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The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century
Dharampal (1922–2006) was a great Gandhian thinker, historian and political philosopher from India. Convinced about the urgent need for an objective understanding about India’s past, before the onslaught of colonial rule, he decided to embark on an exploration of British-Indian archival material, based on documents emanating from commissioned surveys of the East India Company, lodged in various depositories spread over the British Isles. His pioneering historical research, conducted intensively over a decade, led to the publication of works that have since become classics in the field of Indian studies. This major work entitled "The Beautiful Tree" provides evidence from extensive early British administrators’ reports of the widespread prevalence of educational institutions in the Bengal and Madras Presidencies as well as in the Punjab, teaching a sophisticated curriculum, with daily school attendance by about 30% of children aged 6–15, where those belonging to communities who were classed as Shudras or even lower constituted a good number of students, and in some areas, for instance in Kerala, where Muslim girls were quite well represented.
436 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1983
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1999 people want to read
About the author
Dharampal
23 books90 followersDharampal was born in 1922 at Kandhala in the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. He has been associated in various ways with the regeneration of India’s diverse populations and the restoration of their decentralized social, political and economic organization centered on local communities.
After being active in the Quit India Movement (1942-43), he worked for some years with Mirabehn, an associate of Mahatma Gandhi, and in the 1950s founded a cooperative village near Rishikesh. Before that, at the time of Partition, in 1947-48, he was put in charge of the Congress Socialist Party centre for the rehabilitation of refugees coming from Pakistan, and came in close contact with Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, as well as with numerous younger friends, such as L.C. Jain, in Delhi. He was also a founding member of the Indian Cooperative Union in 1948.
From 1958 until 1964 he was General Secretary of the Association of Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development (AVARD) and subsequently Director, Study and Research of the All India Panchayat Parishad, until 1965. He was closely associated with Sri Jaiprakash Narayan, who deeply appreciated his research and writings.
From 1966 Dharampal devoted himself, for almost two decades, to an exploration of Indian archives spread over the British Isles. His published works of this period include: Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Some Contemporary Indian Accounts (1971), Civil Disobedience and the Indian Tradition (1971) and The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century (1983). He also authored Panchayat Raj as the Basis of Indian Polity: An Exploration into the Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly (1962) and The Madras Panchayat System: A General Assessment (1973). Recently several collections of his essays have been compiled and published by several of his younger associates. A complete listing of his published works is compiled below. The total picture of pre-colonized India that emerges from the pioneering historical research of Dharampal, though quite impressive, is yet to have a more widespread impact on India’s historiography. In the 1980s, his guidance served as inspiration for a group of scientists called the People’s Patriot Science and Technology (PPST) with their headquarters in Chennai.
Dharampal served as a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research for two terms in the early 1990s and again for a term recently. He was also the Chairman of the Commission on the Protection of the Cow set up by the Government of India in 2001. From the mid 1980s Dharampal was closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s Sevagram Ashram, Wardha (Maharashtra) which he considered his main abode until he passed away there on 24th October 2006. He is survived by his brothers, Yogendra Pal and Yash Pal, his sister, Sushila, and his children, Pradeep, Gita and Anjali. His elder daughter, Gita Dharampal-Frick is a professor of history at the South Asian Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
After being active in the Quit India Movement (1942-43), he worked for some years with Mirabehn, an associate of Mahatma Gandhi, and in the 1950s founded a cooperative village near Rishikesh. Before that, at the time of Partition, in 1947-48, he was put in charge of the Congress Socialist Party centre for the rehabilitation of refugees coming from Pakistan, and came in close contact with Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, as well as with numerous younger friends, such as L.C. Jain, in Delhi. He was also a founding member of the Indian Cooperative Union in 1948.
From 1958 until 1964 he was General Secretary of the Association of Voluntary Agencies for Rural Development (AVARD) and subsequently Director, Study and Research of the All India Panchayat Parishad, until 1965. He was closely associated with Sri Jaiprakash Narayan, who deeply appreciated his research and writings.
From 1966 Dharampal devoted himself, for almost two decades, to an exploration of Indian archives spread over the British Isles. His published works of this period include: Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Some Contemporary Indian Accounts (1971), Civil Disobedience and the Indian Tradition (1971) and The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century (1983). He also authored Panchayat Raj as the Basis of Indian Polity: An Exploration into the Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly (1962) and The Madras Panchayat System: A General Assessment (1973). Recently several collections of his essays have been compiled and published by several of his younger associates. A complete listing of his published works is compiled below. The total picture of pre-colonized India that emerges from the pioneering historical research of Dharampal, though quite impressive, is yet to have a more widespread impact on India’s historiography. In the 1980s, his guidance served as inspiration for a group of scientists called the People’s Patriot Science and Technology (PPST) with their headquarters in Chennai.
