Literary Sources for study of ancient Indian History

Syllabus Covered : Literary sources: Indigenous: Primary and secondary; poetry, scientific literature, literature, literature in regional languages, religious literature

Foreign accounts: Greek, Chinese and Arab writers

Foreign Accounts

Greek Accounts

1. Alexander left detailed historical and geographical accounts of his invasion. This helps us in understanding the geography of the age and also clearly build Indian chronology. They also tell us in detail about the social conditions like sati, sale of girls by poor parents.    
2. Justin tells us about the accession of CGM when he overran Indus. The literature also frequently mentions the autonomous towns in NW indicating the continuation of the gana sanghas.
3. Herodotus works have some useful information about India but it also has many myths. Similarly much of Tisius' work is just full of myths.
4. Being foreigners their works were useful because they gave importance to some aspects of Indian life which Indians used to overlook. But their writings obviously suffer from their lack of knowledge and understanding about India. Often what they had seen with their own eyes is believable but rest of it is just trash.
5. The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea tells us about various Indian ports (like Naur, Tondi, Muchiri, Nelsida), the imports & exports, other cities and the economic life in general and thus is very useful under the Satvahnas and the Sangam chiefs.

Megasthenes   

(a) Politics 

1. He tells us that PP's administration was divided into 6 committees of 5 members each looking after registration of births and deaths; registration of foreigners; regulating weights and measures; sanitation; collection of tolls; and collection of excise.  
2. He tells us that Pandyas were ruled by a woman. 

(b) Military

1. He tells us that CGM's army was administered by 6 committees of 5 members each looking after infantry; cavalry; chariots; elephants; navy; and transport.  
2. He indicates soldiers as one of the 7 'castes' which indicates their importance in the society and the presence of a large standing army.

(c) Economy

1. On taxation, he tells us that for tax assessment, land was measured as in Egypt and the state officials also monitored the irrigation channels for the use of water.   
2. He talks about trade with Pandyas in South from where pearls were imported. 

(d) Culture

1. He talks about a magnificent palace of CGM in PP remains of which have been found in Kumrahar (Patna). It was an 80 pillared palace but not as magnificent as described by Megasthenes.   

(e) Society

1. He talks about existence of 7 castes in India - Philosophers, Peasants, Shepherds, Councillors, Warriors, Supervisors, Artisans and craftsmen.
2. He says slavery was absent from India. But probably he couldn't distinguish between the slaves and the shudras.  
3. He talks about female bodyguards of CGM and female accountants in state service. 

Roman Accounts

Natural History (by Pliny)   

1. It tells us about the strength of CGM's army (600K infantry, 30K cavalry, 9K elephants).  
2. On Satvahnas it tells us about their army (100K infantry, 2K cavalry and 1K elephants) and  about 30 walled towns in their kingdom.     
3. On the Indo-Roman trade, he complains that Rome was being drained of her wealth due to the trade. He also tells us about the ships in the Sangam age where he says Indian ships were 75 tonnes.
4. It tells us about the flora and fauna, the minerals, geography etc. of India.

Arab Accounts

Sulaiman (~850 AD)

1. He describes the powerful army of the Pala rulers and calls his army the biggest. 

Al-Masudi (915 AD)

1. He testifies the great power and prestige of the Pratihara rulers and the vastness of their empire. He said the king's army had 4 divisions, one fighting north vs Multan, one west with Muslims, one east with Palas and one S with Rashtrakutas. But Pratiharas had no access to sea => the had lost Gujarat to Rashtrakutas.   

Chinese Accounts

1. Even though works of Fa Hein, Huen Tsang and Ip Sing throw much light on life in their times, they suffer from the drawback that the writers were all buddhist monks. Thus they not only fail to take an unbiased view but also fail to write about secular aspects of life.
2. Fa Hein tells us that untouchables had to sound a clapper in the streets of the town so that people were warned of their presence and that if an untouchable came in close range, the caste person would have to perform a ritual. Huen Tsang states that butchers, fishermen, theatrical performers, executioners and scavengers were forced to live outside the city and their houses were marked so that they could be avoided.

