On May 17, 1498, Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese voyager reached Calicut (now known as Kozhikode) on Malabar coast. Zamorin was the king of Calicut at that time. Vasco da Gama was appointed by Portuguese King Manuel I.

This Historic voyage successfully established a sea route from Europe to India. This sea route became major trade route as it gave European a safer alternative to reach far east without through the costly and unsafe silk road caravan routes of Middle East and Central Asia.

First Portuguese Governor in India was Fancisco Almeida. Alfonso d’ Albuquerque became second Governor in 1503. In 1510, Albaquerque captured Goa from Muslim ruler of Bijapur Ismail Adil Shah. He abolished the practice of Sati Pratha. He gave a new height Portuguese rule in India.

Read More: Major Ports in India

The Capital of Portuguese empire in India was cochin in their early years. In 1530, Nino-da-Chuna transferred the Portuguese capital in India from Cochin to Goa, now Goa became center of Portuguese rule in India which lasted till 1961. In 1535, he acquired Diu and Daman in 1559.

Portuguese had various other territorial possessions in Indian ocean and their Governor in Goa had authority over all these territories like Mozambique, Macau, Solar, Timor etc.

During the reign of Shahjahan Portuguese lost Hugly in 1631. In 1661, Portuguese king gave Bombay to Charles II of England as dowry for marrying his sister. Gradually they lost many of their territories.

Take a Quiz: Quiz 419 – Practice Paper (History)

A courageous soldier and a successful commander Mahmud of Ghazni ranks among those successful generals of the world who have been regarded as born commanders. He was an expert in assigning works and responsibilities to others according to their capacities, proving the fact that he was a good judge of human nature.

Under Mahmud’s command his army became a unified powerful force as his army consisted of the people of different nationalities such as Arabs, the Turks, the Afghans and even Hindus. As an ambitious commander, Mahmud always tried to win glory and expend his empire. He converted his small inheritance, from his father he inherited only the provinces of Ghazni and Khurasane into a mighty empire that stretched from Iraq and Caspian Sea in the West to the river Gange’s in the east and that was definitely more extensive than the empire of Khalifa of Baghdad at that time. Therefore, it can be asserted that Mahmud ranks among the greatest commanders and empire-builders of Asia.

Also Read: The Delhi Sultanate (1206 – 1290)

Mahmud of Ghazni: A patron of art and culture

Mahmud, an educated and cultured person, was a patron of scholarship and fine arts. Scholars of repute gathered at his court. Scholars of great repute such as Al Beruni, Utbi, Farabi, Baihaki, Tusi, Farrukhi and Firdausi were all at his court.

How much Mahmud of Ghazni  loved to acquire wealth evident from an ancient involving his court poet Firdausi. Once he agreed to pay Firdausi a gold dinar for every verse composed by him. But when Firdausi brought to him his Shahnama that consisted of one thousand verse, Mahmud offered him one thousand dinars of silver that Firdausi refused to accept. Mahmud, of course, sent one thousand gold diners to Firdausi afterwards, but, by then, Firdausi had died. Mahmud established a university, a good library and a mosque at Ghazni.

He also patronized the artists; he invited all kinds of artists from all parts of his empire and even from foreign countries and engaged them in beautifying Ghazni. It is due to his unceasing efforts that Ghazni became not only a beautiful city of the East but also the Centre of Islamic scholarship, fine arts and culture.

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Mahmud of Ghazni as a ruler

Mahmud of Ghazni  was such a just ruler that when he found his nephew guilty of having sexual relations with the wife of another person, he killed him with his own hands. Many similar stories are known about his sense of justice. He was successful in maintaining peace and order, protecting trade and agriculture and safeguarding the property and honour of his subjects within the boundaries of his empire.

Being a fanatic Sunni Musalman, Mahmud of Ghazni  was intolerant not only to Hindus but even to Shias also. Al Beruni has criticized his intolerant religious acts. The contemporary Muslims considered him as the champion of Islam and he was titled as Ghazi meaning slayer of infidels and destroyer of images. The contemporary Islamic world regarded Mahmud as the destroyer of infidels and the one who established the glory of Islam at distant places like India.

