Sources of Ancient History Of India:Literary Sources

                                         Literary Sources

The literary sources can again be sub-divided into four groups known as Brahminical,Buddhist,Jain and Scientific.

1-Brahminical Literature - There is a great storehouse of Brahminical literature in India.It has played a very significant role in helping reconstruct the early history of India.It has been divided into following sub-divisions.

1-Vedas: The four vedas -Rigved,Yajurveda,Athavaved,and Samved are known as the earliest of the Brahminical literature.They are help in understanding the political,social and religious aspects of the Aryans.Rigved is the oldest of all th

e vedas.

2-Brahmanas and Upanishads:Connected with the vedas there is another class of literature known a Brahmanas and Upanishads.The Brahmanas contain prose commentaries on vedic hymns while the Upanishads contain philosophical and ethical discourses which inform us on the cultural and regious thoughts of the Aryans.

3-Vedangas or Upvedas:The Vedangas or Upvedas are treatises on sciences and art .These are means to the understanding of the vedas .There are six Vedangas known as:(a)Phonetics (b)Astronomy(c) Ritual (d)Grammar (e)Etymology (f) Metrics

4-Sutras:The last of the Vedic literature are the Sutras .These are texts from different schools which came into being and devoted themselves to the understanding and study of the different branches of the Vedas.There are three important Sutras known as:(a)Kalpa Sutra (b) Grihyas Sutras and (c) Dharma Sutras.

The Sutras present a vivid picture of the social and religious life of the people of ancient India.

5-Epics:The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are two great epics which present a clear picture of the people of those times.Though these epics have been regarded as legendary tales,they give us abundant information about the economic, regious ,social and political conditions of the later Aryans.

6-Puranas: The Puranas are the ancient volumes of the Hindus written in Sanskrit. They are eighteen Puranas ,Vishnu Purana,Vayu Puranas ,Brahma Purana,Bhagavata Purana and Matsya Purana have great significance from the historical point of view.

7:Chronicles: A genuine chronology in the true sense of the word was written in the 12th century A.D by Kalhana in Rajtarangini. It presents an authentic history of Kashmir. Moreover, the other chronicles of Gujrat like Ras-Mela and Kirti-Kumudini of Nepal also help us to go through the history of India.

8:Biographical Work: Under this category fall a few biographical works among which Harsha-Charita ,Vak-Pati and Bihana describe the heroic deeds of Yashovarman and Vikramaditya,while Ram-Charita deals with the story of Ram Pal of Bengal. Prithvi Raj Raso by notable biographies of this period.

9-Shrastra on Politics and Grammar:On Politics we have Kautilya's Arthashastra which is regarded as the greatest work of this period.It helps greatly in the reconstruction of the Mauryas from the 4th to the 3rd century B.C .Nitishastra by Kamandaka. 

10-Classical Sanskrit Literature: Raghuvansh by Kalidas has been identified with one of the great Gupta monarchs ,either Samudragupta or Chandragupta(II),Kalidas drama Malvikagnimitram tells us about the defeat of the Greeks on the banks of the Indus.War between king Nanda and Chandragupta has been described in the Mudra-Rakshas by Vishakh.

2-Buddhist Literature-It is also very important point of view from historical knowledge of India.It has three branches known as Jataka,Pitaka and Nikaya.It consists of three divisions:(i)Vinaya-Pitaka,(ii)Sutta pitaka and (iii)Abhidhamma Pitaka.These divisions describe the principles of Buddhism in Pali language.In Pali literature other books like Milind-Panha,Dipvansa and Mahavansa are also helpful from the historical viewpoint.The book Milind Panha contains dialogues between the Greek king Menander and Buddhist saint Nagasena. Anguttara Nikaya is another important book of Buddhist literature .It gives a remarkable description of political ,social and religious condition of 6th century B.C.The book written by Nagarjuna,a great teacher of Buddhism are Satsahrika,Pranjanamitra and Mahayana sutras.

3-Jain Literature-Mainly consists of Angas and Upangas is also a great value for the reconstruction of ancient history of India.These are twelve in number and the impart in valuable  teachings of lord Mahavira.But Parishishta Parvana of Hem Chandra is more important.

4-Scientific Works-In the field of science Indians achieved a great success in Astronomy and Mathematics.Surya Siddhanta and Romak Siddhanta by countries feel indebted to India.Surya Siddhanta and Romak Siddhanta by Arya bhatta are authentic books on Astronomy while Charak Saimhita and Surya Samhita are on medical science these books contribute a lot to historical knowledege.