Ancient India / 5

Seek Values of LifeSeek Values of LifeSeek Values of LifeIt is said that you see the world

through the spectacles you wear. It isa fact that everyone has his ownviews of life and the world becausehe is born with certain individualcharacteristics which work as hisspectacles. According to the studentsof psychology the point of view of aperson is the result of factors of theenvironment and circumstances inwhich he is born and brought up. Allthese things go to make his or hercharacter, which prompts a person tobehave in a certain manner in thesociety. Every word and action of theperson is the reflection of his per-sonality which is made up of hisinborn tendencies and life values. Weexpect others to behave with us in amanner as we try to behave withthem. Whatever we hear or readabout the people in general is notgenerally in tune with our expecta-tions and hopes. Thus, we get into adifficult situation created by our innerself and outer world. The result is thatwe try our best to get out of thisunenviable situation. For this we takeadvice of senior persons and booksand at times also we pray to God tohelp us.

We come across a group of suchpersons as feel satisfied with theircircumstances. One such personsaid : why try to search mental peace,go with the stream of life and ourmental leanings will show the waythrough because that is my destiny.My discontentment and difficult situa-tions seem to be my destiny and theygive me the necessary inspiration toface life and its difficulties. Theyemphatically say that such mentalconditions keep me free from fearand diffidence. I am fully involved inmy present life and at the same timefeel full of energy. In this context theylike to quote Benjamin Disraeli insupport of what they feel—“We arenot creatures of circumstances, butwe are creators of circumstances.”

Be that as it may, if our viewpointis of happiness and abundance then

we shall see the same everywhere inlife and everything will be welcome tous. As Lord Maitreya has said, theworld is our creation, as we feelinside so we see outside. Our mind isthe creator of the world. The ques-tion arises whether we can makeother people partners in our view-point.

This question seems superfluousbecause we are always exchangingviews as we are always involved inthe social behaviour. Every thought,word and action of ours is reflectionof our mental conditions and indicateswhat type of behaviour we expectfrom the society. Therefore, the ques-tion of making others partners in ourviewpoint does not arise as thepartnership is always there.

The viewpoint of a person is formed according to his environmental circumstan-ces. His way of life is moul-ded by this viewpoint. As said by wise men our world is a creation of our mind. We should develop a healthy and happy attitude and then by coming in contact with other persons we will change our viewpoint. Values of life will mean everything to us.

We are often under the influenceof past experiences but as we movein the society and are faced with theideas of other people, our way ofthinking continues to change.

We take the life of a fifteen yearold lad who, when eight years old,was often molested by his elders andseniors and he had developed aperverted viewpoint. But by mixingwith different types of people andimbibing their ideas he is altogether achanged person and feels quitehappy and free and his life is full ofhappiness and hilarity. In a way he isgiving a new mould to his pastexperiences and living them in

altogether different ways. We will callthis his new way of life created bychange in his viewpoint.

All of us at one time or the otherhave had the experience of dejectionand despair. The most importantthing is how we deal with our experi-ences.

Do we try to project their experi-ences for moulding our future life ordo we make efforts to make new pro-gramme of life on the basis of thesenew experiences.

To form a new point of view oflife some people have advised thisway—write your past experienceshonestly and then burn the papers sowritten. After that write past expe-riences of other people and then burnthese papers also or destroy thosepapers in other ways. In this way oldexperiences and ideas will be fullywashedout and you will proceed witha clean state, that is, have new ideasand values. While doing so, be in nohurry and write and develop newideas honestly. Thus, you will be ableto have a new dream of your futurelife. You will feel that a new andhealthy change is coming in your life.The more you write the ideas of otherpersons, the more and better changeis silently creeping in your life.Formerly you evaluated a person interms of money (price) but nowyou evaluate the person vis-a-vis lifevalues.

Discarding our own old ideas andthose of others, we reach a stagewhere we are confronted with an arrayof fresh and positive ideas which areof sterling worth, ideas which partakeof truth, good and beautiful. This triois the main component of highervalues of life. We reach this stage ofhigher or ennobling values of life if weproceed in a sincere, dedicated andenlightened way. Superficiality can-not take us to the desired goal. Thisis the reason why we should live a lifeof conscious search for truth and thatof enlightened pursuit of the highervalues of life. ●●●

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Sources of Ancient Indian HistorySources of Ancient Indian HistorySources of Ancient Indian History

A systematic and thorough studyof a subject depends on the sourcesavailable for its study. To whatextant one is able to present his studyof a subject in a systematic andlogical way depends on the natureand volume of sources at hisdisposal. This applies to the study ofancient Indian history also.

There is abundance of sourcematerials to make a proper andscientific study of ancient history ofIndia. But before making use of thesource materials it is imperative todecide what to include in and what toexclude from it. It is also necessarythat sources be classified andcategorised in a scientific way andevery category of sources is giventhe importance it deserves. This willmake the study more scientific andlogical, minimising the element ofbias.

So far as the source material ofAncient Indian history is concernedthe general practice is to categorise itas follows—

(I) Archaeological sources

(II) Literary sources

(III) Foreigners’ accounts.

Archaeological Sources

The excavations carried out atnumerous sites are ample proof ofthe fact that there is abundance ofarchaeological source material inIndia. The archaeological sources arethe most important of all the sourcesavailable. These sources give morereliable and authentic information incomparision to the informationderived from other sources. Archaeo-logical sources are free fromsubjective bias and can be dated veryaccurately. The same cannot be saidof literary sources or for that matterof foreigners’ accounts.

Broadly speaking, in archaeo-logical sources are included (i)structures and objects found inexcavation (ii) inscriptions and (iii)numismatic sources. The sculptures

paintings and monuments also areincluded in archaeological sources.