Dharampal served as a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research for two terms in the early 1990s and again for a term recently. He was also the Chairman of the Commission on the Protection of the Cow set up by the Government of India in 2001. From the mid 1980s Dharampal was closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s Sevagram Ashram, Wardha (Maharashtra) which he considered his main abode until he passed away there on 24th October 2006. He is survived by his brothers, Yogendra Pal and Yash Pal, his sister, Sushila, and his children, Pradeep, Gita and Anjali. His elder daughter, Gita Dharampal-Frick is a professor of history at the South Asian Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 6, 2013
"India's Indegenous education system was like a beautiful tree, which was uprooted ruthlessly by the British" - Struck by this remark of Gandhi, Dharampal started his intensive research on material reg. the state of education in India during British arrival here. He studied volumes of British archives about this (details like number of schools in India at that time, district wise, number of students in each school, their gender and social profile, subjects taught etc.)- all collected and documented by British administrators themselves. He presented his findings in this book, which, in a way vindicates the words of Gandhi. The introduction is well written and comprehensive. The later part of the book presents extensive evidences, as they were found in the documents.
November 7, 2014
Brilliant analysis of what kind of education system existed in India before the British intentionally or unintentionally destroyed it. He shows, using data collected during 18th and 19th centuries, how inclusive the education system was, how was it funded and what subjects were taught. He also highlights how the funding dried-up as the East India Company started spreading its roots and eventually left it in a dismal state.
December 29, 2021
An absolutely stunning book. If you ever wanted to know why Indians remained mentally colonised to this day or how the British destroyed the Indian education system. This is the book to go to. An incredible amount of data is presented in this book. I am astonished at the level of effort that must’ve gone to compiling this.
September 28, 2019
Beautiful book on Indigenous Indian Education. Book show lot of facts and you will realized how British systematically destroyed our Indian education system and start replacing it with their own education system. This is why we should not be surprised why India was so illiterate after Independence. It is high time for us to come with our kind of education system.
February 15, 2022
For long we have been misguided saying that Shudras were being deprived of education. This books debunks that with the authentic data and also shows how great and profound was Indian education system before the intro of Macaulay's education system......
May 19, 2020
After reading this you'll know that you open your eyes and stare into nothingness and lies while the truth is standing right beside you desperate for attention.
August 16, 2017
If you want to know India - You've got to read this.
If you want to know how gold is covered in coal dust to hide its glitter - Read this book.
I am still disturbed as to why this book is not more widely read, commented upon and distributed. If you ask me I'd make it a must read for all - if not the book at least its brief summary.
This book fills me with a question as to why the "Intellectuals of India" give a picture totally contrary to the one presented in this book.
Do read it.
If you want to know how gold is covered in coal dust to hide its glitter - Read this book.
I am still disturbed as to why this book is not more widely read, commented upon and distributed. If you ask me I'd make it a must read for all - if not the book at least its brief summary.
This book fills me with a question as to why the "Intellectuals of India" give a picture totally contrary to the one presented in this book.
Do read it.
February 2, 2019
This book is a revelation especially for the generations of Indians like me who have studied in a western education system. It is a brilliant and very well referenced essay on the state of Indian education before the British and how they slowly but surely let it die.
Native schools in India before the British were surely not perfect but they ensured a sensible and practical education for the majority of people. Women were homeschooled as per the social mores of that time. What surprised me was how well the system functioned and was well supported by the community. Also according to British officers most people be it in Punjab, madras or West Bengal wanted their kids to be educated and went to great lengths to make it happen. Such dedication towards gaining an education speaks a lot about the society that was in India before and during Britain’s rule.
For me the best part of this book was its references. The various surveys and studies done by British during 18th and 19th centuries give a good picture on the state of education. In fact, some sympathetic officers even request the British govt to grant money for the promotion of education in India but as we know no such encouragement was given.
Native schools in India before the British were surely not perfect but they ensured a sensible and practical education for the majority of people. Women were homeschooled as per the social mores of that time. What surprised me was how well the system functioned and was well supported by the community. Also according to British officers most people be it in Punjab, madras or West Bengal wanted their kids to be educated and went to great lengths to make it happen. Such dedication towards gaining an education speaks a lot about the society that was in India before and during Britain’s rule.
For me the best part of this book was its references. The various surveys and studies done by British during 18th and 19th centuries give a good picture on the state of education. In fact, some sympathetic officers even request the British govt to grant money for the promotion of education in India but as we know no such encouragement was given.
