SEMESTER 1 : PAPER 1

POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA (FROM C 600 BC

TO C 187 BC )

UNIT 1
TOPIC : Literacy and Archaeological Sources of Ancient Indian
History

1. Sources of Ancient History

2. #1: Literary Sources:

3. Puranic Literature

4. Vedic Literature

5. Later Vedic Literature

6. Jain and Buddhist Literature

7. Kautilya’s Arthashastra

8. LIMITATIONS OF INDIAN LITERARY SOURCES

9. Sangam Literature

10. Foreign Accounts

11. Greek Writers

12. Chinese Travelers

13. Arab Historian: Al-Beruni

14. #2: Archaeological Sources

15. Carbon-Dating principle

16. Inscriptions

17. Ashokan Inscription

18. Coins/numismatics

19. Excavations
 Sources of Ancient History

1. literary
sources Vedic, Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit and other literature and foreign accounts.

epigraphic, numismatic and architectural remains, archaeological explorations and excavations

2. archaeological 1. study of development of scripts: palaeography.

2. study of inscriptions: epigraphy.
3. study of coins: numismatics
4. study of monuments, material remains: Archeology

Literary Sources:

Indian Tradition of History Writing

 Many foreign scholars opined that Indians had no sense of history writing and whatever was
written in the name of history is nothing more than a story without any sense.
 But this appears to be a very harsh judgment.. Because the knowledge of history was given a very
high place in ancient India. It was accorded sanctity equal to a Veda.
 Atharvaveda, Brahmans and Upanishads include Itihas-Purana as one of the branches of
knowledge.
 Kautilya in his Arthashastra (fourth century B.C.) advises the king to devote a part of his time every
day for hearing the narrations of history.

SARGA evolution of universe)

PRATISARGA involution of universe

MANVANTANTAR recurring of time

VAMSA genealogical list of kings and sages

VAMSANUCHARITA life stories of some selected characters

Puranic Literature

 The Puranic literature is very vast

  18 main Puranas, 18 subsidiary Puranas and a large number of other books.
 According to the Puranas, following are the subject matters of history:

Later on description of the tirthas (sacred places of pilgrimage) and their mahatmya (religious importance)
was also included in it.

They speak of four ages

1. Krita
2. Treta
3. Dvapara
4. Kali

Each succeeding age is depicted worse than the preceding- show decline in the moral values and social
institutions.

They speak about several eras:

era starts in

Vikrama Samvat 57BC

Shaka Samvat 78AD

Gupta era 319AD

 Narration of Puranas were a part of the annual ritual in every village and town during the rainy
season and at the time of festivals. It was treated as a powerful vehicle of awakening of cultural and
social consciousness.
 in all the Puranas royal genealogies are dealt with the reign of Parikshit, the grandson of Arjun, as
a benchmark.
 All the earlier dynasties and kings have been mentioned in past tense.
 While the latter kings and dynasties have been narrated in future tense.
 This may be because of the fact that the coronation of Parikshit marks the beginning of Kali Age.
 Many scholars think that this also points to the fact that perhaps the Puranas were completed
during the reign of Parikshit.
 In the context of the Puranas it may be remembered that in ancient India, Itihas was looked upon
as a means to illuminate the present and future in the light of the past.
 The purpose of history was to understand and inculcate a sense of duty and sacrifice by
individuals to their families, by the families to their clans, by the clans to their villages and by the
villages to Janapada and Rashtra and ultimately to the whole humanity.
 History was not meant to be an exhaustive compendium of the names of the kings and dynasties
and their achievements etc.
 The two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, may also be used as a source. It is
generally held that there have been constant interpolations in these works.
 The Puranas may not satisfy the modern definition of historiography or those who wrote it may not
have been awe of the “historian’s crafts”, but they seem fully aware of the purpose of their work and
the purpose of history itself.
Ramayana, Valmiki

 composition started in 5BC. passed through five stage. fifth stage in 12AD
 6000 verses=>12000 verses and finally 24000 verses.
 As a whole, this text seems to have been composed later than Mahabharata.

Mahabharata, Vyas

 reflects the state of affairs between 70BC to 4AD

 originally 8800 verses, collection dealing with victory.
 Later raised to 24000 verses- came to be known as Bharata after Bharat tribe
 final compilation: 1 lakh verses and came to be known as Mahabharata or Satasahasri Samhita.
 didactic portion from Post Maurya, Gupta times.

Puranic Literature: Limitations

1. Most of the ancient literature is religious in nature, and those which are claimed to be history by
Indians, i.e., puranic and epic literature, contain no definite dates for events and kings.
2. In the Puranas and epics, we find genealogies of kings and sometimes their achievements. But it
is difficult to arrange them in chronological order.
3. Puranic literature helps tracing Lord Ram of Ayodhya around 2000B.C. but the extensive
exploration in Ayodhya donot show any settlement around that date. Similarly, Lord Krishna can be
traced to 200 BC-300AD. But excavations in Mathura, donot attest his presence. Counter argument:
The epics Ramayana and Mahabharata have undergone several editions through ages, hence difficult
to tie up with specific era.

Vedic Literature

 The Four Vedas: 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.
 Vedic literature are entirely in a different language, which can be called the Vedic language. Its
vocabulary contains a wide range of meaning and at times different in grammatical usages.
 It has a definite mode of pronunciation in which emphasis changes the meaning entirely. This is
the reason why an elaborate means to protect and preserve the mode of pronunciation of the Vedas
have been devised.
 By the means of Ghana, Jata and other types of pathas we can not only determine the meaning of
the mantras but also can hear the original tone on which these were sung thousands of years ago.
 Because of these pathas, no interpolations in the Vedas are possible.

Vedanga

Six vedangas (limbs of Vedas) were evolved for the proper understanding of the Vedas.

