UNIT 1

C. SOURCES OF ANCIENT INDIAN HISTORY AND

HISTORIOGRAPHY:
A SENSE OF HISTORY IN ANCIENT INDIA, VEDAS, EPICS AND
ITIHASA PURANAS, JAIN AND BUDDHIST TRADITION AND
SANGAM LITERATURE

VEDA
The tradition of historical writing in ancient India traces its origins to the time of the Vedas and
extended up until the end of the 12th century. The earliest vestiges of India's historical
consciousness are preserved within the Rigveda. The hymns of the Rigveda, which reflect the
early Vedic period, demonstrate a clear awareness of history among their composers. These
hymns represent the earliest recorded evidence of historical sensibility in ancient India, offering
insights into the cultural and societal developments of that era.
The Vedas, in the tradition, are considered shruti, meaning "that which has been heard." They
are believed to hold eternal truths, either discovered by ancient seers (rishis) in deep meditation
or revealed to them by the gods. The word Veda comes from the root vid, which means "to
know," thus, Veda translates to "knowledge." There are four Vedas: Rig, Sama, Yajur, and
Atharva.
The Rig Veda contains the world's oldest known poetry, some very beautiful and deeply
philosophical. Each Veda has four sections: the Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka, and Upanishad,
though the last three sections sometimes blend. The Rig Veda Samhita is a collection of 1,028
hymns arranged in 10 books, called Mandalas. The Sama Veda has 1,810 verses, mostly taken
from the Rig Veda, arranged for musical purposes, although the original melodies are lost. The
Yajur Veda focuses on rituals, while the Atharva Veda, the newest of the four, contains
hymns, spells, and charms that reflect common beliefs and practices.
The Brahmanas are prose texts explaining the rituals in the Samhita sections. The Aranyakas,
or "forest books," interpret these rituals symbolically and philosophically. There are 108
Upanishads, with 13 considered the most important. The Upanishads explore a wide range of
philosophical ideas, particularly focused on the concepts of atman (the self) and brahman (the
ultimate reality).
Books 2-7 of the Rig Veda Samhita, known as the "family books," are the oldest, and the rest
of the Vedic texts, along with these books, are considered part of the later Vedic literature.
Different schools (called shakhas or charanas) have their versions or recensions of the Vedas.
For example, the Shakala Shakha is the only surviving version of the Rig Veda.
The Yajur Veda is divided into two main versions: the Shukla school and the Krishna school.
The Shukla Yajur Veda contains only the mantras (prayers), while the Krishna Yajur Veda
includes mantras along with explanations of the rituals. The Sama Veda has three main
recensions, and the Atharva Veda has two. Many other recensions existed in the past but have
been lost.
Although Vedic texts are religious, they contain occasional references to historical events, such
as the "battle of ten kings" mentioned in the Rig Veda, where King Sudas defeated a group of
enemies. Historians have studied the Vedas to learn about the culture of ancient India, but
dating these texts is difficult, with estimates ranging from 6000 BCE to 1000 BCE. Many
historians suggest the early Vedic period lasted from around 1500 to 1000 BCE, with later
Vedic texts composed between 1000 and 500 BCE. This dating system was first proposed by
19th-century scholar Max Müller.
Vedic literature reflects the beliefs and practices of the Brahmana class and provides insight
into life in parts of northwestern and northern India during the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE.
However, linking Vedic evidence with archaeology remains challenging. Several additional
texts, known as the Vedanga, were written to help with the correct recitation and understanding
of the Vedas. These include works on phonetics, meter, grammar, etymology, ritual, and
astronomy, mostly composed between 600 and 200 BCE. One such text, Yaska’s Nirukta, a
work on the etymology of Rig Vedic words, was written in the 6th century BCE.

