H

Historical Methods Comments such as those of Mill and Wilson

can be understood as both illustrative of and foun-
Shonaleeka Kaul dational in the then-emerging misconception and
Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru propaganda that Indian civilization, and particu-
University, New Delhi, India larly Sanskrit traditions, were singularly lacking
in historical sense or consciousness, a notion that
came to endure and enjoyed great currency ever
In the year 1825, Harold Hayman Wilson, Mem- since. This “lack,” in turn, was believed to be on
ber of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal and account of other stereotypes that were developing
translator of masterpieces of Sanskrit literature about India as the British colonial regime
and Hindu religion, such as Kālidāsa’s established itself in the early nineteenth century,
Meghadūta and the Viṣṇu Purāṇa respectively, namely, a greater proclivity of Indians to spiritual
sat down to translate parts of Kalhaṇa’s over material interests on the one hand, and a
Rājataraṅgiṇī, the twelfth century “Hindu His- basic changelessness and stasis of Indian society
tory of Cashmir,” as he called it. Wilson famously itself, on the other. These together were deemed
observed about the Rājataraṅgiṇī that it was “the responsible for the apparent dearth of historical
only Sanskrit composition yet discovered, to literature in India, especially as compared to the
which the title of History, can with any propriety abundance of scriptures, mythologies, and aes-
be applied.” thetic works produced.
Read closely, this adulation for the text’s his- Against this entrenched bias of 200 years,
torical qualities was in fact indictment of an entire documenting historical methods of the early
literary culture and civilization for its lack thereof. Indic civilization assumes significance. We will
Just a few years before him, James Mill, the Brit- do so both by surveying the range of evidence
ish Imperialist historian, in his notorious The His- available of early Indian societies displaying a
tory of British India [13], had launched a diatribe distinct regard for time and time-keeping and pre-
against “backward” Indian literary and cultural serving and chronicling events for posterity, as
traditions for not matching up to their Graeco- well as by questioning the positivist Eurocentric
Roman or Judaeo-Christian counterparts, which basis on which the modern discipline of history
were famous for their historical traditions. The has come to exclude traditional Indian modes of
result was a downgrading and delegitimizing of narrating the past like myth and didacticism.
indigenous Hindu, and generally all Indian, nar- Conceptions of time and chronology are
ratives of and approaches to their past. regarded as perhaps the single most important
element of historical consciousness. Early India
# Springer Nature B.V. 2021
P. Jain et al. (eds.), Hinduism and Tribal Religions, Encyclopedia of Indian Religions,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_563-2
2 Historical Methods

deployed both linear and nonlinear or cyclical (epochal intervals). The end of every kalpa was
systems of reckoning time. Among the former marked by deluge and annihilation of the world –
were a number of eras, epochs, or calendars till the next cycle of creation began. All these were
known as saṁvat or kāla that were evolved and exponentially widening divisions of time calcu-
used across the centuries. The most famous of lated in millions and millions of (human) years;
these would be the Vikram saṁvat dating to our present is believed to be in the middle of the
57 B.C.E. and the Śaka saṁvat inaugurated in kaliyuga which clocks a total of 4,32,000 years!
78 C.E. Some others were the Gupta kāla Rather than see the yugas and kalpas or cycli-
(319 C.E.), the Kālachuri-Chedī era (248 C.E.), cal time as mythic time, their sheer enormity and
and the Harṣa era (606 C.E.). Though occurring scale can be read as a statement on the
also in texts, the use of these calendars is most unreckonable nature and vastness of time when
prominently seen in thousands of inscriptions that seen from the very beginnings of creation – per-
have come down from early India. Early Indian haps among the earliest expressions of the recent
inscriptions from at least the fourth century BCE fields of “deep history” or “big history” which
onwards display an acute sense of history in so far also seek to look into the very beginnings of the
as they were, by and large, punctilious about earth and the solar system. Further, the placing of
recording the date of their being inscribed as moral order at the center of time suggests a deeply
also of the event they were recording or commem- ethical worldview. And the cyclicity of moral
orating, and the dates of the king during whose ascendance and decline, where history and
reign the inscription was instituted. Many of the human behavior repeat themselves over and over
more elaborate inscriptions especially from cen- again across the millennia, suggests that cyclical
tral and south India from the middle of the first time was invested with cultural memory.
millennium CE onwards, called the copper plate As mentioned, the concept of yugas is best
land grant charters, included a detailed genealogy articulated in a corpus of texts known as the
of the ruling king and his entire dynasty. They also purāṇas: ancient narratives on the past. Among
tended to give highly precise and complex dates the pan-Indic purāṇas, there are 18 major purāṇas
starting with the era (saṁvat), year (varṣa), month (mahāpurāṇas), such as the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Śiva
(māsa), lunar fortnight (pakṣa), week (saptāh), Purāṇa, and the Śrī madbhāgavata Purāṇa,
date (tithi), down to the day (divasa), and hour which were composed approximately between
(muhūrta) of the day! the third and ninth centuries CE, and another
However, early Indian conceptions of time 18 minor ones (upapurāṇas) that were composed
were not confined to anthropic and quotidian somewhat later; and still other local or
time; they were as conscious of vast cycles of sthalapurāṇas. The purāṇas are essentially sec-
cosmic time against which also they thought it tarian, encyclopedic texts in Sanskrit that claim to
important to situate human history. Thus the con- cover/deal with five themes (pañcalakṣaṇa),
cept of caturyuga or four eras to be found primar- though they actually contain much more material:
ily in that vast corpus of texts called the sarga (creation), pratisarga (re-creation),
purāṇas. One yuga followed another in a cycle manvantara (epochal intervals), vaṁśa
characterized by declining moral values and gen- (genealogy), and vaṁśānucarita (biographies).
eral lawlessness, which however was followed by Therefore, apart from Hindu cosmology and the-
another cosmic cycle of regeneration. The four ology, the purāṇas also document vital informa-
yugas in their order of occurrence were the kṛta tion on ruling families as well as great sages, and
(the golden age), tretā, dvāpara, and kali (the dark their entire lineages and life-histories, many of
or polluted age). Together they constituted a these being historical. Thus the puranic vaṁśā
mahāyuga (great era), and 1000 mahāyugas valis are an important source for recreating the
formed a kalpa (cosmic aeon) which was equal political history of early India since they record
to 4.32 billion (human) years. Each kalpa was important dynasties such as the Bārhadrathas,
divided into 14 intervals known as manvantaras Haryaṅkas, Śaiśunāgas, Nandas, Mauryas
Historical Methods 3