Excavated Source MaterialExcavations add to our know-

ledge of ancient Indian history innumerous ways. The radio carbondating of excavated articles makes itpossible to determine the time spanof civilisation under study in ascientific manner and with morecertainty. The articles and toolsfound in excavation help in reachinga conclusion as to level and stage ofculture and civilisation reached bythe people of that age. The excavatedsource material helps one in drawinglogical and accurate conclusion aboutthe way of life religion, economy andculture of the people. Excavation alsohelp in determining the geographicalboundaries of a civilisation.

Our knowledge of pre-historictimes and the Harappan culture isexclusively based on the sourcesobtained from excavations.

Inscriptions

Inscriptions too are one of themost important sources of Indianhistory of ancient times. In theabsence of contemporary historicalwritings, the patient study ofinscriptions is, as Fleet points out,the only reliable source for theknowledge of political history. Theinscriptions serve as touchstone toevaluate the authenticity of infor-mation derived from other sources.

There are inscriptions of varioustypes in India such as caveinscriptions, pillar inscriptions, rockinscriptions, plate inscriptions, sealinscription etc. Most of the inscrip-tions are either in Sanskrit or inPrakrit language. There are someinscriptions in regional languagesalso. The script used is either Brahmior Kharosthi.

The inscriptions help us inobtaining correct and scientificknowledge of history in a number ofways. The most of the inscriptionsare dated one hence they helped indetermining the date of an event, a

regime or life and times of aparticular king. Inscriptions give usinformation about events, develop-ments and achievements of a ruler ordynasty. For example, history ofAshoka is constructed with the helpof his pillar and rock inscriptions.The Allahabad pillar inscription isthe only source of knowledge so faras Samudragupta’s campaign ofconquests is concerned. One wouldnot have known about the history ofking Kharvela but for Hathigumphainscription. Some inscriptions suchas Allahabad and Aihole inscriptionsare master piece of literary works.Inscriptions help us in determiningthe territorial extent of a kingdombecause the inscriptions are alwaysinscribed within the territories of aruler.

It is not only the inscriptionsfound in India which help us inknowing the ancient history. Some ofthe inscriptions in foreign lands alsohelp us in substantiating the facts ofancient Indian history. Such inscrip-tions are found in Iraq, Iran andSouth East Asia. These inscriptionsthrow light on social and culturallinks between India and the countryin which such inscriptions exist. Ofthese foreign inscriptions one atBogazkoie is the most important one.Other inscriptions of importance arethose of Persipolis and Naqsh-i-Rustam in Iran.

Numismatic Sources or Coin-age

Coins are yet another rich sourcefor constructing ancient history. Theearliest coins in India are dated to7th-6th century B.C. The earliercoins bore punch marks. Later oncoins were minted and circulated byevery dynasty ruling in differentregions of India. These coins displayiridescent variety and high aesthetictaste. They were minted in silver,copper, gold and lead.

The coins serve as sourcematerial in a number of ways. Thepaucity and the poor quality of themetal used helps one in deducing

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facts about the economic life of theparticular age. The hordes of foreigncoins found in a particular regionfor example of Roman coins inTamil region-indicates flourishingtrade and close commercial ties.Dated coins help in determining thedates of particular events or regimecommemorative coins—such coinswere issued by the Gupta emperorsin good number-throw light onsignificant events of the day, such asconquest of the Sakas by the emperorChandragupta-II or on personalattributes of the king. The coinsprove useful in substantiatinginformation about territory of akingdom and Socio-religious life ofthe age. One’s knowledge of Indo-Greeks, Sakas and other alien rulersin India is based almost exclusivelyon information deduced from thecoins issued by them.

Ancient MonumentsThere is abundance of ancient

monuments in India. These monu-ments are in the form of temples,stupas, vihars, rock-cut caves, Pillarsetc. Temples of Gupta and of laterage, Ashokan pillars, Stupas ofSanchi, Bharhut and Boddh Gaya,Caves of Ajanta and Ellora are someof the ancient monuments of interna-tional fame.

These monuments are of no usein constructing political history butthey are of immense help in drawinga picture of cultural life. They tell usabout the stage of developmentattained by the people in the field ofarchitecture, sculpture and engineer-ing. The monuments also help indrawing useful conclusions aboutsocial and religious life of the people.

Some monuments of the foreigncountries, such as, temple of Angkor-vat and of Borobunder are livingproof of close cultural ties betweenIndia and these countries. The datedicon of God Vishnu found in Borneoand other dated monuments help inverifying the Chronology of Indianhistory.

RuinsRuins are to be included under

the category of archaeologicalevidence. They are specially valuablefrom the point of view of socio-economic and cultural history. Theythrow light on dates and reflect theeconomic condition of the days when

were constructed. The archaeologicalremains of Harappa and Maohen-jodaro for, instance, place before us aportrayal of city life lived fivethousand years ago. Non-monu-mental relics like the tools, utensils,grave-good, pottery etc. also providevaluable aids to ancient history.

SealsSeals made of copper, stone,

soap-stone and clay are also animportant source for the knowledgeof ancient India. Our knowledge ofthe religious life of Harappan peopleis based mostly on the informationgathered from more than fivehundred seals of various material.Similarly the Basadh (Vaishali ofancient days) hordes of 274 sealsthrows significant information abouttrade, economic life, guild systemand ways of merchant community.Inscriptions and dates on the sealshelp in determining chronology andin knowledge of a particular event.

Sculpture and Paintings

These are also valuable sourcematerial. These sources provideknowledge of the cultural achieve-ments of the people of that age. Butthey also help in drawing conclusionsabout the social and religious life ofthe people. The pictures and thesculpture, carved on temple walls tellus about dress, hair-style, ornaments,transport etc.

