Assignment of History of India

How does archaeological and literary sources

help us in reconstructing ancient Indian history .

Submitted by : Shobhit Chaturvedi

Submitted to : Sumit sir
Submitted on : 24/1/2023
Roll no : 2216142
Semester. : 1st
 How does archaeological and literary sources help
us in reconstruction of Ancient Indian history.

History is about understanding past . To understand the past historians search for the different
evidences or sources and after examining this evidences they try to interpret past. Historians can
never make a complete or exact picture of past but they try to bring us as close as possible to
such a picture.
All historical interpretation are based on the sources that are classified into --- Literary and
Archaeological sources.
Archaeological sources refer to the physical remains of past human societies and cultures, such
as artefacts, architecture. These sources can include pottery, tools, weapons, jewellery, buildings,
and other structures, as well as remains of plants and animals that were used or consumed by
humans. Archaeologists use these sources to study the history, technology, economy, and social
organization of ancient societies, and to reconstruct how people lived in the past.
Literary sources refer to written texts that provide information about a particular historical period
or culture. These can include historical chronicles, religious texts, legal documents etc. These
sources can provide insight into the beliefs, values, customs, and social structures of a society, as
well as the political and economic conditions of the time. They can also give us knowledge
about the daily life, thoughts and emotions of people who lived in the past. They can be in
different languages, scripts and forms of literature like poetry, novels, letters, diaries, etc.
LITERARY SOURCES

