CHAPTER - IV
EDUCATION AND LEARNING
In
medieval
times,
formal
education
was
a
privilege of a microscopic minority. Only the sons of the
priestly class and royal and noble families had formal
education.
education
The
vast
commonality
transmitted
folk-lore
or
folk
had
to them orally
literature
or
only
informal
In the form of
through
religious
performances. The elders in the family and the villages
served
the
purpose
of
teachers. ,The main
purpose of
education was to teach morals and human values. There are
innumberable
which
stories
prevalent
among
the village
folk
jwere recited in the families''almost every evening.
These stories taught ethics and mor;ality. Elderly people
also cited inferences and related their own experiences
to the younger generation. As the folk literature also
continued to transmit from generation to generation only
orally and has been published only.in recent times, and
that
too
only
common people's
in
fragments, a
complete
idea
of
the
education in medieval Assam cannot be
known. However, we have some information regarding the
formal education prevalent during the period.
Education System - Hiteswar Bairbarua writes in
his book "Ahomar Din" , that during the days of the Tai
Ahoms not
much
importance
was given
to education and
(120)
learning. On the other hand they were more interested in
heroic
called
and
adventurous
activities."^ The
Ahom
Pandits
Deodhais and Bailungs used to teach the children
of their own and the royal and noble families. Number of
tols
where
were
taught
belief
education
that
were
on
very
education
the
religious .texts and others
2
'
'
few.
The ' commonality had the
and
learning
was
meant
for
the
Brahmins and so it should remain confined to them only.
The formal or institutional education was imparted in the
satus - pathis
and
pathsalas
( school) by the gurus
and adhyapaks who were iwell versed on the branch of their
teaching.
They
usually
grammer, literature
/
4
astronomy
etc.
taught
topics
like
philosophy,
and poetics, smritis, astrology
Students
in
the
t.ols
were
and
usually
Brahmins and upper caste Hindus and the sons of the royal
and noble families. Students of other castes or classes
were .not debarred from admission in the schools but their
number was limited may be due to their apathetic attitude
5
towards learning. Records revealed
that Sankardeva was
reading
in
the
tols
under
Mahendra
Kandali
and
7
Madhavadeva under Rajendra Adhyapak. Queen
Phuleswari
1.
H. Barbarua, Op.Cit., p.481
2.
B.K. Barua, Op.Cit., pp.149,150
3.
4.
5.
H.Barbarua, Op.Cit., p.481
S.N. Sarma, Op.Cit.. p.157
Ibid, p.159
6.
K a t h a - g u r u - c h a r i t , p.32
7.
Ibid,p.78
(121)
established at Rangpur (present Sibsagar) a school naming
'Bar Rajar Parhasali'- but during the reign of Rajeswar
Singha that was closed down.
The
reiated
tradition
of
,
imparting
education
that
to arts and crafts were either transmitted on
hereditary
lines
or
acquired through the medium of
9
professional guilds or Khels. This was not the type of
formal curriculam education nor training but was confined
to the type of apprentice. Since in the Ahom regime paiks
were organised into khels
which were comparable to work
guilds each doing a particular kind of productive work
for the state.10 They were no doubt ,professional artisans
I
('
i
and
'
in' all
the stages
the members
of
the khels got
education in particular craftsmanship through hereditery
nature. Having remained in the same locality of the khels
it was convenient for them to learn skill relating to the
professions of their predecessors. It has been mentioned
earlier
that
only
the
nobles, members
of
the king's
family, the Gosains and the Brahmanas and the members of
the priestly class could afford education in the tols.
8.
H. Barbarua, Op.Cit., p.481
9.
S.N. Sarma, Op.Cit.. p.157
10. P.Gogoi, Op.Cit., p.551
(122)
The Karis, paiks or workers of the state did not have the
chance of taking any formal education and therefore their
education was normally confined to their Khels. The media
of education
also
in general
confined
to
the
during
the medieval
sat ras,
Namghars
temples. Dance, music, painting,
sclupture
associated
spiritual
education.
dances,
morals.
proverbs
11
supposed
Singha
From
that
with
Folk
etc
the
the
with
folk music,
folk
of'' G.R.
of
knowledge
Barua,
the Ahom
Education
and
it
King
(1714- 1744 AD) there was no trace of
and learning in Upper Assam. 12
and
men
ge.neral
reign
was
different
provided
literature,
knowledge
before
and
art, architecture
religion
supplied
period
and
is
Siva
education
' '
learning
was generally
imparted
orally to the children during t'hls medieval period. Grand
fathers
and
grand
mothers
in
the
evening
time
on
the
yards or bedsides used to tell their grand children folk
tales, stories of moral virtues and topics of religious
books
like
Conversation
the
Purana,
Ramayana
and
Mahabharata.
in the various places was also a media of
learning particularly in the villages and in this regard
11.
N.K. Basu, Op.Cit. . p.551
12.
G.R. Barua, Op.Cit.. p.183
(123)
credit
moved
was owned by
the Poharis
13
selling
(Kaivarta
door
to door
for
intermixing
various
words and dialictic
wives) who
fishes. They adhered
to
elements spoken
by different tribal societies of our time. Recitation and
discussion
on
religious
the field of learning
sacred works
from
very
exhibited
telling
texts
also
contributed
to the illiterates.
much in
Reciters of
seem thus to have been honoured in Kamrupa
early
times. Te pre Sankara
literature
also
a great zeal for story telling and this story
literature must have fed the common men's hunger
15
'
for knowledge.