Literary Sources

Notwithstanding the deficiencyof histrocial literature, literary workscomposed in ancient times is by nomeans inconsiderable. These pri-marily religious comentaries, workson metaphysics, epics, institutes oflaws grammar etc. They are notintended to deal with history. Theonly work which can be called abook on history, in the true sense, isKalhana’s ‘Rajtarangini’. In theabsence of historical work the scholarhas to rely upon non-historical lite-rature. There is no dearth of suchliterature. This literature, if carefullyand objectively analysed, is of imm-ense help in objective and scientificpresentation of ancient history.

Yet the literary sources areplaced in two categories : (i) reli-gious literature and (ii) non-religiousor secular literature. This literature isavailable mostly in Sanskrit languagebut literature in Pali and Prakrit isalso in abundance. The Tamil litera-ture, particularly of Sangam age is ofimmense value.

Religious LiteratureReligious literature connotes

texts on particular religion, commen-taries thereon and secondary worksdealing with religious rites, ideas andpractices. As there were three mainreligions in ancient India, thereligious literature is also classifiedas Hindu literature, Jain literature andBuddhist Literature.

(i) Hindus LiteratureFour Vedas Rigveda, Samveda,

Yajurveda and Atharvaveda,Brahman, Aranyaka and Upanishads,Epics-Ramayan and Mahabharat andPuranas are the most important ofreligious works of Hindus.

Of the four Vedas, Rigveda isthe oldest one. The work is organisedin ten ‘Mandals’ and has 1028‘Suktas’ and 10580 ‘Richas’ thework is the creation of a number ofsages and it took centuries tocomplete it. The period of Rigvedaand culture depicted in it is fixedfrom 16th century B.C. to 12thcentury B.C. As our knowledge ofearly vedic period is based onRigveda, this culture is also known asRigvedic culture. Rigveda being areligious text throws ample light onreligious life of early vedic period.But this religious work also containsreferences to political events such as‘War of ten kings’, to politicalinstitutions such as ‘Sabha’ and‘Samiti’; to social organisation andsocial units like ‘Kula’ ‘Vish’ and‘Jan’, as well as, reference to eco-nomic activities and life. This en-ables one to draw a picture of social,economic and political life of earlyvedic people. The rivers and moun-tains mentioned in Rigveda help oneto trace the geographical boundariesof this culture.

The other three Vedas—Yajur,Sam and Atharva, the Brahman,Aranyak and Upnishads are includedin later Vedic literature. These workswere completed during the 12th

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century B.C. to 6th century B.C. Thisperiod is known as age of later vediccivilisation. The later Vedic literatureis the main source of knowing thehistory of this period. This literaturebrings out the changes that took placein the sphere of religion, politics,economy, society and culture.

40 Chapters of Yajurvedahaving approximately two thousand‘Mantras’ give information aboutreligious and social life. Samvedawith its 1810 ‘Slokas’ is masterpieceof lyricism. The 731 ‘Richas’ and5839 ‘Mantras’ of Atharvaveda areorganised in ten ‘Mandals’. Theydeal with folk rites and rituals, magicand medicines. The Atharvavedadescribes the life of the period whenAryans had adopted a number ofnon-Aryan religious practices.

‘Brahman’ texts are written inprose and give in detail ritualsfollowed by the Aryans. Every Vedahas its own Brahman text. ThusKaushitiki and Aitreya are Brahmantexts of Rigveda. Taitriya and Sat-path Brahmans belong to KrishnaYajurveda and Shukla Yajurvedarespectively. Panchvimsh is theBrahman text of Samveda. So isTandav and Jaiminiya Brahman.Atharvaveda has Gopath as itsBrahman. These Brahman textsthrow light on religious beliefs andrituals of later Vedic period. Theygive information about expansion ofAryan culture and certain referencesto economic and political life of theperiod.

‘Upanishads’ also are the workof this period. the literal meaning ofthe word is to sit near (Up-near,Nishad-to sit). Thus according toscholars the texts contain philosophi-cal and spiritual knowledge which apupil derived by sitting near the sageUpanishads are 108 in number, Mostimportant of these are Ken, Kath,Mandookya, Prashna. Isa, Aitereya,Svetashvatar, Taitriya, Chhandogya,Brihadaranyak, Maitrayani andKaushitiki. These works tell us whatthe thinkers of that age thought aboutthe creation of universe, ‘Brahma’,‘Atma’, migration of soul and rebirthor the life after death.

‘Aranyakas’ also belong to laterVedic period. As the name suggeststhese are the works written andstudied in forests (Aranya). These

works too are attached to Vedas.Thus Rigveda has Kaushitiki andAitreya as its Aranyak. WhileTaitriya Aranyak belongs to KrishnaYajurveda.

AranyakasWorks studied in forests were

called Aranyak. The best knownAranyakas are—

1. Aitereya2. Shaklayan3. Taitriya4. Maitrayani5. Madhyandin6. Tatvakar

To help in understanding Vedasand explain them some works werewritten at the end of Vedic age.These are known as Vedanga.Vedanga are six in number. They areShiksha, Kalp, Nirukta, Vyakaran,Chhand and Jyotish. ‘ShikshaShastra’ was written to help incorrect pronunciation of the letters ofVedic texts. Sutras describing rulesand regulations are known as ‘Kalpa’.They are three—Shraut Sutra, GrihyaSutra and Dharma Sutra Panini’sfamous work on ‘Vyakaran’ (Gram-mar) is ‘Ashtadhyayi’. Yask wrotehis famous work on Nirukta in aboutfifth century B.C.

Smritis are integral part ofreligious literature of Aryans. Theseare the law books which lay downrules, regulations and laws governingthe conduct of individual andprescribing punishment for theviolation of the same. The Smritiwork helps in understanding social,religious, economic, political andcultural life of the people. Theearliest Smriti work is ‘Manu Smriti’.It was written in between the period200 B.C.—200 A.D. YagyavalkyaSmriti was written in between 100-300 A.D. Smritis of Narad, Parashar,Kattayan and Brihaspati belong toGupta period and are valuablesource. materials so far as the socialreligious life of the period is con-cerned.