Instead having all these personal characteristics, Mahmudof Ghazni was considered a great Muslim ruler. In fact, he in the history of Islam, was the first ruler who justly deserved the title of Sultan. He has been listed among the great rulers of Central Asia. He established an extensive empire, brought peace and prosperity within its boundaries, assisted in its cultural development and established the glory of Islam at distant places.

But, in the history of India, Mahmud of Ghazni was a barbaric foreign bandit, a fanatic Sunni Muslim, a plunderer and a destroyer of fine arts. He, in fact, was the ruler of Ghazni, and not of India. The parts of his empire such as Punjab, Sindh and Multan, in fact, served the purpose of bases for his invasions deeper in India. He did not pay attention to administer them well. In the course of penetrating deep in India, Mahmud of Ghazni  simply desired loot, plunder and conversions. Thus to the Indians of his days he was a devil incarnate.

Also Read: Impact of Religious Policy of Aurangzeb on Mughal Empire

Weakness of Mahmud of Ghazni

His greatest weakness was that he was unable to rule as an administrator. Apart from maintaining peace and order in his dominions he did nothing to make it a stable Empire; his empire existed only during his own lifetime. As soon as he died, the empire was shattered to pieces under his successors.

According to Lane-Poole, “Mahmud of Ghazni was a great soldier and possessed tremendous courage and untiring mental and physical capacity. But he was not a constructive and far-signed statesman.” He did hardly anything to consolidate his Indian conquests as well.

It has been said by many scholar writers that Mahmud of Ghazni, who left no permanent impact on India, came like a great storm and destroyed everything and then passed off. However, it would be improper to assume, rather accept, that Mahmud of Ghazni  left no permanent mark on Indians and Indian history. Mahmud of Ghazni broke up not only the military strength of the Indians but also their morale to resist Turk invaders. He never confronted a serious challenge in India and his constant success against Indians created a defeatist attitude among the Indians that Turks were invincible. And above all, the most significant achievement of Mahmud of Ghazni was the destruction of the Hindushahi Kingdom of Afghanistan that facilitated the way for the conquest of India by Turks.

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• Mangal Pandey, whose name is often preceded by Shaheed meaning a martyr in Hindi, was an Indian soldier during the pre-independence era. A member of the 34th Regiment of the Bengal native infantry of the East India Company, Mangal Pandey is counted among the most popular figures associated with India’s freedom struggle in present times.
• He was born on 19 July 1827 in the Nagwa village in the Ballia district of the Uttar Pradesh state. There still exist families in this village who claim to the descendants of Mangal Pandey.
• Mangal Pandey, who joined the sepoy force of the British East India Company in the year 1849, at the age of 22.
• A sepoy working under the British East India Company, Mangal Pandey’s name got etched into the pages of the Indian history after he attacked his senior British officers in an incident, which is today remembered as the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 or the India’s First War of Independence.
• The reason behind this was the rumor that the cartridges used by Indian sepoys were greased with the fat of cow and pig. Due to this, he was later captured and hung till death on 8 April in 1857.
• Mangal Pandey, who was a devout Hindu and practiced his religion strictly. It was rumoured that the cartridge used in the Enfield P-53 rifle which was being used by the Indian sepoys was greased with the fat of pig and cow fat.
• These cartridges had to be bitten off in order to remove the cover prior use and this went against the religious beliefs of the Muslims and Hindus.
• The general opinion was that the Britishers had deliberately done this to hurt the sentiments of Indians. And this was the main reason behind the outburst of Pandey’s anger.
• It was due to the conglomeration sparked off by Mangal Pandey that the East India Company finally lost all the confidence of the British Empire and the colony of India went under the direct rule of Queen Victoria.
• The place where Mangal Pandey had attacked the British officers, and where he was later hanged, has been turned into a park now, and is known as “Shahid Mangal Pandey Maha Udyan”.
• Designed by the artist C.R. Pakrashi, the Government of India, finally in 5^th October 1984, issued postage stamps which bore the image of Mangal Pandey.
• Pandey’s so-called treachery made him quite famous among the British, so much so that he gave birth to a new English word! “Pandy” is a word in the English Language which has been derived from his surname, and it means “Traitor”.