November 9, 2021
This book deals with a field I had never thought of reading up on before. Indian education before and at the very beginning of the British colonial rule.
This book is based on reports from 3 regions of India-Madras , Bengal and Punjab.
This is a very data heavy book which helped clarify some of the biases I had collected, the most obvious one was about education being solely a right for the upper castes. But apparently that was not the case. Elementary education saw students from all sections of society. The number of female readers in schools was comparably low though but even that had some regional exceptions.
Children started learning at a very young age and underwent various stages of instruction. Many languages and subjects like ethics, law were taught. Higher learning was less common and then it was mostly religious.
The correspondences mentioned in the book highlight the clearly racist and purely self serving nature of prevalent colonial thought(including Karl Marx) at that time which did not have the heart or the wisdom to see the kind of damage it had done to a mature indigenous learning system. The data clearly shows the serious harm a 100 years of British rule did in this field.
I would again like to thank #indicbookclub for this excellent book
This book is based on reports from 3 regions of India-Madras , Bengal and Punjab.
This is a very data heavy book which helped clarify some of the biases I had collected, the most obvious one was about education being solely a right for the upper castes. But apparently that was not the case. Elementary education saw students from all sections of society. The number of female readers in schools was comparably low though but even that had some regional exceptions.
Children started learning at a very young age and underwent various stages of instruction. Many languages and subjects like ethics, law were taught. Higher learning was less common and then it was mostly religious.
The correspondences mentioned in the book highlight the clearly racist and purely self serving nature of prevalent colonial thought(including Karl Marx) at that time which did not have the heart or the wisdom to see the kind of damage it had done to a mature indigenous learning system. The data clearly shows the serious harm a 100 years of British rule did in this field.
I would again like to thank #indicbookclub for this excellent book
August 25, 2022
There is a wide perception in the society that British brought the best education to India and that the pre-British India has no educational structure. Through a lot is said about the grand universities of the yore, not much is said about the education system in district or villages.
This book address this very lacking aspect. It is a brilliant collection of data that categorically states the number of schools in districts. It also gives an insight into how the education system was destroyed by the Britishers and bought forth their own education system.
The data collection is mind blogging. It’s just data upon data and leaves the truth of the Indian education system to be drawn upon readers. All the misconception and false notions associated goes out the window.
The fact that all this data is from British archives and stayed there for so long, while the Indians remained ignorant is a sad reality.
This book is must read. The authors has the Indians a favour.
This book address this very lacking aspect. It is a brilliant collection of data that categorically states the number of schools in districts. It also gives an insight into how the education system was destroyed by the Britishers and bought forth their own education system.
The data collection is mind blogging. It’s just data upon data and leaves the truth of the Indian education system to be drawn upon readers. All the misconception and false notions associated goes out the window.
The fact that all this data is from British archives and stayed there for so long, while the Indians remained ignorant is a sad reality.
This book is must read. The authors has the Indians a favour.
March 18, 2020
This book is very important for every Indian who have been badly brainwashed by the British regarding their education system and the indigenous life of the Indian students. This book is very much eye opening for all of us Indians as it tells us how much advanced was our education system in comparison to today's modern education system presented by the British
July 15, 2022
It is common for people to associate current education system which put in place by the British with bringing literacy and education in India. It is also common for people to assume that before the advent of the British, our country would have been a place rife with illiteracy and backwardness. This notion gets further perpetuated with the dismal portrayal of overall Hindu culture in the standard Indian school curriculum wherein many achievements of the ancient Indian pioneers are either hidden or mis-credited to later Western “discoverers”.
However, there still remains, in the collective memory of the people of India, or at least those belonging to smaller towns and villages where the people are not so “Westernized” , that Bharat was once a great nation, filled up with bright people and great ideas. A nation of science which was at the forefront of technology, medicine, law, Dharma, etc.
How did the decline occur then is what most people don’t know. Was it during the Mughal period, or earlier, or later during the British occupation? This classic and comprehensive work by Shree Dharampalji has some answers.
The book largely relies on the reports of Surveys conducted by the British government in parts of Southern and Eastern India on the status of Indigenous education system to understand it and “improve” it. These surveys, district by district, captured the details of what was the Indian education breathing its last before the British would come and uproot it.
The results of these survey, as detailed in the book show beyond any doubt that the education system in place was self sufficient, cheap and accessible (i.e. to the rich and the poor, people of all religions and varnas) and taught a wide variety of subjects relevant to the people. The numbers of students, schools, colleges, their daily routines, curriculum and mode of community support is detailed in the work. Caste wise and religion wise break of the students given in the district by district would be capable of busting many myths around castes formed by the Marxists agenda historians.