Ahom kings
Gadhadhar
Singha
like Joyadhaj^;'Singh
(1648-1663 A D ) ,
(1680-96 AD). Rudra Singha
(1696-1714AD),
Siva Singha
(1714-1744 A D ) , Rajeshwar Singha (1751-1760AD),
were
patrons
great
patronage
of
king
of
education
Joyadhaj
Singha
were translated into Assamese.
Gadadhar
and
Singha, Ram Chandra
learning.
some
of
the
At
the
Puranas
At the patronage of King
Barpatra, composed
a book
named 'Manjkut' regarding the Madhaba Dewalaya of Hajo.
17
13. A village Pandit Sri K. Das informed that the Poharis in
medieval
Assam
played
a
great
role
Assamese language and culture.
14. S.N. Sarma, Op.Cit.. p.158
15.
M. Neog, Sankardeva and His t i m e s , p.252
16.
H. Barbarua, O p . C i t . ,
17.
Ibid.
p.483
in enriching
the
(124)
Ahom
King
Rudra
Singha
had
a
mind
to
spread
formal
education in his kingdom and that made him to set up some
schools
in the villages
and chat rasals or tols in some
-1 Q
newly built
tovms.
He also sent
some Brahmin boys to
study in places like Vardhamana, KanauJ and Vanarasi.
Besides this, king Rudra Singha himself and his royal
poet
Kabiraj
Koch
King
Chakravarty
composed
Nara-Narayana
various
(1540-1584
AD)
songs.
19
The
made valuable
contributions to the vernacular literature and under his
auspices
Bokul
Purushottam
Kayastha
wrote
Manjuri, and Sridhara
20
Sandhyakhanda.—
Vidyabagish
a
compiled
mathematical
a
treatise,
wrote an astrological
grammer,
Kitabat
work called
There are also reference that some scholars of
medieval Assam had been to Nadiya, Mithila, Beneras etc.
to
have
their
education.
Scholars
from
these
places
particularly
from Santipura'^ in Nadiya came to Assam for
21
scholarly discussion.
It is also learnt that the great
saint, Sankaracharyya
enter
into
scholarly
of South
debate
India, came
with ' the
to Assam
noted
Assamese
1
scholar,
Abhinava
Gupta
to
22
in
the
18. Ibid, p.240
19. Ibid, p.485
20. S.L. Barua, Op.Cit., p.45
21. Katha-guru-charita, pp.246, 247
22. B.K. Barua, Op.Cit . . p.151
tenth
century.
i
The
(125)
Katha-guru-charita
informs us that one tol or chat rasal
was
Chirhati
set
up
Brahmaputra
in
by
Economic
refers
to
the
the
northern
bank
of
Jadavendra
Bhattacharjee, who
taught
texts. 23 S.N.Sarma in his book 'A
grararaer and religious
Socio
in
8
Cultural
gurukula
History
system
of
of
Medieval
education
Assam,
in
which
resided in the house or compound of the
24
(teachers).
However,
the system of offering
gurus
pupils
guru-
daksina (rice, milk, vegetables etc.) 25 was in vogue till
the early part of the 12th century, which indicates the
prevalence of
the form of gurukula system of education.
Of course the students who had to reside in the teacher's
compound were teenagers.
Learning
learners had
learning.
Materials
-
In
medieval
Assam,
to depend upon some materials as media of
The
Yogini
Tantra
refers
to
writing
and
engraving of letters on materials such as earth, bark of
leaves,
gold,
copper
and
silver.
Bhurja Patra or Tejapatra,
(aloe
wo0d),
svarna
It
also
refers
to
Talapat ra (palm leaves) Agaru
pat ra , tamra
pat ra , Raupya
pat ra ,
23. Katha-guru-charita , p.407
24. S.N. Sarma, Op.Cit . ,p.l59
25. Katha-guru-charita, p.32
26. Yogini Tantra, Chap.VII, vv.16-17, Cf B.K. Baruah,
Op.Cit., p.155
C126)
barks of trees, ketaki patra and Beta pat ra. 27 The use
of writing paper was not known and
tree
bark
known
as
sanchipat
therefore a kind of
(Agar
Agallocha) was commonly used for writing.
preparing
the
Sanchl
Pat
for
iho
use
'
or
Aquicaria
The method of
ul
wriiliiy
In
29
narrated well by E. Gait in his 'The History of Assam'.
In
the
sanchi
barks,
the
compositions called puthi s
religious
or
historical
were written which could be
preserved
for a pretty long time. Such puthis are still
found
the
in
villages.
In
the
words
of
Gait,
'These
puthis are very carefully preserved, wrapped up in pieces
of cloth and are handed down from father to son' .30 Ink was
prepared either with si 1ikha gut i (terminalia citrina)
and bull's urine or extract
from Kef\eraj
( a kind of
31
~
small creeper) adding with elandhu (soot).
Some barks
of trees and Amalaka
(phyeanthus amblica) were only used
to extract ink. 32 A kind of golden ink was also used and
that might
possibly
be prepared
from lac and some such
manuscripts are still preserved in the Buddhist monastery
at Disangpani, near Sibsagar.
33
Ink was kept in mintam or
inkpot.
27.
Yogini
Tantra,
28. E. Gait, O p . C i t . ,
29.
rbid_
30.
Ibid
3 1 . S. Rajguru,
32.
Ibid
33.
Ibid
C h a p . V I I , v v . 1 5 - 1 7 . S . R a j g u r u , O p . C i t . , p p . 377-378
Appendix-D,
Op.Cit.,
p.378
p.375
(127)
Pen
was
prepared
from
the henquill
or
goose
quill and sometimes bamboo reeds were also used.