(founders of the first empire in Indian history), caritas we get are the life stories of Gautama
Śuṅgas, Kaṇvas, Sātavāhanas, and so on down Buddha, namely Aṣvaghoṣa’s Buddhacarita
till the Gupta kings. The purāṇas are also of (circa second century C.E.), and of the Buddhist
course a treasure trove of geographical and cul- king Aśoka, namely the Aśokāvadāna (circa sixth
tural history of early India. century C.E., composed in Sri Lanka).
A companion genre to the purāṇas are the Thereafter we see a spate of political biogra-
itihāsa texts. Literally, itihāsa means “thus it phies composed by court poets in regional king-
was” thereby attesting to an explicit engagement doms across the subcontinent, such as Bāṇa’s
with the past in ancient India. The itihāsa texts Harṣacarita (seventh century, Stahnīśvara/
refer to the Sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata of Kanauj), Bilhaṇa’s Vikramāṅkadevacarita
Vyāsa (400 B.C.E.–400 C.E.) and Rāmāyaṇa of (eleventh century CE, Karnataka), Atula’s Muś
Vālmīki (500 B.C.E.–500 C.E.), which record in ikavaṁśa (eleventh century CE, Kerala),
detailed and continuous narrative form the stories Sandhyākara Nandin’s Rāmapālacarita
surrounding important events in the lives of kings (eleventh century, Bengal), Jayānaka’s
and kingdoms of early historic India such as the Prithvī rājavijaya (twelfth century, Rajasthan),
Kurus and Pāñcālas of Hastinapura, and and Hemacandra’s Kumārapālacarita (twelfth
Ikṣavākus of Ayodhya, along with a host of century, Gujarat).
other allied dynasties said to be ruling over a Among regional histories, the one name that
large part of the Indian subcontinent. However, towers above the rest is the history of Kashmir that
the large number of myths to be found in them as we referred to at the very beginning of this entry:
well as in the purāṇas has led historians to only Kalhaṇa’s Rājataraṅgiṇī (twelfth century CE) to
grudgingly accord them historical status, prefer- which we will devote the rest of this discussion.
ring to coin the phrase “embedded history” for the There are two reasons for this emphasis: One,
aspects of the past incidentally captured in them. since this text is generally (and mistakenly) under-
But it needs to be remembered that both epics deal stood to represent the only specimen of true his-
centrally with the issues of royal succession and tory in all of Sanskrit literature, and two, since it
war, thereby reflecting on important processes of provides an opportunity to see other traditional
state formation in early India. And again, at the modes of Indian history, such as myth and didac-
heart of both epics are questions of ethics ticism, in operation and how we may interpret
(dharma) and socio-political legitimacy, which them for history.
merge with the imputed divinity of two central The Rājataraṅgiṇī or The River of Kings gives
protagonists, Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Rāma in the a continuous chronology for Kashmir, using tra-
Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa, respectively. ditional Indian calendars or eras, such as kaliyuga
The earliest traces we get, however, of a soci- and śaka saṁvat, to assign dates to the ascension
ety self-consciously recording and preserving for and end of the reign of every king or queen of
posterity the names and feats of important indi- every dynasty that ruled early Kashmir from its
viduals are in the Vedas themselves, the most origins till the twelfth century. These dynasties
ancient literature of India and the Hindus included the Gonandiyas (fifth to sixth century
(1500–500 B.C.E.). Therein categories of verses C.E.?), the Karkoṭas (seventh to ninth century C.
titled Dānastuti (praise of charity), Nārāśamsī E.), the Utpalas (ninth century C.E.), and the
(Praise of Men), and Gāthā (stories) provide Loharas (tenth century to twelfth century C.E.).
accounts of meritorious or heroic individuals and It also recounts in detail a host of primarily polit-
their social altruism. In a sense, the same impulse ical events that occurred during these regimes, and
is seen in mature and expanded form a millennium the policies, deeds, and struggles of successive
later in the independent poetic genre of carita rulers and courtiers. It does not merely describe
which are biographies chronicling and, by and these; it seeks to explore the general and individ-
large, eulogizing the lives of important person- ual causes thereof and provide a range of plausible
ages, most of them kings. Among the earliest historical explanations for these. Another aspect
4 Historical Methods

