CHAPTER-3 : Nature of Sources and Historical Construction
Ancient History of India
OLD NCERT
Short Notes or Revision Notes
Studying the Past: Material Remains
Types of Archaeological Sites
- Mounds: elevated areas with remains of past settlements.
- Single-culture: dominated by one culture (e.g., Painted Grey Ware)
- Major-culture: one dominant culture with minor others.
- Multi-culture: multiple significant cultures present.
Excavation Techniques
- Vertical: digging down at a specific point.
- Horizontal: uncovering a large area of the site.
Preservation Challenges
- Dry climates (West UP, Rajasthan) preserve artifacts better.
- Moist climates (Gangetic plains) degrade organic materials like mud structures and iron.
- Only brick or stone structures remain well-preserved in the Gangetic plains.
Evidence of Early Settlements
- Villages established in Baluchistan around 6000 BC.
- Megaliths (stone circles) with burials and artifacts found in South India.
Dating Techniques
- Radiocarbon dating: uses Carbon-14 isotope to estimate age (half-life 5568 years).
Environmental Reconstruction
- Pollen analysis helps understand past climate and vegetation (e.g., agriculture practiced in Rajasthan/Kashmir around 7000-6000 BC).
Ancient Indian Coins
- Material: copper, silver, gold, lead
- Location: Museums in Kolkata, Patna, Lucknow etc. (India), Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan
- Notable Periods:
- Indo-Greeks (North Afghanistan)
- Post-Maurya period (lead, potin, copper, bronze, silver, gold)
- Gupta Empire (most gold coins)
Inscriptions: A Window to the Past
Epigraphy and Paleography
- Epigraphy: study of inscriptions
- Paleography: study of ancient writing systems
Materials and Locations
- Inscribed on seals, pillars, rocks, copper plates, temple walls, etc.
- Largest collection at the Chief Epigraphist’s office, Mysore.
Languages and Scripts
- Early inscriptions (3rd century BCE): Prakrit language
- From 2nd century CE: Sanskrit became common
- Ashoka’s edicts: Brahmi (left to right) and Kharoshthi (right to left) scripts
Dating and Content
- Indus Valley Seals (2500 BCE) have earliest inscriptions.
- Mauryan, Gupta, and post-Maurya inscriptions published in Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum.
- Content: history, achievements of rulers (e.g., Ashoka’s edicts, Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudragupta).
Decipherment
- James Prinsep (1837) deciphered early Brahmi script.
Literary Sources of Ancient India
Materials and Locations
- Birch bark and palm leaves in India
- Sheep leather and wooden tablets in Central Asia
- Old manuscripts preserved in South India, Kashmir, and Nepal
Vedic Literature (1500-500 BCE)
- Rig Veda (1500-1000 BCE): mostly prayers
- Later Vedic texts: prayers, rituals, magic, myths
- Upanishads: philosophical ideas
Supplementary Vedic Texts
- Grammar (Panini – 450 BCE)
- Rituals, phonetics, etymology, astronomy
Epic Literature
- Mahabharata: evolved from 8800 verses to 100,000
- Composed over centuries (main story – Vedic period, others – later)
- Contains narratives, descriptions, and teachings
- Ramayana: originally 6000 verses, grew to 24,000
- Composition began around 5th century BCE
Ritualistic Texts (600-300 BCE)
- Shrautasutras: public sacrifices for upper varnas
- Grihyasutras: domestic rituals for various occasions
- Sulvasutras: measurements for building sacrificial altars
Religious Texts
- Pali Canon (1st century BCE): early Buddhist texts
- Jataka tales: stories of Buddha’s past lives
- Jain texts (6th century CE): compiled in Prakrit
Legal Texts (500-200 BCE)
- Dharmasutras and Smritis: law codes and commentaries
Other Important Texts
- Arthashastra by Kautilya (political treatise)
- Works of Kalidasa (plays)
- Sangam literature (Tamil poetry, 300 BCE – 600 CE)
- Secular poems praising heroes and heroines
- Valuable source for Tamil Nadu’s social, economic, and political life
Foreign Accounts of Ancient India
- Greek Writers (3rd century BCE):
- Mention Chandragupta Maurya (identified as “Sandrokottas”)
- Megasthenes:Author of Indica (description of Mauryan India)
- Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (anonymous):Describes Roman trade
- Kosmos Indikopleustes (7th century CE):Wrote Christian Topography
- Chinese Travelers:
- Fa-hsien (5th century CE): Describes Gupta era India
- Hsuan Tsang (7th century CE): Describes Harsha era India
Understanding Chronology and Sources
Dating Systems
- Vikrama Samvat (57-58 BCE)
- Shaka Samvat (78 CE)
- Gupta era (319 CE)
Historical Texts
- Harshacharita (Banabhatta, 7th CE): Life of Harshavardhana
- Ramacharita (Sandhyakara Nandi, 12th CE): Pala dynasty
- Vikramankadevacharita (Bilhana): Chalukya king Vikramaditya VI
Constructing History-
- Gandhara grave culture in which the horse was used and the dead were cremated in the second millennium BC.
- Early Pali texts have to be related to the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) archaeology.
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