Sources of Ancient Indian History:

Que. Do you agree that archaeological evidence often helps in better understanding of literary sources? Comment. [UPSC CSE-2019]

(1) Explain the importance of Sources.

(2) Mention the different types of the archaeological source and the literary sources.

(3) Mention the comparison between archaeological evidence and literary sources.

(4) Conclude on balanced footing.

Sources play a vital role in the understanding of historical processes and events through its continuous reconstruction. The two types of sources, archaeological and literary, although have distinct and distinguished in nature, are equally significant for the reconstruction of a concerned historical period. Information given by the literature, when corroborated with the archaeological evidence and artifacts, increases the authenticity of the literary evidence being used. Historians and the observers get a clearer and nuanced understanding of the event, thus, the thesis which is based on the usage of both types of sources is often considered more reliable and valuable in the academic circles.

Literary and Archaeological records are the two main categories that give evidence of Ancient Indian History. The literary source includes literature of Vedic, Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, and other literature along with other foreign accounts. The archaeological source includes epigraphic, numismatic, and other architectural remains. The archaeological explorations and excavations have opened the great landscapes of new information.

The Archaeological Source can again be divided into three groups, namely, Archaeological Remains and Monuments, Inscriptions and Coins. A brief account of these sources is given below.

(1) Archaeological remains and Monuments:

Ancient ruins, remains and monuments recovered as a result of excavation and exploration are archaeological sources of history. The archaeological remains are subjected to scientific examination of radio-carbon method for its dates.

The material remains discovered from excavations and ruins speak a good deal of the past. For example, the excavations at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa brought to the knowledge of the world the existence of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Information gathered from literature and oral traditions can be taken as historical accounts only if archaeological evidence is available as supporting material.

(2) Inscriptions:

Inscriptions supply valuable historical facts. The study of inscriptions is called epigraphy. The study of the writings on ancient inscriptions and records is called palaeography. Inscriptions are seen on rocks, pillars, stones, slabs, walls of buildings, and the body of temples. They are also found on seals and copper plates. We have various types of inscriptions. Some convey monarchical orders regarding administrative, religious and major decisions to the public in general.

India’s earliest inscriptions are seen on the seals of Harappa, belonging to the Indus Valley Civilisation. The most famous inscriptions of India are the huge inscriptions of Asoka. The Hathigumpha Inscription of Kharavela, the Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta, and many other rock and pillar inscriptions contain most valuable historical accounts.

(3) Numismatic:

The study of coins is known as numismatics. Coins from another source of historical information. Ancient coins were mostly made of gold, silver, copper or lead. Coin moulds of the Kushan period made of burnt clay have also been discovered. Some of the coins contain religious and legendary symbols which throw light on the culture of that time. Coins also contain the figures of kings and gods.

The coins of the Kushana and the Gupta period give interesting accounts of those days. They throw light on religious, political, economic and commercial conditions. Every coin of the past has some story to convey.

The Literary Source can also be divided into three groups, namely, Religious Literature, Secular Literature and Accounts of Foreigners. A brief account of these sources is given below.

(1) Religious Literature:

Mental and social conditions of the people are known from literary sources. It includes the Vedas, the Upanishads, the great epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the Puranas of the Hindus. These are like mines of information about religious beliefs, social systems, people’s manners and customs, political institutions, and conditions of culture.

The religious writings of the Jainas and the Buddhists are also enormous. They include the Jatakas and the Angas etc. While dealing with religious subjects, they also write about historical persons and political events. Contemporary economic and social conditions are vividly known from these sources.

(2) Secular Literature:

There are many kinds of secular or non-religious literature. The law-books of ancient India known as Dharmasutras and Smritis belong to this group. They contain code of duties for kings, administrators, and people. They also contain rules regarding property, and prescribe punishments for murder, theft and other crimes.