1. Siksha (phonetics)
2. Kalpa (rituals)
3. Vyakarna (grammar)
4. Nirukta (etymology)
5. Chhanda (metrics)
6. Jyotisha (astronomy)

Sutra

 Each vedanga has developed a credible literature around it which are in the sutra form i.e.,
precepts.
 This is a very precise and exact form of expression in prose which was developed by the ancient
Indians.
  Panini’s Ashtadhyayi, book on grammar in eight chapters is the final culmination of this excellent
art of writing in sutra (precepts) in which every chapter is precisely interwoven.

Later Vedic Literature

Brahmanas elaborate on vedic rituals

Aranyakas

give discourses on different spiritual and philosophical problems.

Upanishads

Sulvasutra prescribe measurements for sacrificial altars. Mark the beginning of study of geometry and maths.

Srautasutra account of royal coronation ceremonies

Grihyasutra domestic rituals with birth, naming, marriage, funeral etc.

Jain and Buddhist Literature

literature written in notes

Jain Prakrit was a form of Sanskrit language

 as the form of Prakrit language which was in vogue in Magadha/South Bihar.

 Most of the early Buddhist literature is written in this language.
Buddhist Pali  With the Buddhist monks it reached Sri Lanka, where it is a living language.
 provides details of contempary kings in Magadha, N.Bihar and East UP.
 Ashokan edicts are also in this language.

Since the modern historians have discarded most of the dynasties mentioned in the Puranas and Mahavira
and Buddha are considered historical personalities, only those portions of the puranic dynastic lists have
been accepted which are supplemented and supported by the Buddhist and Jaina literature.
Jataka Stories

 These are Buddhist books

 Before he was born as Gautama, the Buhddha passed through more than 550 births, in many
cases in animal-form.
 Each birth story is called Jataka. There are more than 550 such stories.
 throw light on socio-economic conditions between 5BC to 2BC.

Dhamasutras and the Smritis

  these are rules and regulations for the general public and the rulers
 It can be termed in the modern concept as the constitution and the law books for the ancient Indian
polity and society. These are also called Dharmashastras.
 These were compiled between 600 and 200 B.C.
 Manusmriti and Arthashastra are prominent among them.

Kautilya’s Arthashastra

 a book on statecraft was written in the Maurya period.

 The text is divided into 15 chapters known as books.
 Different books deal with different subject matter concerning polity, economy and society.
 even before the final version of Arthashastra was written in the fourth century B.C. by Kautilya,
there appeared a tradition of writing on and teaching of statecrafts because Kautilya acknowledges his
debt to his predecessors in the field. Mudrarakshusha, a play written by Vishakhadatta, also gives a
glimpse of society and culture.

Notable writers

Malavikagnimitram is based on some events of the reign of Pusyamitra Sunga, dynasty which followed the
Kalidasa
Mauryas.Abhgyanshakuntalam: glimpse of Guptas.

Bhasa and
written plays based on historical events.
Sudraka

Banabhatta Harshacharita throws light on many historical facts

Vakpati wrote Gaudauaho, based on the exploits of Yasovarman of Kanauj

Bilhana Vikramankadevachnrita describes the victories of the later Chalukya king Vikramaditya.

Kalhana His book Rajatarangini.

Biographical Writings

Banabhatta’s Harshacharita  7th AD

 Describes the early career of Harshavardhana- courtlife and social life in his age.

 Ramacharita. 12th AD
Sandhyakara Nandi  conflict between Kaivarta peasants and Pala prince Ramapala. Prince wins.

 Vikramadity, the sixth.

Bilhana’s Vikramanakadevacharita

Atula  Mushika Vamsha- this dynasty ruled in Northern Kerala.

 Kumarapalacharita of Jayasimha,
 Kumarapatacharita or Duayashraya Mahakauya of Hemachandra,
 Harnmirakavya of Nayachandra,
 Navasahasankacharita of Padmagupta,
 Bhojaprabandha of Billal,
 Prithuirajacharit of Chandbardai.

Limitations: These writers made lot of exaggerations to please their patron kings.

LIMITATIONS OF INDIAN LITERARY SOURCES

1. Printing was not known. Everything was written on soft materials like birch bark, palm leaf, paper
etc.
2. Since the old manuscripts become fragile in course of time, they had to be manually copied. But At
the time of copying, some errors tend to creep in or sometimes even additions are made.
3. Alexander’s Invasion finds no mention in Indian sources. We’ve to reconstruct his exploits entirely
on basis of Greek sources.
4. Many of them religious in nature- while they give some idea on prevailing social conditions but
hard to put it in context of time and place.

Sangam Literature

 earliest Tamil text

 Kings and chiefs patronized poets.
 These poets assembled in collages and compiled poems over a period of 3 to 4 centuries. This is
Sangam literature.
 Describes many kings and dynasties of South India.
 This literature generally describes events upto the fourth century A.D.
 Total 30,000 lines of poetry
 arranged in eight Anthologies called Ettuttokai
 two main groups, Patinenkilkanakku (18 lower collections) and the Pattupattu (ten songs). The
former is older than the latter.
 Some kings and events are supported by inscriptions also.

How is Sangam literature different from Vedic Literature?

1. Thus secular in nature. Poems written in praise of numerous heroes and heroines. They represent
a heroic age of warriors and battles.
2. Talk about military exploits in detail.
3. Songs are not primitive, show high quality of grammar.
4. They talk about how Yavans came in their own vessels, purchased pepper with gold, supplied
wine and women to Indian rulers.

Thus, Sangam texts are not merely artistic poems, they also provide a source of social-economic-political
life of people living in the Deltaic Tamilnadu in the early Christian centuries.

TOPIC : Foreign Accounts as a Source of Ancient Indian

History
 Foreign Accounts

Greek Ambassadors:

 Ambassadors were sent to Pataliputra by Greek kings.

 Notable: Megasthenese, Deimachus and Dionysios.
 They mention Sandrokottas (Chandragupta Maurya)- help fixing his date of accession at
322BC. This helps as sheet-anchor in Ancient Indian Chronology.

Historians:

 Notable:  Herodotus, Megasthenese, Nearchus, Plutarch, Arrian, Strabo, Pliny the Elder, and
Ptolemy (Geography).
 They were concerned mostly with the north western part of India and primarily the areas
which were either part of the Persian and Greek Satrapies or Alexander’s campaign.