Ramayana written by Valmikiand Mahabharat of Ved Vyas aretwo great epics which enjoy thesanctity of religious texts. It is notpossible to assign a fix period for thewriting of these epics because therehad been additions to and revision ofthe texts of these epics from time to

time. Thus it is supposed thatoriginal text of Ramayan had twelvethousand ‘slokas’ and its presentform took shape in second centuryA.D. Similarly original ‘YavSamhita’ transformed itself into ‘JayaKavya’ and ultimately became.‘Mahabharat’. This transformationtook place in between 400 B.C. to400 A.D. As they are not the work ofa definite age, the epics do not helpin constructing history of a particularperiod. But they are helpful indrawing inferences about variousaspects of life in later Vedic age andthe period that followed it.

Puranas The last but not theleast important part of the religiousliterature are Puranas. The impor-tant purans are 18 in number.Markandeya, Brahmanda, VayuVishnu, Bhagvat and Matsya are theearliest Puranas. The present text ofPuranas is the work of 3rd-4thCentury A.D. The puranas are exclu-sive source of knowledge aboutdynasties which ruled in various partsof India before 6th century B.C. Theyare important source materials forcultural history. They also help inconstructing history of tribes andtheir settlement in different parts ofthe country. The real difficulty inusing Puranas as source material isthat some time different Puranasgive contradicting information aboutthe same ruler or the ruling dynasty.Secondly, not being the historywork in true sense, the descriptiongiven in a Puran lacks in accuracyand objectivity. The accounts givenbecome hyperbolic and dates unreli-able. Still the value of Puranas assource material should not be under-estimated.

(ii) Buddhist Literature

The contribution of BuddhistLiterature to the source of ancientIndian history cannot be under-estimated. This literature is ofimmense importance and consists of(i) Pitak (ii) Nikay and (iii) Jatak.

Pitaks are important part ofBuddhist literature. Known as‘Tripitak’, they consist of suttapitak,Abhidhamma Pitak and Vinay Pitak.This literature is a comprehensivecompilation of the sayings of LordBuddha and the principles ofBuddhism. It was written after

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passing away of Gautam Buddha.Sutta Pitak is source of immensevalue to know about sermons andreligious ideas of Gautam Buddha.Abhidhamma Pitak throws light onphilosophical ideas of Buddhism.In Vinay Pitak is described thecode of conduct followed by thefollowers of Buddhism. Besidesbeing the most reliable source ofinformation about Buddhist reli-gion and Philosophy, the Tripitakashelp a research scholar in drawing apicture of social, economic andpolitical life in the age of GautamBuddha . These works are written inPali language.

Vinay PitakVinay Pitak describes the code of

conduct for Buddhist monks. Its threesections are—1. Sutta Vibhag—Mahvibhag and

Bhikshuni vibhag2. Ravandhaka—Mahvagga and

Chullavagga3. Parivar and Parivar Path

Sutta PitakSutta Pitak which contains

religious sermons of Lord Buddhahas five sections—1. Deegh Nikay2. Majjhim Nikay3. Samyuta Nikay4. Anguttar Nikay5. Khuddak Nikay

Jataks are compilation of tales.They tell us about the lives ofBodhisatvas i.e. the earlier lives ofGautam Buddha. Belonging to therealm of fiction rather than facts, thestories are fanciful. One cannotvouch for the historicity of eventsnarrated. But these books provideuseful information about socialcultural and economic history of pre-Buddhist days.

Other Buddhist works of noteare Mahavamsh and Deepvamsh.These works are written in Pali. Theyare dated to 4th and 5th century.These works narrate the history ofCeylone but are useful as a sourcematerial for ancient. Indian historybecause there are numerous refer-ences of ancient Indian rulingfamilies in them. Shortcoming ofthese works is that they are full offictitious and exaggerated accounts.

Divyavdan is a Buddhist workwritten in Sanskrit. It appears that

this work was neither authored byone person, nor was written in oneparticular period. Still it containssome useful informations aboutsocial, cultural and political lifesimilarly ‘Lalit Vistaar’ a biographyof Lord Buddha also written inSanskrit cannot be attributed to aparticular author or period.

‘Milinda Panho’ a philoso-phical dialogue between Indo-Greekruler Menander and Buddhist monkNagasena contains useful material forcultural and political history “ManjuShri Mool Kalpa” gives an accountof Gupta rulers from the Buddhistangle.

In making use of Buddhistliterature as a source material forhistory one has to be very carefulbecause these works are contami-nated by bias, exaggeration andsubjectivity.

(iii) Jain LiteratureJain literature, too, can not be

ignored, because some of the factsmentioned therein in ‘Prakrit’ langu-age, appear to be strange. Either theyhave not be mentioned in Buddhistliterature and Brahaman, or are veryscanty. Its importance as a sourcematerial lies in the fact that it bringsto light those events and facts whichare either ignored and overlooked orunderplayed by Brahamanic andBuddhist literature.

‘Agam’ literature is above allJain literature. It consists of 10‘Angas’, 12 ‘Upangas’, 10 ‘Pra-keerna’, 6 ‘Chhandasutra’ ‘NandiSutra’, ‘Anuyaga dwar’ and moolsutra. Agam literature is not the workof single individual. It was written ina long span of time. But it was givena final shape in a Jain council held inVallabhi either in 513 or in 526 A.D.‘Agam’ literature is a mine of infor-mation for those who are interestedin history of Jainism and its philo-sophy. At the same time ‘BhagvatiSutra’ gives valuable informationabout 16 Mahajanpadas. ‘AuppatikSutra’ and ‘Avashyak Sutra’ throwlight on religious views of kingAjatshatru. ‘Bhadravahu Charit’contains information about someevents and happenings of ChandraGupta Maurya’s regime.

