Ancietn Indian History : Source

ANCIENT INDIAN HISTORY : SOURCES

 

Introduction

                         Sources of ancient India's classified into two classes viz :
 I. Literary Sources
II. Archelogical Sources

 

 

                                         I. Literary Sources :

1. Vedic Literature

2. Puranas & Epics

3. Jain and Buddhist Literature

4. Sangam Literature

5. Other Literature

6. Foreign Account

                                         II.Archaeological Sources :

1.Inscription

2.Coins

3.Archeological Monuments, Excavations and Explorations

                                          I. Literary Sources

                                  We have a variety of sources for reconstructing the history of ancient India but their  historical value is less because -

• religious in nature = not give the actual data
• no definite dates for events
• it is difficult to arrange events in chronological order

               1. Vedic Literature

A. Four Vedas

• They are entirely different language
• having definite mode of pronunciation in which emphasis changes the meaning entirely
• we cannot find much trace of political history in the Vedas but can have reliable glimpses of the culture and civilization of the Vedic period.
• Four Vedas are - Rik, Yajur, Sama and Atharva

Rikveda

•  It is collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns
• The text in Rikveda is  organized in 10 books, known as Mandalas
• Each mandala consists of hymns called sūkta

Yajurveda

•  It is collection of mantras (sacred formulas)

Samaveda

•  It is a collection of verses from the Rigveda (and a few new ones) that were chanted with certain fixed melodies

Atharvaveda

• It contains both hymns and prose passages
• It is divided into 20 books

B.Vedagngas -

• Limbs of Vedas
• six in number
• each vedanga has developed a credible literature around it which are in the Sutra form i.e. precepts.

Vedang

Sr. No.	Vedang	Discription
1	Shiksha	treating the traditional Hindu science of phonetics and phonologyy of Sanskrit. Its aim is the teaching of the correct pronunciation of the Vedic hymns and mantras
2	Kalpa	it concerned ritual
3	Vyakarna	it deals with grammer
4	Nirukta	it deals with  etymology. etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time
5	Chhanda	it deals with the study of  metre   Meter is a unit of rhythm in poetry, the pattern of the beats
6	Jyotisha	it deals with astronomy

C. The Bramanas , The Aranyakas, The Upanishads -

•  They are called later Vedic Literature
•  The Brahmanas elaborate Vedic rituals.
•  The Aranyakas and the Upnishads give discourses on diffierent spiritual and philosophical problems.

D. The Dharmasutras and the Smritis :

•  these are rules and regulations for the general public and the rulers.
•   also called Dharmashastras.
•   these were complied between 600 and 200 B.C.
•   manusmriti is prominent among them.

     2.Purans and Epics :

• 18 in number
• 5 Branches of historical studies are considered -

                 I.  ]  sarga                - evolution of universe
                 ii .]  pratisarga         - involution of universe
                 iii.]  manvantra        - recurring of time
                 iv. ] vamsa               - genealogical list of kings and sages
                 v.  ] vamsanucharita- life stories of some selected characters.

• later on two branches are included in it viz

                i.] tirthas         -sacred places of pilgrimage
                ii.]mahatmya  - religious importance

• The Ramayana and The Mahabharat are the epics whish may also be used as source

3. Jain and Buddhist Literature :

• early jain literature is written in Pakrit language. Prakrit is form of Sanskrit language
• Buddhist literature is written in Pali language.  Pali is form of Prakrit language. Pali language was Aam aadmi's  language
• Aahoka edicts are written in Pali language.
• Jatak kathas - Buddhist book which are given some historical importance because they are related with the previous births of Buddha. There are more than 550 such stories.

4. Sangam Literature :

• Poetic compilations by group of poets of different times patronized by many chiefs and kings are called Sangama
• It describes many kings and dynasties of South India.
• These are in all 30000 lines of poetry arranged in two main groups, Patinenkilkanakku and the Pattupattu.
• It consists of large number of poets in praise of their kings.
• This literature generally describes events upto the fourth centuty A.D.

