of letters the chief occupation of their lives,
and by whom the profession of learning is followed, not merely
as a means of livelihood, but as a meritorious work productive of
moral and religious benefit to themselves and their fellow
289

creatures. Few, accordingly, give instruction for any stipulated
pecuniary remuneration, and what they may receive is both ten-
dered and accepted as an interchange of kindness and civility
between the master and his disciple. The number of those who
thus resort to the private instruction of masters is not great.
Their attendance and application are guided by the mutual
convenience and inclination of both parties, neither of whom is
placed under any system nor particular rule of conduct. The
success and progress of the scholar depend entirely on his own
assiduity. The least dispute or disagreement puts an end to
study, no check being imposed on either party, and no tie
subsisting between them beyond that of casual reciprocal
advantages which a thousand accidents may weaken or dissolve.
The number of pupils seldom exceeds six. They are sometimes
permanent residents under the roof of their masters, and in
other instances live in their own families; and in the former case,
if Mussalmans, they are supported at the teacher’s expense. In
return, they are required to carry messages, buy articles in the
bazar, and perform menial services in the house. The scholars in
consequence often change their teachers, learning the alphabet
and the other introductory parts of the Persian language of one,
the Pandnameh of a second, the Gulistan of a third, and so on
from one place to another, till they are able to write a tolerable
letter and think they have learned enough to assume the title of
Munshi, when they look out for some permanent means of
subsistence as hangers-on at the Company’s Courts. The chief
aim is the attainment of such a proficiency in the Persian
language as may enable the student to earn a livelihood; but not,
unfrequently, the Arabic is also studied, its grammar, literature,
theology and law. A proper estimate of such a desultory and
capricious mode of education is impossible.
The number of institutions of Hindoo learning, now existing
in Calcutta and the Twenty-four Pergunahs, is not accurately
known. Mr Ward in his work published in 1818 enumerates 28
schools of Hindoo learning in Calcutta, naming the teacher of
each school, the quarter of the city in which the school was
situated, and the number of students receiving instruction.
These institutions are also mentioned as only some amongst
others to be found in Calcutta. The nyaya and smriti shastras
chiefly were taught in them; and the total number of scholars
belonging to the colleges actually enumerated was 173, of whom
not less than three, and not more than fifteen, received the
instructions of the same teacher. The enumeration to which I
refer is subjoined in Mr Ward’s words:—
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‘The following among other colleges are found in Calcutta;
and in these the nyaya and smriti shastras are principally
taught—
Ununtu-Ramu-Vidya-Vageeshu, of Hati-Bagan, fifteen
students—
Ramu-Koomaru-Turkalunkaru, of ditto, eight students—
Ramu-Toshunu-Vidylunkaru, of ditto, eight ditto—
Ramu-Doolalu-Chooramunee, of ditto, five ditto—
Gorru-Munee-Nyayalunkaru, of ditto, four ditto—
Kashee-Nathu-Turka-Vegeeshu, of Ghoshalu-Bagan, six
ditto—
Ramu-Shevu-Ku-Vidya-Vegeeshu, of Shikdarer-Bagan,
four ditto—
Mrityoon-juyu-Vidyalunkaru, of Bag-Bazar, fifteen ditto—
Ramu-Kishoru-Turku-Chooramunee, of ditto, six ditto—
Ramu-Koomaru-Shiromunee, of ditto, four ditto—
Juyu-Narayunu-Turku-Punchanum, of Talar-Bagan, five
ditto—
Shumbhoo-Vachusputee, of ditto, six ditto—
Sivu-Ramu-Nayayu-Vageeshu, of Lal-Bagan, ten ditto—
Gouru-Mohunu-Vidya-Bhooshunu, of ditto, four ditto—
Huree-Prusadu-Turku-Punchanunu, of Hatti-Bagan, four
ditto—
Ramu-Narayunu-Turku-Punchanunu, of Shimila, five
ditto—
Ramu-Huree-Vidya-Bhooshun, of Huree-Tukee-Bagan, six
ditto—
Kumula-Kantu-Vidyalunkaru, of Aru-koolee, six ditto—
Govindu-Turku-Punchanunu, of ditto, five ditto—
Peetamburu-Nayayu-Bhooshunu, of ditto, five ditto—
Parvutee-Turku-Bhooshunu, of T’hunt’-huniya, four ditto—
Kashee-Nathu-Turkalunkaru, of ditto, three ditto—
Ramu-Nathu-Vaschusputee, of Shimila, nine ditto—
Ramu-Tunoo-Turku-Siddhantu, of Mulunga, six ditto—
Ramu-Tunoo-Vidya-Vageeshu, of Sobha-Bazar, five ditto—
Ramu-Koomaru-Turku-Punchanunu, of Veerupara, five
ditto—
Kalee-Dasu-Vidya-Vageeshu, of Italee, five ditto—
Ramu-Dhunu-Turku-Vageeshu, of Shimila, five ditto.’