Sanskrit Literature

Religious Literature

1. Brahmanical sources disapprove of gana sanghas since they didn't perform the rituals nor subscribed to brahmanical rhetoric or observe the rules of varna. This disapproval is extended to towns in general though buddhist and jain sources praise both.
2. The Sanskrit Buddhist literature of Mahayana tells us about the economic life and various occupations flourishing in the post-Mauryan age. 
3. Manu was the famous smriti in post Mauryan age, Yajnavalkya, Brihaspati, Narad and Katyanayana were famous in Gupta age and Medhatithi in post Gupta age.

Purana / Epic Literature

1. The myth about Prithu, the first ruler, clearing the forests and introducing cultivation and cattle herding reflects the early settlements and expansion of Aryans. The dichotomy between the kingdom / settlement and the forests also reflects the tension between settlements and forest inhabitants.
2. The story of flood has a connection with Hebrew legend which could have migrated on to Mesopotamia and then Harappa.
3. When the Puranas were finally compiled and revised, there were 2 lineages - solar and lunar - and all dynasties tried to claim descent from one of these.
4. Epic literature is not history but a way of looking at history - reflects the norms of the generation looking at the history.

Vedic Literature as a Reflection
Racial Debate - Aryans vs Dasas / Dasyus / Panis

1. Earlier it was held that they were different races. The hymn in Rig Veda about the aryan varna and the dasa varna is taken as a supporting evidence (varna means skin color). But more likely the color was used as a symbolic classifier to express the differences.
2. This is supported by a lower number of references to the difference in skin color and higher number of references to the difference in language, rituals etc. 
3. The panis were said to be cattle lifters and hence disliked (along with different language and religion) and not because of any (hypothetical) racial considerations.
4. In Avesta, dasa and dasyu refer to 'other people'. It was only later that the term dasa came to be used for someone subordinate or enslaved. The later decline indicates a transition to agricultural economy since in a pastoral economy slaves are difficult to keep. 
5. The reference indicating 'flat nose' means no mouth or person speaking different language.

Interaction Between Aryans and the Inhabitants

1. The inhabitants were settled communities while Aryans were pastoral nomads. Interaction - hostile as well as mutually beneficial - is natural. Thus some dasa chiefs are referred to as enemies and raiding their cattle was a justified occupation in Rig Veda. Some chiefs were won over as they have been mentioned as patrons of vedic rituals. Some had trade relations and also that agriculturalists allow pastoral cattle to graze in their fields after the harvest while it also provides manure.
2. This interaction can also be seen in terms of the exchange of words. Thus we have many dravidian elements creeping into Vedic sanskrit and specially into the later vedas.

Secular Literature

Mahabhashya by Patanjali

1. Tells us about the Sunga period.

Mudrarakshasha (by Vishakhadutta)

1. It tells us about the contemporary life of the time CGM came to power.   

Arthasastra

1. It consists of 15 books - 5 on internal administration, 8 on external relations and 2 miscellaneous. It ranks artha superior to dharma and kama as the latter 2 follow from the former. 
2. The entire discussion of statecraft is from the point if view of a would-be-ruler and is theoretical and normative.
3. There is a view that it was composed in Mauryan times.  This is backed by 2 verses i the texts referring to Kautilya and Nandas. Later works  in history also acknowledge this view. The outline of an elaborate administrative setup and generous cash salaries to officials indicate that the author had a large empire in mind.
4. But there is also a view that it was not composed in Mauryan times. The presence of Kautilya's name could mean 'the views as held by Kautilya'. There is no reference to Kautilya in Patanjali's Mahabhashya. But Mahabhashya was a grammar book referring to CGM's court only for examples. There is no reference of Kautilya in Megasthenes. But his original work is gone and we only have bits and pieces in references. The are contradictions between the two books. But Arthasastra was only a theoretical book.

(a) Politics

1. It defines the concept of state as saptang rajya or having 7 limbs. King, bureaucracy, treasury, territory, army, foreign relations and justice.
2. It emphasizes that a king's duty is to safeguard the varna based social order and uses the term dharmapravartak for him.
3. It asserts that the king must have supreme power.

(b) Economy

1. It tells us that the state had extensive control over economy.
2. There were 27 adhyakshas (superintendents) to regulate economic activities.
3. The state had monopoly over multiple sectors including liquor, pasture lands and manufacture of arms.
4. A detailed list of taxes is given covering almost all economic activities.
5. The importance of proper tax assessment is emphasized upon tax collection and storage.