Pen of
henquill or goosequill was known as pakhi kalam
(feather
pen) o Khagori
ornamented
Gadadhar
was
with
oA so
used
gi&^dl were
Singha. 35
Flat
for
in use
scale
preparing
during
called
pen.
the
akmari
Pens
reign
and
of
round
scale called ruImari were made of bamboo. Mahe chunga, a
kind of ink pot was also made of bamboo.i
For learning
in the preliminary stage leaves of banana (kalpat). seeds
of jika (Luffa acutangula), pumpkin, gourd etc. were also
used. Even bamboo sticks were used to learn the alphabets
on earth, as earth was used as slate. 37
A kind of indelible ink was used especially in
writing love letters and diplomatic documents in medieval
Assam.
The
King
of
Koch
Behar
monarch Sukhampha or Khora Raja
once
sent
to
the
Ahom
(1552-64 AD) an epistle
written in invisible ink, which baffled the ingenuity of
the Ahom court .^
-K>JM.
an abstruse mathematician deciphered
the document by tesLding it in darkness, where the letters
appeared
in
their
unexpected
brightness, as
written with the sap of the earthworm.
they
were
3 fl
34.
Ibid, p.379
35.
Tungkhungia Buranji, p . 1 6 , Satsari Asam Buranji,
36.
Information gathered from village people from field s t u d y .
37.
Ibid
38.
H.C. Goswami, Descriptive catalogue of Assamese Manuscripts,
Calcutta, 1930,Introductory page XVII;B.K.Barua, Op.Cit,p.156,157,
p.110
(128)
Tulapat
material
other
specially
and
tough
prepared
cotton
leaf
for painting
Shan people
strong
were
or
of
was
used
as
writing
purposes. The Ahoms and
North Eastern
Assam
used
to make
wwi'VCtmg sheets known as tulapat
^rom
obtained
barks of a few varieties of tree. 39
Teachers
cu pulp
and
Taught
-
The
by
beating
Tai
which
of
the
Ahoms though
accepted Assamese as the lingua franca did not completely
give up
the study of
their own language. They
employed
Ahom pandits (scholars) to teach Ahom or Tai language to
some
of
the
royal
and
noble
families. The
chief
Ahom
Pandit was granted 7000 puras of land and the service of
20 attendants. The Pali Pandi ts or junior teachers were
granted 6 puras of land along with the service of 2 paiks
40
each.
Two officers Chiring Phukan and Bar Chiring
Phukan were in charge of teaching Tai or Ahom language,
promotion of the study of Buranjis. writing hooks in Tai and their
preservation
e-fe. ^
The
students
besides
learning
Tai
language had a ls,o +Ti) learn grammar, religious texts and
buranjis. Chat rag^ls
were
set
up
in
the
campus of
39. N. Neog, Sankardeva And His Times, p.303
40. N.K. Basu, Op.Cit.. p.254
41. Ibid.
the
(129)
Ahoin nobles as well, where students not more than twenty
were admitted.
42
The
head
of
Sanskrit
tol
was
called
Ojha ,
or Adhyapak. 43 Sankardeva had his education in
Acharyya
a to 1 run by a Brahmin Scholar named Mahendra Kandali and
Madhavdeva
studied
in the tol of Rajendra Adhyapak.
A
school run by Jadavendra Bhattacharjee at Srihati, on the
north
bank
of
the Brahmaputra
attracted
students
from
different parts of the country. 45 One Devadatta Adhyapak
in his chatrasal at Solkocha (present Goalpara district)
taught his disciples which was noticed by Sankardeva. 46
Katha-guru-charita
also
speaks
of
Mukunda
Adhyapak's
i
school
which
chat rasal
tols
and
contained
students . nearly
run by Dhaneswar
chat rasals
hundred
Adhyapak. 47 There
and
were also
in Ashaklanta, Hajo, Damodar
Dham,
Vyaskuchi, Rohuri, Ratnapur, and Koch Behar. 48 According
to S.K. Bhuyan there were about 10 to 12 schools around
Guwahati
during
the
reign
of
imparting Muslim education only. 49
Rajeswar
Singha
for
,
42. H. Barbarua, Op.Git., p.481
43. M. Neog, Op.Git., p.95
44.
Katha-guru-charita,
pp.32,78
45.
Ibid,
p.407
46.
Ibid,
p.249
47.
48.
I b i d , p.685
J . Goswami ( e d ) , Asam Sahitya Sabha P a t r i k a . H.K. Sarma
'Vaishnav Jugat Sikha V e b a s t a ' , 32 y e a r , 1st edition, p.54
49.
S.K. Bhuyan, Swarg'adeo Rajeswar Singha, p.166
(13U)
Education:.- commenced from the early years of a child
on an auspicious day.50 But there was no age bar for education and
katha-guru-charita refers that old
people
like Budha Ata^ Ram
51
Chandra Thakur who she wed keen desire- to read.
SanKardeva
also started his education at the age of twelve.
Students of superior merit
were sometimes made
Oja Chat ras and they were put to teach junior students.
Sankardeva
for
instance
was made Oja Chatra
in the to 1
maintained by Mahendra Kandali.
'Tahe pathsal masibar nibar kari
52
Oja chatra patile'
Vaisnavite teachers were solely responsible for
educating
the masses of
the country. It was not
always
necessary for an adult that he should know how to write.