THE TWO SANSKRIT EPICS: THE RAMAYANA AND MAHABHARATA

The two Sanskrit epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana, fall within the category of smriti as
well as itihasa (traditional history), although the Ramayana is sometimes classified as kavya
(poetry). Similarities in language and style suggest that they emerged from a common cultural
milieu. The Mahabharata refers to Valmiki and the Ramayana, outlines the Rama story in a
section called the Ramopakhyana. The Ramayana in turn mentions the Kurus, Hastinapura, and
Janamejaya, although it does not mention the Mahabharata war. The two epics were aware of
each other, at least in their later stages of development. The composition of the Mahabharata
can be placed between c. 400 BCE and c. 400 CE, and the Ramayana between the 5th/4th
century BCE and the 3rd century CE.
The epics are magnificent texts with powerful stories that have captured the imagination of
millions of people over the centuries. To use them as historical sources, it is necessary to
identify their internal chronological layers, which is not an easy task. According to tradition,
Rama lived in the treta yuga (age), and the Mahabharata war happened later, in the dvapara
yuga. However, some historians argue that the events and characters associated with the
Mahabharata reflect a slightly earlier period than those of the Ramayana. This is because the
setting of the Mahabharata is the Indo-Gangetic divide and the upper Ganga valley, while in
the Ramayana, the centre of political gravity had shifted eastwards, to the middle Ganga valley.
The strong women characters of the Mahabharata suggest an earlier stage of social
development when women were less subordinated to men compared to later times. The practice
of niyoga (levirate; i.e., when a husband deputes his conjugal rights over his wife to another
man to produce an heir) in the Mahabharata also suggests a social stage that is before that of
the Ramayana, which reflects much stricter controls over women.
The Mahabharata consists of 18 Parvas (books) and has two main recensions northern and
southern. The core story concerns a conflict between two sets of cousins, -the Kauravas and
the Pandavas- and a great war that was fought between them at Kurukshetra. But the text also
contains a huge amount of material that has little or no connection with the main story.
According to tradition, it was composed by Vyasa, but in its present form, it is not the work of
a single individual. The Mahabharata is truly an encyclopaedic work, and it boasts of this fact.
A heroic story formed the core to which many other stories, sermons, and didactic portions
containing teachings, were added over centuries. The additions include the sermon on dharma
given by Bhishma as he lay dying on a bed of arrows, and the stirring discourse of Krishna to
Arjuna on the eve of the war, known as the Bhagavad Gita.
Whether a bitter war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas ever happened cannot be proved
or disproved. It is possible that there was a small-scale conflict, transformed into a gigantic
epic war by bards and poets. Some historians and archaeologists have argued that this conflict
may have occurred in about 1000 BCE.
The Ramayana exists in the form of two main recensions- northern and southern the northern
recension can be further divided into the north-eastern, north-western, and western. The
language of the northern recension is more elaborate and polished than that of the southern one.
The epic consists of seven Kandas (books), of which the first (Bala Kanda) and last (Uttara
Kanda) are later interpolations. The basic story is about Rama, prince of Kosala; his banishment
to the forest due to the intrigues of his wicked stepmother; the abduction of his wife Sita by
Ravana, the king of Lanka; Sita’s rescue; and Rama's return to the capital, Ayodhya, to become
king. The compact vocabulary and style indicate that the core of the text was the work of a
single individual, traditionally identified as Valmiki. Valmiki appears in the Balakanda, where
he is inspired to compose the epic, and in the Uttarakanda, where he gives refuge to Sita who
has been disowned by Rama.
Excavations at the site of Ayodhya have indicated the existence of a settlement here from the
Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) phase, which may go back at the earliest to c. 700
BCE. However, as with the Mahabharata, the archaeological evidence does not tell us whether
there is any historical basis to the events or the characters of the Ramayana. The popularity and
dynamism of the Rama story are indicated by the fact that apart from the Valmiki Ramayana
(which seems to be the oldest version) there are numerous other telling of the Rama story- a
Jaina version (the Paumachariu of Vimalasuri, in Prakrit), a Buddhist version (the Dasharatha
Jataka in Pali), a 12th century Tamil version by Kamban (the Iramavataram), and the
Ramcharitmanas (16th century) by Tulsidas, to name only a few. There are also innumerable
oral versions of the story.
The epics can be read in many different ways from the historical point of view. While most
scholars have focused on debating the historicity of their events, some have tried to describe
their many different cultural layers. Another approach is to read such texts as a response to a
specific kind of historical context. For instance, James L. Fitzgerald (in Mittal and Thursby,
2005: 54) has argued that the Mahabharata was a Brahmanical re- sponse to certain specific
historical developments: the increasing popularity of religious traditions such as Buddhism and
Jainism, and the rise of dynasties such as the Nandas and Mauryas, who extended support to
them, were perceived by a section of the Brahmanas as threatening the Brahmanical order. The
Mahabharata was their response to this perceived crisis.