(c) Society

1. It bans renunciation of worldly life without providing for dependents.
2. It talks about 9 type of slaves.
3. On shudras, it tells us that shudras were allowed to enlist in the army, work in agriculture and own property.
4. The sacrosanct concept of marriage was broken in the book. It allows for divorce under certain conditions. 

Post - Mauryan Period

1. The Junagarh inscription of rudradaman (a saka) is in sanskrit (in fact first inscription entirely in sanskrit) while that of Asoka is in prakrit. This conveys the spirit of the historical change where sanskrit was increasingly dominating the elite circles and association with it was considered prestigious. The inscription also is an early example of what was to become prashasti or eulogy.
2. Many inscriptions also talk about investments made by the kings with particular guilds like the Saka nasik inscription talks about the king investing in the guilds of weavers, potters etc. Clearly these occupations would have been socially acceptable (although claimed otherwise by the brahmanical literature) otherwise the king and the upper classes wouldn't have invested in them. This indicates that the brahmanical literature was more of a normative version according to the perspective of a few brahmans rather than a descriptive version of how the society functioned.

Literature in Post Mauryan Period

1. Sanskrit kavya style developed under royal patronage. The Junagarh inscription is the first example of long Sanskrit kavya style inscription. Ashvaghosha was a famous Sanskrit kavya poet and he lived in the court of Kushanas. He composed Sarioutraprakaran (a story of conversion by Buddha), Buddhacharita (a biography of Buddha) and Saundarananda which are fine specimens of Sanskrit kavya. Another writer Bhasa wrote Svapnavasavdattam which was based on court activities. Unlike Ashvaghosha whose plays were meant for a larger audience, Bhasa's work was meant for court audience only.
2. The growth of Mahayana led to the composition of Buddhist Avadanas literature. This genre included works like Mahavastu and Divyavadana and was written in hybrid Sanskrit. Even the philosopher Nagarjuna chose to write in Sanskrit using it in Buddhist philosophy. This shows ascendency of Sanskrit as the language of elite. 

Literature in Gupta Period

(a) Cultural Reflections

1. Malvikagnimitra: Talks about Pushyamitra Sunga's Ashvamedha yajna, his fight with Vidharbha and Indo-Greeks. 
2. Kumar Sambhav: Reflects the growing Siva bhakti currents of the age. Kalidasa was himself a Siva worshipper and this work shows many aspects of the Siva bhakti.
3. Kamasutra tells us that painting art form was studied in a systematic way.
4. The ornate style of writing developed in this period.

(b) Social Reflections

1. Sudrak's Mrichkatikam is a break from other literature in the sense that it deals with the lives of commoners. Its protagonist is a poor brahman. Different characters from different regions speak in their regional dialect here which tells us about the society. It tells us about the different social classes present at that time.
2. Kamasutra tells us about the life of an urbanite who is well fed and well kept.

Literature (Primarily Smriti Literature) in Early Medieval Age

(a) Political

1. Theory of kingship: Contemporary smriti literature give unlimited power to the king but yet place him in the bounds of religious and conventional norms. Medhatithi Smriti tells us that the king gets his taxes in return for providing security to the tax payers. Moreover if he doesn't protect the poor, weak and brahmans he will not achieve heavens. He goes on to say that the king has to protect even those who don't pay taxes but if he doesn't fulfill his duties despite getting taxes he is liable to face public discontent. Vishwarup's smriti goes one step further and says that it is legitimate for public to remove an exploitative king. But at the same time there are other smritis as well which talk of divine rights / origins of king.