Oral
recitation
and
correct
explanation
of
the
Slokas could also make an adult proficient to dessiminate
religious
or
spiritual
education
to
the common people.
For instance without a slate and a pencil Bhavani Puria
Golpal Ata made Lakhmana Oja memorise the entire book XI
of the Bhagavata.
53
Records reveal also how an old couple
50. Katha-guru-charita. p.32
51. Ibid, p.310
52. Ibid, p.33
53. Ibid, p.343
(131)
arranged
dally
among
themselves
namkirtan
held
by
that
the
wife
Gopal
Ata
and
would
his
attend
disciples
during the day and would in the evening recite the verses
learnt during the Kirtana
to his wife.
c4
In this way in the tols. chat rasals
and even
within the satras teachings were rendered to the students
on various aspects.
Female
are
not
medieval
and
Education
available
time, yet
write
at
priestly
Though
regarding
we find
the
that
royal
It
classes
has
been
gave
much
irrespective
of
her
Chakravarty
translated
Sakuntalam
renderings
the
famous
to read
the
importance
on
that
Parhasali'
to ail
Assamese
Sanskrit
55
caste.
At
of
women of
earlier
teaching
Abhigyana
learners
in education and
set up a school named 'Bar-rajar
for
female
records
the girls used
stated
Phuleswari had much interest
arranged
sufficient
their own houses. Generally
and
education.
-
Queen
therefore
where
she
willing
students
patronage
Kabiraj
Sanskrit
drama
into Assamese, Ananta Acharya made
of
the Ananda
Lahari
and
Ramananda
Dvija composed Usha geets and translated the Udoyga Parva
of the Mahabharata into Assamese. 56 At the instance ol
54. Ibid, p.421
55. G.R. Barua, Op.Ci t., p.98
56. P. Hazarika (ed.), Prabandha Saurav, A.C. Choudhury,
'Bharatiya Sikha Sanskritit Narir Awadan', Dibrugarh,
1979, pp.119.120
(132)
King
Siva
Phuleswai,
Singha (1714
an
-
1744
A.D.)
illustrated
work
with
and
his
queen
pictures
called
Sankhachuda Badha was written by Kabiraj Chakravarty. 57
Her successor Ambika followed her foot steps and it was
under
her
auspieces
that
Sukumar
Barkai.th
wrote
the
famous book on elephantology, named Hast ividyarnava.
At
her patronage, Kavichandra Dvija composed
the
Dharma
Purana
and
Vaishnava
the verse of
in Sanskrit. 5 9
hyms
Enadari alias Sarbeswari another queen of Siva Singha was
also a learned lady. At her patronage, the poet Bholanath
Dvija translated the Sailya parva of the Mahabharata into
Rn
Assamese.
Under the patronage and supervision of queen
Sarbeswari
young
girls
of
different
communities
were
taught the art of spinning, weaving. Singing and dancing
in the royal harem.
Premoda
Singha
and
the
Kunwari, daughter-in-law
consort
of
Ratneswar
of
Rajeswar
Gohaindeo
(Charu
Singha) commissioned court poet Vidya Chandra Kabi Sekhar
fi 2
to compose the Hari Vamsa.
Rani Kamaleswari, widow of
Gaurinath Singha (1780-1795 AD) wrote a nbmber of letters
to
the
British
Governors
and
herself
proceeded
to
Calcutta for requesting Lord Wellesly to send an armed
57. S. Rajguru, Op.Cit., p.203
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
P . C . Choudhury ( e d . ) , Hasti —Vidyarnava ,
Gauhati. 1976,
p.206
A.C. Choudhury, 'Loc.Cit.', p . 120
S.K. Bhuyan, Studies in the History of Assam, p.20
S.K. Bhuyan ( e d . ) , Tungkhungia Buranji (Assames-^ v e r s i o n ) ,
Gauhati, 1932, p.37
H. Barbarua, O p . C i t . , p.488
(133).
contingent' to Assam
again
that
at
the
in
request
1691
Abhisek
of
the disturbances.
Induprova,
AD,
a manuscript
newly
copied. 64
was
Kamaleswar
to quell
Singha
It was
the Kuonari
named
Sri
During
(1795-1811 AD) at
Ram
the
queen,
Chandror
reign
of
the patronage of
Numoli Raj'mao, a scholar named Bagish translated a book
called Hitopadesa. 65
into Assamese
There are also' references in the choronicles to
learned
Queen
alphabets
with
like
Chao
Ching
her
toe.
It
Suklenmung Gargaya Raja
around
who
was
write
Ahom
her
advice
that
at
(1559-1603 AD) constructed walls
the capital of Garhgaon and the post of Borpatra
Gohain, the third great minister
was created.
king
could
and
Chandr'aprava
administration
The Kachari queen Chandraprova, consort of
Tamradhaj
education
in Ahom
(1706-1708
learning.
It
A.D.)
was
one Bhubaneswar
was
also
at
Bachaspati
also
patron
of
the request
of
translated
into
Assamese verse of Br.hannaradia-Purana during the reign of
her son Suradarpa
Narayan (1708-1721 A . D . ) .
63. S.K. Bhuyan, Anglo Assamese Relations, pp.434 ff
64. A.C. Choudhury Loc.Cit., p.122
65. N.K. Basu, Op.Cit., p.256
66.
Sukumar Buranji, Asam Buranji,
67.
Ibid_,
68.