Hamilton states that in 1801 there were within the limits of
the Twenty-four Pergunnahs, and as I suppose must be
understood beyond the limits of the town of Calcutta, 190
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seminaries in which Hindoo law, grammar, and metaphysics
were taught. These institutions are stated to have been
maintained by the voluntary contributions of opulent Hindoos
and the produce of charity lands, the total annual expense being
rupees 19,500. No details are given, but it may be inferred,
although it is not expressly mentioned, that the statement rests
on the authority of official documents. No cause has been in
operation in the intermediate period to render it probable that
the number of such seminaries within this district has since
then been materially diminished. Mr Ward mentions that at
Juyunugur and Mujilee Pooru seventeen or eighteen similar
schools were found, and at Andoolee ten or twelve, these villages,
according to my information, being within the limits of the
district; but it is probable that they are included in the more
comprehensive enumeration mentioned by Hamilton.
I do not find any account on record of any private
institutions for the promotion of Mahomedan learning either in
Calcutta or in the surrounding district. Hamilton states that in
1801 there was one and but one, madrasa or college for
instruction in Mahomedan law, but he does not mention its
particular locality, and it is not improbable that he refers to the
institution endowed by Warren Hastings, and now under the
superintendence of the General Committee of Public Instruction.
There can be no doubt, however, that in this as well as in other
districts of Bengal in which he have no authentic account of the
state of Mahomedan learning, that loose system of private tuition
already described prevails to a greater or less extent.
MIDNAPORE: (pp.50-51)
Hamilton states that in this district there are no schools
where the Hindoo or Mahomedan laws are taught. There was
formerly a Mahomedan college in the town of Midnapore, and
even yet the establishment is said to exist, but no law is taught.
Persian and Arabic are taught by maulavis who in general have a
few scholars in their houses, whom they support as well as
instruct. These Persian and Arabic students, although of
respectable families, are considered as living on charity; and
they are total strangers to expense and dissipation. The alleged
absence of schools of Hindoo learning in a population of which
six-seventh are said to be Hindoos is incredible, and denied by
learned natives who have resided in the district and are
personally acquainted with several schools of that description
within its limits. They are not so numerous as the domestic
schools of learning
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which prevail amongst the Mahomedan population; but they are
not so few as to be wholly neglected. There are probably, I am
told, about 40 in the district. It may be offered as a general
remark to account for such incorrect statements, that the
greater attention given by Europeans to the Mahomedan than to
the Hindoo languages and literature, combined with the
unobtrusive and retiring character of learned Hindoos,
sometimes leads the public functionary to overlook institutions
of Hindoo origin. It is probably from some such official authority
that Hamilton has borrowed the statement to which I refer.
CUTTACK: (p.54)
Mr Stirling, in the elaborate account of this district, from
which the preceding details are abridged, gives no information
whatever on the state of education as conducted by natives,
either in elementary schools or schools of learning. In the
description of the town of Puri Jugunnath, it is stated that ‘the
principal street is composed almost entirely of the religious
establishments called maths’, a name applied in other parts of
the country, both in the west and south, to convents of ascetics
in which the various branches of Hindoo learning are taught. It
may be inferred that they are applied to the same use in Jugun-
nath Puri.
HUGLY: (pp.57-59)
The number of Hindoo schools of learning in this district is
considerable. Mr Ward in 1818 stated that at Vansvariya, a vil-
lage not far from the town of Hugly, there were twelve or fourteen
colleges, in all of which logic was almost exclusively studied.
There were then also seven or eight in the town of Triveni, one of
which had been lately taught by Jugannath Tarka Panchanan,
supposed to be the most learned as well as the oldest man in
Bengal, being 109 years old at the time of his death. He was
acquainted in some measure with the veda, and is said to have
studied the vedanta, the sankhya, the patanjala, the nyaya, the
smriti, the tantra, the kavya, the pooranas and other shastras.
Mr Ward also mentions that Gundulpara and Bhudreshwuru
contained each about ten nyaya schools, and Valee two or three,
all villages in this district. Hamilton states that in 1801 there
were altogether about 150 private schools in which the
principles of Hindoo law were taught by Pundits, each school
containing from five to twenty scholars. There is no reason to
suppose that the number of schools is now less, and the
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enquiries made in 1824 showed that there were some schools
with thirty scholars. According to the reputation of the teacher is
the number of the students, and in proportion to the number of
the students is the number of invitations and the liberality of the
gifts which the teacher receives on the occasion of the
performance of important religious ceremonies in Hindoo
families. The number of students has thus a double pecuniary
operation. As they always derive a part of their subsistence from
the teacher, they are a burden upon his means; and by the
increased reputation which they confer upon him, they enable
him to support that burden. Sometimes, however, students
capable of living on their own means return home after school
hours; and in other instances, the more wealthy inhabitants of
the town or village are found to contribute towards the support
of poor students whom the teacher cannot maintain. The first
three or four years are occupied in the study of Sanscrit
grammar and the next six or eight years in the study of law and
logic, with which the generality of students finish their
education, and are thenceforth classed among learned men,
receiving from the teacher when they are leaving him an
honorary title which they retain for life.