5. Other Literature  

 Books written in Ancient time

Sr. No.	Book / play	Discription
1	Ashatadhyayi	written by Panini book on grammer 8 chapter
2	Arthashastra	writtern by Kautilya 15 chapter throws light on Mauryan history
3	Mudrarakshasha	written by Vishkhadatta this is a play gives a glimpse of society and culture
4	Malvikagnimitram	written by kalidasa  it is based on some events of the reign of Pushyamitra Sunga
5	Harshacharita	written by Banabhatta throw light on regin of Harsha
6	Gaudavaho	written by Vakpati based on the exploits of Yasovarman of Kanauj
7	Vikramankadevacharita	written by Bilhana describes the victories of the later Chalukya King
8	Rjatrangini	written by Kalhan best illustration of history writing appreciated by modern histians throws light on Kashmir history gives impartial treatment to historical facts

6. Foreign Account :

           

             We are indebted to the foreigners because of their work of writing about indian visits .  This writing throw light on ancient indian history

             Greek , Chinese and Arab traveler have left their accounts about India.  As a Buddhist pilgrim many Chinese traveler visited India.

 

 Foreigner visited Ancient Indian

Sr. No.	Foreigner	Work importance for Study of ancient indian history
1	Herodotus	written - "Histories" this book gives us much imformation about Indo- Persian relation (old Persia = ancient Iran) Herodotus was the first Greek geographer to describe India
2	Arrian	wrote a detailed account of the invasion of Alexander
3	Megasthenese	written -'Indica' He was ambassadors in the court of Chandragupta Maurya.
4	Plotemy	wrote a geographical treatise on india in second century A.D.
5	Fa-hien	visited India in fifth century A.D.
6	Hiuen-Tsang	visited India in seventh century A.D. given the most interesting and valuable account about Harshavardhana
7	I-tsing	visited India in seventh century A.D.
8	Al Baruni [Abu Rihan]	contemporary of Mahmud of Ghazani his observations are based on his knowledge of Indian society and cluture studied Sanskrit he does not give any political imformation

II. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES :

• epigraphs, coins throws light on history

1.Inscriptions :

• one of the most reliable source of history.
• it is free from later interpolations. = no changes 
• the study of inscriptions is called Epigraphy
• a study of development of scripts is called Palaeography.
• in 1837 James Prinsep complete the chart of Ashokan alphabets.
• the inscriptions of Ashoka were recorded in different years of his reign and are called edicts [rajadyna] 
• the  inscriptions of Indo Greeks,Saka-kshatrapas and Kushans show the rulers engaged in social and religious welfare activities like any other indian.
• The Junagarh Rock Inscription of Rudradaman is considered as an early example of Sanskrit
• The Allahabad Pillar Inscription enumerates the achievements of Samudragupta
• most of Gupta epigraphs give genealogy.
• Aihole inscription  gives a dynastic genealogy and achievement of Chalukya king Pulkeshin II 
• The Gwalior inscription of Bhoja gives full account of his predecessors and their achievements.

2.Coins :

• The branch of knowledge which studies coins is called Numismatics.
• second most important source for reconstructing the history of India.
• Punch Marked Coin : 

                              - earliest coin
                              - silver and copper and rarely in gold.
                              - punch marked coins bear only symbols on them ,
                                each symbol is punched separately.

•   Indo Greek Coin :

                              - silver and copper and rarely in gold.
                              - show beautiful artistic features on them
                              - the portrait of king is on  one side and some deity is depicted on other side.
                              - we know about serveral Saka- Parthians kings from this coin

• Kushanas Coin :

                              - mostly in gold and copper rarely in silver.
                              - many Indian gods and goddesses depicted on Kushana  coins besides many Persian and Greek deities.

• Gupta Coin :

                             - mostly in gold and silver.
                             - completely Indianised their coinage
                             - kings are depicted engaged in activities like hunting

3.Archaeological Monuments, Excavations and Explorations

• temples and sculptures are found all over the country , these show architectural and artistic history of the Indians
• ancient indian excavated large caves in the hills in Western India which are mostly chaityas and viharas
• large temples have been carved out of rocks from outside like Kailasa temple of Ellora and rathas at Mamallapuram
• the discovery of the cities Mohenjodaro and Hadappa which pushed back the antiquity of Indian culture and civilization by two thousand years. Mohenjo-daro is located in Larkana District on the right bank of the Indus River in Sindh, Pakistan.Hadappa is located on  bank of the Ravi River in Punjab, Pakistan.
• archaeological excavations also brought to light the townships of Taxila, Kausambi, Kasi, Ayodhya, Vaisali, Bodhgaya 
• Buddha not visited Taxila
• archaeological discoveries have shown that tradition of rock paintings in India goes back to more than 12000 years.