(b) Social

1. On brahmans: Medhatithi frees brahmans from corporal punishment and fines but limits this to only 'learned' brahmans. Matsyapuran frees them from capital punishment but advocates their exile and branding. Vishwarup smriti however says there is no harm in giving capital punishment to an exploitative brahman. The literature of this age begins to make distinctions even among brahmans particularly based on their region. They hold brahmans in south, Odisha and AP in low light. 
2. On kshatriyas: Lay down the usual duties for kshatriyas and rajputs.
3. On vaishyas: Lay down the usual duties for vaishyas.
4. On kayasthas: Ridicule them.
5. On slaves: The literature further tells us that the slaves were used mainly for dirty household work only though the (buddhist) literature also mentions their employment for agricultural work in some cases. The temples and mathas, however, used to employ the slaves in agriculture in a big way. The literature of this age also doesn't give us any information about the property rights of the slaves and their freedom (not even by working very hard and pleasing the master) so it can be inferred that the condition of slaves had definitely worsened from the previous period. The master had full right over the life of the slave, he could beat him, treat him in any way he pleased and was not liable even if the slave died due to torture and ill treatment.
6. On shudras: Parashar and Laghu Vyasa smritis forbid any touch or food touched by shudra. Medhatithi advocates servitude of shudras but still allows them personal freedom. He says some shudras used to study grammar. Narad smriti even advocates shudras to take up arms in emergency and defend. But all these are exceptions only.
7. On untouchables: Many new classes and tribes were added to untouchables and new disabilities imposed.
8. On marriage: Medhatithi allows anulom (higher caste male and lower caste female) marriages as exceptions and says the caste of the offspring will be that of mother in such a marriage. Narad smriti bans inter caste marriages. Incest is prohibited.
9. On remarriage of women: Medhatithi completely prohibits remarriage of women while narad, parashar smritis allow remarriage in case of death, abandonment, missing husband. They also allow niyoga. 
10. On feudal society: We find increasing references in the literature of this age to samantas, their classification, different types of homes for different samantas etc. Thus the literature shows the increasing feudal penetration in the age.

(c) Economic

1. Kavya Mimansa tells us that timber industry was the main industry in Rashtrakuta kingdom. Then pepper was also exported.
2. Also because of the changing political and economic circumstances, we find ample evidences in the smriti literature allowing brahmans to adopt alternative occupations. Thus Parashar calls agriculture a normal occupation of brahman provided he himself didn't cultivate (this also tells us about the land relations of the age). The literature talks in great details about the land grants made to brahmans and prescribe various forms of concessions which should accompany such grants like tying the factors of production like labor and ox and plough with the grant.
3. Medhatithi tells us that S India was famous for its pearls.
4. Agnipurana mentions sword making industry in Sopara.
5. Literature was written on agriculture (krishiparashar), sculpture (shilpashastras), architecture (vastushastras), veterinary sciences (horse and elephant) reflecting economic priorities.

Regional Literature

Prakrit Literature

NBPW Phase

1. Earliest Jaina literature was Kalpasutra, Sutrakritanga and Acharanga - sutra.

Post Mauryan Age

1. It got a boost under the Satvahna kings as their official language was Prakrit. One Satvahna king Hala composed Gatha-Satta-Sai. It contains 700 verses written in Prakrit. 

Pali Literature

NBPW phase (Tripitaka)

1. They tell us of trade routes from Mathura to Taxila, and from Mathura to Ujjain and Gujarat coast.  
2. They tell us about the punch marked coins and also about their widespread use in transactions and in paying wages. 
3. They tell us about the village life - the three type of villages, the dominance of community, the presence of agriculture slaves and hired labor.
4. They also tell us about the tradition of oppressive kings and their purohits being expelled by people. But such occasions were rare and king was more powerful than ever before. 
5. These texts have been written in urban settings confirming the target audience of Buddhism. These texts reflect more closely the life in the republics. Their account of the origin of state is closer to the theory of social contract (by Rousseau) while the brahmanical literature is closer to the kingdoms and calls for divine origin of the king (and denies any social contract).

Tamil Literature

1. Tamil text Tolkkapiyam deals with grammar and poetics and Tirukkal with philosophy. 
2. Then there are epics Silappadikaran and Manimekalai. Silappadikaran was written by a Jaina scholar and is a love story of a dignitary preferring a courtesan over his wife. Manimekalai is the adventure story of his daughter. These epics throw light on the socio-economic life of the Sangam age.  