B . Sarma, Durbin.
p.Ill
p.27
(134)
The Ahom Buranji
Sukumar
Mahanta
informs
queen was regularly
obtained
us
the
listening
religious
work
Hara
Gauri
mentioned
earlier, had
from her
fathers'
family of
the
to the recitation
69
Gaurama
a copy of
court,
religious
there
texts
were
to
the
Naranarayan
(1540-1584
daughter
Pratap
of
Bhanumati
became
and
Kamata
of
the
Kunwari.
the book brought
was appointed to
recite and explain to her the verses of the work. 7 0 In the
Koch
court
the
Sulochana,
Sambada.
also
from
provisions
for
recitation
71
ladies.
The Koch
court
A.D.)
Bhuyan,
the
a priest
married
a
Chief
Bhanumati,
relative
queen
and
of
of
King
the
Sankardeva.
took
the
name^,
Ratnamala. She was also a great patron of learning and it
was
at
her
order
that
the
great
Sanskrit
scholar,
the
Sanskrit
grammer,
Purusuttam
Bhattacharyya
wrote
72
called Prayog Ratnamala.
In
the houses
of
the Vaishnava
reformers
the
girls got religious instruction from the elder members of
the family. Some talented girls showed equal proficiency
with
the boys which
had
enabled
them
even
to
take
the
69. Sukumar Mahanta, Asam Buranji. p.12
70. Ibid, p.14
71.
katha-guru-charita,
p.662
72.
Harendra Narayan,Bchat Ra1vamsawali(manuscript)
vv.1825,1826
(135)
responsibility
of
ecclesiastical
order. Thus Kanaklata, grand daughter-in-
law
of
a
sat ra
Sankardeva,
or
gave
get
appointments
instruction
to
the
in
the
disciples
during her stay at Beladhunga satra.7 3 Lakhshmi, the wife
of Chaturbhuj Thakur and Dayal, the wife of Telekrishna
were appointed as medhis or instructors to the queens of
the Koch king
Lakshminarayan
matters.74
religious
The
to give
Vaishnava
them education on
women
also
showed
equal proficiency in education. Padmapriya, the daughter
of Bhawanipuriya Gopal Ata was credited
to be the first
woman poet. Her poems were appreciated for sublimity and
devotion to Guru .7 5
With
movement,
the
bhaonas
growth
were
in
contained
the Bhagawat a which
Sanskrit
the
introduced
established
in
every
of
village.
neo-vaishnavite
and
namghars were
Spiritual
was
till
education
then
in the
lore was rendered to the language of the people
by Sankardeva and Madhavadeva. Religious discussions were
held
in
namghars
where
participate. The menfolk
homes
and
thus
the
all
carried
womenfolk
the
villagers
could
the teachings to their
had
73. A.C. Choudhury . 'Loc .Ci t '. .p.l22
74. Katha-guru-charita, p.662
75. A.C. Choudhury. 'Loc.Cit'. . p.121
a
chance
to
receive
(136)
them. Girls too became proficient
nam-kirtana
and
some
even
in
in the performance of
performing
bargits.
Thus
Kamalapriya, daughter of Rama Rai, a rich Bhuyan, who was
married
to
proficient
the
Chilarai
that
faith
he
and
accepted
became
Vaishnavite movement.
religious
Koch
general,
was
highly
in performing bargits, .which had so impressed
general
Vaishnava
the
knowledge
a
the
initiation
great
patron
of
of
the
neo-
The following story evidenced the
and
wisdom
of
the
common
Assamese
women. When Sankardeva was drawing a scene of heaven for
some
theatrical
pointed
out
performances
the mistake
an
old
woman, Chandari,
of his omitting
the Baikuntha
Brikha. Sankardeva appreciated her knowledge and included
it accordingly. 77 Thus
it
can be concluded
that
though
eduction was limited to the upper section of the society,
the common people were not totally ignorant.
"Examination System - Medieval history does not
reflect
any valid
documents
as
regards
the
examination
and promotion system of the students during
the period.
Probably due to lack of higher educational system, class
or promotional examination was not required to be taken .
76. Katha-guru-charita, pp.137, 138
77. Ibid, p.46
^
(137)
But from the records available it can be stated that the
students
their
of
medieval
proficiency
period
in their
7B
scholastic disputes.
^
sakta
in
Vaishnavite
the
as
sometimes
own
subjects
to
exhibit
through
some
For instance Madhavadeva, who was
initial
a
had
stage
result
of
later
his
turned
into
controversy
with
Sankardeva, by those scholasticism and depth of knowledge
he
was
greatly
influenced.
proficiency
at
disputations were
Sankardeva
also
showed
his
the
court
of
Naranarayan
where
held with the Brahmanas. 79 Mahendra
Kandali, the guru of Sri Sankardeva set a examination for
his
disciples
and
verse. Sankardeva
asked
all
composed
the
students
to
compose
a poem so wonderfully, that
it contained no vowels but its meaning was universe.
We also find ample instances of the teachers and
the
taught
moving
from
one
other -in search of better
capital
educational
centre
to
the
scope. Once to Naranarayan's
came a profound scholar named Kavichandra
along
with two' hundred pupils in search of rival disputemt. Ihc
scholar
about
with his disciples while enquired
the
residence
of
Sankardeva, all
the passers by
their
enquiries
78. B.K. Barua, Op.Cit., p.152, S.N. Sarma, Op.Cit., p.173
79. Katha-guru-charita, pp.235 ff
80. Ibid, p.34
(138)
ware
aptly
remarked
replied
to
country
of
his
in
Sanskrit.
followers
scholars".
