Page 6 - july-september-2019

CEnTRES oF
Medieval Marvels Iltutmish was the first to
LEARninG
establish a madrasa, called
The education of a student was divided into levels that focused on different Madrasa-i-muizzi. It is said that
subjects and learning styles. Both, Hindus and Muslims, used to have a Muhammad Tughlaq set up many
ceremony before the child would start schooling. The relationship between madrasas in Delhi. Sultan Firoz
Shah set up the Madrasa Firoz
teacher and pupil was murshid-taalib for the Muslims and amongst Hindus, Shahi close to the Hauz Khas
it was guru-shishya. complex.

MAQTABS MADRASAS

Maqtabs were for primary education. They used oral Madrasas were for higher education. In madrasas,
teaching as the medium of education and rote learning lectures, discussion, self study, practical and experiment
was central. Admission used to commence with the work was crucial. Secular as well as religious subjects
formal ceremony of ‘Bismillah’, which would take place were studied.
when the child would be four years, four months, and Nilay Trivedi, Viii D, Maharana Mewar Public school, udaipur
four days old.

kARkHANAS
pATHSHALAS Karkhanas were institutions for vocational

Hindu students would enter training for the arts and crafts that were
pathshalas at the age of five, popular during the Mughal period.
after consulting with the
astrologer. They learnt
the alphabet on a takhti,
or by writing in the MATHAS AND kHANQAHS
dust, while teaching Hindu monasteries, called matha, were
was oral. Classes were centres for spiritual education to attain
held twice a day, with liberation. There was an Acharya, a high
intervals for meals. ranking Guru or the head of the Matha,
K. gowshini, Viii a, while the teachers were gurus. Even
glazebrooke Public school, Khanqahs, which were the homes
salem
of Sufi saints, were often centres of
education.

ACTiViTY: AkBAR THE wiSE ACTiViTY: THE TALkiNG TAkHTi

Even though Emperor Akbar was himself uneducated, The takhti was used for writing in India.
under his reign, education saw a lot of changes.
Rational and practical subjects were added. Students In the Jataka Tales, it was refered to as
‘Phalaka’. Using your imagination, write
were even made to study
law, medicine, and grammar a conversation between a takhti and a
mobile phone
in Sanskrit as well as the
Upanishads. One morning, when I checked my phone I
was taken aback when the phone spoke to
Find out about another
personality in history, me about something I never knew. Do you
know what that was? It was an ancient
or even someone from
your life who is not well takhti.
educated but has promoted
education.

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