1-17-07

Vedas Mohenjo-Daro
Puramas Harappa
Banbhatta Alberuni
Harsha-Carita, 6th c.ad Twarikh
Kalhana, 12th c.ad Herodotus
Rajatarangni Ctesias
Asoka, 3rd c.bc Megasthenes
Prinsep Ptolemy
Brahmi Phiny
Kharoshti Fa-Hsien, 5th c.ad
Prakrits Hsuan-Tsang, 7th c.ad

 Earliest Indians were very cultural, spiritual, and philosophical…but didn’t write the
history down
 Hindu/Buddhist India
 Muslim India
 Traditional India
o Literary sources
o Historical monuments, palaces, temples, ect...(archeology)
 In stone and marble
o Foreign accounts
 Literacy
o Indian genius was not applies to historical accounts/texts
o British destroyed any historical text that India may have had
 The Vedas
o Produced by the Aryans (European origins)
 Introduced Sanskrit
 Wrote about everything (lasted 2,000 yrs.) 1500 bc-500ad
• Full of history (just have to look for it)
 Puranas- a track of text in the Vedas that is filled with names of kings, queens,
kingdoms, battles, ect…history.
o Puranas = old
 Harsha-Carita (7th c.ad) – scholarly king
 Banbhatta – was brought in to write Harsha’s reign.
o Very descriptive writer
o Royal biographies became popular
 First historical text of India was written in 12th c.ad – “Rajatarangi”—garland of rulers
o History of Kashmir
o Reliable until 7th -12th c.ad
 Prakrits – regional/local languages (People wrote there local histories)