Some other Jain works of somesignificance as source material for

ancient. Indian history are—‘TrilokaPrajatit’, ‘Katha Kosha’, ‘LokaVibhag’, ‘Aradhana Katha Kosha’,‘Sthiravali’ ‘Vasudev Hindi’‘Brihat Kalp Sutra Bhasya’,‘Kalika Puran’ and finally a veryimportant twelfth century work byHemchand ‘Parishista Parva’.

Non-Religious Literature

Vivid and ample non-religiousliterature of ancient time is written ina number of languages such asSanskrit, Pali, Prakrit and Tamil.This literature is of immense help toresearch scholars. While the religiousliterature informs us about religionand philosophy in detail and makesjust passing references to politicalevents and institutions, the non-religious literature provides enoughinformation about political history aswell as social cultural and economiclife. But, this non-religious literatureis also non-historical literature with afew works being the exceptions.Hence one has to be careful in usingthis source.

Panini’s text on grammar‘Ashtadyayi’ is of immense help tothose scholars who deal with thehistory of pre-Mauryan days. Itprovides informations about social,religious and political conditions ofthat age.

There are many literary master-pieces which help in tracing thehistory of Mauryan age. Drama-tist Vishakadutt’s ‘Mudra Rakshas’,Somdeva’s ‘Katha Sarit Sagar’ andKshemendra’s ‘Brihat Katha Man-jari’ are most prominent of theseworks. Kautilya’s ‘Artha Shastra’ hasunique position as source material forMauryan history. Kautilya wasmentor and the Prime Minister ofChandra Gupta Mauraya. Henceinformation derived from ArthaShastra whether it is about polity,society or economy is authentic andreliable to a great extant. It iscorroborated by other sources also.

Patanjali’s ‘Mahabhasya’, a com-mentary on Panini’s text providessome informations about the historyof Shunga dynasty. Kalidas, the greatSanskrit poet and dramatist’s work‘Malvikaagnimitra’ also throwssome light on the history of thisperiod.

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Kamandak’s ‘Neetisaar’,Vishakhadutt’s ‘Devichandraguptam’Khemendra’s already mentioned‘Brihat Katha Manjari’ Shudrak’sdrama ‘Mrichhakatik’ and‘Daskumar Charit’ of Dandi help inconstructing the history of Gupta age.According to some scholars inKalidas ‘Raghuvansh’ one candiscern Samudragupta’s journey ofconquests.

One very important source forpolitical history of post-gupta age isthe biographies composed or writtenby the court poets. The most famousof these biography is Banbhatta’s‘Harsha Charit’. The work containsvast information about achieve-ments of king Harsha. Vakapati’s‘Gaudvaho’ is valuable source for thehistory of Yashovarma of Kannauj.Bilhans’s ‘Vikramandev Charit’tells about the deeds of later Chalukyaking of Kalyani Vikramaditya.Sandhyakar Nandi’s Ramcharit isthe biography of Rampal of Bengal.Achievements of Kumarpal of Gujaratare described in ‘Kumarpal Charit’of Jai Singh and ‘DvayashrayaKavya’ of Hemchand. Padam-gupta’s NavSahasank Charit’ Throwslight on the history of Parmardynasty and Jayanak’s ‘PrithvirajVijay’ deals with the history ofPrithviraj Chauhan. Almost all ofthese works are eulogistic and givean exaggerated account of theachievements of ruler concerned.Hence they fall under the category ofliterary works and cannot be treatedas books of history.

Ancient Tamil literature is richmine of source for the ancient historyof South India. The early Tamilliterature is known as ‘Sangam’because it is supposed to be the workof literary confluences of poets andwriters. According to hearsay suchthree ‘Sangams’ were held in ancientTamilland. The Tamil ‘Sangam’literature was written and composedin the first and second century A.D.‘Sangam’ literature provides valuableinformations about social, culturaland economic life of that age. So faras political history is concerned‘Nandikkalambakam’ describes theachievements of pallav rulerNandiverma III. The event ofKalinga being attacked byKulottunga I Chola is described in

‘Kalingatuparani’. Ottakutan wrotethree separate works to describe thelife and achievements of Chola rulersVikram Chola, Kulottunga II andRajaraja II. As a source material ofancient history Sangam literaturesuffers from same shortcomings asdo the other literatures.

Only historical work, in the realsense of term, is Kalhan’s‘Rajtarangini’ which deals with thehistory of Kashmir. Kalhan wrote hiswork in 1149-50. He used all thesources, including state archives inwriting his work. His account is to agreat extent unbiased and objective.He is neither hyperbolic nor eulo-gistic. This applies more particu-larly to his description of postseventh century events. His accountof pre-seventh century history is lessreliable. ‘Rajtarangini’ is essentiallya work of history on Kashmir. But italso contains references to the historyof other regions of India.

The works of literature did nothelp much in writing political historybut they provide a vivid and indepthunderstanding of folk-life and cul-ture. Here in lies their value as sourcematerial for ancient Indian history.