The literary sources can be classified in three major category – Religious , Secular and Scientific
sources.
RELIGIOUS SOURCES.
Such sources are associated with a particular religion. In ancient Indian we found three types of
religious literature (i) Vedic literature (ii) Buddhist literature (iii) Jain literature.
VEDIC LITERATURE
A) VEDAS : The Vedas are a collection of ancient texts of Hinduism that contain religious
teachings, hymns, and rituals. The word Veda comes from the word vid means to know or
knowledge. There are four Vedas ---- Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva. The Vedas have
status of Shruti.
  Rig Veda : Rig-Veda is the earliest among four Vedas. It is comprised of 10 Mandalas
and 1028 suktas.These were prayers to the gods like Indra, Varuna, Agni etc. The ii and
the vii mandalas are the earliest mandalas to be composed. Each mandalas are composed
by different seers . The Xth mandala contains the famous purushasukta hymn which
explains that the four varnas were born from the mouth , arm , thighs and feet of the
creator Brahama .
 Yajur-Veda: It comprised the prayers to be recited while performing sacrifices or
yajanas. Actually, the major parts of the prayers are borrowed from the Rig-Veda, itself.
It has two parts, Shukla and Krishna and six other samhitas. The recensions (shakhas) of
shukla Yajur Veda are the Madhyandina and kanva. The black school is represented by
the Kathaka, Kapishthala, Maitrayani, and Taittiriya recensions.
 Sam-Veda: It comprised the prayers to teach how to recite the prayers while Performing
sacrifices. Again it comprised the prayers from Rig-Veda, and provided methods to recite
them. Hence, it is considered as the origin of Indian classical Music. The Kauthuma,
Ranayaniya, and Jaiminiya are recensions of the Sama Veda.
 Atharva-Veda: It comprised assorted subjects like magic, black-magic, superstitions etc.
We find origins of medicines, botany, and surgery in this Veda. The Shunaka and
Paippalada are recensions of Atharva Veda.
The category of Smriti text include Brahamanas , Aranyakas, Upanishads, Vedangas and Puran.
B) The Brahamanas: The Brahmanas means ‘sacrifice’ and they were created to teach the
procedure of sacrifices that were compiled in the Vedas. Hence, each Veda has its own
Brhamana. These are the prose explainations of the Samhita portions and gave details and
explanation of sacrificial rituals and their outcome.
C) The Aranyakas : The ‘Aranya’ means forest. The ‘forest text’ were known as
Aranyakas because they were written mainly for the hermits and the students living in the
jungle. The Aranyakas werethe concluding portion of Brahamanas. They interpret the
sacrificial rituals in a symbolic The Aranyakas were created to teach the learning of
Vedic religion, especially sacrifices & mystic philosophy into seclusion.
D) Upanishads: The word Upanishad means ‘to learn, by sitting close to one’s teacher’.
These were created to teach the learning of Vedic spiritualism, comprising the subject of,
Like, knowledge of one’s self, knowledge of God, relations between self and God,
Creation of Universe, our place in such a vast Universe, etc. Traditionally there are108
Upanishads, among which 13 are considered the principle one. They are also known as
vedanta as they came toward the end of Vedas.
E) Vedanga : These were created to make Vedas more understandable. They help in proper
recitation, use, and understanding of Vedas. This includes works on phonetics (siksha),
metre(chhanda), grammer(vyakaran), etymology(nirukta), Ritual(kalpa), and
astronomy(jyotisha) .
F) Puranas : They contain mythological stories and teachings about the Hindu gods,
goddesses, and spiritual concepts, as well as information on cosmology, genealogies, and
the history of the world. There are 18 major Puranas and 18 minor Puranas. They were
 written between 400 BCE and 500 CE and are considered as an important source of
information on the cultural, religious and social history of ancient India.
BUDDHIST LITERATURE
Buddhism as a religion spread to many parts of Asia and was practised by large number of
people due to this the Buddhist texts was found in many countries and in many languages like
Prakrit (Pali), Tibetan, Chinese, Sinhali etc. To challenge Vedic religion, these were also written
in Sanskrit language. The various Buddhist schools classify their literature in different ways,
some into 9 or 12 Angas, others into 3 Pitakas. The Tipitaka consist of three books---- The Sutta,
Vinaya, and Abhidhamma.
1. Pitakas
 SUTTA refers to the text that are supposed to contain what the Buddha himself
said . The sutta pitaka includes the teachings of Buddha . The authority of this
work was accepted by all Buddhist schools. The sutta pitaka was composed by
Ananda the closest disciple of Bhudda.
 VINAYA PITAKA was compiled by UPALI and comprised of five books. This
PITAKA contains the rules about code of conduct of the monastery, Bhikkhu,
Bhikkunis, their daily routine, ethics etc.
 ABHIDHAMMA PITAKA dealt with philosophical matters. It is a little work,
and contains a thorough study and systemization of the teachings of the sutta
pitaka through lists, summaries ,And question and answer. The three pitakas are
divided into books known as Nikayas. For example sutta pitaka consist of five
nikayas -the Digha, Majjhima, Samyutta, Anguttara, and Khuddaka nilaya.
2. Jatakas :The Jatakas are the compilation of the stories regarding previous births of
Buddha. The Jatakas Are one of the 15 book of the Khuddaka Nikaya,, and their
composition can be placed between the 3rd BCE and 2nd century CE.
3. Dipavamsha and Mahavamsha These Buddhist works are of Shri Lankan origin. They
inform us about Ashoka ,The Mauryan Emperor and various Buddhist scholars.
Dipavamsha literally know as Chronicle of island and Mahavamsha know as the great
Chronicle.
JAINA LITERATURE
The sacred books of Jains are collective known as siddhanta or Agama. The jaina monastic order
came to be divided into the Shvethambara and the Digambara schools. The Shvethambara canon
include 12 Angas, 12Upangas, 10 Painnas, 6 Cheya Suttas , 4 Mula Suttas and individual texts .
Their earliest text were written in eastern dialect of Prakrit know as ARDHA-MAGADHI .
The Jaina puranas are the hagiographies of the Jaina saints know as Tirthankars but contain
some other material also. Fir example the Adi purana contains the life story of the first
tirthankara Rishabha, also known as Adinath . The Harivamsha purana narrates the Jaina version
of the stories of the Kauravs, Pandavas, Krishna, Balarama and others.
The Jaina text gives the information about the history and doctrines of Jainism, the doctrine of
rival school, the life stories of various tirthankaras , about the life of monks and nuns. This text
can also be used as the information about the cultural, social and other aspect of societies at their
time.
SECULAR LITERARY SOURCES
Secular literary sources refer to written works that are not religious or spiritual in nature. These
can include novels, poetry, plays, short stories, essays, and other forms of literature that deal with
a wide range of topics such as history, politics, science, philosophy, and human experience .
Other than religious literature India also has a rich secular literature
1. Histories : India was not unaware of history-writing. We find abundance evidences of
history writing in Ancient India
Rajatarangini : This is perceived as the first-book of history of India, It is the history of
Kashmir, written by Kalhan (born in 1100 AD in Kashmir). He completed this book within
two starting from 1148CE and completed in 1150CE. Rajatarangini has eight volume , each
called a Taranga(wave) . It gave account of the kings till 12 th century. For writing history he
uses variety of sources ranging from manuscripts, Chronicles, inscriptions, coins, and
monument. Kalhana stress on the point that a historian should have unbiased approach, and
historian should examine all the sources and evidences critically.
2. Literature : The literature comprised of dramas, poetry, epics etc. This kind of text
provides information about society it’s economic and political conditions but while
considering such sources a historian must be critical because this sources are not written
as history but they were written for the purpose of entertainment.
Epics : The Mahabharata and Ramayana are the two ancient Indian epics they fall under the
category of Smriti and itihasa, Ramayana is also classified as kvya( poetry). The Ramayana
was said to be composed by Valmiki and Mahabharata by seer Vyasa . However historian
consider that the composition of this epics takes hundreds of year and cannot be composed
by a single person. The composition of Mahabharata can be placed between c. 400 BCE and
c. 400 CE, and the Ramayana between the 5th/4th century BCE and 3rd century CE.
The Mahabharata consist of 18 parvas and two main recensions---- one northern and the
other southern. The core story remains same everywhere. The story is about a conflict
between two sets of cousins—the Kauravas and Pandavas-- and the war that was fought
between them at Kurukshetra.
The Ramayana consist of seven Kandas(books) and exist in the form of two recensions----
Northern and Southern. The core story of Ramayana is about prince of Kosala, Rama and his
banishment to the forest with her wife and brother. In the jungle the Sita was abducted by
Ravana , the king of Lanka. The war to rescue Sita and Rama’s return to Ayodhya.
SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE
India is rich in the scientific literature . Hence, considerable amount of scientific work were
created during that period. This comprised the work of Political sciences and Grammar.
1. Arthashastra : This main subject matter of this book is ‘Political Science’, written by
Chanakya/Kautilya, the prime minister in Chandragupta Maurya’s court. The text is
divided into 15 books and covers topics such as the duties and responsibilities of a ruler,
the administration of a kingdom, and the conduct of diplomacy and war. In short, it
informs us about methods to acquire power and various types of administrative
systems/policies to sustain it.
2. Ashtadhyayi and Mahabhashya: Ashtadhyayi deals with Grammar, written by Panini.
It tells us about the social conditions of 6th century BCE . While Mahabhashya is a
Sanskrit grammar written by Patanjali in 2ed century BCE.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL / MATERIAL SOURCES