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The Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati at Bombay in 1875. Born in Kathiawar in Gujarat, Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824-83) was a scholar, a patriot, a social reformer and a revivalist. He believed the Vedas were the source of true knowledge.

His motto was “Back to the Vedas”. He was against idol worship, child marriage and the caste system based on birth. He encouraged intercaste marriages and widow remarriage. He started the Suddhi movement to bring back those Hindus who had converted to other religions to its fold. He wrote the book Satyartha Prakash which contains his ideas.   Read Also: Dayananda Saraswati

 The Arya Samaj, though founded in Bombay, became very powerful in Punjab and spread its influence to other parts of India. It has contributed very much to the spread of education. The first Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) School was founded in 1886 at Lahore. Many more schools came up in other parts of India in later years.

The Arya Samaj had also spread nationalism. Hundreds of Arya Samaj patriots, including Lala Lajpat Rai, took part in the Indian freedom struggle.   Swami Dayanand Saraswati was named Mul Shankara by his parents. He left home at an early age and wandered across the country in search of knowledge and answers to his spiritual questions.

Swami Dayanand Saraswati believed in the existence of only One Supreme Reality which should be worshipped in spirit not form. He said that all knowledge was contained in the Vedas and the social problems of India could be solved but studying the Vedas. He also started the Shuddhi Movement to reconvert those Hindus who had been converted to other religions.  

The good work of Swami Dayanand Saraswati was carried on by his followers. Lala Hansraj set up the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School at Lahore. Soon, this school developed into a famous college. Children were taught in English and Hindi by modern methods. Some disciple founded the Gurukul at Hardwar. A number of DAV educational institutions were established to provide modern education. Thus, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries AD, the Arya Samaj became an important organization for religious and social reforms.  

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As recorded in the Vedic texts the Ancient Indian Educational System with the residential hermitage of the seer serving as a school remained the same for a long time. It was only in the Gupta period that big centers of learning like modern universities with different faculties, extensive buildings, libraries and facilities for communication began to be founded. However, in post-Vedic times the curriculum of studies was modified. It transformed from being purely ritualistic to being broad based that included subjects such as grammar, philosophy and those of a secular nature.

Although the house of the teacher undoubtedly continued to be the centre of learning for a long time, knowledge was also spread through Charakas (popularly known as wandering teachers) and also through parishads (assemblies of intellectuals).

However, records suggest that in the ancient Indian educational system education was, if not primarily then to a certain extent, caste-oriented: for instance, a Brahman bay used to acquire only Vedic education that was necessary for his professional duties such as the performance of sacrifices and teachings. On the other hand, a Kshatriya boy used to acquire practical training in the use of arms, and literary and Vedic studies and in State-craft as well, because all these were helpful to him in his future career. Similarly the Vasya had to be well-versed in commercial subjects.

Thus, it may be suggested that education was fast becoming job-oriented and that the pursuit of knowledge was not merely for the sake of knowledge alone.

Any attempt to comprehend the ancient India educational system should be done with particular reference to objects of study, place, and time, method, curriculum, different kinds of teachers and schools of learning, pupil-preceptor relations, women’s education, fees, writing, spread of learning and vocational education.

Also Read: Food, Drinks, Pastimes and Amusements of Vedic Aryans

Objects of study in Ancient Indian Educational System

According to the ancient India educational system, the purpose of the study is the training of mind as an instrument of knowledge and not merely to fill it with superfluous matters. It asserts that it is only  education that helps a seeker in developing his personality. Thus the knowledge attained through education provides the vital force in him that is supposed to be useful throughout his life.