Megasthenese

 The Greek ambassador (in the court of Chandragupta Maurya c. 324-300 B.C.)
 Megasthenese wrote extensively in a book called Indika which is no longer available to us.
 We know about Megasthenese’s Writings through various extracts of the writings of
Diodorous, Strabo and Arrian.
 Good
o These fragments of Indika, provide valuable information on Maurya Administration,
social classes and economic activities.
o The existence of a list of 153 kings whose reigns had covered a period of about 6053
years uptill then.
 Bad
o Indika is not free from credulity and exaggerations.
o Megasthenese had little understanding of Indian society and social systems. For
example, he mentions that Indian society comprised of seven castes (jatis).
o Discrepancies because he did not know any Indian language, was not a part of Indian
society and psyche.

Greek Writers

Darius India figures in his foreign inscriptions

Ctesian got Info of India from through the Persian sources.

Herodotus in his “Histories” gives us much information about Indo-Persian relations

detailed account of the invasion of India by Alexander on the basis of information from those who
Arrian
accompanied the campaign.
 Book: “Periplus of the Erythrean Sea”by an anonymous author, who was a Greek, settled in Egypton the basis
anonymous
of his personal voyage of Indian coast in about A.D.80. He gives valuable information about the Indian coasts.

Ptolemy wrote a geographical treatise on India in the second century A.D.

Greek Limitations

1. Most of the Greek writing about India are based on secondary sources resulting in numerous
errors and, contradictions.
2. Except for Megasthenese all others have touched Indian history in the true sense very
marginally.
3. They were ignorant of the language and the customs of the country and their information is
full of unbelievable facts and fancies.
4. The works of Megasthenese and other Greeks of those who accompanied Alexander, have
been lost and are available only in fragments as quoted in later works.

Chinese Travelers

 visited India from time to time- as Buddhist pilgrims and therefore their accounts are
somewhat tilted towards Buddhism. Three important pilgrims were

Notable Chinese writers

visited India in fifth century A.DDescribes social-religious and economic conditions of India- in the time of
Fa-Hien
Guptas.

Hiuen-Tsang 7  Cent. In the age of Harshavardhana and some other contemporary kings of Northern India.
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I-tsing 7  Cent.
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Chinese Travelers: Limitations

1. Fa-Hien and Hiuen-Tsang have given somewhat exaggerated account of Buddhism during the
period of their visit.
 2. For example Hiuen-Tsang depicts Harsha as a follower of Buddhism but in his epigraphic
records Harsha mentions himself as a devotee of Siva.
3. Counterargument: Indian rulers always have, like their subjects, been multi-religious people,
it is not difficult for a foreigner to be confused.

Arab Historian: Al-Beruni

 Abu Rihan better known as Al-Beruni.

 born in central Asia in A.D. 973 and died in Ghazni (present-day Afghanistan) in A.D.1048
 Contemporary of Mahmud of Ghazni.
 When Mahmud conquered part of central Asia, he took Al-Beruni with him.
 Though Al-Beruni deplored his loss of freedom, he appreciated the favourable circumstances
for his work.
 Unlike Megasthenese, Al-Beruni studied Sanskrit language and tried to gain a precise
knowledge of Indian sources. The list of works consulted by him is long and impressive. His
observations range from philosophy, religion, culture, society to science, literature, art and
medicine.
 Al-Beruni’s work can be termed as fairly objective and wherever he has faltered- is not
because of any other reason but his lack of proper understanding.
 does not give any political information of his times.
 comparatively free from religious or racial biases
 While Al-Beruni also possess a well defined religious and hermeneutics awareness, he was
essentially a scholar and not driven to preach his faith. He was essentially a scholar and not
driven to preach his faith.
 However, sometime Al-Beruni does show his annoyance when he says sarcastically, “…  the
Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, no
religion like theirs, no science like theirs”.

#2: Archaeological Sources

 Mound= elevated portion of land, covering remains of old habitations.

 Mound can be excavated in two ways:

vertical
helps uncover periodwise sequence of cultures
excavation

digging the mound as a whole. helps getting complete data of a site.very expensive, done only at few
horizontal
places.
 Impact of climate on Mounds

Dry-arid
Western UP, Rajasthan.Better preserved
climate

humid-moist Gangetic basin and deltas.Iron tools suffer corrosion and mud structure become difficult to detect.only
climate burnt brick structure/stone structures can be detected.

Megaliths:

 Some people in South India, buried their dead with tools, weapons, potteries etc. Such 
graves were encircled by a big piece of stone. These structures are called Megaliths.

Carbon-Dating principle

 Half life=period during which, half of the material decays out.

 Half-life of C14 is 5568 years.
 Carbon is associated with all living beings.
 When an object ceases to live, it stops receiving fresh supply of Carbon C
14

 And its existing undergoes decacy into an isotope C12.

 We can measure the decaying of C14 to C12 and identify the number of years elapsed. The
object with less C14=older than object with more C14.

Inscriptions

 One of the most important and reliable sources of history writing are inscriptions.
 An inscription, being a contemporary document, is free from later interpolations.
 It comes in the form it was composed in and engraved for the first time. It is almost
impossible to add something to it at a later stage.
 The earliest system of writings is found in the Harappan seals. (2500BC) However, there has
been no success in deciphering it. They are pictographic script- ideas/objects expressed in form
of picture.
 Thus, the writing system of the Ashokan inscriptions (in Brahmi script) are considered to be
the earliest (3  AD).
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 Ashoka’s views on dhamma and conquests of Samudragupta, and several others would have
remained unknown without their epigraphs.
 Limitation of inscription: they never speak of defeats/ weaknesses

Ashokan Inscription
  These were recorded in different years of his reign and are called edicts because they are in
the form of the king’s order or desire.
 They also give a glimpse of Ashoka’s image and personality as a benevolent king concerned
with the welfare of not only his subjects but also of the whole humanity.
 These are found written in four scripts.