Works on state, polity and socio-economic system: Kautilya’s Arthashastra is a famous work. It not only speaks of the State and polity, but also of the socio-economic system. Authors like Patanjali and Panini, though they wrote Sanskrit grammar, also described some political events. The dramas of Kalidasa, Vishakhadatta, and Bhasa give us useful information about the people and society.

Historical works: There were some historical writings too. Banabhatta wrote Harshacharita or the Life of Harsha. Bilhana wrote about Vikramaditya. Kalhana’s Rajatarangini was a historical text of great value. It is an account of the history of Kashmir.

(1) Greek accounts:

We know of Chandragupta Maurya’s victory over the Greeks from the Greek accounts. They mentioned him as Sandrokottas in their writings. The Greek ambassador Megasthenes stayed in the court of Chandragupta Maurya and wrote his famous work Indica. Unfortunately, this work was lost. But fragments from it were preserved in the quotations by other Greek writers. But even those brief accounts are regarded as most precious to know about Mauryan polity and society.

(2) Roman Accounts:

From works such as Ptolemy’s Geography, we know of India’s ports and harbours. From Pliny’s work we know of trade relations between Rome and India.

(3) Chinese Accounts:

The Chinese traveller Fa-Hien left valuable accounts on the time of the imperial Guptas. Hiuen Tsang, who is described as the ‘Prince of Pilgrims’ wrote details about the India of the age of Harsha. Another Chinese, Itsing, visited India in 7the century A.D. His accounts contain the socio-religious condition of those days.

(4) Islamic Accounts:

Travellers from the Islamic world also visited India. Al Beruni who came at the time of Mahmud of Ghazani studied Sanskrit himself. His writings on ‘Hind’ give useful information.

(1) Archaeological sources have greater reliability:

In history, many literatures were written in the praise of the ruler. For example, during the Mauryan dynasty, several ornamental literatures were written in the praise of Chandragupta Maurya, and therefore, we can say that there is a greater chance that the literatures were being manipulated by the writers. Whereas, archaeological sources are direct evidence. They cannot be altered or changed by human beings. Hence, archaeological sources are much better than literary sources in terms of reliability.

(2) Archaeological sources play a crucial role in the determination of Prehistory:

Prehistory was the period when writing had not been developed like the Stone Age when humans didn’t know how to read and write. During this time, we do not get any kind of literary evidence and therefore our knowledge of this period is based on archaeological sources only. That’s why we can say that archaeological sources play the most crucial role in the determination of Prehistory.

(3) Undeciphered script:

Many stages have arrived in history when we get written evidences but we can’t read them. Search periods are called Protohistory. For example, in the Indus Valley Civilization we get various literary sources like scripts but till now they haven’t been decipherment (understanding of script) as they were pictographic (in form of pictures). So, in such cases, archaeological sources are the only method for the reconstruction of history.

(4) Literary sources give more information than archaeological sources:

If we want to know about the society, administration, politics, economy, Science and Technology, etc. of any period in history then literary sources prove to be a better option because we get several literatures written by different writers about a particular topic. For example, if we want to know about Chandragupta Maurya then we get several literatures like Arthashastra written by Chanakya, Indica written by Megasthenes, and several other Buddhism and Jainism literature. Though archaeological evidence like pillars, coins, and monuments also tell us about the economy, religious beliefs, Science and technology of a particular time, this knowledge is very limited.

The importance of archaeological sources has gained more currency in the recent decades, when scholars have started to take into account the dichotomy presented by the two different types of source material. Vedic literature, for instance, shows/projects an exaggerated picture of the times such as, the Vedic people lived in large houses and built ships.

But, the archaeological evidence gives us a picture of a basic living. Similarly, the information given by the Sangam literature has to be corroborated with the Megaliths to get a true picture of South India. Likewise, the literary sources of the Ashokan period, ‘Indica’ of Megasthenes and Kautilya’s ‘Arthashstra’ have to be read along with Ashokan inscriptions. Hence, both archaeological sources and literary evidence complement each other.