Some Important Literary Works

Title AuthorSource for the period or

dynastyAshtadhyayi Panini Pre Mauryan ageArthashastra KautilyaMudra Rakshasa Vishakhadutt Mauryan ageBrihat Katha Manjari KshemendraMalvikagnimitra KalidasMahabhasya Patanjali Sunga ageNeetisaar KamandakDevichandrsssaguptam Vishakhadutt Gupta ageMrichha Katik ShudrakKatha Sarit Sagar SomadevHarsh Charit Banabhatt Emperor HarshaGaudvaho Vakapati Yashoverma of KannaujNandik- kalambakam Sangam Lit. Nandivarma Pallav. IIIRajtarangini Kalhan KashmirPrithviraj Vijay Jayanak Prithviraj Chauhan

Foreigner’s Account

In ancient times a number oftravellers from Greece, Rome,Western Asia, and China visitedIndia for one reason or the other.These foreigners accounts of Indiaand its people is a rich source for the

students of ancient Indian history.Besides these travellers some otherforeigners who came as armycommander, ambassador or who didnot even visit India had written aboutthis country.

The first Greek to write aboutIndia is Herodotus who is known asthe father of history. His famouswork is ‘Historica’. Vast sourcematerial for the study of Alexander’sinvasions of India and the Mauryanage is available in the writings ofArrian, Justin. Plutarch, Strabo,Dionysis, Megasthanese etc. The‘Indica’ of Megashthanese is themost valuable of all these writings.This ambassador to ChandraguptaMaurya’s Court had left a detaileddescription of polity and society ofMauryan age. Though some of hisobservations such as non-existence ofslavery in India and society beingorganised into seven classes are notvalid, the most parts of his work areobjective and factual. It is a pity thatthe work is not available in originaland complete form. What we haveare fragments from the book whichare quoted by other Greek authors.Another work outstanding as source

material is the ‘Periplus of AritheanSea’. Unfortunately the author ofbook is unknown. The work containsrich informations about India’s sea-trade, ports and trade relations withWestern World. Writings of Ptolemyand Pliny are also helpful to researchscholars and students.

Ancient India / 11

A number of Chinese Buddhistsvisited India in ancient times. TheirTravelogues written in Chinese andtranslated in English and otherlanguages throw light on the people’slife and culture at the time of theirvisits. Of the Chinese travellers Fa-hien came to India in 5th centuryA.D. He had described the social lifeand the place of Buddhism in theIndian society of that age. He showedno interest in describing the politicallife and events of the day. Yuan-Chwang came to India in the 7thcentury A.D. He spent 16 years inIndia and was guest of emperorHarsha for some time. Histravelogue describes not onlyreligious and cultural life but alsocontains valuable information aboutpolitical events and a number ofrulers of the day such as Harsha,Pulkesin, Bhaskar Varman. I-chingalso visited India in the 7the century.He had left interesting account ofBuddhist educational institutionssuch as Nalanda and Vikramshila.The main drawback of these sourcesis that the chinese travellers were thefollowers of Buddhism and saw Indiafrom Buddhist eyes. Therefore, theycould not escape the natural bias intheir writings.

The Arabs started to write aboutIndia from 8th century onward.Sulaiman visited India in 9th centuryA.D. He had written about Pal andPratihar rulers of his time. Al-Masudistayed in India for two years i.e.,from 941 to 943 A.D. He had writtenabout Rashtra Kutas. Abu-Ryham orAlberuni is the most famous Arabswriting about India. A contemporaryof Mahmud of Ghazani, heaccompanied the invader to India. Hestayed in India for a long periodlearnt Sanskrit and Studied Indianliterature. He had left a graphic,objective and unbiased description ofIndia and its people in hisoutstanding work ‘Tahkik-ul-Hind’.It is regretable that Alberuni left nodescription of state and politics ofcontemporary India.

Tibetan author Lama Taranath’sworks ‘Kangyur’ and ‘Tangyur’ alsocontain some useful informationabout ancient Indian history.

Such, in brief, are the sources forresuscitation of India’s early past.The most striking feature is themeagerness of our materials and the

wide range over which they liescattered. Accordingly, the historianmust work like a miner with the pickand shovel of his perseverance andcritical judgement to get the gold offacts without the dross of courtlyexaggerations and poetic embelish-ments.

An Abridged List ofLiterary Sources

(A) Brahmanic Religioustreatise

(i) Vedas—Rigveda, Samveda,Yajurveda, Atharvaveda.

(ii) Brahman books—Aitreya,Kaushitiki, Shtpath, Panchvimash,Gopath.

(iii) Aranyaka books—Maitra-yani, Taittiriya, Aitreya.

(iv) Main upanishads(Total number of these works is

108) Kath, Isavasp, Ken, Vrihada-ranyak, Chhandagya.

(v) Vedangas—Shiksha, Kalp,Vyakaran, Nirukta, Chhand &Jyotish.

(vi) Kalpa Sutra—Shraut Sutra,Grihya Sutra, Dharma Sutra, ShulvaSutra.

(vii) Sutra-Literature—Apas-tamba Grihya Sutra, Baudhayan,Grihya Sutra, Apastamba DharmaSutra, Baudhayan Dharma Sutra,Gautam Dharma Sutra AsvalayanShraut Sutra.

(viii) Vyakaran Literature—Ashtadhyayi, Mahabhasya, Nirukta.

(ix) Jyotish Works—Brihajja-takam, Surya Siddhanta, BegGanitam, Brihat Samhita.

(x) Upavedas—Ayurveda, Dha-nurveda, Gandharvaveda, Shilpa-veda.

(xi) Shad Darshan—Nyaya,Vaisheshik, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva.Minamsa Uttar-Mimansa.

(xii) Epics (Mahakavya)—Ramayana, Mahabharat.

(xiii) Puranas—Brahma, Shiv,Vishnu, Padma, Bhagvat, Nardiya,Agni, Markandeya, Bhavisya,Brahma Vaivarta, Linga, Varah,Skand, Vaman, Kurma, Matsya,Garuda, Brahmanda.

(xiv) Smritis—Manu, Narad,Yagyavalkya, Vishnu, Parasher,Kattayan, Brihaspati.

(B) Buddhist Books(i) Tripitak—Sutta Pitak, Vinay

Pitak, Abhidhamma Pitak.