Language used in Ashokan inscriptions

empire script used in Ashokan Edicts

1. Aramaic
Afghanistan
2. Greek scripts

3) Kharoshthi. Kharoshthi evolved on the Varnantata system of the Indian languages

Pakistan
is written from right to left.

Kalsi in the north in 4) Brahmi.

Uttaranchal upto Mysore in
the south.  written from left to right.
  its individual letters were modified century after century and through this process all
the scripts of India, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam in the south and
Nagari, Gujarati, Bangla., etc. in the north have developed from it.
 This modification in the form of individual letters gave another advantage. It has
made it roughly possible to ascertain the time or the century in which the inscription was
written

Firoz Shah Tughlaq

 He found an Ashokan Pilar inscription from Topra, Haryana, brought it to Delhi and asked
Pandits to decipher it. They failed.
 Later, British started epigraphic studies in the late eighteenth century and deciphered it.

James Prinsep:

 Made a complete chart of Ashokan Alphabets in 1837. After this the study of epigraphs
became a subject in itself. India is particularly rich in epigraphic material.
 Inscriptions of the Indo-Greeks, Saka-kshatrapas and Kushanas adopt Indian names within
two or three generations. These inscriptions show them engaged in social and religious welfare
activities like any other Indian.

Sanskrit

Junagarh Rock  of Rudradaman is considered as an early example of chaste Sanskrit, written in mid second
inscription century A.D.

Allahabad Pillar enumerates the achievements of Samudragupta

Aihole inscription. Chalukya king Pulkeshin II gives a dynastic genealogy

of Bhoja gives full account of his predecessors and their achievements.

Gwalior inscription
 From the inscriptions we also came to know that Learned Brahmans (called Agraharas) were
given grant of land, free from all taxes.

 Most of the Gupta epigraphs give genealogy. This became the practice of the subsequent
dynasties. They took the opportunity to give an account of their conquests and achievements of
their predecessor including mythology of their origins.
 Sanskrit came to occupy a prune place since the Gupta period.

Coins/numismatics

 We could not have known about most of the Ind-Greek, Saka-Parthian and Kushana kings
without numismatic sources.
  This is considered as the second most important source for reconstructing the history of
India, the first being inscriptions.
 Ancient India did not have banking system. People kept money in earthen posts as precious
hoards. Later they’re found while digging field or excavating foundation for the construction of a
building, making road etc.
 Some coins were issued by merchants and guilds with permission of rulers=prove that
commerce had became important in later history of Ancient India.
 Largest number of coins found in post-Maurya period=>trade had increased.
 Few coins from Post-Gupta period=>trade had declined.

Coin types

 Earliest coins
 coins are the earliest coins of India and they bear only symbols on them.
 Each symbol is punched separately, which sometimes overlap the another.
Punch-  They do not bear and inscription, or legend on them
Marked  These have been found throughout the country. from Taxila to Magadha to Mysore or even further
south.
 Made from silver and copper. Some gold punch-marked coins are also reported to have been found,
but they are very rare and their authenticity is doubtful.

 silver and copper and rarely in gold. The Indo-Greek coins show beautiful artistic features on them.
 The portrait or bust of the king on the observe side appear to be real portraits.
 On the reverse some deity is depicted.
Indo-Greek  From these coins we know that than forty indo-Greek rulers who ruled in a small north-western
region of India.
 We know about several Saka-Parthians kings about whom we would have no information from any
other sources.

 Kushanas issued mostly gold coins and numerous copper coins which are found in most parts of
north India up to Bihar.
 Indian influence can be seen on them from the very beginning.
 The coins of Vima Kadphises bear the figure of Siva standing beside a bull.
Kushanas
 In the legend on these coins the king calls himself Maheshwara, i.e. devotee of Siva.
 Kanishka, Huvishka and Vasudeva etc. all have this depiction on their coins.
 We find many Indian gods and goddesses depicted on Kushana coins besides many Persian and Greek
deities.

 issued largest number of Gold coins.

 Guptas appear to have succeeded Kushanas in the tradition of minting coins. They completely
Guptas Indianised their coinage
 kings are depicted engaged in activities like hunting a lion or rhinoceros, holding a bow or battle-axes,
playing musical instrument or performing Ashwamedh yajna.
  Coins found in systematic excavations are less in number but are very valuable because their
chronology and cultural context can be fixed precisely.

Excavations

In addition to epigraphic and numismatic sources there are many other antiquarian remains
which speak much about our past.

Temples and sculptures are found all over the country right from the Gupta period upto recent
times. These show architectural and artistic history of the Indians. They excavated large
caves in the hills in Western India which are mostly Chaitya and viharas.

Temples carved out of rocks

Kailusa temple Ellora

Rathas Mamallapuram

Excavation: What did we find?

1. up to the 1920s, it was believed that Indian civilization was considered to have begun about
sixth century B.C.
2. But with the excavations at Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan and Harappa the antiquity of Indian
civilization has gone back to about 5000 B.C. The finds of prehistoric artifacts has shown that
human activities had started here as early as about two million years ago.
3. The subsequent discovery of sites of Kalibangan. Lothal, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi etc. show the
extent of this civilization upto Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh.
4. The period between 1500 and 600 B.C. was known as the dark period of Indian history
because not much was known about this period.  But the archaeological discoveries of such
cultures as Black-and-Red Ware, Painted Grey Ware, Malwa and Jorwe cultures since 1950s
have filled these chronological gap
5. It is through archaeological discoveries that we know now that Indians domesticated sheep
and goat and started agriculture about 8000 years ago. Also iron came in regular use about 1600
B.C.
6. Archaeological excavations also brought to light the townships of Taxila. Kausambi, Kasi
(Rajghat), Ayodhya, Vaisali, Bodhigaya, etc. belonging to Buddha’s time. All of these places
except Taxita are said to have been visited by Buddha in the 6  Cent.BC
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7. human activities started in the subcontinent as early as two million years ago. (from Kashmir
and Narmada valleys)
8. Rock painting was started more than twelve thousands years ago.
 Study of Indian History

Important Features of History

  The important aspects of the study (of History) are −
o To know - how did agriculture or other means of existence begin.
o When did our primitives begin the use of metal and how did they develop spinning,
weaving, metalworking, etc.
o How did the political and administrative systems evolve
o How did the development of literature, urban life, science, and architecture evolve, etc.