There are few Mahomedan schools of learning in this
district. Omitting reference to that at Hugly, supported by the
endowment of Haji Mohammed Moshin, under the orders of the
Board of Revenue, and about to be extended and improved
under the superintendence of the General Committee of Public
Instruction, I find mention made of only one other existing at
Seetapore, a populous town, situated 22 miles in the interior of
the district. It was originally supported by a grant of five rupees
eight annas per diem, made by the English Government in
consideration of the faithful services of Umsih-ood-din the
founder. After his death, and in consequence of divisions among
the surviving members of his family, who it seems had claim to a
part of the grant for their maintenance, it was limited to rupees
50 per month, which, as far as my information extends, it
continues to derive from government to the present day.
According to Hamilton, in 1801, this college had 30 students
who were instructed in Persian and Arabic, and according to the
report made to the General Committee in 1824, it had 25
students who were taught only Persian. This institution does not
appear ever to have come under the supervision of the
Committee or of any public officer. The report of 1824 further
alleges the existence of certain lands at Pandua in this district,
which should be appropriated to the support of madrasas, but
which have been diverted from that purpose. It is stated to be a
well known fact that grants
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were made to the ancestors of the late Mola Mir Gholam Hyder
Mutawali, attached to the shrine of Shah Suffud-din Khan
Shuhid at Pandua, together with Mola Myn-ud-din or Mola Taj-
ud-din and Mir Gholam Mustafa, private persons who had no
share in the superintendence. The grants are said to have
specified certain villages or tracts of land to be exclusively
appropriated to the support of three madrasas, in addition to
those granted for the personal benefit of the grantees. The
madrasas were kept up for a generation or two, but through
carelessness or avarice were afterwards discontinued. It is added
that there were persons then living so well acquainted with the
circumstances as to be able to point out the estates that were
specified in the grants for the support of the madrasas. The
Collector, in the letter enclosing the report, intimated his
intention to investigate the matter, and in the event of the
alleged misappropriation being substantiated, to pursue the
course directed in Regulation XIX of 1810. The result of the
enquiry I have not been able to learn.
BURDWAN: (pp.70-72)
Hamilton says that in this district there are no regular
schools for instruction in the Hindoo or Mahomedan law, and
that the most learned professors of the former are procured from
the district of Nuddea on the opposite side of the Hugly. The
same remark may be applied to this statement that has already
been made with reference to the state of learning in Midnapore.
All that can be fairly understood from it is not that there are no
native schools of learning in the district, but that there were
none known to the writer, or to the public officer on whose
authority the author relied. It is exceedingly improbable, from
the analogy of other districts, that there are not some of those
domestic schools of Mahomedan learning already described, and
still more improbable that in a population of which five-sixths
are Hindoos, there should not be a still greater number of
schools of Hindoo learning.
The following references to institutions of learning in this
district were extracted from the proceedings of the Board of
Revenue at Calcutta, and first published in the memoir prepared
at the India House which I have mentioned as one of my authori-
ties:—
In September, 1818, the Collector of Burdwan was required
to report upon a pension of rupees 60 per annum, claimed by
295

Rambullubh Bhattacharjya, for the support of a religious
institution and seminary. The Collector deputed his ameen to
the spot, to enquire whether the institution on which the
pension was claimed was still maintained. The ameen reported
that the institution appeared to be kept up, that the number of
scholars generally entertained was about five or six, and that the
allowance had been sanctioned by the government during the
joint lives of Rambullubh Bhattacharjya and his deceased
brother. Under these circumstances, the Revenue Board
considered the claimant entitled to the full amount of the
pension during his life, or as long as he should continue to
appropriate it faithfully to the purposes for which it was
originally granted. They accordingly authorised the future
payment of this pension to Rambullubh Bhattacharjya, and the
discharge of all arrears which had accrued subsequently to the
decease of the claimant's brother.
In March, 1819, the Collector of Burdwan applied to the
Revenue Board for instructions respecting certain payments to a
musjid and madrasa in the district, respecting which a suit had
been instituted in the Calcutta Court of Appeal, and the question
ordered by that Court to be determined by the Collector under
Regulation XIX, of 1810. The establishment in question was in
the hands of Musil-ud-deen, who was called upon to produce his
accounts, which he appears not to have done satisfactorily. The
Collector, therefore, sent his ameen to the place to ascertain to
what extent the establishment was kept up. That officer reported
favourably of the establishment on the authority of the inhabit-
ants of the village in which the madrasa was situated, but with-
out any documents to corroborate his statements. Under these
circumstances, the Revenue Board desired the Collector to take
an opportunity of visiting the spot, in order that he might
himself ascertain the grounds on which a decision might be
come to. Nothing further appears relating to this madrasa.
In July, 1823, the Revenue Board reported an endowment
for a College in Burdwan of 254 sicca rupees per annum, which
was communicated to the General Committee of Public
Instruction.
