Sources of Ancient Indian History

Sources Overview

• Two broad kinds of source: literary (written: indigenous religious and secular texts, and foreign accounts) and archaeological (inscriptions or epigraphy, coins or numismatics, monuments and artefacts).
• Archaeological sources are treated as more reliable: they are contemporary and cannot be interpolated later.
• Indigenous literature is religious (Vedas, Upanishads, Tripitaka, Jain Agamas, Puranas) or secular (Arthashastra, Rajatarangini, biographies, dramas).

Shruti Tradition

• Shruti = “that which is heard”: divinely revealed, not composed by humans. Veda comes from the root vid, “to know”.
• Vedic literature: roughly 1500–600 BC.
• Four Vedas, all Shruti: Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva. Each has four layers, in order: Samhita → Brahmana → Aranyaka → Upanishad.
• Rig Veda: 1,028 hymns in 10 Mandalas; the oldest Veda and the oldest surviving poetry in an Indo-European language.

Upanishads

• 108 Upanishads in all, 13 principal; the oldest are Brihadaranyaka and Chandogya. Core theme: Atman–Brahman, the identity of self and universal reality.
• Satyameva Jayate (“truth alone triumphs”), India's national motto, is from the Mundaka Upanishad. PYQ UPSC 2014

Vedangas

• Six Vedangas, auxiliary “limbs” of the Veda (not Shruti themselves): Shiksha (phonetics), Chhanda (metre), Vyakarana (grammar), Nirukta (etymology), Kalpa (ritual), Jyotisha (astronomy).
• The two key works: Ashtadhyayi by Panini (Sanskrit grammar) and Nirukta by Yaska, the oldest Indian work on word derivation.

Epics + Puranas

• Smriti = “that which is remembered”: human-authored, supplementary to revealed Shruti.
• The Epics and Puranas are Smriti + Itihasa, composed roughly 400 BC – 400 AD.

Epics

• Ramayana: by Valmiki, in 7 Kandas; it survives in Northern and Southern recensions.
• Other Rama stories: Paumachariu (Jain, by Vimalasuri, in Prakrit), Dasharatha Jataka (Buddhist), Iramavataram (Tamil, by Kamban).
• Mahabharata: by Vyasa, in 18 Parvas; it contains the Bhagavad Gita. The Kurukshetra war is placed around 1000 BC.
• Painted Grey Ware (PGW) pottery at Hastinapura, dated to about 1000 BC, matches the traditional Mahabharata horizon.

Puranas

• 18 Mahapuranas, compiled roughly 400 BC – 400 AD, traditionally by Vyasa.
• Panchalakshana, the five features of a Purana: Sarga (creation), Pratisarga (dissolution and renewal), Manvantara (cosmic cycles, ages of Manu), Vamsha (genealogies of gods and sages), Vamshanucharita (dynastic histories).
• Vamshanucharita matters most to historians; it is best preserved in the Matsya, Bhagavata, Vishnu and Vayu Puranas.
• The dynastic lists run Haryankas → Shishunagas → Nandas → Mauryas → Shungas → Kanvas → Satavahanas and end with the Guptas, so the final compilation is dated to the 4th–6th century AD.

Dharmashastra

• Dharmashastra in three stages: Dharmasutras (600–300 BC, prose, based on the Vedas), Smritis (200 BC – 900 AD, verse), Commentaries (9th–19th century AD, e.g. Mitakshara, Dayabhaga).
• Three sources of Dharma: Shruti (the Vedas), Smriti and Sadachara (good custom, the practice of the virtuous).
• The Smritis cover social organisation, customs and the king's rights and duties: in effect, ancient India's law codes.
• Manu Smriti (200 BC – 200 AD), the most influential, systematises Varnashrama. Dvija (“twice-born”): the first three varnas, who undergo the sacred-thread ceremony.

Buddhist Literature

• The Tripitaka, in Pali: Sutta Pitaka (the Buddha's discourses), Vinaya Pitaka (monastic rules), Abhidhamma Pitaka (philosophy and metaphysics).
• 549 Jatakas: stories of the Buddha's previous births. Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa are Sri Lankan chronicles in Pali. Milindapanha: the dialogue of Nagasena and the Indo-Greek king Menander.
• Therigatha: songs of Buddhist nuns, a rare ancient text composed by women. PYQ UPSC 1996

Jain Literature

• Jain Agamas (the Shvetambara canon): 12 Angas + 12 Upangas, compiled at the Council of Valabhi by Devarddhi Kshamashramana (5th–6th century AD).
• The Jain Bhagavati Sutra names the 16 Mahajanapadas; the Buddhist Anguttara Nikaya also lists 16, and the two lists differ.