Sangam Literature

Political Reflections

1. It is a mix of myths as well as reflects realities. For instance the literature says that it was composed over a period of 9990 years under the patronage of 197 Pandya kings. Clearly this is too good to be true. On the other hand many of the names of the kings and events described in the literature can be reconciled against the inscriptions and other archaeological evidence.
2. The head of households were important, but a higher status was given to the velir or the clan chief and a still higher status was accorded to the bigger chiefs called ventar who were the Cholas, the Cheras and the Pandyas.
3. It tells us about the 3 major states - Pandyas, Cholas and Cheras - their origin, important political events, their polity etc. The poets have tried to derive the ancestry from Mahabharata in order to increase glory and legitimacy of their ruling masters. Obviously its fake. It also tells us about some true historical events like how after losing his kingdom the first Chola ruler Karikala won a battle @ Venni against an alliance of 11 rulers and staged a comeback. Apart from the major states, the poets tell us about the various minor principalities who used to side with one major state or the other in times of war.
4. The literature tells us that some kings used to perform vedic sacrifices and praises them highly. This tells us of the attempt of the kings to increase their legitimacy via divine association and the values associated with a great king. The king was also supposed to be an upholder of the social order, literature, art etc and impartial while imparting justice because he was the highest court. He was supposed to ensure that brahmans lived well.
5. The literature is a reflection of the strong economic and administrative power of the state (such a large scale patronage to the poets wouldn't have been possible otherwise). The literature also tells us that the state used to actively promote agriculture, industry and commerce. However it also tells us that by the time of a ruler Nalliyakodan (275 AD) the era of kind, liberal donor kings was over which indicates that the power of state had declined by this time.
6. The sangam literature tells us that the king used to rule mainly with the assistance of his kin (family members) who were also very powerful. The practice of conjoint rule was also present. This is natural given the kin based nature of the sangam society. It tells us about the various feuds for grabbing power etc. The poets used to put the names of not just the king but multiple members of the royal family in their works which indicates the kin based nature of polity. 
7. Victory in battles, cattle raids and territorial expansion was another important source of royal legitimacy and a great king was supposed to continuously try to expand his kingdom. The literature speaks both in ill terms and in high terms (depending upon which side the poet was on) of cattle raids. It tells us that the battles over cattle raids between hill tribes and plain tribes were very common as the hill people used to raid plain tribes.

Cultural Reflections

1. In the earlier inscriptions we can see that the Tamil language was still in development phases. But by the Sangam age it had fully developed as can be seen in the literature.
2. The literature also uses many sanskrit words. This shows that the process of brahmanisation of the Sangam society was well underway. We can also get a good idea of the fusion process between the brahman and the dravidian societies from the literature.
3. They (specially the early sangam texts like Purnanuru and Narninai) also tell us about the life in megalithic societies. Thus they tell us in detail about the urn burial, cist burials, cremation etc. The earlier Sangam texts tell us that urn burial was prevalent among the Chera kings as well as the vellalas. 
4. It tells us about the many temples present in Madurai in that age. 

Social Reflections

1. It reflects a society which celebrates love and war. The goal of a hero should be to attain glory. Heroic death was greatly valued, memorial stones were raised for the dead heroes as their spirits were believed to inhabit the stones.
2. There are references to social classification based in kutis (clan based descent from early ages). Brahmanical tradition had not yet established firmly. There were Arashars (kings), Vaishiyars (traders), Velalars (farmers) and the brahmans. The brahmans held the highest level and they also occupied important posts like purohit in the royal courts and held great influence. The velalars were the rich farmers and influential in military and administration as well. The high military commanders were called Enadi. Interestingly Sangam literature refers to many occupations but doesn't refer directly to any varna based ordering.
3. There are references to wide range of economic activities practiced by women including agriculture, cloth making, fisheries etc. This indicates their better position in the society. It tells us that in a battle between the Cheras and the Cholas, both kings were killed. Their queens committed sati. Thus sati was prevalent. The literature tells us about the practice of kannagi worship i.e. worshipping a chaste wife and thus tells us how the society thought of a woman role in her life (she was thus supposed to be completely subservient to her husband). 
4. In the rural society there used to be an institution of manram to take care of the socio-cultural and religious activities. It used to take care of festivals, entertainment venues etc. These later developed into the institution of sabha.

Economic Reflections

1. The literature tells us that the state used to actively promote agriculture, industry and commerce. The state had a sound financial position. Another major source of income of the state was war booty.
2. The literature tells us that agriculture was the mainstay of the economy. But foreign trade too played a vital role in the economy. It tells us that Puhar was a major international port and due to brisk international trade it had accumulated a lot of wealth and influence. Other important ports were Shaliyur / Kottayam / Alagankulam under Pandyas and Bandar under Cheras.