JESSORE: (p.73)
I have met with no reference to indigenous schools, either
elementary or learned, in this district, but it is beyond all
296

question that the number of both amongst Hindoos and
Mussalmans is considerable. This district is a perfect and entire
blank in as far as information regarding the state of indigenous
education is concerned.
NUDDEA: (pp.75-82)
The town of Nuddea was the capital of Hindoo principality
anterior to the Mahommedan conquest, and in more recent
times it has been a seat of Brahmanical learning. Hamilton
remarks that, as a seat of learning, it must have apparently
declined to a very obscure condition, as in 1801 the Judge and
Magistrate, in reply to the Marquis Wellesley’s queries, declared
that he knew not of any seminaries within the district in which
either the Hindoo or Mahomedan law was then taught. This
statement curiously contrasts with the following details, and
affords another illustration of a remark already made, that the
educational institutions of the Hindoos have sometimes been
most strangely overlooked.
The celebrity of Nuddea as a school of Hindoo learning is
wholly unconnected with any notion of peculiar sanctity as in
the case of Benares. Its character as a university was probably
connected with the political importance which belonged to it
about the time of the Mahomedan invasion, as it seems to have
been for a time the capital of Bengal. The princes of Bengal and
the latter rajahs of Nuddea endowed certain teachers with lands
for the instruction and maintenance of scholars, and the support
thus given to pundits and pupils attracted a number of
Brahmans to settle there, and gave a reputation to the district.
The loss of all political consequence and the alleged resumption
of most of the endowments have very much diminished the
attraction of the site, but it still continues a place of learning
and extensive repute.
In 1811, Lord Minto, then Governor-General, proposed to
establish a Hindoo college at Nuddea and another in Tirhoot,
and set apart funds for that purpose. The design, however, was
finally abandoned in favour of that of forming a similar
institution on a larger scale, the present Sanskrit College in
Calcutta. In the course of the correspondence which took place
between government and the Committee of Superintendence
provisionally appointed for the proposed college at Nuddea, the
Committee stated, under date 9th July, 1816, that there were
then in Nuddea 46 schools kept and supported by the most
learned and
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respectable pundits of the place, who invariably taught at their
houses or in the tols attached to them, where the pupils were all
lodged partly at their own expense and partly at the expense of
their preceptors. The total number of pupils who were at that
time so circumstanced amounted to about 380; their ages
averaging between 25 and 35 years. Few, it was observed,
commenced their studies until they had attained the age of 21
years, and they often pursued them for 15 years, when, having
acquired a perfect knowledge of the shastra and all its arcana,
they returned to their native homes and set up as pundits and
teachers themselves.
In 1818, Mr Ward enumerated 31 schools of learning at
Nuddea, containing in all 747 students, of whom not fewer than
five studied under one teacher. So many as one hundred and
twenty-five students are stated to have been receiving the
instructions of one teacher at the same time, but the accuracy of
Mr Ward’s information in this particular may be doubted. The
principal studies were logic and law, and there was only one
school for general literature, one for astronomy, and one for
grammar. The following are the details in Mr Ward’s words:—
‘Nyaya Colleges
Shivu-Nat’hu-Vidya-Vachusputee has one hundred and
twenty-five students
Ramu-Lochunu-Nyayu-Vhooshunu, twenty ditto
Kashee-Nat’hu Turku-Chooramunee, thirty ditto
Ubhuyanundu-Turkalunkaru, twenty ditto
Ramu-Shurunu-Nyayu-Vagesshu, fifteen ditto
Bhola-Nat’hu-Shiromunee, twelve ditto
Radha-Nat’hu Turku-Punchanunu, ten ditto
Ramu-Mohunu-Vidya Vachusputee, twenty ditto
Shri Ramu-Turku-Bhooshunu, twenty ditto
Kalee-Kantu-Chooramunee, five ditto
Krishnu-Kantu-Vidya-Vageeshu, fifteen ditto
Turkalunkaru, fifteen ditto
Kalee-Prusunu, fifteen ditto
Madhubu-Turku-Sidhantu, twenty-five ditto
Kumula-Kantu-Turku-Chooramunee, twenty-five ditto
Eeshwuru-Turku-Bhooshunu, twenty ditto
Kantu-Vidyalunkaru, forty ditto
Law Colleges
Ramu-Nat’hu-Turku-Siddantu, forty students
Gunga-Dhuru-Shiromunee, twenty-five ditto
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Devee-Turkalunkaru, twenty-five ditto
Mohunu-Vidya-Vachusuputee, twenty ditto
Gangolee-Tukalunkaru, ten ditto
Krishnu-Turku-Bhooshunu, ten ditto
Pranu-Krishnu-Turku-Vageeshu, five ditto
Poorohitu, five ditto
Kashee-Kantu-Turku-Chooramunee, thirty ditto
Kalee-Kantu-Turku-Punchanunu, twenty ditto
Gudadhura-Turku-Vageeshu, twenty ditto
College where the Poetical Works are read
Kalee-Kantu-Turku-Chooramunee, fifty students
Where the Astronomical Works are read
Gooroo-Prusadu-Siddhantu-Vageeshu, fifty students
Where the Grammar is read
Shumboo-Nat'hu Chooramunee, five students.’