At
'Look,
From
this
this
this
we
Kavi
seems
can
take
Chandra
to be a
it
for
granted that during the medieval period Sanskrit was a]so
learnt
by
the
pupils
of
Assam
and
particularly
in
Kamrupa.
Script s
educational
-
system
primitive
tribal
development
of
opined
It
is
was
not
known
prevalent
societies.
scripts
(lipi
well
in
Of
whether
any
among
the
from
the
can best
be
Assam
course
or haraf)
it
that education could grow in medieval Assam as a
result of the spread of Aryan religion and culture. The
Tai
language
prevalent
among
had
among
its
the
own
script.
priestly
section
This
of
language
is
the Ahoms
and
the Khamtis, Phakeys, Khamjangs, Aitons, Tarungs,
Doanias and Mans.
with "Chou Lung
Upper Burma
The Tai
Sukapha
alphabet came to Assam along
from the present
Shan states of
in the year 1228 A.D. The Tai
scripts has
DO
16 vowels.
The consonant
'a' bears the vowel sign and
the pronunciation occurs accordingly. All the Tai scripts
- 84 A chart of the Tai
are 'a karanta' e.g. pronounces 'a'.
Ahom script is appended in the next page.
81. Ibid,
p p . 2 4 5 ff
82. N.C.
Gogoi,
The
Assamese
1987, I n t r o d u c t i o n .
8 3 . G.K. Baruia, Ahom P r i m e r ,
84. I b i d ,
p.2
English
Tai
Dictionary,
.Gauhati, 1 9 6 8 , p p . 1 ff
Tinsukia,
(13S)
The Assamese script developed from the Brahmi
through the Gupta script akin form of which we find in
the
Nagajari
Khanikar
gaon
stone
inscription
of
4lh
century and umachal stone inscription of Surendra Varma
alias
Mahendra
through
Varma
(450-485
the Borganga
Bhutivartnan
rock
(510-555
A.D.).
inscription
A.D.),
It
of
I'Dobi-' and
the
the
developed
time of
Nidhanpur
copper plate inscriptions of Bhaskarvarman (594-650 AD)^*^
and after
the
tenth
century
A.D.
through
copper plate inscription of Ratnapala
the Bargaon
(1010 - 1040 A.D.)t
Khona-mukhi copper plate inscription of Dharraapala (10951120 A.D.)
and so on and so forth.
As the source of both Assamese and Bengali is
the Gupta
script
developed
in two different
ways, so
there is every likllhood of them being alike. The scripts
of the Kanai Barasi Bowa stone inscription (1206 A.D.),
Rout
Kuchi
copper plate inscription
(1329 A.D.), Paya
copper plate inscription of Mukta dharma Narayan (1442
A.D.), Kamakhya Temple
(1565
A.D.),
Rudra
Singha
inscription of King Naranarayan
Lepetkata
(1701
copper
A.D.),
plate
Brahmottor
inscription of Siva Singha (1726 A.D.),
inscription
copper
of
plats
clearly point
to the development of Assamese script which were used to
print the Dharma-pustaka (edited by
Atraaram Shorma) in
89
1813 /'JD.
85. B. Hazarika, Asamiya Bhasar Utpati Aru KramaVikash, '. Gauhati
398B, pp.14,16
86. Ibid., pp,16,18,20
87. I b i d , pp.28,30
88. Jl£-~i Dp.32, S-?,35
89. M.Nec-g(ed) .Orunudoi, >_AGaul-ia^i, 1583, p l a l e l a n d 2 , p . 6 9 .
(140)
Hov/8ver in 1846 when the Baptist missionery of
America started publishing the 'Orunucjioi' , they did net
follow the script of the Dharma-pustaka published in 1813
but
that of another Dharma-p'.
oka edited by Gary and
published in 1833 AD. As both the scripts of the Dharnia
Pustakas developed outside Assam
(Calcutta) and by the
non Assamese typographists they tended to become similar.
Yet
1846
if we examine the scripts used
onwards
Assamese
1873
we
and
see
the difference
between
the
Bengali script. During the period 1836 -
Assamese
governmental
will
in ' Orunudoi ' from
was
not
used
communications.
in
During
educational
the
period
and
under
discussion Bengali language and script were used for this
purposes. Later on when after 1873 Assamese language was
reinstated
in
Assam,
the Bengali
educated
Assamese
scholars did not want to re-introduce the scripts used in
the Dharma Pustak of 1833. For their convenience they
became content with the modification of the type 'r' and
'w' and
for the rest they used the Bengali types found
near at hand. This is how both of them became similar.
Curriculam - The curriculam of studies during
the medieval period includes a long list of topics. From
Katha-guru-charita
it is learnt that Sankardeva himself
had to study four vedas , fourteen sast ras, Siksa. Kalpa,
(141)
aslronomyy, eighteen Kavyas, eighteen tantras. eighteen
90
^<Qsas and Y o j ^ sastras.
Jyotisa Vedansa. the science
which measures
planets
and
time by ' counting
stars
was also
the movement
studied
and
of ilio
the kings kept
daivajnas at the court for forecasting the coming events
91
of the state.
From the granis of the early Kamrupa
kings
it
is revealed
under discussion
(education
families
and
that
the
was mainly
art). The
during
the
days
study
confined
sons
of
of
during
the period
to Vidya
:;akoti
the
and Kala
and
Ahoms
Majinder
learnt
land
survey, Arthasastra etc. and at home some students learnt
under
their
Ojas
(priests)
instruments,nritya
sastra etc.
in
tols
the
Sanskrit
of
Silpa
92
Sastra,
musical
H. Barbarua states that
medieval
times
along
with
Sanskrit and the religious sastras the students were also
given military education. 93 It was compulsory of the
youngmen of the royal
family to take military
training.
