This comprehensive paper by Author explores the dimensions of families and Jatis in preservation and transmission of traditional Indian Knowledge Systems.
Dharampal’s work provided a much needed breakthrough in the discourse on Indian education by highlighting colonial surveys conducted during the early nineteenth century. In the sphere of education, these surveys testified to the presence of a comprehensive network of patshalas and gurukuls that flourished in India prior to the advent of British.
Dr. Ankur Kakkar is Associate Professor at the Centre for Indic Studies, Indus University, Ahmedabad where he teaches courses on Indian history and Indian Knowledge Systems. Dr. Kakkar received his doctorate in History from the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany. His doctoral dissertation entitled “The Dayanand Anglo-Vedic school of Lahore: A Study of Education Reform in Colonial Punjab (1880-1920)” was supervised by Prof. Gita Dharampal, daughter of eminent historian Shri Dharampal. Dr. Kakkar’s PhD dissertation highlighted the continuities between pre-colonial patshalas or indigenous village schools and educational institutions established by nationalists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His dissertation documented the history of one of the most significant reformist educational enterprises in colonial India, namely the Dayananda Anglo-Vedic (D.A.V.) Movement. Dr. Kakkar has authored various articles and research papers on Indian education and Indian Knowledge Systems that highlight the continuities of Indian history and culture. In February 2022, Dr. Kakkar was awarded a one year prestigious research fellowship from the Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation in Palo Alto, USA to write a book manuscript on the History of Gurukulas and Pathshalas in India. Since October 2023, Dr. Kakkar is a Fellow at the Prime Ministers Museum and Library in New Delhi