Sangam Literature

• Sangam literature (3rd century BC – 3rd century AD): 2,381 poems by 473 poets, about 30 of them women; the earliest South Indian literature, in Tamil.
• Akam (“interior”): poetry of love and personal feeling. Puram (“exterior”): poetry of war, kingship and public life.
• Post-Sangam works: Tirukkural by Tiruvalluvar (ethics and statecraft), Silappadikaram by Ilango Adigal (the Tamil epic of Kannagi), Manimekalai by Seethalai Saathanar (Buddhist themes).

Foreign Accounts – Greek

• Herodotus, the “Father of History”, recorded India as the 20th satrapy of Darius's Achaemenid empire.

• Megasthenes, ambassador of Seleucus Nicator to Chandragupta Maurya, wrote Indica: the first book through which Europe knew India, surviving only in fragments quoted by later writers.
• Arrian left the most reliable Greek account of India. Pliny's Naturalis Historia documents Rome–India trade and the drain of Roman gold. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century AD) is a sea-trade guide.

Chinese Travellers

• Fa-Hien (399–414 AD) came in the reign of Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) and wrote Fo-Kuo-Ki (Record of Buddhist Kingdoms). PYQ UPSC 2025
• Hiuen Tsang (629–645 AD), the “Prince of Pilgrims”, came in Harshavardhana's reign, studied at Nalanda for 5 years and wrote Si-Yu-Ki. PYQ UPSC 2013
• I-Tsing (673–695 AD) came by sea and stayed at Nalanda for 10 years.
• In order: Megasthenes (302 BC) → Fa-Hien (399) → Hiuen Tsang (629) → I-Tsing (673) → Al-Biruni (1019) → Ibn Batuta (1333). PYQ UPSC 1999

Arab Writers

• Al-Biruni (973–1048 AD), the “first real Indologist”, came with Mahmud Ghaznavi (1019), learnt Sanskrit and wrote Tehqiq-i-Hind (Kitab-ul-Hind).
• He fixed the Gupta era as starting 241 years after the Shaka era: 78 + 241 = 319–20 AD.
• Sulaiman (851 AD) left the first available Arab account of India, describing the Pratihara and Rashtrakuta kingdoms.

Secular Texts – Arthashastra

• Arthashastra by Kautilya (Chanakya, Vishnugupta), 4th century BC: statecraft, administration, social and economic policy; compared with Aristotle's Politics and Machiavelli's Prince.
• On slavery it says an Arya could not be made a permanent slave, children of slaves were born free, and slaves had property rights. PYQ UPSC 2022
• It permits divorce and remarriage under certain conditions, a liberal position beside the Dharmashastras. PYQ UPSC 1996

Biographical Texts

• Rajatarangini by Kalhana (1148–50 AD): a history of Kashmir, the first Indian text written with a genuine historical method.
• Harshacharita by Banabhatta (about 620 AD), Harsha's court poet: the earliest Indian biography. PYQ UPSC 1998
• Mudrarakshasa by Vishakhadatta: a drama of Chanakya overthrowing the Nandas. Malvikagnimitra by Kalidasa: information on the Shunga dynasty.
• Pairs: Panini–grammar, Kalhana–history, Banabhatta–biography, Kautilya–polity. PYQ UPSC 1998
• Charaka–medicine, Sushruta–surgery, Aryabhata–astronomy, Bharata–dramaturgy (Natyashastra).

Pioneers

• James Prinsep deciphered Maurya Brahmi in 1837, after 7 years' work, unlocking the Ashokan edicts; he also deciphered Kharoshthi. PYQ UPSC 2016
• Sir William Jones founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784.
• Sir Alexander Cunningham, the first Archaeological Surveyor, founded the ASI in 1861: the “Father of Indian Archaeology”.
• Sir John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI 1902–28: Harappa (1921) and Mohenjo-daro (1922) were discovered under him.