THE PURANAS
The word 'Purana' means 'old'. According to tradition, the Puranas were composed by Vyasa,
but it is clear that in the form in which they have come down to us, they were not the work of
one person or one age. There are 18 Mahapuranas (great Puranas), and many more Upapuranas
(secondary Puranas). The standard list of the 18 Mahapuranas includes the Vishnu, Narada,
Bhagavata, Garuda, Padma, Varaha, Matsya, Kurma, Linga, Shiva, Shanda, Agni,
Brahmanda, Brahmavaivarta, Markandeya, Bhavishya, Vamana, and Brahma. The origins of
the Puranas may have overlapped to some extent with the Vedas, but their composition
stretched forward into the 4th-5th centuries CE, and in some cases, even later.
The Puranas are supposed to have five characteristics (pancha-lakshanas), i.e., they are
supposed to discuss five topics the creation of the world (sarga); recreation (pratisarga); the
periods of the various Manus (manvantaras), the genealogies of gods and rishis (vamsha); and
an account of royal dynasties (vamshanucharita), including the Suryavamshi and
Chandravamshi kings, whose origin is traced to the sun and the moon. Not all Puranas deal
with all these five topics and most of them deal with much more.
The conception of time in the Puranas is mind-boggling. There are four ages or yugas-krita,
treta, dvapara, and kali, all consisting of thousands and thousands of years. These four yugas
make up a mahayuga, and 1,000 mahayugas constitute a kalpa. Every kalpa is divided into 14
manvantaras, each presided over by a Manu. One yuga follows the other, and the periodic
destruction of the world is followed by its re-creation. This cycle of time is connected with the
cyclical decline and revival of dharma.
The earliest parts of the Puranic genealogies are either entirely or partly mythical. The later
genealogies of kings of the Kali age (which, according to tradition, began the day Krishna died,
20 years after the Mahabharata war) have historical material. The account is given in the future
tense in the form of a prophecy, because Vyasa is supposed to have lived at the end of the
dvapara yuga and the beginning of the kali yuga, before the events he is supposed to be
describing. The Bhavishya Purana is mentioned in some Puranas as the original authority for
the genealogies, but the present versions of this text have incomplete material on the subject.
Although their details do not always match, the Puranas especially the Vayu, Brahmanda,
Brahma, Harivamsha, Matsya, and Vishnu-do provide useful information on ancient political
history. They refer to historical dynasties such as the Haryankas, Shaishunagas, Nandas,
Mauryas, Shungas, Kanvas, and Andhras (Satavahanas). They also mention certain kings, with
names ending in the suffix 'naga', who ruled in northern and central India in the early centuries
CE, about whom very little else is known. The dynastic lists end with the Guptas (4th-6th
centuries), indicating that most of the Puranas were compiled at about this time. However, some
are later-e.g., the Bhagavata Purana belongs to the 10th and the Skanda Purana to the 14th
century, with additions made up to the 16th century.
The Puranas have accounts of mountains, rivers, and places, which are useful for the study of
historical geography. They also reflect the emergence of religious cults based on devotion,
especially towards the gods Vishnu and Shiva and the goddess Shakti. This devotion was
expressed through the worship of images of deities in temples, pilgrimage (tirtha), and vows
(vrata). Some of the Puranic myths such as the stories of encounters and interactions between
demons (rakshasas, asuras), gods (devas), and sages (rishis) are interpreted by historians as
allegorical representations of interactions among people belonging to different cultures. The
Puranas had a very important function in the Brahmanical tradition as vehicles of Brahmanical
social and religious values. At the same time, they also reflect the interaction of Brahmanical
and non-Brahmanical cultural traditions and the emergence and development of Hindu
religious practices.