 History does not mean only the description of the dates and events related to the kings or
dynasties, but rather it also means to study various aspects that shaped the overall personality of
the society and the people.
 Therefore, the study of history is the study of the entire human past, which goes back to millions
of years.
 Throughout the period (starting from Ancient, Medieval, and Modern), every society has
developed over a long period of time; however, they differ in terms of courses they followed and
the processes they underwent.
 The primitives experienced stone-age, hunter-gatherers and they all practiced agriculture. Over a
period of time, the primitives began to use metal at one time or the other. In spite of so much
similar activities, still they differ in their cultural, social, political, and religious identity.
 The study of history helps in understanding the people, societies, and nations and finally, the
whole humanity gets a sense of identity and belonging.
 It may be a very superficial view to ask −
o Why should study history?
o Does it contribute anything economically to our society?

o Does it solve the problem of poverty and unemployment?

 Of course, History does not answer these question, but History helps us in knowing the past
people, their cultures, their religions, and their social systems, and suggests us how to make
future better.
 History, further, makes us learn lessons from the past for the present and future. It reminds us not
to repeat the mistakes, which led to various manmade calamities and disasters like wars (in the
past).
 History guides us why and how to ignore the bad things that created problems in society and
follow the things, which promote harmony, peace, and prosperity.
 Ashoka (the king of ancient Patliputra), in his Rock Edict XII, insisted on the following measures
and practices to maintain harmony, peace, and prosperity in the society −
o Promotion of the common ground or root of all religion.

o Cultivation of the sense of unity of all religions by the practice of vachaguti or restraint of
criticism of other religions and sects.
o The coming together (samavaya) of exponents of different religions in religious
assemblies
o Learning the texts of other religions so as to become bahusruta or proficient in the
scriptures of different religions.

Purpose of Studying History

 The study of past does not mean that one lives in the past, but one learns to live with the past.
 History gives a society or a nation an identity. It is not something that we can disown.
 Voltaire (a great intellectual and statesman from France) contended that India is the cradle of
worldly civilizations and homeland of religion in its oldest and purest form.
 Voltaire, further, wrote, "In short I am convinced that everything - astronomy, astrology,
metaphysics, etc. comes to us from the bank of Ganges".
 Pierre de Sonnerate, a French naturalist and traveler, believed that all knowledge came from
India, which is the cradle of civilizations.

 Immanuel Kant (a great philosopher of Germany) recognized the greatness of ancient Indian
culture and civilization. He acknowledged that Indian religious thoughts were free of rigidity and
intolerance.
 Immanuel Kant wrote (about India), "Their religion has a great purity ... (and) one can find traces
of pure concept of divinity which cannot easily be found elsewhere".

Writing of Ancient Indian History

  During the 4th century B. C., Kautilya in his book ‘Arthashastra’ advises the king to dedicate
some time for hearing the narrations of history.
 History was conferred holiness equal to pious Veda, Atharvanaveda,
Brahmanas, and Upanishads. The Itihas-Purana is one of the branches of knowledge of history.

Puranas
 There are 18 main Puranas and 18 subsidiary Puranas.
 The subject matters of history are (As per the Puranas),
o Sarga (evolution of the Universe)
o Pratisarga (involution of the Universe)
o Manvantantar (recurring of the Time)
o Vamsa (genealogical list of the kings and sages)
o Vamsanucharita (life stories of some selected characters)
 The reign of Parikshit (the grandson of Arjuna) was considered as a benchmark for the reference
of the royal genealogies given in the Puranas.
 In Puranas, all the earlier dynasties and kings prior to reign of Parikshit, have been mentioned in
past tense. While the latter kings and dynasties have been narrated in a future tense.
 This may be due to the fact that the Puranas were completed during the reign of Parikshit. As
mentioned in the Puranas, the coronation of Parikshit marks the beginning of Kali Age.
 In the context of the Puranas, it is observed that in ancient India, ltihas (History) was looked upon
as a means to illuminate the present and future in the light of the past.
 The purpose of history was to understand and inculcate a sense of duty and sacrifice by
individuals to their families, by the families to their clans, by the clans to their villages, by the
villages to Janapada and Rashtra, and ultimately to the whole humanity.
 During the ancient time, history was treated as a powerful vehicle of the awakening of cultural and
social consciousness. Therefore, the narrations of Puranas were a compulsory part of the annual
ritual in every village and town (especially) during the rainy season and at the time of festivals. F.
E. Pargitar and H. C. Raychaudhury have attempted to write history on the basis of genealogies
of various dynasties mentioned in the Puranas.
 ‘Rajatarangini’ written by Kalhana is another work of history, which enjoys the great respect
among the historians for its approach and historical content.

Early Foreigners
 Important Greek writers were Herodotus, Nearchus, Megasthenese, Plutarch, Arrian, Strabo,
Pliny, Elder, and Ptolemy.
 The contribution of Greek writers in the history of ancient India was restricted to the northwestern
region of India.

Megasthenese
 During 324-300 B.C., Megasthenese (a Greek ambassador) visited in the court of Chandragupta
Maurya.
 Megasthenese in his famous book ‘Indica’ gave detailed account of society and polity of the
contemporary India, but unfortunately, it is no longer available to us.
 Megasthenese affirms about the existence of an array of 153 kings whose reigns had covered the
time period of about 6,053 years up till then.
 The writings of Megasthenese, further, had been a source of the information about the ancient
India for most of the Greeks writes, including Diodorous, Strabo, and Arrian.
Al-Biruni

 Al-Biruni was born in A.D. 913 in the central part of Asia. He was contemporary of Mahmud of
Ghazi and accompanied Mahmud when he conquered part of central Asia; likewise, he came in
contact of the Indian culture.
 Al-Biruni learned the Sanskrit language to gain a precise knowledge of Indian society. He made
multidimensional observations ranging from philosophy, religion, culture, and society to science,
literature, art, and medicine.
 The work of Al-Biruni is free from all religious or racial biases.
 Al-Biruni died in Ghazni (Afghanistan) in A.D. 1048.

