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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Evaluate Rajtarangini as a source of history

  • UPSC 2012
  • Cultural Traditions in India, 750-1200

The Rajatarangini ("River of Kings"), composed by Kalhana around 1148–50 CE in 7,826 Sanskrit verses spread across eight tarangas (books), is the single most sustained dynastic chronicle to survive from early India, covering Kashmir from its legendary first king Gonanda down to Kalhana's own contemporary, Jayasimha (r. 1127–59). Its value as a historical source is…

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  • The Range of Historical Information It Yields
  • Where Reliability Breaks Down
  • Corroboration Against Independent Evidence

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