Sources Of Ancient Indian History
The past of humankind has been divided into three broad categories viz. Prehistoric, Protohistoric and Historic.
- For the Pre-Historic period, we have archaeological sources but no written records.
- For the Proto-Historic period again we have to rely on archaeological sources though we have written records. But these written records are not yet deciphered. Example: Indus valley civilization.
- For the Historic phase, we have both archaeological resources as well as written records.
- It is believed that man learnt writing only about 5000-8000 years ago during the Neolithic period.
- In India, the Historic age began with the advent of Aryans in 1500 BC.
- The technique of radiocarbon dating is commonly used for dating the prehistoric period. It is based on measuring the loss of carbon in organic materials over a period of time.
- Another dating method is known as dendro-chronology. It refers to the number of tree rings in the wood. By counting the number of tree rings in the wood, the date of the wood is arrived at.
The sources of ancient Indian history can be divided into two parts: Literary sources and Archaeological sources. Here sources of different periods of ancient India are discussed below :
Vedic Period (Sources of Ancient Indian History)
- The Vedic literature is the most significant source of information about the Vedic civilization. The available archaeological sources of the period include iron implements and tools and remains of painted grey ware pottery.
- The Vedic period can be divided into the early Vedic period and the later Vedic period.
- The only source of information that belongs to the early Vedic period is the Rig Veda.
- All the other components of the Vedic literature belong to the later Vedic period.
- The Vedic literature consists of the Samhitas(four Vedas), Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads. (There are also six Vedangs and four Upa-Vedas, which are part of Vedic literature but they are developed in the later period).
Pre-Mauryan Age (Sources of Ancient Indian History)
Archaeological Sources :
- Punch – marked coins :
- Mostly of silver mined from kharag mines in Monghyr.
- The coins do not bear any images or inscriptions of Gods or Kings.
- These are not casted coins and were first issued by the traders and bankers and later by the king also.
- The use of punch-marked coins was indicative of a more developed economy.
- Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) type of pottery was the characteristic feature of this age.
- Iron use increased in this period.
- Mud bricks were used for the construction of cities.
Literary Sources :
- Suttapitaka and Vinaypitaka was composed in the first Buddhist council at Rajgriha in 483 BC.
- Herodotus wrote ‘Historica’. It talks about trade relations of India with Persia.
Maurya Period (Sources of Ancient Indian History)
Archaeological Sources :
- Many wooden places and halls were unearthed from the Mauryan period.
- Burnt bricks were used for the first time in Mauryan period.
- Rupyarupa and Pana were the silver coins whereas Tamarupa were the silver coins.
- Ring wells were also identified for the first time in Mauryan period.
- Ashokan Edicts : These are 14 Major Rock Edicts, 7 Major Pillar Edicts, 3 Minor Rock Edicts, 3 Minor Pillar Edicts and 3 Cave Edicts located at various places in the Indian subcontinent.
- Junagarh rock inscription of Rudradaman-I informs us that the famous Sudarsana lake was constructed by Pushyagupta, the brother-in-law and governor of Chandragupta Maurya.
- Sohagura and Mahasthan inscriptions which probably belonged to Chandragupta Maurya’s reign deal with famine relief measures.
- Nagarjuna hill cave inscription of Dasaratha talks about the dedication of caves to Ajivikas.
- The pottery of the Mauryan period is generally referred to as Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW). They were characterised by the black paint and highly lustrous finish and were generally used as luxury items. They have often been referred to as the highest level of pottery.
Literary Sources
- Kautilya’s Arthsastra : book on political economy of Maurya period.
- Megasthenese’s Indica : It gives an outline of Mauryan polity, society and economy.
- Deimachus in the Bindusara’s court wrote a separate account of India.
- Justin in his book ‘Epitome’ calls Chandragupta Maurya as Sandracottus.
- Plutarc in his books ‘Lives’ says that Chandragupta Maurya with an army of 6,00,000 soldiers overran the whole of India.
- Strabo wrote the book ‘Geography’ in which he often quotes Megasthenes Indica.
- Buddhist Literature :
- Jatakas(stories of previous birth of the Buddha) : reveal a general picture of the Mauryan period.
- Digha Nikaya : helps in determining the influence of Buddhist ideas on Mauryan polity.
- Vamsathapakashini : gives us information about the kshatriya origin of the Mauryas.
- Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa : describe the part played by Ashoka in spreading Buddhism to Sri Lanka.
- Ashokavadana and Divyavadana : written in Tibet in sanskrit give an account of the Mauryan emperors.
- Parsistaparvan : book written by Hemachandra, which talks about the conversion of Chandragupta Maurya to Jainism.
- Vishakhadatta’s Mudrarakshasa : written in the Gupta period which talks about the strategies of Kautilya and mentios Chandragupta Maurya as being of lowly origin.
- Puranas : written by Brahmanas, gives us the chronology and list of Maurya rulers.
Post – Mauryan Period (Sources of Ancient Indian History)
Archaeological Sources
- Inscriptions :
- Junagarh rock inscription of Saka ruler of Ujjain Rudradaman-I(150 AD) informs us that the famous Sudarsana lake was constructed by Pushyagupta, the brother-in-law and governor of Chandragupta Maurya. This lake was repaired during the time of Rudradaman-I. Later it again repaired by Parnadatta during the Skandagupta reign. This inscription is also the earliest epigraphic evidence of vishti or forced labour.
- Nasik inscription : talks about Saka – Satavahan conflict.
- Besnagar pillar inscription(Vidisa) : talks about the pillar constructed by Heliodorus in honour of god of gods Vasudeva.
- Hathigumpa inscription : in Udaygiri hills of Odisha, talks about the achievements of Kharvela of Kalinga, a chedi ruler.
- Coins :
- Indo-Greeks first issued gold coins.
- Kanishka issued coins bearing the terms Wudo(Buddha), Atso(fire god) and Meyo(Sun god).
- Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in the Sangam age issued coins of gold and copper, not of silver.
Literary Sources
- Sangam literature was based on theme of love and war. Pandayan kings patronized the Sangam poets.
- Patanjali wrote a book ‘Mahabhasya’ in the 2nd century BC.
- Manu in the 2nd century BC wrote the book Manusmriti.
- Periplus of the Erythrean Sea : written in between 80-115 AD by an anonymous writer, talks about the Roman trade in the Red sea, Persian Gulf and the Indian ocean and mentions about the various Indian ports.
- Ptolemy’s Geography: talks about the trade between India and Roman empire in post-mauryan period.
- Pliny’s Naturalis Historia: talks about trade between India and Italy.
Gupta Period (Sources of Ancient Indian History)
Archaeological Sources
- Total of 42 inscriptions are known from the Gupta empire. Out of them 27 are engraved on stone.
- Prayag inscription authored by Harisena, highlights the military conquests of the Samudragupta.
- Mehrauli inscription : history of Chandragupta II.
- Bhanugupta’s inscription at Eran : first inscriptional evidence of Sati.
- The Guptas issued the largest number of gold coins in the ancient period.
Literary Sources
- Literature in Gupta period divided into three parts : Secular literature, Religious literature, Scientific literature
- Secular literature :
- Kalidas wrote Abhijansankutalam, Malvikagnimitram, Raghuvamsa, Kumarasambhav, Meghdutam and Ritusamhara.
- Sudraka wrote Mrichchkatika.
- Visakhadatta wrote Mudrarakshasa and Devichandraguptam.
- Magha wrote Sisupalvadh and Bhattikavya.
- Kamandaka wrote Nitisara belonging to the Chandragupta I’s period. It is the gupta equivalent of Kautilya’s arthasastra.
- Vajjika wrote Kaumudimahotsava. It talks about accession of Chandragupta I to the throne.
- Law texts such as Brihaspati smriti and Narada smriti were written which influenced Gupta emperor in the administration of justice.
- Religious literature :
- In Ramayana, BalaKanda and Uttarakanda were added in this period.
- In Mahabharat, some of the parva were added in this period.
- Some of the puranas were written down in this period. Ex. Markandey purana, Matsya purana etc.
- Accounts of Fahien, the Chinese traveler in times of Chandragupta II.
- Scientific literature :
- Aryabhatta wrote Suryasiddhanta and Aryabhattiyam. In Suryasiddhanta he explains the true cause of solar and lunar eclipse. While in Aryabhattiyam he deals with airthmetics, geometry, algebra and trigonometry.
- Varahamihira wrote Brihatsamhita, Panch Siddhanta, Brihat Jataka etc.
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