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It may be mentioned here that initially, in the eighteenth century, according to Nicholas Dirks, most of the British authors directed their attention to the issues of military affairs, warfare, negotiation, etc.⁵⁰ However, as British interest became increasingly concerned with the matters of land revenue, village appeared to them as very important and its significance along with that of its institutions was duly considered and highlighted by Thomas Munro, Mark Wilks, Charles Metcalf, etc⁵¹. Simultaneously, the accounts of the indigenous system of vernacular education existing in the villages which, according to Ludlow and Leitner, was "bound up with village"⁵², were also brought to light.

Another important feature of this education was that among its consumers all kinds of castes and communities were represented. Children of Hindus and Muslims together attended school. The students belonging to upper, intermediate and lower caste clusters used to sit together for about seven or eight years to receive instruction from gurujee. Adam recorded the names of caste and religion of each and every teacher and student of the schools he surveyed. For example, in the district of South Bihar in Bihar, there were Muslim as well as Hindu teachers of Kayastha, Magadha, Gandhabanik, Teli, Koiri and Sonar castes. There were two thousand nine hundred and eighteen Hindu students and one hundred and seventy two Muslim students. The Hindu students were found to be belonging to forty eight caste groups including Dosadh, Pasi, Musahar, Dhobi, Tanti, Kalawar, Beldar, Goala, Napit, Kahar, Koiri, Kurmi, Brahman, Kayasth, etc. Similarly, in the district of Beerbhoom (in Bengal) Adam found Muslim, Hindu as well as Christian teachers. Hindu teachers were more than four hundred in number belonging to about twenty four castes including Chandal, Dhobi, Tanti, Kaivarta, Goala, etc. Among students, there were Muslims, Christians, Santhals, Dhangars, Doms, Chandals, Telis, Byadhas, Yugis, Tantis, Haris, Kurmis, Malis, Brahmanas, Kayasthas, etc⁵⁶. Adam categorically reported in this context that "Parents of good caste do not hesitate to send their children to schools conducted by teachers of an inferior caste and even of different religion. For instance, the Musalman teacher... has Hinuds of good caste among his scholars and this is equally true of the Chandal and other low caste teachers enumerated⁵⁷." He further recorded the following in this connection: "the Musalman tecahers have Hindu as well as Musalman scholars and the different castes of the former assemble in the same school-house, receive the same insturctions from the same teacher, and join in the same plays and pastimes⁵⁸" (emphasis added). Considering all this, James Ray Hagen in his study of Patna district from 1811-1951 asserts that this indigenous elementary education was "most secularized⁵⁹".

{{Origin|text=Article by Hetukar Jha, former Professor of Sociology at Patna University,

Patna, Bihar}}