THE BEAUTIFUL TREE

INDIGENOUS INDIAN EDUCATION IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

The Beautiful Tree: Indigenous Indian Education in the Eighteenth Century (1983) is the best known of Dharampalji’s books based on materials collected in the course of his extensive study in the British Archives. It compiles documents of a survey of indigenous education ordered by Thomson Munro, Governor of Madras, in 1822. The details of the indigenous schools and institutions of higher learning sent by the Collectors of 21 districts of the extensive Madras Presidency offer a fascinating picture of the extent, inclusiveness and sophistication of the then prevailing system of education in India. It also includes extracts from the reports of W Adam (1835-38) and G W Leitner (1882) about indigenous education in Bengal and Punjab, respectively.