Having read the work, the reviewer found the following the most interesting takeaways : One, the British had were struggling with illiteracy until the start of the 18th century while Indians had much higher literacy levels. Two, the indigenous educational system was affordable and tailored for the masses. It would not be prohibitive, even for the orphans. Lastly, The children coming out of the system would have learned various useful subjects in addition to the authentic learning of Dharma texts. Compare this to today’s schooling system, wherein except for a select few colleges, most college graduates' degrees are deemed worthless by corporates. As regards Dharma, imposition of Christian values and distorted history only makes today’s Indian youth hateful towards their own past culture and ignorant of the glory of own civilization.
However, there still remains, in the collective memory of the people of India, or at least those belonging to smaller towns and villages where the people are not so “Westernized” , that Bharat was once a great nation, filled up with bright people and great ideas. A nation of science which was at the forefront of technology, medicine, law, Dharma, etc.
How did the decline occur then is what most people don’t know. Was it during the Mughal period, or earlier, or later during the British occupation? This classic and comprehensive work by Shree Dharampalji has some answers.
The book largely relies on the reports of Surveys conducted by the British government in parts of Southern and Eastern India on the status of Indigenous education system to understand it and “improve” it. These surveys, district by district, captured the details of what was the Indian education breathing its last before the British would come and uproot it.
The results of these survey, as detailed in the book show beyond any doubt that the education system in place was self sufficient, cheap and accessible (i.e. to the rich and the poor, people of all religions and varnas) and taught a wide variety of subjects relevant to the people. The numbers of students, schools, colleges, their daily routines, curriculum and mode of community support is detailed in the work. Caste wise and religion wise break of the students given in the district by district would be capable of busting many myths around castes formed by the Marxists agenda historians.
Having read the work, the reviewer found the following the most interesting takeaways : One, the British had were struggling with illiteracy until the start of the 18th century while Indians had much higher literacy levels. Two, the indigenous educational system was affordable and tailored for the masses. It would not be prohibitive, even for the orphans. Lastly, The children coming out of the system would have learned various useful subjects in addition to the authentic learning of Dharma texts. Compare this to today’s schooling system, wherein except for a select few colleges, most college graduates' degrees are deemed worthless by corporates. As regards Dharma, imposition of Christian values and distorted history only makes today’s Indian youth hateful towards their own past culture and ignorant of the glory of own civilization.
September 19, 2017
There is a lot of talk around the traditional Indian education system and how the British destroyed it strategically. This book has all the factual analysis of the education system that was prevalent on the Indian subcontinent before the arrival of the British.
Although a but factual rather than narrative-styled, this book is a must read if you want to know about the history of traditional Indian education system.
Although a but factual rather than narrative-styled, this book is a must read if you want to know about the history of traditional Indian education system.
Want to read
February 15, 2016India before Independence - The book is volume 3 in a series of five books titled “Dharampal.
March 30, 2021
It's definitely worth reading if you're working to gain a historical perspective about the foundations of modern schooling in India, and its link to pre-colonial education.
The narrative is brief (~100 pages). The remainder of the book is quantitative data and correspondences that may be useful depending on what you're seeking to learn.
The narrative is brief (~100 pages). The remainder of the book is quantitative data and correspondences that may be useful depending on what you're seeking to learn.
August 17, 2021
A panoramic view, but not 360-degree view, of 18th Century Indigenous Indian Education
This book is mainly based on two topics – (1) Madras Presidency governor Sir Thomas Munro initiated survey of what were the means of disseminating knowledge among school-aged children of India. Each district collector was asked to report on statistics on how reading and writing were taught among children of various castes and religions. (2) Correspondence between Sir Philip Hartog and Mahatma Gandhi on the topic of indigenous education in India.
Content of the book has been presented in two parts – (1) an Introduction chapter summarizing the data collected from the district collectors and few other sources (2) a bunch of statistical data in the form of Appendices. While the appendices give an account of the indigenous Indian system of education as perceived by the British. The data presented herein covers the scene of the Indian education system before introducing the infamous Macaulay's system of education that is prevailing today in India. A good amount of sampling data has been taken from all over the country, covering from Madras Presidency to Punjab and Bombay to Bengal & Bihar.
This book has presented a lot of realities about the education system in India around the 1820s. Here is a couple to give a taste of them:
• There were schools in almost every village. The content of science subjects studied in India was comparable to that of In England, if not more. The duration of study was more prolonged in India. The teachers in the Indian schools were generally more dedicated and sober than their English counterparts. The teachers in all types of institutions were largely in their thirties. However, education of girls lagged behind in India.