In 1821, the junior Member and Secretary of the General
Committee of Public Instruction, H.H. Wilson, Esquire, in
prosecuting a special investigation on which he was deputed,
collected at the same time some general information respecting
the state of learning at Nuddea. At that period Nuddea contained
about twenty-five establishments for study. These are called tols,
and consist of a thatched chamber for the pundit and the class,
and two or three ranges of mud-hovels in which the students
reside. The pundit does not live on the spot, but comes to the tol
every day on which study is lawful at an early hour and remains
till sunset. The huts are built and kept in repair at his expense,
and he not only gives instructions gratuitously but assists to
feed and clothe his class, his means of so doing being derived
from former grants by the rajah of Nuddea, and presents made
to him by the zemindars in the neighbourhood at religious
festivals, the value of which much depends on his celebrity as a
teacher. The students are all full-grown men, some of them old
men. The usual number in a tol is about twenty or twenty-five,
but in some places, where the pundit is of high repute, there are
from fifty to sixty. The whole number is said to be between 500
and 600. The greater proportion consists of natives of Bengal,
but there are many from remote parts of India, especially from
the south. There are some from Nepaul and Assam, and many
from the eastern districts, especially Tirhoot. Few if any have
means of subsistence of their own. Their dwelling they obtain
from their teacher, and their clothes and food in presents from
him and the shop-keepers and land-holders in the town or
299

neighbourhood. At the principal festivals they disperse for a few
days in quest of alms, when they collect enough to sustain them
till the next interval of leisure. The chief study at Nuddea is
nyayu or logic; there are also some establishments for tuition in
law, chiefly in the works of Raghunandana, a celebrated Nuddea
pundit, and in one or two places grammar is taught. Some of the
students, particularly several from the Dekhin, speak Sanscrit
with great fluency and correctness.
The account by Mr Wilson is the latest and probably the
most correct of the state of learning at Nuddea. The variations in
the number of colleges and students at the different periods are
deserving of attention. According to the respective authorities
there were in 1816 forty-six schools and 380 students; in 1818
thirty-one schools and 747 students; and in 1829 twenty-five
schools, containing from 5 to 600 students. It would thus appear
that, within the last twenty years, the number of schools has
diminished, and the number of scholars has upon the whole in-
creased. This would seem to support the inference that there is
now, in the class from which students are drawn, and increased
disposition to study Hindoo learning, accompanied by a
diminished ability or inclination in the class by which the
colleges are principally supported, to incur the expense of
encouraging new tols proportioned to the increased number of
students.
Several of those schools of Hindoo learning in Nuddea are
supported or aided by small annual allowances from the British
Government. Thus in 1813, Ramchandra Vidyalankara who
enjoyed an annual allowance of rupees 71, in consideration of
his keeping up a chaupari or seminary, died. Application was
shortly afterwards made to the Collector of the district, and by
him referred to the Revenue Board, for the assignment of his
allowance to a native who claimed it as the heir of Ramchandra
Vidyalankara, but the proofs of his right of succession or
qualifications not being satisfactory, it was not granted to him.
In 1818, Balanath Siromani preferred a claim to this allowance
as the son of Ramchandra Vidyalankara and his successor in
the chaupari. On reference of this claim to the Revenue Board,
the Collector was ordered to ascertain whether Balanath
Siromani did actually keep a seminary in Nuddea; and it
appearing on enquiry that he kept a chaupari in which he
educated eight pupils in the tarka or nyayu shastra, the
government determined in June 1820, that the pension of
rupees 71 should be continued to him and the arrears paid up.
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In June, 1818, application was made to the Revenue Board
through the Collector of Nuddea, on behalf of Sivnath Vidya-
Vachaspati, for a pension or allowance of rupees 90 per annum,
which had been enjoyed by his father Sukra Tarkavagis, in
consideration of his maintaining a seminary in Nuddea. The
Board ordered the continuance of the pension and the payment
of arrears.
In November, 1819, an application was made through the
Collector of Nuddea to the Board of Revenue, on behalf of Sriram
Siromani, for a pension or allowance of rupees 36 per annum, in
consideration of his keeping up a chaupari or seminary at
Nuddea, which had been founded and endowed by the rajah of
Nattore. It was in this case also ascertained that Sriram
Siromani did keep up the seminary in which there were three
pupils, and the allowance together with the arrears was
accordingly ordered to be paid to him.
A similar decision was passed in 1819 in favour of Ramjaya
Tarka-Bangka, confirming to him an annual allowance of rupees
62, in consideration of his continuing to maintain a seminary in
Nuddea in which he educated five pupils.