(ii) Other works—AnguttarNikay, Khuddak Nikay, AshokavdanAvadanshatak, Divyavdan, Buddha-charit, Saundaranand, Milind Panho,Arya Manjushri Moolkalpa; LalitVistar.

(C) Jain Religious BooksParishista Parva; Acharang

Sutta; Kalpa Sutta; Bhagwati Sutta;UVsagadasha, Sutta; BhadrabhuCharit; Zivishtir Shalaka; PurushCharit; Samraich Katha, Kuvatlayamala, Adi Puran, Uttar Puran;Dhoortakhyan.

(D) Non-Religious Texts andtheir Authors

Ashtadhyayi Panini

Arthashastra Kautilya

Mudra Rakshas Vishakhadutt

Mahabhasya Patanjali

Malvikaagnimitra Kalidas

Neetisaar Kamandak

Raghuvansham Kalidas

Mricchakatikam Shudrak

Devichandraguptam Vishakhadutt

Kam Sutra Vatsyayan

Harshcharit Banbhatt

Brihat Kathamanjari Kshemendra

Kathasaritsagar Somdev

Gaudvaho Vakapati

Ballalcharit Anand Bhatt

Bikramankdevcharit Bilhan

Kumarpalcharitam Jai Singh

Ramcharit Sandhyakar Nandi

Kirti Kaumudi Someshwar

Prithvi Raj Vijay Jayanik

Prithvi Raj Raso Chandvardai

Dvayashray Karya Hemchand

Nav Sahasank Charit Padamgupta

Prabandh Chintamani Memtanga

Hammir-Mad-Mardan Ari Singh

Raasmaler —

Rajtarangini Kalhan

(E) Sangam & Tamil Litera-ture(i) Ettut Togai (Lyrical Anthol-

ogies)1. Narrinai

2. Kurundogai

Ancient India / 12

3. Ainguru-Nuru4. Padirup-Pattu5. Paripadal6. Kalittogai7. Ahnanuru8. Purananuru

(ii) The Ten Longer Poems1. Murugarruppadai2. Porunar-Arruppadi3. Sirupan-Arruppadai4. Perumban Anuppadi5. Mullai Pattun

6. Maduraikkanji

7. Nedunalvadai

8. Kurinjippattu

9. Pattinappalai

10. Malaipadu-Kadam

Important Facts to Remember

* Ancient Indian inscriptions areeither on stone or on metalplates. Inscriptions of post-Ashokan period can be classifiedas state inscriptions and privateinscriptions. Inscriptions are alsocalled ‘Epigraphs.’

* Edicts of a ruler, eulogiescomposed by court-poets andcharters of land grants areincluded in state inscriptions.

* Inscriptions on temple wall or onsculpture are considered privateinscriptions.

* Rigveda is the earliest of the fourvedas. It is almost exclusivesource for knowing the historyof early Vedic culture. Rigvedaprovides rich information aboutreligious, social and economiclife but there are just passingreference to political life andevents.

* There are 10 Mandalas, 1028Suktas and 10580 Richas inRigveda.

* Samveda, a lyrical work has1549 or 1810 slokas.

* Atharvaveda is a valuable sourceto know about political, socialand family-life in later Vedicperiod. This Veda has 20‘Mandals’ 731 ‘Richas’ and5839 ‘Mantras’.

* Yajurveda has five branches viz.(i) ‘Kathak’ (ii) Kapishthal (iii)Maitrayani (iv) Taitriya (v)Vajasneyi. This Veda hasprescribed various methods ofsacrifice (Yagya).

* ‘Brahman’ is derived from word‘Brahma’. Brahma signifies‘Yagya’. Hence Brahamans arethe texts which lay down ritualsfor ‘Yagya’ ceremony. Thesetexts are based on Vedas.

* Every Veda has its own Brahmantext. Aitreya and Kaushitiki

Brahmans are attached toRigveda. Satpath, also knownas Vajasneya, belongs to yajur-veda. ‘Panchvimsha’ is Brahmantext of Samveda and Atharva-veda has Gopath as its Brahmanbook.

* Panchvimsha Brahman is alsocalled ‘Tandav’ Brahman.

* Upnishads are the store house ofearliest philosophical ideas andthought of Aryans. Subjects suchas ‘Brahma’ ‘Atman’ ‘Rebirth’‘Life after death’ ‘Karamphal(fruits of deeds)’ ‘Creation ofuniverse’ etc. are dealt with.

* To help in the study andunderstanding of Vedas, Vedan-ga were constructed at the end ofVedic age.

* ‘Nirukta’ of Yaska is the work offifth century B.C. It discussesetymology of Vedic words.

* Smritis are the law-books ofHindu society. The rules andregulations described theirencompass the whole life ofindividual and every aspect ofsocial life and society.

* Manu-Smriti is the earliest andmost important of all the Smritis.It is looked upon as authority onHindu law and throws light onHindu ideals based onVarnashram dharma.

* The importance of ‘Matsya’,‘Vayu’ and ‘Vishnu’ Puranaslies in the fact that they containdescription of old ruling dynas-ties.

* ‘Ashtadhyayi’ of Panini is a texton grammar. It is a valuablesource for the history of pre-Buddhist period.

* Bauddh and Jain literature is ofimmense value in constructinghistory of the age of GautamBuddha. These works throw

light on religion, society, eco-nomy and polity of the day.

* Tripitaks consist of Vinay Pitak,Sutta Pitak and AbhidhammaPitak. These are the mostprominent texts of Buddhism.

* Vinay Pitak deals with the codeof conduct of Buddhist monks.Its three Sections are (i) SuttaVibhag, (ii) Khandak, (iii)Parivar.