As all the officers and the paiks were bound to go to war
whenever required and theref"^re had to undergo a military
training.
attended
Thus
the
king
training
Cha^'cadhaj
catcp set up
Singha (1663-1670 A.D. )
for
the
prepartory
90. Katha-guru-chari ta, pp.35ff
91. Kamauligrant v.8, B.K. Barua, Op.Cit., p.153
92. H. Barbarua, Op.C i t.. p.461
93. Ibid, p.482
(142)
training
Saraighat.94 From the
before the battle of
learning of the Vedas and other Sastras during the period
it can best be opined that people at large were taught
spiritualism
and prime
importance was given on ethical
education which is lacking to day and for what juvenile
delinquencies are much spreading in the societies.
During medieval period, Assam was a prominent
centre of TrantriRism and therefore Tantras were mostly
studied by the people. The study of Tantras in Assam has
a remote antiquity. It is learnt from Gauhati grant of
Indrapala that Tant ra was a subject
king Indrapala
to be studied and
himself was conversant in the lore.95 For
many years Kamrupa was taken as the home of spells and
charms of magic and witchcraft (Tant ra Mant rar Desh) and
saying
goes so all over
India
that
who ever goes to
Assam, Assamese women with their super natural power can
convert a man into a lamb.
Elephantology
dealing
with
the
which
training
of
includes
the
subject
elephants, curing
their
diseases and some other procedures to be followed by the
Maut
(who masters
the elephant) was also an important
94. S.K. Bhuyan, Lachit Barphukan and His Times, pp.15 ff
95. P.C. Choudhury, Op.Cit., p.407
96. M. Neog, Purani Asamia Samaj Aru Sanskriti, Gauhati,
1971, p.68.
1
study.
97
A
well
elephants
known treatise written on the diseases of
known
was compiled
[143)
as
"Hastya Yurveda
or Gaja Cikitsa
in-the region where the
98
river Luhitya (now Brahmaputra) flows Himalayas.
As has
been
by Sage Palakapya
mentioned
Singha
and
compiled
his
a
elephants,
earlier
under
consort
Ambika
work
describing
their diseases
the order
Devi,
the
and
of
King
Sukumar
detailed
Siva
Borkailh
accounts
of
treatment. This book
was
known as Has t ividyarnaya,^''^'^
Ancient
aptitudes
and
records bear
talents
of
testimony
the
to the musical
Ass.amese
people.
Rudra
Singha encouraged the cultivation of music and dancing in
Assam. The
music
activities
of
dramatic
is
not
singing
performances
only
and
and
associated
playing
dancing
were
with
the
instruments
but
also
a part
of
learning.
From the report of Ralph Fitch who visited the
Koch
Kingdom
Veternary
under
living
science
review.
hospitals
in the
for
He
16th
century
was
also
studied
in
his
report
sheep,
creatures',99
goats,
cats,
Ayurveda,
medicines was also studied.
the
it
is
known
during
the
stated
birds
that
period
'they
and
science
of
have
for
all
herbal
The methods of preparing
97. A book named Hatiputhi (elephant book) was found with B.
Nirmalia of Duliajan written in Sachi leaves where training
instructions on elephants were recorded.
98. N.K. Basu, Op.Cit., p.253
99. B.K. Barua Op.Cit.. p.153
100. N.K. Basu Op.Cit., p.253
(144)
medicine out
of
the herbs
of
trees
lying
with
were recorded in some books known as Nidhanputhi.
jungles
101
The
vaidya or kabiraj practised medicine works on the basis
of these Nidhans. There are many such books written both
in prose and verse stating the names of diseases and the
102
methods of
treatment.
The Ahom govenment
had a
separate department
to see and treat the ailments of men
and animals. The head
physician
in this department
was
known as Bezbarua who had to look after the health of the
kings,
ministers
Darapdhara
Barua
and
the
nobles.
who
had
to
medicines prepared for the king.
There
taste
103
and
was
another
examine
the
Remuneration of teachers - No definite records
are available in regard to the payment of remuneration to
the
teachers
like
today. Yet
we
can
teachers or scholars who were entrusted
discipfles were provided
presume
that
the
for teaching the
in the form of either aids
or
grants. As referred previously most of the disciples
had
to remain at the guru' s house for learning and they had
to
look
after
the day
Sankardeva, himself
and
as
token
of
today
affairs of
the teachers.
remained at Mahendra Kandali's house
teacher's
remuneration,
he
offered
a
101. A. 'Nidhan Puthi' , obtained at the house of Late K.Gogoi of
Khumtai, in the Golaghat district.
102. G.R. Barua, Op.Cit., p.185
103. Sadar Amin, Asam Buranji, p.126
(145)
bucket of rice^a rupee coin, a piece of cloth to Mahendra
Kandali.
104
During this period no tution fee was charged
but the students used to approach the householder for money
or
rice
in
the
Caitra
month
and
the 'amount
thus
collected was shared between the teachers and taught.
No doubt the use of Tai language diminished as
a result of spreading over of the Assamese, yet the 'la L
language
was continued to be learnt during the periods.
