Education in ancient India had profound impact in the upliftment of the society and over all development. India is pregnant with an affluent tradition of knowledge and learning from the earliest days of Indian civilization. There are several literary sources, such as the Vedas and other Hindu texts and scriptures, which offer references about education system of the ancient societies. The Mahabharata, some Dharma sutras, particularly those of Gautama Buddha and Apastamba and the Manu Smriti, are the principal works dealing with the system of education in ancient India. The term Upanayana signified the formal admission ceremony. By this ceremony, boys of the three upper classes namely Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishya are taken to the preceptor, and initiated to Vedic study. The age-limit for this purpose, ranged between 5 and 16 for Brahmins, 6 and 22 for Kshatriyas, 8 and 24 for Vaishyas. The boy, so initiated, had to live at the preceptor`s house. The service of the preceptor was a bounden duty of the pupil. The student was to beg alms, and survive on what the preceptor apportioned for him.

History of Education in Ancient India
The history of education in ancient India is fascinating and is recorded and can be traced back to the ancient era. Education in Ancient India began around the 3rd century BC with elements of religious training and impart of traditional knowledge. In the ancient days, sages and scholars imparted education orally and after the development of letters the form of writing was introduced. Palm leaves and barks of trees were used for writing and thus helped in spreading the written literature. In ancient times, women in India had the equal right to receive teaching and education.

Gurukul System
Education in Ancient India originated with the Gurukul system. This type ancient Hindu school in India was residential in nature with the Shishyas or students and the Guru or teacher living in proximity within the same house. The students resided together irrespective of their social standing. However, several temples and community centres regularly took the role of schools. In addition to that ancient Indian education achieved a noticeable position in the early Vedic period, beginning in the 1200 B.C. In the Vedic days, the teaching of the four Vedas, the hymns and ritual practices were seen. The Vedas included the Sanskrit language which in turn became the language of classical learning. Besides the pronunciation of the Vedas and their implication, phonology, metrics, elementary grammar, and etymology were also taught. Though, the Vedic education was not transmitted to people of low strata, yet the Vedic system inspired the modern day education system.

Role of Teachers in Ancient Indian Education
The preceptors were of two classes, namely Acharya and Upadhyaya. According to ancient literary texts the Acharya performs the Upanayana ceremony of the students, teaches him the Veda along with ritualistic literature and the Upanishads. But he does not work for the pupil for livelihood whereas the Upadhyaya teaches his pupil the Veda and the Vedic literatures for livelihood. The Apastamba Dharma Sutra proclaims that though the teacher is the sole guardian of the learner during his study, yet he cannot exercise arbitrary power. It declares that the educator cannot utilise the pupil`s services for his own advantage. For the student`s offences, he can punish him in the prescribed manner but not in any way he likes.

According to the Apastamba-dharma sutra, a pupil should confidentially draw the attention of the teacher to any wrongdoing of the rules, meant for him, either purposely or unconsciously. The students are allowed to control the teacher by force from wrong-doing or to get him restrained by his father etc. Mahabharata mentions that students are allowed to desert his teacher who is arrogant, ignorant of his duty and resorts to a wrong course of action.

Brahmacharya System
Brahmacharya summarises the sum total of the responsibilities of a student. It entails rigorous self-discipline and self-control. All sorts of pleasures and luxuries must be avoided by the pupils. Some of the occasions on which termination of study was prescribed include dusty storm by day, playing of certain musical instruments within the hearing of the pupil, cries of animals, screech of an owl, heavy downpour, rattling of thunderbolt, earthquake, eclipse, fall of a meteor, festival, certain Tithi and Nakshatras, e.g. full moon day, etc. Samavartana marks the end of a pupil`s period of study and return home. According to some literary sources, education in ancient India was not confined only to the privacy of the preceptor`s house. In matters of education in ancient societies, the constricted barriers of the caste-system seemed to have crumbled down as per the various literary texts.

The spread of Buddhism and Jainism in India enriched and evolved the state of education in ancient India. In this period education became available to everyone and various celebrated educational institutions were established at that instant. Few of the most important universities of India in the ancient times were Vikramshila, Taxila (Takshashila) and Nalanda.