Key Inscriptions

• Boghazkoi (Turkey, 1380 BC): a treaty naming Vedic gods Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Nasatya, evidence for the Central Asian roots of the Indo-Aryans.
• Ashokan edicts: 40, in Brahmi, Kharoshthi, Greek and Aramaic. Only the Maski and Gurjara edicts name Ashoka; elsewhere he is Devanampiya Piyadassi.
• Hathigumpha (Odisha, 1st century BC), of Kharavela of Kalinga: the first inscription to mention Bharatvarsha.
• Heliodorus Pillar (Besnagar, Vidisha, 2nd century BC): a Greek ambassador calls himself a Bhagavat (a Vishnu devotee), the earliest evidence of the Bhagavata cult.
• Junagadh (Girnar) (150 AD), of the Shaka ruler Rudradaman: the first long inscription in chaste Sanskrit; it records repairs to the Sudarshana Lake, first built under Chandragupta Maurya.
• Prayag Prashasti (360 AD) by Harishena: Samudragupta's conquests, calling him Kaviraja; engraved on an Ashokan pillar at Allahabad.

Unusual Inscriptions

• Yerragudi (Andhra Pradesh): an Ashokan inscription in Brahmi written right to left, though Brahmi normally runs left to right.
• Bhabru (Bairat): written boustrophedon (alternate lines in opposite directions), and the only one calling Ashoka Magadhiraj.
• Shara-i-Kuna (Kandahar, Afghanistan): an Ashokan edict in Greek and Aramaic, for the Hellenised north-west.

Ancient Scripts

• Brahmi: written left to right; the parent of nearly all South Asian scripts, used in most Ashokan inscriptions. It evolved Brahmi → Siddhamatrika → Nagari / Devanagari (standardised around 1000 AD).
• Kharoshthi: written right to left, derived from Aramaic, used in north-west India (Gandhara), as in Ashoka's Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra edicts; died out by the 3rd century AD. PYQ UPSC 1997

Languages

• Four language families: Indo-European (Indo-Aryan), Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burmese.
• The earliest Brahmi inscriptions are in Prakrit, not Sanskrit; its main dialects are Maharashtri, Shauraseni, Magadhi.
• Apabhramsha evolved from Prakrit and was used until the end of the 1st millennium AD, the bridge to modern North Indian languages. PYQ UPSC 1996
• In Sanskrit drama the Vidushaka (court jester) speaks Prakrit; Sanskrit is for high-status male characters, Prakrit for women and lower-status characters. PYQ UPSC 1994
• Sanskrit became the premier language of inscriptions in the 4th–6th centuries AD (the Gupta period).

Coins (Numismatics)

• The oldest Indian coins date from the 6th century BC: punch-marked, mostly silver, with punched symbols and no inscriptions; standard weight 32 rattis.
• Indo-Greek coins (2nd–1st century BC) were the first with the king's name and portrait, bilingual (Greek and Kharoshthi), and the first gold coins in India.
• Kushana coins (1st–4th century AD): the first large regular gold minting, of the highest purity in ancient India.
• Satavahana coins: mainly lead (also copper, bronze, potin), with legends in Prakrit / Brahmi.
• Gupta coins (4th–6th century AD): the most gold coins in ancient India, called dinaras; a famous type shows Samudragupta playing the vina.
• In order: punch-marked (6th century BC) → Indo-Greek (2nd century BC) → Kushana gold (1st century AD) → Gupta gold (4th century AD). PYQ UPSC 1998

Eras + Dating

• Vikrama Samvat: 58 BC, attributed to Vikramaditya of Ujjain; earlier called the Krita and then the Malava era.
• Shaka era: 78 AD, attributed to Kanishka I; the basis of India's National Calendar.
• Gupta era: 319–20 AD, founded by Chandragupta I (identified by Al-Biruni as Shaka + 241).
• Kalachuri-Chedi era: 248 AD. Harsha era: conventionally 606 AD (debated). Kollam era: 824 AD, used in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Conversions: Vikrama Samvat = AD + 57; Shaka year = AD − 78; Shaka + 135 ≈ Vikrama Samvat. PYQ UPSC 1997
• The National Calendar follows the Saka era; its first month is Chaitra, and Chaitra 1 = 22 March (21 March in a leap year). PYQ UPSC 2014