Chapter 3

MAJOR SOURCES OF ACIENT INDIAN

HISTORY

INTRODUCTION:-
Sources are essential or important for writing the history of Ancient India. The main
among these are: literary source and Archaeological source. Coin, inscriptions,
monument, pottery, painting and seals come under the category of
Archaeological sources. While religious literature of The Hindu the Brahman
the Muslim the Sikh the Buddhist the Jain   come under the category of literary
source. The students of Asian  Indian history have to face  several problems while
writing the history of the period for example lack of interest in writing history,
destruction of historical material and literature mixture of mythology with religion. In
Spite of these difficulties the historians have been able to compose history with the
help of available archaeological and literary sources.

PROBLEM FACED BY A STUDENT OF ANCIENT

INDIAN HISTORY
Lack of  historical sense:-
Dr keith,Dr R.C.Majumadar  hold the view that the Indian had special interest in
Philosophy art and literature, mathematics, astrology and science. And they had
acquired special skill in these subject but they had no interest in chronology. Even
the foreign invasion could not the spirit of nationalism among them. This invasion
failed to inspire them to write the like HEDATOUROUS. Therefore due to lack of
historical send we do not have proper accounts of historical sources which could
help us in writing the history of the period.

Destruction of Archaeological evidence and historical

literature:-
With the passage of time and natural destruction, climate-change and foreign  
invasions a lot of Archaeological and literary sources got destroyed.  The Hunas and
Muslim Invaders destroyed a large number of Archaeological and literature source
Example: - building, monument, Temple, statues and burnt several books.

Lack of political Unity:-

India never remains under one political umbrella. It was always divided into small
states except during the ruler of the Maurya, that Gupta and the HarshVardhan. As a
result the   history of the whole of India could never be written in chronological order.
Ancient Indian history was divided into parts and it is difficult to piece them together.

Shackles of  caste system:-

Rigid   caste system and the evil of untouchability has been weeking The
Hindu society since a later Vedic age. The Brahmin belongs to to intelligentsia while
the kshatriyas were Warriors. These two castes competed with each other to
establish its Supremacy over the other. The Brahmin never records anything that
mentions the achievements of kshatriyas. The negative attitude of Brahmans proved
very harmful for the present Day.

Contradiction in ancient literature:-

There are several contradictions or confusion in the dates and historical events in the
religious work of Brahmins, the Buddhist, and Jain. Even Puran are not authentic.
There is a gap of hundred years between some events and Royal dynasties. It is a
very complex problem. So it is difficult to short out what is true and what is false.

Use of several eras:-

The ancient Indian rulers started eras in the name of the dynasties. For example
the Gupta Era, Vikram era, according to cunningham27 eras were in vogue in
ancient India. There is a lot of confusion regarding their starting and their
confirmation with Christian era. In some cases we find the date of the ruler on his
coin but the absence of era read a lot of problems.

3. SOURCES OF ANCIENT INDIAN HISTORY

The historical sources can be divided into two parts :-

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES:- The archaeological sources consist

of inscriptions, coins, monuments, pottery, paintings, statues, temples etc.

LITRATERY SOURCES: - literary sources can be divided into three parts

Religious literary consist of religious books and scriptures of the Hindus, the
Muslims, the Jains, the Buddhist, etc.

Secular literary consist of biography literary, folk and art literary etc.
Accounts of foreign literary consist of the Muslim, the Chinese, the Buddhist,
the paresis, who visit of India time to time
3.1LITRARY SOURCES:-
RELIGIOUS LITRATURE:-
The Brahmans can be divided into two categories:- Shruti and Smriti
The Shruti include:-  four Vedas, the Brahamans granth, Upanishads.
The Smriti include: - Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Puranas.

THE VEDAS:
The word Veda is derived from the Sanskrit root “vid” {to know} And those  the word
“Veda”  I mean the  storehouse of knowledge.

The Vedas  are four in number :-

Rig Veda:-

 “Rik” means hymns{prayer} composed of meter and grammar.

 Rigveda is the oldest and most important from historical point of view.

 The rigveda throws light on the early settlements of the Aryans, their
spread,the main tribes of the period, their internal and external clashes or
battles, their administrative setup, their democratic institution - sabha and
samiti , duties of king toward, their religious life and social and customs etc.

 The Rigveda has 10 chapter 1028 Sukats.

The three Vedas Sama Veda, Atharveda, Yajurveda were composed later on.

The Samveda:-

 “Sam” means songs. it means hymns which are meant to be sung at the time
of “soma” sacrifice.
 75 hymns of Sama-veda are original, the remaining are belonging to Rigveda.

The Atharvaveda:

 The Atharva-veda was composed by Sage Athrava.

 It has 40 chapters.
 It contains the information about Ayer-Vedic system of medicine, magic, and
charms, evil spirits, and religious and social life of people.

Important: - These Vedas provide us information regarding the spread of Aryans

in Aryavarta, ashram system, and caste system.
Prim-ally these scriptures still they provide us with valuable information about the
social, religious, economic and political life of Aryans .
The Brahman Granth
The word brahaman means “yajna” . The work that propounded the theory of the
yajans came to be called the  brahamans.  They are commentaries  on the various
hymns  in the vedas to which they are appended.

