Que. “While using the accounts of foreign writers, historians must distinguish between statements based on hearsay and those grounded in perceptive observations.” Elaborate with examples. 

प्रश्न: “विदेशी लेखकों के विवरणों का उपयोग करते समय इतिहासकार के लिए किंवदन्तियों एवं प्रत्यक्ष अवलोकन पर आधारित तथ्यों में भेद करना अति आवश्यक है।” सोदाहरण स्पष्ट कीजिए।

Introduction:

From ancient times various traders, travellers, pilgrims, settlers etc. came to India covering vast distances over land and water. Therefore, many references to India are found in foreign texts. The accounts of these foreign writers have become an important Source to know about our part. However, many times these foreign writers used to write things.

The task of historians when using the accounts of foreign writers is indeed multifaceted, requiring careful discernment between statements based on hearsay and those grounded in perceptive observations. 

Here, we’ll elaborate on this principle with examples to illustrate its significance:

(i) Slavery in the Mauryan Empire: Megasthenes in Indica and other Greek writers like Shabe and Arian claimed there was no slavery in the Mauryan Empire. However, Buddhist literary sources and the Arthashastra indicate the presence of slaves during this period.

(ii) Misinterpretation of Mauryan Social Structure: Megasthenes described Indian society as having seven classes, including Philosophers, Farmers, and Soldiers. Being a foreigner, he failed to differentiate between the varna system and the professions, misunderstanding the Mauryan social structure.

(iii) Buddhism during the Gupta Period: Faxian’s A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms stated that Buddhism flourished during the Gupta period. However, other sources show Brahmanism was the dominant religion, with Buddhism being less popular at the time.

(iv) Al Biruni on Indian Knowledge Sharing: In Kitab-ul-Hind, Al Biruni wrote that Indians were haughty and did not share knowledge with foreigners. Yet, the presence of universities like Nalanda and Takshila, which welcomed scholars from various parts of the world, disproves this claim.

(v) Ktesias’ Bizarre Tales about India: Ktesias’ Indica (4th century BC) contains strange stories about India, collected while he was a royal physician in Persia. His accounts were not based on reliable firsthand experiences.

(vi) Marco Polo’s Unicorn Myth: In Travels, Marco Polo mentioned the existence of unicorns in India. This claim was based on hearsay and misunderstandings of local fauna, rather than firsthand observations or reliable sources.

(vii) Herodotus and the Myth of Giant Ants: Herodotus, known as the “Father of History,” included mythological elements in his works, such as the story of giant ants digging for gold in India. Modern historians view such tales with skepticism, recognizing their secondhand nature.

Conclusion

Thus, while using foreign accounts historians must be very careful and should distinguish between statements based on hearsay and those grounded in personal experience, between perceptive observation and cases where the writer got things completely wrong. But despite these shortcomings the accounts written by these foreign writers prove to be an important source of history as they often describe those considered by native writers as mundane. Being foreigners they wrote about the society and cultural practices with a different point of view which makes the understanding of that period more nuanced.