BUDDHIST LITERATURE
Early Buddhist literature is generally divided into canonical and non-canonical texts.
Canonical texts are the books which lay down the basic tenets and principles of a religion or
sect. The various Buddhist schools classify their canonical literature in different ways, some
into 9 or 12 Angas, others into 3 Pitakas.
There are Pali, Chinese, and Tibetan versions of the Tipitaka (The Three Baskets/ Collections).
The Pali Tipitaka of the Theravada school is the oldest of them all. Pali was a literary language
that developed out of a mixture of dialects, particularly those spoken in the Magadha area of
eastern India. The Tipitaka consists of three books the Sutta, Vinaya, and Abhidhamma. In the
Buddhist context, sutta (from the Sanskrit sutra) refers to texts that are supposed to contain
what the Buddha himself said. The Sutta Pitaka contains the Buddha's discourses on various
doctrinal issues in dialogue form. Except for a few suttas, the authority of this work was
accepted by all Buddhist schools. The Vinaya Pitaka has rules for monks and nuns of the sangha
(monastic order). It includes the Patimokkha-a list of transgressions against monastic discipline
and atonements for these. The Abhidhamma Pitaka is a later work, and contains a thorough
study and systemization of the teachings of the Sutta Pitaka through lists, summaries, and
questions and answers.
The three Pitakas are divided into books known as the Nikayas (analogous but not identical to
the Agamas of the Buddhist Sanskrit tradition). For instance, the Sutta Pitaka consists of five
Nikayas the Digha, Majjhima, Samyutta, Anguttara, and Khuddaka Nikayas. The Jatakas
stories of the previous births of the Buddha are one of the 15 books of the Khuddaka Nikaya,
and their composition can be placed between the 3rd century BCE and the 2nd century CE. The
Khuddaka Nikaya also contains the Dhammapada (a collection of verses dealing mainly with
ethical sayings), and the Theragatha and Therigatha (songs of Buddhist monks and nuns). The
Therigatha, which describes women's experience of renunciation, is especially important
because it is one of the very few surviving ancient Indian texts composed by or attributed to
women.
According to Buddhist tradition, the Sutta and Vinaya Pitakas were recited at the first council
of monks at Rajagriha immediately after the Buddha's death, and 100 years later at the second
council at Vaishali. But their composition must have extended over several centuries, up to the
time of the third council convened in the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Ashoka. The
composition of the basic core of the Pali Tipitaka can therefore be placed between the 5th and
3rd centuries BCE. The canon is supposed to have been written down in the first century BCE
in Sri Lanka under the patronage of a king named Vattagamani, by which time it must have
undergone further modifications.
Non-canonical Buddhist literature in Pali includes the Milindapanha (1st-century BCE-1st
century CE) which consists of a dialogue on various philosophical issues between King Milinda
(the Indo-Greek king Menander) and the monk Nagasena. The Nettigandha or Nettipakarana
(The Book of Guidance) belongs to the same period and gives a connected account of the
teachings of the Buddha. Commentaries on the Tipitaka include a 5th century work by
Buddhaghosha. The first connected life story of the Buddha occurs in the Nidanakatha (1st
century). The Pali or Sri Lankan chronicles-the Dipavamsa (4th-5th centuries) and the
Mahavamsa (5th century)-contain a historical-cum-mythical account of the Buddha's life, the
Buddhist councils, the Maurya emperor Ashoka, the kings of Sri Lanka, and the arrival of
Buddhism on that island.
Apart from texts in Pali, there are several Buddhist works in Sanskrit, and in a mixture of
Prakrit and Sanskrit that is often referred to as Buddhist Sanskrit or Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit.
The trend towards the use of Sanskrit intensified in the Mahayana schools, but some non-
Mahayana texts were also composed in Sanskrit or mixed Prakrit-Sanskrit. For instance, the
canon of the Sarvastivada school is in Sanskrit. The Mahavastu, which has some Mahayana
elements, gives a hagiography (sacred biography) of the Buddha and describes the emergence
of the monastic order in mixed Sanskrit-Prakrit. The Lalitavistara (1st -2nd centuries), a
hagiography of the Buddha associated with the Sarvastivada school but strongly tinged with
Mahayana elements, is in Sanskrit and mixed Prakrit-Sanskrit. Sanskrit Buddhist texts include
Ashvaghosha's Buddhacharita (1st/2nd century) and the Avadana texts. The latter contain
stories of noteworthy deeds with a moral; they include the Avadanashataka (2nd century) and
the Divyavadana (4th century) which have stories connected with the Buddha and the Maurya
emperor Ashoka. The 1st century Ashtasahasrika-prajnaparamita and Saddharma-pundarika
offer accounts of the various Buddhas, bodhisattvas (future Buddhas), and Mahayana
doctrines. Later works of Mahayana thinkers such as Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, Asanga,
Aryadeva, Buddhapalita, and Dignaga are all in Sanskrit.
Buddhist texts are important sources for the history of Buddhism, its doctrines, monastic order,
and royal patrons such as Ashoka, revealing many other facets of the polity, society, and
economy of their times as well. They offer a non-Brahmanical window into ancient India;
however, the Brahmanical perspective is replaced by a Buddhist one.