Christian Missionaries and Enlightenment

 The contribution of Christian Missionaries during the 17 th and 18th centuries was mainly affected by
the religious and political movements in Europe.
 A large number of works were produced on India by the Christian Missionaries, but their writings
can hardly be said to be fair. In fact, their interest in learning and writing about India was to show
faults in Indian society and culture driven by zealous activities.
 A large number of works were produced by the Christian Missionaries on India, but none of them
stands near to the works of AI-Biruni.
 Some other group of European Scholars, including John Holwell, Nanthaniel Halhed, and
Alexander Dow had written about Indian history and culture proving the pre-eminence of the
Indian civilization in the ancient world.
 Holwell had written that Hindu texts contained a higher revelation than the Christian one.
 Halhed had discussed the vast periods of time of human history assigned to four Yugas and
concluded that human reason can no more reconcile to itself the idea of Patriarchal longevity of a
few thousand years for the entire span of human race.

Historiography: Nationalist Approach

  In the late 19th century, there were some of the eminent Indian scholars who studied and
researched Indian History with Indian point of view.

Nationalist Intellectuals
 Some of the nationalist scholars who understood and interpreted Indian History with Indian
perspective are like −
o Rajendra Lal Mitra,
o R.G. Bhandarkar,
o R. C. Majumdar,
o V. K. Rajwade etc.
 Bhandarkar and Rajwade worked on the history of Maharashtra region and reconstructed the
social, political, and economic history of the area.
 D. R. Bhandarkar, H. C. Raychaudhary, R. C. Majumdar, P. V. Kane, A. S. Altekar, K. P.
Jayaswal, K. A. Nilakant Sastri, T. V. Mahalingam, H. C. Ray, and R. K. Mookerji were some
other Indian historians who attempted to describe Indian History (according to Indian point of
view).
 D. R. Bhandarkar (1875-1950), in his books, on Ashoka and on Ancient Indian Polity helped in
clearing many myths created by the imperialist historians.
 K. P. Jayaswal (1881- 1937), in his book, Hindu Polity published in 1924, effectively knocked
down the myth that Indians had no political ideas and institutions.
 Jayaswal revealed (on the basis of his study of literary and epigraphical sources) that India was
not a despotic country as propagated by the imperialist historians, but rather India had the
tradition of republics right from Rig Vedic times.
 K. P. Jayaswal’s book Hindu Polity is considered as one of the most important books ever written
on ancient Indian history.
 H. C. Raychaudhury (1892-1957) reconstructed the history of ancient India from the time of
Mahabharata War to the time of Gupta Empire and practically cleared the clouds created by V. A.
Smith. The title of his book is ‘Political History of Ancient India’.
 R. C. Majumdar wrote a number of books covering the time period from ancient India to the
freedom struggle.
 Majumdar is considered as a leader among Indian historians. The most outstanding achievement
under his editorship is the publication of ‘History and Culture of the Indian People in eleven
volumes.’
 K. A. Nilakant Sastri (1892-1975) in his books ‘A History of Ancient India’ and ‘A History of South
India’ contributed immensely towards the understanding of South Indian history.
 R. K. Mookerji (1886-1964) in his books including Hindu Civilization, Chandragupta Maurya,
Ashoka, and Fundamental Unity of India, expressed the cultural, economic, and political history of
India in simple terms and made it accessible even to a lay reader.
 P. V. Kane’s (a great Sanskritist, 1880-1972) work i.e. the ‘History of Dharmasastra’ in five
volumes is considered as an encyclopedia of social, religious, and political laws and customs.

Ancient Indian History - Sources

 Literary and Archaeological records are the two main categories that give evidences of Ancient
Indian History.
  The literary source includes literature of Vedic, Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, and other literature along
with other foreign accounts.
 The archaeological source includes epigraphic, numismatic, and other architectural remains.
 The archaeological explorations and excavations have opened the great landscapes of new
information.

Indian Literary Sources

 The ancient Indian literature is mostly religious in nature.
 The Puranic and Epic literature are considered as history by Indians, but it contains no definite
dates for events and kingdoms.
 The effort of history writing was shown by a large number of inscriptions, coins, and local
chronicles. The principles of history are preserved in the Puranas and Epics.
 The Puranas and epics narrate the genealogies of kings and their achievements. But they are not
arranged in a chronological order.
 The Vedic literature contains mainly the four Vedas i.e. Rigveda, Yajurveda,
Samaveda, and Atharvanaveda.
 The Vedic literature is in a different language called as the Vedic language. Its vocabulary
contains a wide range of meaning and is different in grammatical usages. It has a definite  mode
of pronunciation in which emphasis changes the meaning entirely.
 The Vedas give reliable information about the culture and civilization of the Vedic period, but do
not reveal the political history.
 Six Vedangas are the important limbs of Vedas. They were evolved for the proper understanding
of the Vedas. The Vedangas are −
o Siksha (Phonetics)
o Kalpa (Rituals)

o Vyakarna (Grammar)
o Nirukta (Etymology)

o Chhanda (Metrics) and
o Jyotisha (Astronomy).

 Vedanga has been written in the precepts (sutra) form. This is a very precise and exact form of
expression in prose, which was developed by the scholars of ancient India.
 Ashtadhyayi (eight chapters), written by Panini, is a book on grammar that gives excellent
information on the art of writing in sutra (precepts).
 The later Vedic literature includes the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads.
 Brahmanas gives a description of Vedic rituals.
 Aranyakas and Upanishads give speeches on different spiritual and philosophical problems.
 Puranas, which are 18 in numbers give mainly historical accounts.
 The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are epics of great historical importance.
 The Jain and the Buddhist literature had been written in Prakrit and Pali languages.
 Early Jain literature is mostly written in Prakrit language.
 Prakrit language was a form of Sanskrit language.
 Pali language was a form of Prakrit language which was used in Magadha.
  Most of the early Buddhist literature is written in Pali language.
 Pali language reached to Sri Lanka through some of the Buddhist monks where it is a living
language.
 Ashokan edicts had been written in Pali language.
 Mahavira and Buddha are considered as the historical personalities (equivalent to the God). They
have created Jain and Buddhist religious ideology respectively.