The Aranyaka: -  the word aranyaka  means forest or jungle. Those books which
were written or composed in the forest as a result of a meditation of the hamits  and
sages come to be called  aranyakas.they are seven in  number. They are the basis
of upanishads.

The Upanishads: - the word “up” means near and “nishad” means sit. While sitting  
at the feet of gurus,  the disciples  acquire knowledge about the soul, god,  creation
of the universe and the trans-migration of the soul. The book that contains such
types of knowledge as known as upanishads

The sutras: - the sutras divide into 3 parts

1. Kalap  sutra            { description of vedic yajnas}
2. The grihya sutra     {ritual related to the family life}
3. The dharma sutra  { related to the social, political and civil laws}
The simrities:
The simrites were composed by manu, vishnu, brihaspati, and prashar. They
throw  light on the  social. Political and religious life of the people from 2nd century
ad ad to  7th century ad.

The Ramayana:-
 The Ramayana was composed by maharishi valmiki ji.
 It contains about 24000 verses.
 It depicts the life story of lord rama in very beautiful words;
 It describes the war between rama and ravana.
 it portrays the character of lord rama as an idle ruler, ideal  son,  ideal brother,
ideal king, ideal husband, ideal friend and an ideal foe.

The Mahabharata:-
 The Mahabharata was composed by sage  Veda vyasa.
 It narrates the 18 day long battle at kurukshetra between the kaurav and the  
pandavs of pura dynasty.
 The rulers of panchal,  kashi, kosala, magadh, matsya,  mathura fought in
favour of the pandavas.
 The king of kamboj, yavan, shaka, madra, kakeya, sindhu, china,kirat ,andhra,
avanti, and a few rulers of south fought  in favour of the kauravas.
 Before the battle started lord krishna gave a grade sermon of  “geeta” to arjun.
 The philosophy of karma has been propounded  in the bhagavad gita.

 Through  the Ramayana and the Mahabharata primarily  scriptures  we get

useful information regarding the polity, prominent dynasties, government
officials, god of war weapon religious and cultural traditions, economic life,
practical forms of indian philosophy during the  epic age.
The puranas:-
 The word “purana” means old, ancient or primitive.
 They are 18 in number. But from a historical point of view the bhavishya
purana, matsya purana, vishnu purana, brahmanand purana and bhagwat
puran are important.
 Each puran are divided into 5 parts :-
1. Sarga { creation of universe}
2. Pratisarga { re creation of universe after deluge}
3. Vansha { the genealogy of god and goddess}
4. Manavtar {  an account of mahayugas}
5. Vanshanuchutri { history of royal dynasties}

 The puranas throw the light on different forms of hinduism, legend of god and
goddess rituals, festivals and customs etc.
 We get useful information about the royal dynasty such as suryavanshi,
chandravanshi, royal dynasty of magadh, the maurya, koshla etc.Such
information is not available  anywhere else.
 The puranas are the most valuable literary source intervening in the period
between the epics and the rise of the magadha empire.
 They also provide us with valuable geographical information such as the
location of important towns, their distance from one another, the river
mountain extra.

Drawback:
 The date and genealogies do not coincide with one other.
 Events have been more fancies
 Then information contained in the puranas must be confirmed by other
sources.

Buddhist literature
 The three-pitkasare the most important Buddhist scriptures .
 They were  written in Pali language.
 Pitak means basket , so three-pitaks means three  baskets of  knowledge.
 The three pitaks are:-
1. Viney pitak-  commentary upon the life of monks and Organization of Buddhist
sagh.
2. Suta pitak:-  a  commentary upon Buddhist  principles.
3. Abhidhamma pitak:-  it is an analysis of Buddhist philosophy.

 The three pitkas through a light on contemporary society.

 There are 549 jatkas related to the earlier birth of god Buddha.
 They give us information about  the social, economic, political life of the third
century B.C.
 Deep vansha and maha vansha Buddhist scriptures were written in Ceylon  in
Pali language during 4th and 7th century A.D.
 These two works throw a light on the indo Ceylonese relation and growth of
Buddhism in sri lanka
 Lalit vistar is a biographical sketch of lord Buddha.
 The former tell us about Asoka and his successors and the latter tell us about
the political events from the mauryas to king Harsha.
Jain literature:

 The important jain scriptures are 12 angas, 12 up angas, 10 prakaran, 6

chhed sutra, nandi sutra, any yoga etc. 
 The jain work “parishisht parva” written by Ham Chander is very important of
all. it was written in 12 century a.d.
III. SECULAR LITRATURE
The ancient Indian wrote some secular literature . The subject of their works were
grammar history politics biographies of kings imaginative and gossip literature .this
literature throw light on the contemporary political, social, cultural, and economic life
of people.
Works on grammar:-Panini “Ashtadhayyi” contain reference to certain kings and
republican states. “Mahabhyasha” by Patanjali is a commentary upon Sanskrit
grammar . it give us information about the reign of Pushyamitra Shunga .
Historical literature and Biographies:-
Banabhatt, the poet laureate of king, HarshVardhan, wrote “Harshcharit” which
portraits the life and achievements of king HarshVardhan.
Kalan wrote Raj “taragni” ,Which depicts city of 12th  century ad.  Of Kashmir.
“Gargi Smhita gives an account of Muslim invasion, while “chachnama” throws light
on the ancient history of Sindh.

