Decolonising Knowledge: How Pre-Colonial India’s Learning Ecosystems Resisted Colonial Erasure
Original framing: “Art and Culture with Devdutt | Historical reality of pre-colonial learning in India” — bing news
Dalit and Adivasi communities preserved oral traditions and folk pedagogies that were systematically excluded from 'mainstream' pre-colonial narratives. Women like Gargi and Maitreyi were philosophers in their own right, yet their contributions are often reduced to mythological anecdotes. Contemporary movements like the 'Dalit Women’s Scholarship Network' are reclaiming these histories.
The colonial erasure of pre-colonial India’s learning ecosystems was not an accident but a calculated strategy to justify imperial rule and create a compliant labour force.
Today, the narrative of 'historical reality' serves a dual purpose: it fuels nationalist pride while obscuring how modern India’s education system remains structurally colonial, from its language policies to its caste hierarchies. The revival of gurukuls and pathshalas must therefore be more than symbolic—it requires dismantling the funding models, curricula, and epistemological biases that still privilege Western knowledge. Cross-culturally, this story reveals a global pattern: indigenous education systems, whether in Timbuktu or Nalanda, were decentralised, adaptive, and tied to livelihoods, contrasting sharply with the rigid, state-centric models imposed by colonialism. The trickster’s insight lies in recognising that the 'pre-colonial' past is not a relic but a living critique of today’s education crisis—one that demands we ask: whose knowledge counts, and who gets to decide?