Ancient Books
 The Buddhist books are called as Jataka stories. They have been given some historical
importance because they are related with the previous births of the Buddha. There are more than
550 such stories.
 The historic information mentioned in Jaina literature also help us in reconstructing the history of
different regions of India.
 The Dharmasutras and the Smritis were the rules and regulations for the general public and the
rulers. It can be equated with the constitution and the law books of the modern concept of polity
and society. For example, Manusmriti.
 Dharmashastras were compiled between 600 and 200 B.C.
 Arthashastra is a book on statecraft written by Kautilya during the Maurya period. The book is
divided into 15 parts dealing with different subject matters related to polity, economy, and society.
 The final version of Arthashastra was written in the 4th century B.C.
 Kautilya acknowledges his debt to his predecessors in his book, which shows that there was a
tradition of writing on and teaching of statecrafts.
 Mudrarakshasha is a play written by Visakha datta. It describes the society and culture of that
period.
 Malavikagnimitram written by Kalidasa gives information of the reign of Pusyamitra Sunga
dynasty.
 Bhasa and Sudraka are other poets who have written plays based on historical events.
 Harshacharita, written by Banabhatta, throws light on many historical facts about which we could
not have known otherwise.
 Vakpati wrote Gaudavaho, based on the exploits of Yasovarman of Kanauj.
 Vikramankadevacharita, written by Bilhana, describes the victories of the later Chalukya king
Vikramaditya.
 Some of the prominent biographical works, which are based on the lives of the kings are −
o Kumarapalacharita of Jayasimha,

o Kumarapalacharita or Dvayashraya Mahakavya of Hemachandra,

o Hammirakavya of Nayachandra

o Navasahasankacharita of Padmagupta
o Bhojaprabandha of Billal

o Priihvirajacharit of Chandbardai

 Rajatarangini, written by Kalhana, is the best form of history writing valued by modern historians.
His critical method of historical research and impartial treatment of the historical facts have
earned him a great respect among the modern historians.
  The Sangam literature is in the form of short and long poems consisting 30,000 lines of poetry,
which arranged in two main groups i.e. Patinenkilkanakku and the Pattupattu. It describes many
kings and dynasties of South India.
 The Sangam was the poetic compilation by a group of poets of different times mainly supported
by chiefs and kings.
 The Sangam literature was composed by a large number of poets in praise of their kings. Some
kings and events mentioned are also supported by the inscriptions.
 The Sangam literature generally describes events up to the 4th century A.D.

Foreign Accounts

 Herodotus was dependent upon the Persian sources for his information about India.
 Herodotus in his book Histories (written in many volumes) describes about the Indo-Persian
relations.
 A detailed account of the invasion of India by Alexander was written by Arrian.
 The Greek kings send their ambassadors to Pataliputra. Megasthenes, Deimachus, and Dionysius
were some of them.
 Megasthenes came in the court of Chandragupta Maurya. He had written about the Indian
society and culture in his book called as ‘Indica’. Though the original work has been lost, but it
had been frequently quoted in the works of later writers.
 A book ‘Periplus of the Erythrean Sea’ written by an anonymous Greek author who settled in
Egypt on the basis of his personal voyage of Indian coast in about A. D. 80 gives valuable
information about the Indian coasts.
 In the second century A. D., Ptolemy had written a geographical treatise on India.
 The Greek writing about India, however, is based on secondary sources. They were ignorant of
the language and the customs of the country and hence their information is full of errors and
contradictions.
 Many Chinese travelers visited India as Buddhist pilgrims from time to time; three important
pilgrims were −
o Fa-Hien (Faxian) − visited India in 5th century A.D.
 o Hiuen-Tsang (Xuanzang) − visited India in 7th century and

o I-Tsing (Yijing) − visited India in 7th century.

 Hiuen-Tsang had given valuable account about Harshavardhana and some other contemporary
kings of Northern India.
 Fa-Hien and Hiuen-Tsang traveled many parts of the country and they have given an exaggerated
account of Buddhism during the period of their visit.
 Hiuen-Tsang mentioned Harsha as a follower of Buddhism while in his epigraphic records, Harsha
mentions himself as a devotee of Siva. Such contradictions may be considered due to the fact of
multi-religious nature of Indian rulers, which might confuse a foreigner.
 AI-Biruni gave important information about India. He was Arab scholar and contemporary of
Mahmud of Ghazni.
 AI-Biruni studied Sanskrit and acquired knowledge of Indian society and culture through literature.
Therefore, his observations are based on his knowledge about Indian society and culture, but he
did not give any political information of his times.

Archaeological Sources

 The archaeological sources played an important role in constructing or/and reconstructing the
history of a region.
 The archaeological source of Indian history is only about two centuries old.
 The archaeological source enhanced our knowledge about our past and also provided important
materials, which we could not have been obtained otherwise.
 Up to 1920, Indian civilization was considered to have begun about 6 th century B.C. However, the
excavations at Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan, and Harappa prove its antiquity to be of 5,000 B.C.
 Prehistoric artifacts found in the excavations have shown that human activities had started here
as early as about two million years ago.
 Epigraphy and Numismatics are the important branches of the study of history, which has greatly
enhanced the knowledge of India's past.
 Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions and Numismatic is the study of coins, medals, or paper
money.

 Coins are an important numismatic source that tells us about the Indo-Greek, Saka-Parthian, and
Kushana Kings.
 Inscriptions of Ashoka and Samudragupta provide valuable information about social and political
status of the people of that period.
  The study of these inscriptions reveals the world about Ashoka's views on dharma (religion) and
conquests of Samudragupta.