• Despite low-paid teachers, no or very little infrastructure available to the teachers and students, the number of students attending the schools is no less compared to the numbers in European schools. There was no or very little support to the schools and colleges
• The comprehensive list of Books (more than 40 in number) in use in the schools in specific parts of Madras Presidency arose my special interest in the book. Incidentally, in Rajahmundry five of the scholars in the institute of higher learning were Soodras, and according to other Madras Presidency surveys, of those practicing Medicine and Surgery it was found that such persons belonged to a variety of castes, and among them, the barbers according to British medical men were the best in Surgery.
• Among the Hindu girls who attended the schools, most of them were stated to be dancing girls or girls who were presumably going to be Devadasis in the temples. But it could be explained by the fact that upper caste girls were educated almost entirely in the home. For the boys, while an estimated one third of the male school-aged population was being schooled, rest were educated at homes only.
What we don’t find in this book:
• How the district collectors compiled the data presented in various Appendices of this book is a mystery even for the author of this book.
• All the data in this book is presented from only one perspective. There is no mention of university education or higher level of education in Vedas, law, medicine, and Sastra subjects.
• All the data presented herein has been reproduced typographically none is presented in photographic format, which may be due to restrictions from the respective Archives departments from where data has been collected. Had at least a few of the records were reproduced photographically, the authority of the data would have been boosted.
Perhaps a study of some manuscripts from the Maharashtra region (in Modi script) and some manuscripts from the Kashmir region (in Sharada script) would give the flip side image of the topic dealt with in this book.
This book had been published multiple times in different formats and in various languages including Tamil, Hindi, English, Telugu, and Kannada. Many detailed reviews, viewpoints, reactions to this book have also been published by scholars from India and abroad since this book was originally published in 1983. The current edition which is part 4 of the Dharampal Classic Series published as part of the celebrations of his centenary yar that began on February 19, 1921, tried to keep the text of the first published edition unaltered.
While we are dwelling on the subject of Dharampal's book on the education system, I feel it is worth citing the book The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey into How the World's Poorest People are Educating Themselves by James Tooley (Cato Institute, 2009, 268 pages). This book presents an independent research work on low-cost private schools for the poor in the third world (including India) by an English professor of education policy at Newcastle University. Here are a couple of words about this book:
• Tooley argues that the problems with government schools have their roots in a lack of accountability. Those working in the government school system have a job for life.
• Some government school teachers deliberately teach poorly to increase the demand for private tuition after hours, a practice that is quite common.
• A free market in education is not only possible but can be highly successful. The education sector can harness the decision-making capacity of millions of individual families and educational entrepreneurs who want to relentlessly create and innovate to give people what they want.
Having seen the 200 years old past and currently prevailing system of the education system in independent India, now let's wait and see what the New Education Policy 2020 is going to bring forth for the future citizens of India.
This book is mainly based on two topics – (1) Madras Presidency governor Sir Thomas Munro initiated survey of what were the means of disseminating knowledge among school-aged children of India. Each district collector was asked to report on statistics on how reading and writing were taught among children of various castes and religions. (2) Correspondence between Sir Philip Hartog and Mahatma Gandhi on the topic of indigenous education in India.
Content of the book has been presented in two parts – (1) an Introduction chapter summarizing the data collected from the district collectors and few other sources (2) a bunch of statistical data in the form of Appendices. While the appendices give an account of the indigenous Indian system of education as perceived by the British. The data presented herein covers the scene of the Indian education system before introducing the infamous Macaulay's system of education that is prevailing today in India. A good amount of sampling data has been taken from all over the country, covering from Madras Presidency to Punjab and Bombay to Bengal & Bihar.
This book has presented a lot of realities about the education system in India around the 1820s. Here is a couple to give a taste of them:
• There were schools in almost every village. The content of science subjects studied in India was comparable to that of In England, if not more. The duration of study was more prolonged in India. The teachers in the Indian schools were generally more dedicated and sober than their English counterparts. The teachers in all types of institutions were largely in their thirties. However, education of girls lagged behind in India.
• Despite low-paid teachers, no or very little infrastructure available to the teachers and students, the number of students attending the schools is no less compared to the numbers in European schools. There was no or very little support to the schools and colleges
• The comprehensive list of Books (more than 40 in number) in use in the schools in specific parts of Madras Presidency arose my special interest in the book. Incidentally, in Rajahmundry five of the scholars in the institute of higher learning were Soodras, and according to other Madras Presidency surveys, of those practicing Medicine and Surgery it was found that such persons belonged to a variety of castes, and among them, the barbers according to British medical men were the best in Surgery.