Ahom pandits were employed to teach
they were paid
the Tai language and
remuneration, as under
the chief
pandit
there were 7000 puras of land (28,000 bighas) and twenty
attendants,' the pali pandits 6 puras (24 bi ghas) of land
and two paiks each. 105
Library - As the Ahom and the Koch kings were
great
patrons of
preservation
from
parts
of
India
for the
and books. Scholars
came
to
Naranarayan's
for scholastic discussion. The materials for the
composition
from
they made arrangement
of necessary documents
different
capital
learning
the
and
translation
royal
library
Ra j-vamsawali
it
can
of
of
be
the books
the
known
Koch.
that
were
supplied
From
Darrang
the
necessary
documents needed by Ram Saraswati to translate the verse
of
Mahabharata
into
Assamese
were
104. Katha-guru-chari ta, p.32
105. N. K. ..Basu-,
Op.Cit . . p.254
supplied
from
the
(146)
royal' library of Naranarayan was one of the greatest ai
that time. The Ahoms also appointed officers like Gandhia
Phukan and Gandhia Barua whose duty was to preserve all
the buranj is, royal
letters, dramas,
poems and the Puranas composed during their period.107 In
the Sat ras
and
documents, maps,
in the houses of the Brahmin pandi t s,
priests, deodhais and
collection of b o o k s .
Educat ion
v;ere
generally
the ibai lungs
there were a
good
1nR
o f the common
illiterate
they
v>fomen - A l t h o u g h
were
not
women
lacking
the
knowledge. Education for the commonality being informal
girls
along
with boys
learnt
from
the elders of the
family and from folk lore. Old men and women used to tell
the little children stories having morals. Some of these
OS,
stories
which
are
now
published
in printed
fpom
are
believed to have been told to the children by their grand
mothers or
literatuer
great
grand
Lakshminath
such stories
mothers.
Bezbarua
in his book
The
great
published
captioned
Assamese
a number of
Buri Aitar
Sadhu .
These stories exhibit the oratory and clear preception of
the elderly women folk.
107. J.
Goswami(ed.),
Rajguru,
'Madhya
1970, pp.l3ff
108. I Ibid.
Asam
Yugar
Sahitya
Sikha
Sabha
Patrika. S.
vebasta',
27 year,
(147)
Some
composed
by
items
women.
Nichukoni
geets
(weeding
songs)
songs) performed
of
To
or
folk
mention
dhai-nams
ai-nams
literature
a
few of
(cradle
and
were
these
solelyare
the
songs), bia-nams
sitala-geets
(devotional
in the honour of the goddess of small
pox or si tala etc. The cradle songs express women's love
of nature, affection
to
their knowledge of the
and
their
mastery
the plants, birds
and animals,
contemporary political
over
the
essence
of
texts. To cite a few examples
the
situation
religious
'-
Cradle songs-'Amir Maini Subo
Barit Bogori gos rubo
Bogori Sarile mainai butoli khabo'
meaning- Our little one will go to sleep, we will plant
a palm tree in our garden when the palms will
fall our little one will gather and eat them.
Bia-nan\ -
'Bhontir nam Subho
Bar Gharar mudhote
Kone T5t Babo
Tare Tatarsal Tate Posebo
Bhonte Ulai Gole
Urunga Hobo'
meaning -
Our sister's name is Subha, when she is wedded
'.
who will weave in the loom; placed at the outer
end
of
the
rottl^ and
drawing
we will
will leave our home-.
room?- The
feel very
loom
lonely
will
gel
when she
(148)
Ai-nam -
'Sitala ghate aye snan kare
Lahori Kesh Tar Mell
Sitala ghate aye pani tule
Tamore Kalochi lai'
meaning-
The
mother
Goddess
takes
her
bath
in
Sitala
ghat with her long hair spread on her back. She
draws water in a copper pot from Sitala ghat .
Bihu-nams - Bohu Tator Patot
Choku Alir Batot,
Maku Sori Sori Pare,
meaning-
I sit on the loom but my eyes are fixed on the
road as a result the shuttle drops from my hand
again and again.
.
Certain proverbs can be specifically attributed
to women. To cite a few examples, one proverb
follows
'Air gharalai
bule mayu
piche piche
jam, Hepah
jam'
poluai
meaning
runs as
kham, vidhiye
I, ( a daughter-in-
law) was contemplat ing to:.go,to my mother's place and a have
a
fine dish with her, but
fate ordained
that
it
would
follow me there by indicating that the women had to come
back
immediately
Another runs thus
after
she
reached
her mother's place.
'Airu barta, gangaru
jatra' meaning I
got the good news, that the mother is coming to visit me,
incidently I am having an auspicious ceremony at my place.
(149)
It is
general ly held-that the society
in medieval
Assam was based on the principles of egal i t arianism and
humanism. It was women as mother who taught children the
human values
charity,
and
love
cultivated
for
truth,
violence,
tolerance,
even
for
love
Tamuli
one's
Barbarua,
in them
Purnananda Buragohain
kindness,
community
others
definitely got their mental
Asamar
Padya
Gadadhar
Nangbakla
Buranji
Singha)
Gabharu's
Gabharu's
patriotism
leadership
for
patriots
Atan
of
how
inspired
non
and
Mumai
Buragohain,
medieval
Godapani
by
resoluteness
his
and
and heroism, Radha
organising
like
Assam
training from their mothers.
relates
was
sacrifice
great
Barphukan,
and
generosity,
feeling,
country. The
Lachit
the qualities
a
people's
(later
wife
Jaymati.
courage,
and
king
Mula
Rukmini's
rebellion
against
the oppression of the Ahom government set examples to all
and posterity.
<
if if if-^ ii: •^ ^