There are many books published on the gurukul system of education over the last 150 years. The major spurt in research in this field was in the decades leading to independence years i.e. 1930 – 1950 and in the last decade. Some of the best ones are given below.
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The Educational Heritage of Ancient India
The most recent books on the history of the gurukul system are written by Ms. Sahana Singh. She has written a book titled “The Educational Heritage of Ancient India” published in the year 2017
The below-mentioned book is the revised edition of the above-mentioned book which goes into more detail compared to the earlier one. It is titled “Revisiting the educational heritage of ancient India” published in 2021 by Sahana Singh as well.
The Beautiful Tree by Dharampal
Then there is one book by Dharampal named “The Beautiful Tree”. But this book is less about the working of the Gurukul system and more about the history & status of gurukul education in India in the years 1800–1850. The main points of discussion in this book are data collected in Madras presidency, Bengal presidency, Punjab, and to some extent in Bombay presidency by Thomas Munro, W. Adam and G. Leitner, and G.L. Prendergast respectively.
History of Education in India by A.S. Altekar
This is one of the most referenced books on the gurukul system of education. It is the second edition and was written in 1944 when Mr. Altekar was the head of the Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture at Banaras Hindu University.
Other honorable mentions
There are quite a few books on the subject of gurukul education that talk about the history and other nuances of gurukul education. The above-mentioned are the ones that are the most comprehensive and famous ones. But there are some other books worth mentioning as well.
- Ancient Indian education(Brahmanical and Buddhist)” written around the 1930s. This book goes into detail about the functioning of gurukul education.
- Sanskrit Education and Gurukul in Modern India. This book talks about the status of the gurukul system in our part of divided India after 1947