Approaches to Study History

Orientalist Approach

1. The administrative functions of £ EEC required its officials to be knowledgeable about Indian languages, practices, norms etc. Indian languages were studied as well as dharmashastras (which were believed to be Indian code of laws). Hope was that it would provide greater control over the colony and extend £ rule. Asiatic Society of Bengal, William Jones all belonged to this school.
2. £ were also baffled by the Hindu religion which was not monotheistic, not founded by a single prophet, had no religious leader / institution and neither had a single sacred text. In India multiple religions were practiced and enjoyed royal patronage unlike Europe. Thus they felt a need to fit this phenomenon within their mould of bounded rationality.
3. They showed that Sanskrit had linkages with european languages so that it could be proved it was derived from european languages only. Efforts were made to link Puranas with Bible but were not successful. A son of Noah was said to have migrated to India and establish the Indian population!
4. Indian thought was considered to be more in the sphere of spirituality and mysticism and thus appealed to these £ who were apprehensive of excessive materialism brought about by the industrialization of their society. They tried to show that Indians were so concerned with the other world and so less with the tangible aspects of this world. A dichotomy was maintained that £ values were materialistic while Indian values were spiritual. They hoped to bring about another renaissance in £. 

Utilitarian / Anglicist Approach

1. They were largely £ who resided in £ but wrote about India. People like Mill, Macaulay were associated with this school. They firmly believed in the superiority of £ race and culture. They emphasized on the values of rational thought and individualism which were said to be absent in India and that Indian culture was stagnant.
2. They divided the study of Indian history into Hindu age, Muslim age and the £ age so as to divide Indians and perpetuate £ rule. They began to interpret history in terms of communal lines.
3. They held that Indians were not fit to govern themselves according to modern ideas. They had never known democracy etc. and had always been ruled by despotic kings totally unrepresentative of public opinion (theory of oriental despotism). India always had self sufficient villages whose surplus was creamed off by the despotic rulers governing through an autocratic bureaucracy. The peasant was always kept subjugated and the king would control all means of irrigation and would own all land and claim divine status. Thus they believed that £ were doing a favor  by ruling India by modern means.
4. They argued that only £ can improve Indian society by bringing in legislations and promoting £ education in India to remove the stagnant features of Indian society.
5. Their approach was that there was nothing praiseworthy in general in Indian culture and even if there were one or two things which were superior to ancient Greek / Roman culture, they were invariable derived from the former.

Marxist Approach

1. He talked about the 'Asiatic mode of production' where despotism and stagnancy were the central features which nullified any hope for a movement on the lines of Europe. He believed there was no private property in Asia which made the bourgeoisie class absent and hence no class conflict. This was further reinforced by absence of cities as production or commercial centers and whatever cities existed were administrative or pilgrimage centers only.

Nationalist Approach

1. They came up as a spread of £ education among Indian middle class. They tried to paint an opposite picture than that presented by £ historians. Thus they asserted India had institutions of democracy (Chola sabhas, Vedic sabha and samitis), republics (clans, chiefdoms) and © monarchy (existence of council of ministers to advise the king). They emphasized on non violence being a product of India (Asoka) as well as the presence great conquerors (SG). They tried to paint the fight against Alexander as a nationalistic fight and emphasized the unity created by the Mauryan empire. They came up with the concept of the golden age.
2. But they measured cultural achievement only in terms of arts, literature (that too sanskrit) and philosophy. They too contributed to a communal interpretation of history. They maintained that ancient Hindu society was essentially a tolerant society and dismissed or ignored the incidents of social intolerance. They also ignored the rigidities and disabilities imposed by the society on its own members.

Other Approaches

1. There is the language based approach and the race based approach - usually invoked in case of Aryans and Dravidians.
2. There is the hindutva approach which emphasizes that Aryans were original inhabitants of India. They deny invasion theories and assert that Aryans and Sanskrit were always indigenous. 

Inscriptions and Women

two categories of inscriptions related to women

a. inscriptions issued by women - like nayanika of satavahanas, prabhavati of vakatakas, didda of kashmir, inscriptions issued by women donors who are sometimes found along with their husbands and sometimes single (like those women who donated to buddhist monastries, rock cut cave temples, brahmanic temples)

b. sati stones - plenty of them, they generally give details about the lady like her name, age, caste etc



what can be inferred from these?

1. their property rights

2. their economic status

3. their autonomy in decision making, their political power

4. their social conditions