• Among the Hindu girls who attended the schools, most of them were stated to be dancing girls or girls who were presumably going to be Devadasis in the temples. But it could be explained by the fact that upper caste girls were educated almost entirely in the home. For the boys, while an estimated one third of the male school-aged population was being schooled, rest were educated at homes only.
What we don’t find in this book:
• How the district collectors compiled the data presented in various Appendices of this book is a mystery even for the author of this book.
• All the data in this book is presented from only one perspective. There is no mention of university education or higher level of education in Vedas, law, medicine, and Sastra subjects.
• All the data presented herein has been reproduced typographically none is presented in photographic format, which may be due to restrictions from the respective Archives departments from where data has been collected. Had at least a few of the records were reproduced photographically, the authority of the data would have been boosted.
Perhaps a study of some manuscripts from the Maharashtra region (in Modi script) and some manuscripts from the Kashmir region (in Sharada script) would give the flip side image of the topic dealt with in this book.
This book had been published multiple times in different formats and in various languages including Tamil, Hindi, English, Telugu, and Kannada. Many detailed reviews, viewpoints, reactions to this book have also been published by scholars from India and abroad since this book was originally published in 1983. The current edition which is part 4 of the Dharampal Classic Series published as part of the celebrations of his centenary yar that began on February 19, 1921, tried to keep the text of the first published edition unaltered.
While we are dwelling on the subject of Dharampal's book on the education system, I feel it is worth citing the book The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey into How the World's Poorest People are Educating Themselves by James Tooley (Cato Institute, 2009, 268 pages). This book presents an independent research work on low-cost private schools for the poor in the third world (including India) by an English professor of education policy at Newcastle University. Here are a couple of words about this book:
• Tooley argues that the problems with government schools have their roots in a lack of accountability. Those working in the government school system have a job for life.
• Some government school teachers deliberately teach poorly to increase the demand for private tuition after hours, a practice that is quite common.
• A free market in education is not only possible but can be highly successful. The education sector can harness the decision-making capacity of millions of individual families and educational entrepreneurs who want to relentlessly create and innovate to give people what they want.
Having seen the 200 years old past and currently prevailing system of the education system in independent India, now let's wait and see what the New Education Policy 2020 is going to bring forth for the future citizens of India.
May 2, 2022
This is a well-researched summary of the Indian education system and its systematic destruction by the British government. Unlike other research papers which only quoted the source material leaving many of us to scramble for the sources, should we really be interested, this author included all the source material as part of the book, no not quotes, actual reproduction of the entire source material. I don't know if there are many books out there with this USP but this is my first to have read such a book.
April 28, 2022
An eye-opener for every Indian. Collections from British Archives are clearly shown and carefully analyzed.
August 3, 2025
A brilliant book filled with well-researched facts, drawing from letters exchanged among British officers that offer deep insights into the traditional Bharatiya education system.
It effectively debunks the myths surrounding caste and education—narratives deliberately crafted by the British to dismantle India's indigenous learning structures, a strategy in which they, unfortunately, succeeded. So much that we are still mentally colonized.
Do read this book if you're curious about how magnificent our ancient education system truly was—so advanced and inclusive that it even baffled the English. Education was accessible to all, regardless of wealth, caste, or class.
It effectively debunks the myths surrounding caste and education—narratives deliberately crafted by the British to dismantle India's indigenous learning structures, a strategy in which they, unfortunately, succeeded. So much that we are still mentally colonized.
Do read this book if you're curious about how magnificent our ancient education system truly was—so advanced and inclusive that it even baffled the English. Education was accessible to all, regardless of wealth, caste, or class.
Read
March 19, 2021I have always been an ardent admirer of Dharampal jee . His encyclopedic works is remarkable. I referred his work in most of my columns
September 5, 2021
Book review on Dharmpal classic series 4
The Beautiful Tree covering the idegenous indian education in the eighteenth century. In preface it is written that the title of this book has been taken from the speech which Mahatama Gandhi had made at Chatham House at London. Because British worked to uproot the Indigenous education system and perished The beautiful tree.
I am late to write the review of the book because as per the first page of Preface I have the eagerness to go through the book Bharat mein Angreji Raaj by Pt Sunderlal , last chapter of Vol 2 and first two chapters volume 3.
So much hard work done by the honorable Author 🙏 and publishing Team to bring such a marvelous book to us.
In 21th century we are so backward that we were never ever.