According to Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the seeker of the highest knowledge, the real knowledge that helps in distinguishing the self from the non-self appearing in various forms, should not seek merely the knowledge of books. Similarly, in the Katha Upanishad, it is said in this context that “Not by the study of the Vedas is the Atman attained, nor by intelligence, nor by much book learning. The mind has to be prepared through Sravana  (listening), manan (concentration) and nidhidhyasana (meditation)’. It is very important to mention here that were possible only under an enlightened and accomplished teacher (guru) who himself had attained siddhi (perfection).

It, therefore, can be assessed that education in the ancient Indian educational system had basically a religious and philosophical basis, though its utilitarian value was not completely diminished, as it is explicit from the curriculum.

Must Read: The Vedic Age

Subjects of Study in the ancient Indian educational system

In the time of Patanjali, the pupil was expected to study all the four Vedas, six Angas and their secret treatises, the pathas, the sacred transitions of the Bahuvrichas, the Atharva Veda and its nine branches, treatises on dialogues, the epics, the Puranas, historical legends, vakovakyam (the science of logic), and the vaidyakam (the science of medicine). There are references to the study of Chandasastra (the study of matrics) and Dharmasastra. It is important to mention here that in the time of Patanjali ‘grammer’ was not receiving adequate attention due to which he wrote his commentary.

However, Divyavadana (fourth century AD) prescribes a different elementary course of study that did not commence with the Vedas. According to it the study commenced with the first lesson in reading and writing at the guru’s house who had many other students as well (prabhutadarakah).

At that time in the ancient Indian educational system, the course of study began with the lesson siddham that ended in accomplishments in writing (lipyam), Sankhyam (arithmetic), ganana (accounting) and even in rules related to coinage and exchange. The Smriti authorities mention a sacrament called Vidhyarambha or akshara-svikriti (the beginning of education or learning of the alphabets).

Apart from these subjects of a general nature, the pupil used to study rules of irya (asceticism), Charya (medicany), Saucham (ceremonial purity), Samudacharya (good social form), bhoskara (the proper mode of address) and all the four Vedas. Thus, it seems that several other subjects dealing with grammar, philology and logic, etc., were not in the course of study of the ancient Indian educational system or were optional.

The most important aspect in this context is that all learned Brahmans were expected to have studied all four Vedas, the six Vedangas, the Puranas, Nyaya Mimamsa, and the Dharamsastras thus covering the ritualistic, legalistic, juristic, historical and philosophical aspects.

According to the records of the Gupta period, there were fourteen (or eighteen) subjects, popularly known as vidyas, that were regarded as within the scope of learned Brahmans. In the seventh century AD the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen-Tsang observes that after finishing a work called ‘the Twelve Chapters’’, the children are introduced, in their seventh year, to five sciences: the science of sound or grammar, that relating to arts and crafts, the science of medicine, the science of reasoning and finally the science of internal discipline.

In the eighth year, the pupils took up Panini’s Sutras and the verbal appendix, that they completed in eight month’s time. A good grasp in grammar took another five years. After accomplishing mastery in grammar, the pupil studied hetuvidya (logic), abhidharma (metaphysics) and other allied disciplines. It was at advanced centers of learning that the courses of higher studies were provided.

Also Read: Hindu Literature

Professional and Vocational Education in the ancient Indian educational System

Professional education particularly in the field of medicines and surgery, as it was quite different from the one for the Vedic texts, grammar, and other disciplines, sought special attention. The two branches of medical science had acquired considerable significance in ancient India: there are references to physicians (bhishag) even in Rig Veda, and Taxila was an important seat of medical science in the six century BC with Jivaka, Ajatsatru’s famous physician, receiving his education there.

However, till the time of Charaka and Susruta of the Christian era, there is no information regarding the pattern for imparting instruction in these sciences. Susruta, while furnishing information on the initiation of pupil in the medical sciences says that the student desirous of studies in medicine had to be dvija (one of the twice-born castes) of tender years (vayas), belonging to a good family (anvaya) and gifted qualities like sila (calm temper), saurya (prowess), saucham (purity), Vinaya (modesty), saktibala (capacity and strength), Prasannachita (contended frame of mind), Vakya chestam (pleasant in speech) and klesasham (painstaking in efforts).

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To be continued…………