of interest is that the poet Kalhana claims to have power (artha), and pleasure (kāma). In other
consulted local rock and copperplate inscriptions words, history in the poetic mode was essentially
(śāsana) that recorded royal land grants and had ethical instruction. For a text like the
evidently survived from ancient times. This is Rājataraṅgiṇī, the area of instruction was specif-
interesting since it gives insight into the sources ically political morality (rājadharma) with the
that went into the making of the text that is today aim of ensuring social order (yojanam) and peo-
itself considered a source-material of history. ple’s welfare (prajānupālanam). Accordingly, the
One of the outstanding features of the primary enterprise of the Rājataraṅgiṇī was not
Rājataraṅgiṇī is that it begins with a prolegomena merely penning a factual record of Kashmir’s past
clearly stating its purpose (prayojana) and its but representation of Kashmir as a discursive
philosophy of history. Kalhaṇa states that “shed- political space mediated by an ethical paradigm.
ding both attachment and aversion, the voice of Thus, governance and kingship in the
the poet should be unwavering when recounting Rājataraṅgiṇī are evaluated according to certain
matters of the past” (RT I.7). Modern scholars moral principles. Good conduct (sat), righteous-
have read this as a statement recognizing impar- ness, generosity/liberality (dākṣiṇya), discrimi-
tiality or objectivity as a virtue in a historian. It is nating intellect that could tell right from wrong
worth noting, however, that Kalhaṇa presents this (sārāsāraviveka) and which encouraged men of
as a poetic virtue and it may refer to the state of merit, character and learning, and the will to
equipoise that Sanskrit poetic theory (alaṁkāra) enforce justice (dharma) and ensure absence of
of the times recommended to poets composing fear (abhaya) among the subjects – these consti-
certain kinds of works aimed at achieving a state tuted the personal and political values to which the
of equipoise or resignation (śānta rasa). king’s commitment was expected.
While most historiography on the Then, these values were plotted through a
Rājataraṅgiṇī has valorized its objectivist quali- series of exemplars that Kalhaṇa identified in
ties, like deference to chronology, objectivity, and Kashmir’s past kings, clubbing them in pairs elu-
causality, recent scholarship has drawn attention cidating their comparative morality. In this way,
to its poetic qualities and figurative aspects as instead of being interpreted at face value alone for
enunciating a historicality deeply charged with the facts and dates of history it reported, the entire
culturally specific meanings. It has been pointed River of Kings can be understood as a flow of
out that the Rājataraṅgiṇī was primarily a classi- ethical exemplars that unified this sprawling text
cal Sanskrit epic poem (mahākāvya), and in a narrative logic. In this traditional understand-
according to the genre’s long-standing and ing, didactic and historical functions coalesced via
cherished tradition, the poet (kavi) was a seer poetry. This in turn meant that the model of epi-
(ṛṣi), who possessed spiritual omniscience and stemic truth generated by the Rājataraṅgiṇī was
divine sight (divyadṛṣṭi). With these powers, both transcendent, in invoking higher ethical
which arose from his poetic intuition (pratibhā), ends, and contingent in so far as it was located in
he could gauge the real nature of things and even a referentially adduced historical past.
apprehend the different dimensions of time – What’s more, myth and popular memory were
“things that no one before had seen.” This claim used to further this ethico-political agenda of his-
to epistemic authority, however conventional, tory. Modern historians have tended to regard
qualified the poet to speak on matters gone by myth with considerable consternation, believing
and, as one of Kalhaṇa’s successors put it, ren- the mythic to be always fictive and false rather
dered kavya as “a lamp that illuminates the past” than a meaningful rendition of truth claims about
(kāvyadī pam bhūtavastuprakāśakam). the past. However, as Paul Veyne has perceptively
Significantly, however, the poet’s ontic access observed, myth is not about the “real” as truth, but
to history was inflected by kāvya’s didactic man- about what was noble as truth. Therefore, the
date to provide instruction (upadeśa) on a range of standard of truth in myths, and their value to the
human goals and affairs, like piety (dharma), narratives that preserved them, derived from
Historical Methods 5

something other than the verifiable. Myths in the 4. Eck D (2011) India: a sacred geography. Harmony
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(ed) Cambridge world history. vol 4. A world with
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