I also thankful to the Team for devotion in collection and presentation of the Data of that era.
I never read such a long Introduction of 85 pages of any book in my book reading. Before reading this knowledge tree I was only knowing two words Nalanda and Taxshila. And nothing more about these words also.
Scholars in education field must go through this book I strongly recommend, because without the Pride of our past what one wil do in education field. How a highly civilised country is ruined in those decades.
How the area of knowledge, wealth, learning and philosophy was ruined up to that lowest level that one could not be able to even stand up straight in field of knowledge.. 🙏
In my life I wish to go with all the footnotes of every pages and I also requesting to through that because one has put a lot of efforts to reach this level of high thinking.
By this book I came to know about District charges, pagodas, Kingdom of Samudrin Raja of Calicut, Baniyas of surat, categories of scholars, literacy in Indian estates,Sanscrilic learning, status of school, learning institutions in India. Hardwork in providing collectrate wise data and itself recommending the readers to go through that is you have any doubt.
Letters, speech, remarks of offices are somuch valuable for our next generation. We should always keep in mind with this book.
This is the highest level of book for research scholars in the field of ancient education systems in India.
Other books this series are also recommendable and easy to grasp knowledge of our high civilization.
Though Shri Dharmpal ji is not in Murtroop for the next Gen. But his books will enlighten us and our society to bring our pride back. 🙏
Thank you all the team for their contribution and continuous hard work in publishing these classic series.
If there are five stars in review those stars are less for me to give these books besause these books will change the future my Country in a glorious path. 🙏❤️🙏
The Beautiful Tree covering the idegenous indian education in the eighteenth century. In preface it is written that the title of this book has been taken from the speech which Mahatama Gandhi had made at Chatham House at London. Because British worked to uproot the Indigenous education system and perished The beautiful tree.
I am late to write the review of the book because as per the first page of Preface I have the eagerness to go through the book Bharat mein Angreji Raaj by Pt Sunderlal , last chapter of Vol 2 and first two chapters volume 3.
So much hard work done by the honorable Author 🙏 and publishing Team to bring such a marvelous book to us.
In 21th century we are so backward that we were never ever.
I also thankful to the Team for devotion in collection and presentation of the Data of that era.
I never read such a long Introduction of 85 pages of any book in my book reading. Before reading this knowledge tree I was only knowing two words Nalanda and Taxshila. And nothing more about these words also.
Scholars in education field must go through this book I strongly recommend, because without the Pride of our past what one wil do in education field. How a highly civilised country is ruined in those decades.
How the area of knowledge, wealth, learning and philosophy was ruined up to that lowest level that one could not be able to even stand up straight in field of knowledge.. 🙏
In my life I wish to go with all the footnotes of every pages and I also requesting to through that because one has put a lot of efforts to reach this level of high thinking.
By this book I came to know about District charges, pagodas, Kingdom of Samudrin Raja of Calicut, Baniyas of surat, categories of scholars, literacy in Indian estates,Sanscrilic learning, status of school, learning institutions in India. Hardwork in providing collectrate wise data and itself recommending the readers to go through that is you have any doubt.
Letters, speech, remarks of offices are somuch valuable for our next generation. We should always keep in mind with this book.
This is the highest level of book for research scholars in the field of ancient education systems in India.
Other books this series are also recommendable and easy to grasp knowledge of our high civilization.
Though Shri Dharmpal ji is not in Murtroop for the next Gen. But his books will enlighten us and our society to bring our pride back. 🙏
Thank you all the team for their contribution and continuous hard work in publishing these classic series.
If there are five stars in review those stars are less for me to give these books besause these books will change the future my Country in a glorious path. 🙏❤️🙏
September 15, 2021
Firt of all many Thanks to Indic Book Club for sharing this beautiful book.
This book is a revelation especially for the generations of Indians like me who have studied in a western education system. It is a brilliant and very well referenced essay on the state of Indian education before the British and how they slowly but surely let it die.
Native schools in India before the British were surely not perfect but they ensured a sensible and practical education for the majority of people. Women were homeschooled as per the social mores of that time. What surprised me was how well the system functioned and was well supported by the community. Also according to British officers most people be it in Punjab, madras or West Bengal wanted their kids to be educated and went to great lengths to make it happen. Such dedication towards gaining an education speaks a lot about the society that was in India before and during Britain’s rule.
For me the best part of this book was its references. The various surveys and studies done by British during 18th and 19th centuries give a good picture on the state of education. In fact, some sympathetic officers even request the British govt to grant money for the promotion of education in India but as we know no such encouragement was given.