In 1823, it was represented to the Board of Revenue that a
Native College existed in the town of Nuddea in which
Ramchandra Tarkavagis taught the puranas, on account of
which he petitioned for the annual pension or allowance from
government of sicca rupees 24, which had been enjoyed by his
father while resident in Rajshahy, and which he solicited might
be continued to him in Nuddea. The Revenue Board directed
their nazir to make enquiry as to the facts stated, and to report
the result. He accordingly reported that Ramchandra Tarkavagis
did keep a seminary in the town of Nuddea in which he
maintained and instructed in the shastras 31 students, of whose
names a list was delivered in and that he had done so for nine
years then last past. Under these circumstances, the Board
recommended and the government determined that the pension
should be continued to Ramchandra Tarkavagis, and the arrears
which had accrued since the death of his father be paid to him.
In 1829, the Committee of Public Instruction received
orders to examine and report upon a petition to government from
certain students at Nuddea, claiming the restoration or
continuance of an allowance amounting to 100 rupees per
month. The Committee deputed their junior Member and
Secretary, and ascertained that all those students who came
from places more
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than three days’ journey from Nuddea had hitherto depended
very much upon this grant from government which gave them
from twelve annas to one rupee a month, and nearly sufficed to
procure them food. The amount of the grant that reached the
students was in fact but 90 rupees, 10 being set apart for some
ceremony. The number of foreign students was generally
between 100 to 150, and there were about the latter number at
that time at Nuddea awaiting the result of their petition. If not
complied with, they would have found it necessary to quit the
place. Mr Wilson made particular enquiry of the students with
respect to the distribution of the allowance and entire
satisfaction was uniformly expressed on this subject. A petty
suraf or podar accompanied by one of their number is deputed
to receive the allowance at the Collector’s Treasury. On his
return he divides it among the foreign students whose presence
in the town is perfectly well known. The podar, whom Mr Wilson
saw, keeps a shop for the sale of grain, and supplies the
students with food, advancing them occasional maintenance on
the credit of their monthly allowance. They are commonly in his
debt, but he is too unimportant a personage, and the students
are too numerous, and as Brahmans too influential, for him to
practice any fraud upon them. The allowance, he has, no doubt,
is fairly distributed; and although the value of the learning
acquired at Nuddea may not be very highly estimated by
Europeans, yet it is in great repute with the natives, and its
encouragement even by the trifling sum awarded is a gracious
and popular measure. There can be no doubt of its being a very
essential benefit to those students who have no other fixed
means of support. On Mr Wilson’s report it was determined to
continue the allowance of rupees 100 per month to the
petitioners.
Little is said by any of the authorities to which I have
referred of the schools of learning in this district beyond the
town of Nuddea; but there can be no doubt that such exist at
Santipore, Kishnaghur, and other places within the district. Mr
Ward mentions transiently that, at Koomaru Hutta and
Bhatpara, villages in this district, there are perhaps seven or
eight such schools. At Santipore there was formerly a small
Government endowment which appears to be at present in
abeyance. In 1824, an application was made through the
Collector of Nuddea to the Board of Revenue by Devi Prasad
Nyayu Vachaspati Bhattacharyya, as the brother of Kali Prasad
Tarkasiddhanta Bhattacharyya, who had died in the preceding
year, for an annual allowance or pension of sicca rupees 156-11-
10, in consideration to his keeping a seminary in the town of
Santipore.
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Enquiries were made as to the character of the deceased who is
stated to have been a pundit of great ability, having when he
died about 10 students under tuition. It also appeared by the
evidence produced on the occasion that the brother and present
claimant assisted the deceased in the tuition of his students who
resided with him, and that they read the dharma shastra or
works on law. The information thus produced not seeming to the
Board of Revenue satisfactory, the Collector was directed to
make further enquiries respecting the origin and the extent of
the endowment and the service rendered, but his final report
does not appear on the records.
I have already mentioned the nature of the report, made by
the Judge and Magistrate of this district in 1801, that there were
no seminaries within the district in which either the Hindoo or
Mahomedan law was taught, and I have met with no direct
evidence to establish the existence of any Mahomedan
institutions. With a considerable proportion, however, of
Mahomedan population it seems exceedingly improbable that
they should be entirely destitute of such institutions of
education as are found to exist in other districts.
DACCA & JALALPUR: (p.85)
Hamilton speaks of certain schools in the district in which
the principles or rather the forms of Hindoo religion and law are
taught, but I have not been able to trace any further details
respecting them. I find not the remotest reference to Mahomedan
schools in a district remarkable for a large proportion of Moslem
inhabitants.
The public functionaries in 1823 reported to the General
Committee that no grants or endowments of any description for
the purpose of education were known to exist in the district.
BACKERGUNGE: (p.86)
I have not been able to obtain any information respecting
indigenous schools, either elementary or learned, in this district,
and I can only infer from the known state of education in other
districts that here also such institutions must exist, although
they have not in any way come under public notice. The
Collector in 1823 reported that no endowments or funds for the
purposes of education existed in the district.