* Sutta Pitak is a compilationof Lord Buddha’s religioussermons. Its five Nikayas are(i) Deegh Nikay (ii) MajjhimNikay, (iii) Samyukta Nikay, (iv)Anguttar Nikay (v) KhuddakNikay.

* Abhidhamma Pitak deals withphilosophical and spiritual ideasand issues. It has seven booksviz. (i) Dhamma Sangiti (ii)Vibhanga (iii) Dhatu Katha (iv)Puggal Panjati (v) Katha Vastu(vi) Yamak and (vi) Patthan.

* ‘Deepvamsha’, a fourth centurywork, deals with history ofCeylon-But the book is full ofimaginary and fictitious detailsand cannot be termed as a texton history.

* Similarly ‘Mahavamsha’ of poet‘Mahanama’ is also full ofhyperbolic and fictitious descrip-tions. Hence it also cannot beplaced in the category of historybook.

* Deepvamsha and Mahavamshaare written in Pali languageand so is ‘Milindapanho’ abook of dialogue between kingMenander and Buddhist monkNagsena. It is very useful sourcefor the socio-religious history ofthat period.

* Anguttar Nikay tells about 16Mahajanpadas. ‘Arya ManjushriMool Kalp’ describes the history

Ancient India / 13

of Gupta period from Buddhistangle.

* ‘Mahavastu gives valuable infor-mation about life of LordBuddha. It is a work partlywritten in Sanskrit.

* ‘Agam’ occupies the place ofpride in Jain religious literature.‘Agam’ literature consist of12 Angas, 12 Upangas, 10Prakeerna, 6 Chhand Sutra,Nandi Sutra, Anuyag Duar andMool Sutra.

* ‘Bhagwati Sutra’ gives informa-tion about life of Lord Mahavir.‘Auppatik’ and ‘Avasyaka’Sutras describe the religiousideas of king Ajat Shatru.‘Bhadravahu Charit’ deals withthe events of ChandraguptaMaurya’s days.

* One gets important informationabout India at the time ofAlexander’s invasion from thewrittings of Nearchus, Aristo-boulus, Yumenis.

* Kautilya’s ‘Arthashastra’ andMegasthanese ‘Indica’ are twomost important sources of thehistory of Chandragupta Maurya.The writings of Plutarch andJustin are also useful.

* Ashokan inscription are mostvaluable source for the know-ledge of the history of this greatemperor.

* ‘Allahabad pillar inscription’tells about the conquest ofemperor Samudragupta.‘Mehrauli iron pillar inscriptiondescribes the deeds of kingChandra. ‘Bhitari’ inscriptioninforms about Hunas invasion.

* Coins and inscriptions are mostreliable source of the history ofGupta-age.

* Fa-hiens’s Travelogue givesinformation about social andreligious life of Gupta age but issilent on political events.

* Banbhatta’s ‘Harshacharit’ andHsuen-tsang’s travelogue areimportant source material for thehistory of Harsha.

* Alberuini’s ‘Kitab-ul-Hind’ is anunbiased and objective descrip-tion of the condition of India atthe time of Invasion of Mahmudof Ghazani.

* For the history of ancient Tamilland one has to rely on ‘Sangamliterature’ composed during firsttwo centuries.

* ‘Periplus of Arithean Sea’ is aoutstanding source of the historyof maritime trade and commercein ancient India.

* ‘Rajtarangini’ of Kalhan is theonly history book written inancient India. It deals with thehistory of Kashmir.

* Lama Taranath’s work ‘Kagyur’and ‘Tagyur’ are also helpful inconstructing ancient Indianhistory.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

01. The oldest Brahmanic literatureis—(A) Aranyak (B) Upnishad(C) Smriti (D) Veda

02. Which Veda has 10 Mandal,1028 Sukta and 10580 Richas ?(A) Rigveda (B) Yajurveda(C) Samveda (D) Atharveda

03. Which work provides detailinformation about political socialand family life in later Vedicperiod ?(A) Upnishads(B) Brahman(C) Atharveda(D) All the three mentioned

04. Which Veda is lyrical compo-sition ?(A) Rigveda (B) Yajurveda(C) Samveda (D) Atharvaveda

05. Kathak, Kapisthak, Maitrayani,Taittriya and Vajsaneyi are thebranches of—(A) Rigveda (B) Yajurveda(C) Samveda (D) Atharvaveda

06. Aitreya Brahman is attachedto—

(A) Rigveda (B) Yajurveda(C) Samveda (D) Atharvaveda

07. Atharvaveda has as its Brahmanbook—(A) Aitereya(B) Satpath(C) Panchvimsh(D) Gopath

08. Which is the matching pair ?(A) Rigveda—Tandav Brahman(B) Yajurveda—Satpath Brah-

man(C) Samveda—Gopath Brah-

man(D) Atharvaveda—Panch Vim-

sha Brahaman

09. Tripitakas were written—(A) Before Gautam Buddha(B) During Buddha’s life time(C) After Buddha’s death(D) B and C

10. Suttabibhang, Ravandhaka, Pari-var are three parts of—(A) Vinay Pitak(B) Sutta Pitak(C) Abhidhamma Pitak(D) None of the above

11. Khuddak Nikay belongs to—(A) Vinay Pitak(B) Sutta Pitak(C) Abhidhamma Pitak(D) Jatak

12. Manu smriti is a standard workwritten during—(A) Sunga age(B) Mauryan age(C) Gupta age(D) Later Vedic period

13. Pushyamitra Sunga performed‘Asvamedha yagya’ is a factknown through—(A) Ashtadhyayi(B) Mahabhasya(C) Kalika Puran(D) Indika

14. Which is the rich source ofinformation about Gupta age ?(A) Devalsmriti(B) Manusmriti(C) Naradsmriti(D) Arthashastra

15. An account of Gupta emperorsfrom Buddhist angle is givenin—

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