Archaeological Monuments
 The temples and sculptures display an architectural and artistic history of the Indians from the
Gupta period up-to recent times.
 During the Gupta period, the large caves i.e. Chaityas and Viharas were excavated in the hills of
Western India.
 The Kailasa Temple of Ellora and Rathas at Mahabalipuram have been carved out of rocks from
outside.
 The excavations of the cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa prove the antiquity of Indian culture
and civilization, which are more than two thousand years old.
 The historic sites such as Kalibangan, Lothal, Dholavira, and Rakhigarhi are the contemporary of
Mohenjodaro and Harappa civilizations.
 The Harappan civilizations cover the area of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan,
and Uttar Pradesh (in India).
 The Dark Age of Indian history was the period between 1500 and 600 B.C. This is known as Dark
Age because not much is known about this period.
 The archaeological discoveries of Black-and-Red Ware, Painted Grey Ware, Malwa, and Jorwe
cultures have filled the chronological gaps as well as covered the geographical extent.

 Some of the important points that Archaeological discoveries display are −

o Indians had domesticated sheep and goat and started agriculture about 8,000 years ago
and Iron metal came in regular use about 1,600 B.C.
o The tradition of rock paintings in India is proved to be more than 12 thousand years old.
o Tools and remains found in the Kashmir and Narmada valleys show that the human
activities started in the subcontinent as early as two million years ago.

Inscriptions
 The inscriptions are the most important and reliable sources of Indian history.
 Inscriptions are the contemporary documents those are free from later interpolations as it is
impossible to add something to it at a later period. Therefore, it comes in the original form as it
was composed in and engraved.
 The manuscripts were written on soft materials like birch bark, palm leaf, paper etc. They became
fragile in a course of time and were frequently required to be copied and at the time of copying,
some irrelevant additions were made and some errors tend to creep in. Therefore, they are not
considered as a reliable source of information about history.
 The script of the inscriptions also helps the historian in many ways.
 The Harappan seals depict the earliest system of writings, however, they could not be decoded
yet.
 The Ashokan inscriptions are claimed to be the earliest one of the systems of writing. Ashoka’s
inscriptions are found written in four scripts.
 Kharoshthi script was used in Pakistan region, which is written from right to left and is evolved on
the Varnamala (alphabet) system of the Indian languages.

 Brahmi script was used for the rest of the empire from Kalsi in the north in Uttaranchal up to
Mysore in the south.
 Palaeography is the study of development of the scripts.
 The epigraphic studies started in the late 18th century.
 Brahmi script was adopted by the rulers after Ashoka and continued for succeeding centuries.
 The Brahmi script kept modifying century after century, which led to the development of most of
the scripts of India, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam in the south and Nagari,
Gujarati, Bangla, etc. in the north.
 The modifications in the letters of the script have made it possible to ascertain the time period in
which the inscription was written.
 In 1837, James Prinsep completed the chart of Ashokan alphabets.
 The inscriptions of Ashoka had been recorded in different years of his reign and are known as
edicts because they are in the form of the king's order or desire
 The edicts of Ashoka prove that he (Ashoka) was a benevolent king concerned with the welfare of
not only his subjects, but also of the whole humanity.
 Inscriptions of the Indo-Greeks, ‘Saka-kshatrapas’ and ‘Kushanas’ adopt Indian names after two
or three generations. These inscriptions illustrate that they were also engaged in social and
religious welfare activities like any other Indian kings.
  Junagarh Rock inscription of Rudradaman was written in the mid of 2 nd century A.D. It was an
early example of an inscription written in Sanskrit; however, Sanskrit became prominent since the
Gupta period.
 Pillar inscription of Allahabad describes the achievements of Samudragupta.
 The epigraphs of the Gupta period started trends of giving the genealogy of kings with the account
of their conquests and achievements. This became a trend of the subsequent dynasties to give a
list of their predecessors and mention mythology of their origins.
 The Aihole inscription of the Chalukya king Pulkeshin-II describes a dynastic genealogy and
achievements.
 The Gwalior inscription of Bhoja also gives a full account of his predecessors and their
achievements.

Numismatics
 Numismatics is considered as the second most important source for reconstructing the history of
India after inscriptions.
 Coins are mostly found in the hoards while digging field or constructing a building, making a road,
etc.
 Coins found in systematic excavations are less in number, but are very valuable because their
chronology and cultural context can be fixed precisely.
 Earliest coins are known as the punch-marked coins. They are made of either silver or copper. In
addition to this, some gold punch-marked coins were also found, but they are very rare and their
authenticity is doubtful.
 The Indo-Greek coins were also made up of silver and copper and rarely in gold.
 The Kushanas issued their coins mostly in gold and copper, rarely in silver.

 The Guptas issued their coins mostly in gold and silver but the gold coins are numerous.
 The punch-marked coins that bear (only) symbols on them are the earliest coins of India. Each
symbol is punched separately, which sometimes overlap the other.
 Punch-marked coins have been found throughout the country, starting from Taxila to Magadha to
Mysore or even further south. They do not bear any inscription or legend on them.
 The Indo-Greek coins depict beautiful artistic features on them. The portrait or bust of the king on
the observe side appear to be real portraits and on the reverse, some deity is depicted.
 The information about Saka-Parthians kings also came through their coins.
 The Kushanas issued mostly gold coins and numerous copper coins, which are found in most
parts of north India up to Bihar.
 The Vima Kadphises coins bear the picture of Lord Siva standing beside a bull illustrate the Indian
influence from the very beginning.
 The king calls himself Mahesvara i.e. devotee of Siva in the depiction on coins. Kanishka,
Huvishka, and Vasudeva etc. all have this depiction on their coins.
 Kushana coins depicted many Indian gods and goddesses along with many Persian and Greek
deities.
 The Guptas had succeeded Kushanas in the tradition of imprinting coins. They completely had
been Indianized their coinage.
 The kings are portrayed engaged in activities like hunting a lion or rhinoceros, holding a bow or
battle-axes, playing a musical instrument, or performing Ashvamedha yajna