Higher Education and Research in India: an Overview

India has a very rich history dating back several millenniums. Knowledge was preserved and propagated through an oral tradition. In this context, the teachers set up ‘residential schools’ in their own homes. Students were to live with the teacher and his family and were expected to share the daily chores of the family. Sanskrit was the language of the educated and the texts were composed in this language. Most of the major modern languages in India are derived from Sanskrit. During the rules of Buddhist kings belonging to the Mauryan dynasty in the third and second century BC India flourished with the establishment of institutions of learning. Taxila, now in Pakistan, became the seat of learning where scholars journeyed to learn and to be educated. Nalanda in eastern India became famous for the Buddhist University where several religious conclaves were held.