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CHITTAGONG: (pp.88-89)
The official report of 1824 makes no mention of indigenous
schools of learning, and it is probable that few exist in this
district. It is, however, stated that there is much land that has
been appropriated to charitable purposes, some for churches
and some for the benefit of the poor, but no endowments were
known at that time to exist for the benefit of education.
In 1827, the Collector of the district was directed to make
enquiries respecting a native institution supported by
endowment, and to report the result to government. He reported
that Meer Hinja had bequeathed lands for the endowment of a
madrasa, and that they then yielded for the purpose of
education not more than rupees 1,570 per annum, two-thirds of
the endowment having been judicially assigned to the founder's
children in the year 1790; that with the remaining one-third the
then incumbent Maulavi Ali Machtulul Khan Kemoun professed
himself unable to keep up the institution on its then present
footing, which provided for the instruction of 50 students and for
the support of three teachers, one of Arabic and two of Persian;
that the number of students originally contemplated was 150;
and that the buildings consisted of a small mosque in good order
and two low ranges of attached houses for the dwelling of the
master and disciples, which were of little value. The Collector
suggested that the lands would realise twice their present rental,
if put up to the highest bidder by order of government; and
submitted that they should be so re-let, and the proceeds paid to
the Maulavi in monthly installments, who in return should
periodically submit his accounts and a report of the state of the
institution to the Board of Revenue for the information of
government. The Governor-General in Council approved this
suggestion and it was ordered accordingly.
TIPERA: (p.91)
I have no information regarding either common schools or
schools of learning in this district. Hamilton states, perhaps too
positively, that there are not any regular schools or seminaries
where the Hindoo and Mahomedan laws and religion are taught.
In reply to enquiries made by the General Committee the local
agents of government stated in 1823 that they could not discover
that any endowments or funds of a public nature exist in the
district, or that any grants have ever been made applicable to
the purpose of public instruction.
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MYMUNSING: (p.92)
Hamilton states that there are not any regular seminaries
in this district for teaching the Mahomedan law, but that there
are two or three schools in each pergunnah for instruction in
Hindoo learning. The district is divided into nineteen
pergunnahs and six tuppas, in all twenty-five local sub-
divisions, which will give from 50 to 60 schools of Hindoo
learning in the district. The scholars are taught gratuitously, it
being deemed disgraceful to receive money for instruction.
Indigenous schools for learning imply the existence of
indigenous elementary schools, but I find no mention of them in
any authority to which I have referred.
The alleged non-existence of Mahomedan schools in a
district in which the proportion of Mahomedans to Hindoos is as
five to two is incredible.
SYLHET: (p.93)
The information respecting the state of education in this
district is exceedingly scanty. Hamilton states that there are no
regular schools and seminaries for teaching the Hindoo or
Mahomedan law, but that in different places there are private
schools where boys are taught to read and write. Of Mymunsing
the reverse was stated, that it had schools of learning, but
nothing was said of elementary schools. It is probable that in
Sylhet the former are to be found as well as the latter, although
neither may be numerous or very efficient.
MOORSHEDABAD: (pp.94-96)
In 1801 there was said to be only one school in the district
for instruction in the Mahomedan law, while there were twenty
for instruction in the Hindoo laws and customs. It seems very
probable that the number both of Hindoo and Mahomedan
schools of learning was then and still is much greater.
In December, 1818, the Collector of Moorshedabad
forwarded to the Board of Revenue the petition of one Kali Kanth
Sarma, praying for the continuance to him of a pension of five
rupees per month, which had been granted to his father, Jaya
Ram Nyaya Panchanan, by the late Maha Rani Bhawani, former
zemindar of Chucklah Rajshahy, for the support of a Hindoo
college at that place. The Collector accompanied the petition by a
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statement that the pension had, as represented, been enjoyed by
the father of the petitioner and confirmed to him by the
government on the report of the Collector in 1796, and that the
petitioner was of good character and qualified for the
superintendence of the college. The Revenue Board on
forwarding this petition and the Collector’s letter to the
government observed that the pension had in fact lapsed to the
government in 1811, the petitioner not being then qualified to
discharge the duties of the office, but that it was intended fully
to ascertain his fitness for the office and in the event of his
competency to give it to him. ‘On general principles,’ the Board
added, ‘we entertain the opinion that pensions granted for the
maintenance of public institutions for education and instruction
should not be resumed so long as they shall be appropriated
bona fide for the purpose for which they were assigned; and we
observe on reference to our proceedings that government has
generally been pleased to continue pensions for similar
purposes, the Board having previously ascertained the
qualifications of the persons in whose favour they have been
granted and we are accordingly induced to recommend the
present claim to the favourable consideration of his Lordship in
Council.’ On this recommendation the government confirmed
Kali Kanth Sarma in the receipt of this pension; and upon his
decease in 1821 it was by the same authority conferred on his
brother Chandrasiva Nyayalankara whose claim was undisputed
and who then maintained seven students, five of them resident
in his house.