Arthashastra:-

 Arthashastra was written by kautilya the prime minister of Chandragupta

Maurya.
 It is a great treatise on diplomacy.
 The Arthashastra give a detailed account of Mauryan administration, law,
economic setup, weaponry, modes of warfare, social and economic life of
people, appointment of ministers, development of means of irrigation,
government’s efforts to increase agriculture produce etc.

Sangam literature:-

 The informative source about the ancient Indian history of south India is
Sangam literature.
 it was written in Tamil.
 From the first century ad to fourth century a.d, these used to be liberty
assemblies of Tamil poets, under the patronage of south Indian rulers.
 These assemblies were called sangam assemblies and the literature
composed during these assemblies was called “sangam literature”.
 This literature tells us about the social, economic, political, and religious and
cultural life of the period.
ARCHEOLOGICAL SOURCES:-
Importance of aerceological sources:-

Archaeology has contributed a lot to the history of ancient india.inscription, coin,

monument, old building, temples, monasteries, weapons and tools, idols, pottery,
painting skeleton and remains of excavation etc. Help a lot in writing  the history of 
ancient India. The modern scholar gives more preference to archaeological sources
than literary sources.

Several reasons can be:-

 The archaeological sources are more trustworthy then the literary sources.
Because sometimes an author’s work  is written from a selfish motive and it
becomes difficult to find out truth from the untrue
 The author of literary work  right from his own point of view
Exp:-  as  the Chinese  traveler had come to India to acquire knowledge about
Buddhism so what they  saw  and wrote was  altogether  from  Buddhist point
of view. Their aim was to highlight Buddhism.
 In due course of time, some alteration made in literary work. They are not
found in their original form.
 In order to gather information about bronze age we have to depend upon
archaeological material because it is difficult to comprehend  the literary work
of that period
 The archaeological sources help in testifying and authenticating  the  sources 
gathered from other  sources.
 There are no literary sources of pre- historic history which could give us
definite information about the period. Thus we have to depend upon
archaeological sources.

Coins:-
 Coins help us to build up the history of the country  in many ways:-
 They give us the name of the king who issued those coins.
  Many a time the information gathered from the coin can be used to
corroborate the evidence gathered from the others sources.
 The location of coins help us to determine the  extent of the territory of a  king.
  The coin helps us to fix the exact date of birth, accession and the death of the
king.
 The coin gives us  the idea about the economic prosperity and flourishing
trade of that period.
 The coins give us the information about the religious faith of rulers.
 The coins give us the information about metallurgy, sculptures and script of
the period.
 The earliest coins of india have only symbols and no legends.
 A large number of coins with legends were issued by the indo-bacterian rulers
who held their rule over the north-west frontier province and punjab.
 The name of the king, god or goddess and the dates were inscribed on these
coins.
 This artistic excellence influenced the indian coinage system.
  Example: - the gupta coins carry the image of Vishnu, lakshmi and garuda.
this shows the gupta rulers follow the vaishnavism.

Inscriptions

 The inscriptions on rocks, cave, pillars, and copper plate provide us with
useful material about the history of India.
 Some of the inscriptions are official while a few are personal.
 Copper plate  inscription give information about land grant and land revenue
system of the period
 Writing on pillars, pedestals, and images and walls of temples belonging to
the Vishnu, The Buddha and the Jain sects have been found.
 Some align inscriptions also give up useful information.
Example:-Boghazkoi inscription {Central Asia} makes a reference to deities
such as Mitra, Varun and Indra.

Sculptures and paintings;-

 Several figurines of Terracotta and bronze have been found during the
excavation at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.
 Similarly a large number of idols of Hindu deities, Lord Buddha, Lord
Mahavira, kings and queens, dancing girls, animals, plants and flowers have
been found in temples and places of worship situated in different parts of
India.
 These objects tell us about the religious belief, dress and ornaments and fine
art of the people.
 In ancient times Gandhara school of art and Mathura school of art were very
popular  Gandhara School  practiced  Greek style, while the subject are
indian. Mathura school practiced purely Indian style.
 Ajanta and Ellora caves are the finest specimen painting.

 Remains and excavations:-

 The finding of excavation at various places helped a lot in constructing the

History of Ancient civilization
 In 1921- 22 with the excavation at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro world oldest
and most prosperous civilization of Indus Valley came to light.
 The findings tell us about the dwellings, public hall, pottery, toys, food and
drink, means of amusement, social, economic, religious and political life of the
people.
 As a result  of excavation at various places we have recovered black and red
ware, and  Idols of Terracotta and bronze throw light on the development of
civilization of a particular period.
 The skeletons help us in determining the race of the people
 The experiment conducted on the basis of carbon 14 helped in determining
the date and time of ancient civilizations.