This book is a revelation especially for the generations of Indians like me who have studied in a western education system. It is a brilliant and very well referenced essay on the state of Indian education before the British and how they slowly but surely let it die.
Native schools in India before the British were surely not perfect but they ensured a sensible and practical education for the majority of people. Women were homeschooled as per the social mores of that time. What surprised me was how well the system functioned and was well supported by the community. Also according to British officers most people be it in Punjab, madras or West Bengal wanted their kids to be educated and went to great lengths to make it happen. Such dedication towards gaining an education speaks a lot about the society that was in India before and during Britain’s rule.
For me the best part of this book was its references. The various surveys and studies done by British during 18th and 19th centuries give a good picture on the state of education. In fact, some sympathetic officers even request the British govt to grant money for the promotion of education in India but as we know no such encouragement was given.
April 5, 2021
Complete picture of how education was when when Britishers came to India. Must read.
April 19, 2021
Must read 🤗
November 3, 2021
The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education System in the Eighteenth Century authored by Shri Dharmpal (1922-2006) is a rare feat to empirically uncover and understand the Indian education system before the British Raj’s interference. The book is divided into eight summarized sub-chapters under the Introduction chapter gives a brief but very accurate and to the point knowledge and insights on the subject. The other part of the book is categorized as Documents, which includes a mammoth amount of annexures, which are conjecture to the previously discussed eight sub-chapters.
The prime attraction of the book is the amount of primary historical research gone into it, which includes communications from and to India, from and to England. The book is annexed with almost every piece of record that could probably be found, and are required, which include but are not limited to taluk, pargana, district and presidency level survey data as present in the official records, divided under different sub-categories.
The book also discusses and shares intra-British (within British administration and government) communications, which shed light to the widely known but lesser proved facts and understandings.
The first few subchapters are dedicated to building a background for better understanding for upcoming chapters, which includes giving the reader an understanding of the education system in Britain since its formal inception. The author, through empirical pieces of evidence, proves how the Indian education system was actually ahead and far better than the then British education system back in England.
The attached annexures are properly categorized and indexed which makes the book a handy reference for those looking for specific datasets for specific purposes. Notwithstanding the introduction subchapters, these datasets are an interesting reading and thought-provoking read for those interested in the subject.
Overall the book is a great document recording and indexing history and ancient records in a very lucid manner. It is a great read for those interested in ancient Indian governance, for educationists, and for researchers interested in the related subject. On the contrary, the book might appear to be a bit digressive with a passel of monotonous and tedious datasets.
The prime attraction of the book is the amount of primary historical research gone into it, which includes communications from and to India, from and to England. The book is annexed with almost every piece of record that could probably be found, and are required, which include but are not limited to taluk, pargana, district and presidency level survey data as present in the official records, divided under different sub-categories.
The book also discusses and shares intra-British (within British administration and government) communications, which shed light to the widely known but lesser proved facts and understandings.
The first few subchapters are dedicated to building a background for better understanding for upcoming chapters, which includes giving the reader an understanding of the education system in Britain since its formal inception. The author, through empirical pieces of evidence, proves how the Indian education system was actually ahead and far better than the then British education system back in England.
The attached annexures are properly categorized and indexed which makes the book a handy reference for those looking for specific datasets for specific purposes. Notwithstanding the introduction subchapters, these datasets are an interesting reading and thought-provoking read for those interested in the subject.
Overall the book is a great document recording and indexing history and ancient records in a very lucid manner. It is a great read for those interested in ancient Indian governance, for educationists, and for researchers interested in the related subject. On the contrary, the book might appear to be a bit digressive with a passel of monotonous and tedious datasets.
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January 29, 2025Very interesting read. It is generally the view in India that education was denied to the lower castes and the avarnas which the British changed. This book makes one question this notion. Did it become that way after British government destroy it by its heavy taxation? Did the traditional indian schools all over India always teach vedas? Did the lower castes fall out of education only after the British take over? Why did the British propose common education if there already was a traditional school system?
First read the Reports/documents, then skimmed the 1st 100 pages that set the context.
First read the Reports/documents, then skimmed the 1st 100 pages that set the context.
March 12, 2021
A nice survey of status of school education and literacy before the British intervention. The data does not always match our preconceived notions. As is here. The literacy and school enrollment in traditional schools in India was far higher than the British school system. The traditional system taught Ramayana, Mahabharata, Mathematics and specific vocation based books such as shilpa sutra-s. The caste wise enrollment numbers contradict the notion that "lower castes" did not have access to education system.
It is more of a summary of various surveys and hence reads like a report.
It is more of a summary of various surveys and hence reads like a report.
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