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ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
197
the peasant-proprietorship of the land which seems to have been practically carried out during these centuries. Arts and Crafts
Apart from agriculture a number of vocational arts and crafts were practised by the people. Sippa was defined as an art or profession which required proper training under the guidance of an efficient teacher. It included both the fine arts as well as the crafts like chariot-making, weaving, tailoring etc.1 A proper vocational education therefore must have been imparted to the workers in their specific field.
Vocational Education ---The professions during this time were mostly hareditary in nature. Besides, the system of apprenticeshipa was practised in imparting the industrial education. The apprentice, willing to master the art, was to enter into an agreement with the teacher for working under him for a specific period. The duration of this period could be either till the time one fully mastered the art in case one was paying proper fees to the teacher* or it could be more than the actual time required to master the art, since the trained apprentice was expected to work free for his teacher for sometime in lieu of the training imparted. The apprentice thus bound with an agreement was called ubbaddha, and he was not to leave his master during this period of contract. These rules must have been scrupulously practised, since we find that like a slave (dasa) and the hired-labourer (bhayaga) a person under an agreement (ubbaddha) was also excluded
1, erreftalaga at TETITTATIT -NC. 3, p. 272. 2. Altekar, A.S., Education in Ancient India, p. 187. 3. सिक्खंतो सिवखतस्स केवगादि दव्वं देति, सो-य जति तेण एवं उब्बद्धो जाब सिक्खा
JH HATITI-NC. 3, p. 272. 4. अध एव उब्बद्धो सिक्खिए वि उवरि एत्तियं कालं ममायत्तेण भवियव, तम्मि काले
3grat up frafa yorat cufat--Ibid. 5. Compare-agatia hati #dalet HATETETTEL I da ti #P 79r9efciar.
Fiat 11 - Nāradasmrti, Sušrūšābhyupagama prakarana (v. 20 ); Vide--Altekar, op. cit., p. 199.
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