In July, 1822, the Collector of Moorshedabad forwarded to
the Revenue Board a petition from Kishanath Nyaya
Panchanand, the son of Ramkishore Sarma, reporting the death
of his father, and praying the transfer and continuance to
himself of a monthly pension of five rupees which had been
granted in 1793 for the support of a Hindoo seminary at Vyspur
near Colapur. The Collector reported the petitioner to be the heir
and rightful claimant of the pension and well qualified for the
performance of the duties of the school. Under these
circumstances the transfer of the pension from the name of
Ramkishore Sarma to his son Kishanath Nyaya Panchanand was
authorised.
BEERBHOOM: (pp.98-100)
I find no account of the state of indigenous education in
this district. Hamilton is silent on the subject, and in reply to
inquiries made by the General Committee in 1823, the local
Agent of Government stated that there were no seminaries for
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the instruction of youth in the district, either public or private,
and, as I suppose must be understood, either elementary or
learned. If, as I suspect, this statement is incorrect, it is the
more extraordinary, because the agent appears to have taken a
great deal of trouble to collect information regarding the means
existing in the district supposed to be applicable to the encour-
agement of education. From the analogy of other neighbouring
districts, it seems incredible that there should be no schools of
any kind amongst a population in which there is a proportion of
thirty Hindoos to one Mahomedan.
In 1820, a Hindoo named Sarbanand, who claimed
succession to the office of ojha or high-priest of the temple of
Baidyanath already mentioned, made an offer to the government
through the local agent to give 5,000 rupees as an endowment
for a Native school in the district on condition that his claim to
the succession of the ojhaship might be sanctioned and
established by the authority of government. From a notice of this
transaction contained in the records of the General Committee,
it would appear that he actually sent the money to the
Collector’s office, and that in addition to the establishment of a
school he wished it to be, in part, expended on the excavation of
a tank at Soory, the chief town of the district. The offer was
declined, and Sarbanand informed that he must abide the
regular adjudication of the law courts on his claim, which proved
unfavourable.
The acting Agent and Collector in Beerbhoom in 1823
seems to have considered that the funds of the temple were
liable to be applied to the establishment of public institutions,
but it does not appear on what grounds this opinion was formed.
According to one account the collections of the temple average
30,000 rupees per annum, the amount depending on the
number and liberality of the pilgrims. According to an official
estimate made in 1822, the resources of the temple were
supposed to be 1,50,000 rupees annually. A specific fact stated
is that in two months the collections amounted to 15,000
rupees, but it is not said whether the two months were in the
season of the year when the temple is most frequented. The
present appropriation of the revenue after providing, I conclude,
for the current expenses of the temple, is to the support of
religious mendicants and devotees.
The acting Agent and Collector also submitted two
statements of the quantity of land dedicated to various religious
purposes, expressing at the same time the opinion that the
produce
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of these endowments is generally estranged from the purposes to
which it was originally devoted, and enjoyed by persons who
have no claim to it. He seems to have considered that these
endowments also were applicable to purposes of education but
the reasons of the opinion are not given. The statements were
prepared from the public registries of land and I subjoin them
entire, noticing here only their general results. These are that in
twenty-two pergunnahs there are 8,348 beeghas, besides 39
separate mouzahs or villages of dewottur lands; 16,331 beeghas
of nazar lands; 5,086 beeghas of chiraghi lands and 1,015
beeghas of pirottur lands. In fifteen other pergunnahs that had
been then recently transferred from the district of Moorshedabad
to that of Beerbhoom, there are 1,934 beeghas of dewottur and
162 of pirottur lands, making the whole amount 32,877 beeghas
of land, besides 39 villages. I have added to the statements a
brief explanation of the distinctive terms employed to describe
the different sorts of endowed lands; and I have recorded these
endowments in this place because they were in some way
connected in the mind of the acting Agent and Collector with the
means existing in the district for the promotion of education; but
I would not be understood to express a concurrence in the
opinion, if it was entertained, that their application to such a
purpose could be rendered legally obligatory. As far as I can
ascertain from the terms employed to describe them, they are
religious endowments. With the voluntary consent of the
holders, they are, as I understand, capable of being applied to
promote education when viewed as a religious duty; but without
that consent it would be unjust to employ them for such a
purpose, and it would also be imprudent by the employment of
questionable means in pursuit of a great public object, such as
national education, to rouse the religious feelings of the country
against it.

RAJSHAHY: (pp.103-104)
There is no doubt that in this district there are several
schools of Hindoo learning, but I find no mention of any of them
except two which are supported by an allowance from
government. In June, 1813, the Collector of Rajshahy forwarded
to the Revenue Board a petition from Kassessur Bachusputy,
Govindram Sirhat, and Hurram Surma Buttacharjee, stating
that their father had received from Rani Bhawani an allowance
of 90 rupees per annum for the support of a college, which
allowance on the decease of their father had been continued to
their elder brother till his decease; and that since the date of
that event they

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