JAINA LITERATURE
The sacred books of the Jainas are collectively known as the Siddhanta or Agama. The
language of the earliest texts is an eastern dialect of Prakrit known as Ardha-Magadhi. The
Jaina monastic order came to be divided into the Shvetambara and Digambara schools, perhaps
in about the 3rd century CE. The Shvetambara canon includes the 12 Angas, 12 Uvamgas
(Upangas), 10 Painnas (Prakirnas), 6 Cheya Suttas (Cheda Sutras), 4 Mula Suttas (Mula
Sutras), and several individual texts such as the Nandi Sutta (Nandi Sutra) and Anugodara
(Anuyogadvara). There is some overlap in the content of the canonical literature of the two
schools. For instance, the Digambaras accept and give prime importance to the Angas, and
some of the texts they club together as the Angabahyas have corresponding Shvetambara texts.
According to Shvetambara tradition, the Angas were compiled at a council held at Pataliputra.
The compilation of the entire canon is supposed to have taken place in the 5th or 6th century
at a council held in Valabhi in Gujarat, presided over by Devarddhi Kshamashramana. Some
of the material in the canon may go back to the 5th or 4th century BCE, but changes and
additions continued to be made till the 5th-6th centuries CE. To use such texts as historical
sources, a clearer identification of their internal chronology is required.
The non-canonical Jaina works are partly in Prakrit dialects, especially Maharashtri, and partly
in Sanskrit, which started being used in the early centuries CE. Commentaries on the canonical
works include the Nijjuttis (Niryuktis), Bhashyas, and Churnis in Maharashtri and Prakrit; the
early medieval Tikas, Vrittis, and Avachurnis are in Sanskrit. The genealogical lists in the Jaina
Pattavalis and the Theravalis contain very precise chronological details about the Jaina saints,
but they sometimes contradict each other.
The Jaina Puranas (the Shvetambaras call them Charitas) are hagiographies of the Jaina saints
known as Tirthankaras (literally 'ford makers'), but they contain other material as well. The
Adi Purana (9th century) narrates the life of the first Tirthankara Rishabha, also known as
Adinatha. The 8th century Harivamsha Purana gives a Jaina version of the stories of the
Kauravas, Pandavas, Krishna, Balarama, and others. The Trishashtilakshana Mahapurana by
Jinasena and Gunabhadra (9th century) has life stories of various Jaina saints, kings, and
heroes. It also has sections on topics such as life-cycle rituals, the interpretation of dreams,
town planning, the duties of a warrior, and how a king should rule. The Parishishtaparvan
(12th century) by Hemachandra gives a history of the earliest Jaina teachers and also mentions
certain details of political history. Several Prabandhas (12th century onwards) from Gujarat
offer semi-historical accounts of saints and historical characters. Jaina texts also include hymn
literature and lyrical poetry.
Jaina literature offers information regarding the history and doctrines of Jainism, the doctrines
of rival schools, the life stories of the saints, and the life of monks and nuns in the sangha. The
texts can also be used for information on other aspects of the cultural history of their times.
Jaina texts have not, however, been studied or used as extensively by historians as Buddhist
sources.

SANGAM LITERATURE
The earliest literature of South India is represented by a group of texts in old Tamil, often
collectively referred to as Sangam literature. A tradition recorded in post-7th century texts
speaks of three Sangams or literary gatherings in ancient times. The first is supposed to have
been held in Madurai for 4,440 years, the second at Kapatapuram for 3,700 years, and the third
in Madurai for 1,850 years. Although the details of this legend obviously cannot be considered
historical, the similarity of language and style within the Sangam corpus suggests the
possibility that they were the product of some sort of literary gathering. The case for the
historicity of at least the third Sangam is that some of the kings and poets associated with it are
historical figures.
The Sangam corpus includes six of the eight anthologies of poems included in the Ettutokai
(The Eight Collections) and nine of the ten pattus (songs) of the Pattuppattu (The Ten Songs).
The style and certain historical references in the poems suggest that they were composed
between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE. They were compiled into anthologies in
about the mid-8th century. A few centuries later, these anthologies were collected into the
super-anthologies (i.e., anthologies of anthologies) called the Ettutokai and the Pattuppattu.
The earliest parts of the first two books of the Tolkappiyam can also be included in Sangam
literature. The Tolkappiyam is essentially a work on grammar, but it also includes a discussion
of phonology, semantics, syntax, and literary conventions.
There are two kinds of Sangam poems- akam and puram. Akam poems had love as their theme,
while puram poems were mostly about war. A. K. Ramanujan (1999) describes Puram poetry
as 'public poetry' which dealt with all kinds of themes other than love, such as good and evil,
community, and kingdom. The poems were modelled on the bardic songs of older times and
were orally transmitted for an indefinite period before they were written down. The anthologies
include a total of 2,381 poems ascribed to 473 poets, 30 of whom were women. The poets came
from cities and villages and had varied social and professional backgrounds. They included
teachers, merchants, carpenters, astrologers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, soldiers, ministers, and
kings. Due to their varied themes and authorship, Sangam poems offer a good idea of everyday
life in the time when they were composed.
Many Tamil didactic works were written in the post-5th century period. The most famous of
these is Tiruvalluvar's Tirukkural, a work on ethics, polity, and love (5th- 6th centuries). Of the
several Tamil epics, two of the best known are the Silappadikaram and Manimekalai. The
former is a little earlier than the latter, but both were composed in about the 5th-6th centuries
CE.