Archaeological sources comprised of (i) Inscriptions – Epigraphy , (ii) Coins – Numismatics

(iii) Sculpture and paintings.
Inscriptions : The study of inscriptions is called Epigraphy. Inscriptions where carved on seal,
stone pillars, Rocks, copper plates, Temple walls, wodden tablets, and brick or images. The
earliest inscriptions were written in prakrit in the 3 rd century BC. Sanskrit as a epigraphic
medium was started to be used in the second century AD and it's use become widespread in the
4th and the 5th century. Inscription began to be composed in the regional language from 9th and
10th centuries. Most of the inscription we found bear the history of Mauryan, post Mauryan and
Gupta period. Inscriptions were also found from Harappa but remain undeciphered . Most of the
Ashokan inscriptions were engraved in the Brahmi script, which was written from left to right,
but some inscriptions where also return in the kharoshthi script which was written ftrom right to
left. We have various type of inscription. Some convey royal orders and decision regarding
social, religious , and administrative matters to official and the people in the general. Ashokan
inscription falls in this category. While other inscriptions are votive inscriptions of the follower
of Buddhism, Jainism, vaishnavism . They appear on pillar, tablet, temple or image as marks of
devotion. Inscriptions recording land grant, are important to study the land system and
administration bin ancient India.
Coins : The study of coins is called numismatics. Asian coins were made of metal like copper ,
silver, gold, and lead. Coins were generally found from the hoards , containing not only Indian
coins but also those minted abroad, search as in the Roman Empire. Earliest coins contain a few
symbols, but the later coin depict the figure of kings, and divinities, and also mention their name
and dates. Coins can be used for various purposes for example to made a payment, as medium of
exchange, etc. Coins provide us the economic condition over particular time. The largest
number of Indian coins date to the post Mauryan period. These were made of lead, potin,
copper, bronze, silver, and gold. First gold coins were issued by Kushanas. However the Gupta
issued the largest number of gold coins. All these indicates the trade and commerce flourished,
specially in post – Mauryan and parts of Gupta period. After that only a few coins belonging to
the post Gupta period has been found which indicates a decline of the trade and commerce in
that.
Coins portray the images of king and gods, and contain religious symbols . Thus coins provide
us information about the art and the religion of that time. Coweries were also used as coins ,
though their purchasing power is slightly low . Coweries start to be found more in the post Gupta
period which indicate toward decline.
Sculpture and paintings
Since Harappan period we find evidences of sculptures in India. These were made of various
materials, like, stone, steatite, clay, terracotta, lime, bronze, ivory, Wood, etc. Some of these
sculpture were religious like the mother goddess from Harappa, while some made for
entertainment purposes like plough , cart etc. We found the sculpture of different kings
indicating towards the growth of class of artisans working for kings example the sculpture of
Kushana king etc.
Paintings : Earliest instances of paintings can be found in the rock-shelters of Bhimbetaka
(Madhya Pradesh). These were drawn by mesolithic cave-dwellers by using colours and tools
from his surrounding nature. Through these rock-paintings we can understand the life-style of
Mesolithic people; like, his way of living, methods of hunting, the flora and fauna in his
surrounding etc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
A History of Ancient and Early Medieval past – Upindar singh
India’s Ancient Past – RS Sharma
Website
www.researchgate.com
www.khanacademy.org
www.wikipedia.com