Themes in Early Indian Cultural History: Languages and Texts 

Themes in Early Indian Cultural History: Languages and Texts

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The languages and texts of ancient India form one of the richest and most layered sources for reconstructing its cultural, religious, political, and social history. From the sacred hymns of the Vedas to the courtly dramas of Kalidasa, from the canonical scriptures of Buddhism and Jainism to the secular grammar and literature of Prakrit, Pali, and the Dravidian languages, this vast textual tradition reflects both the evolution of language itself and the many streams of thought that shaped early Indian civilisation. For a UPSC History Optional aspirant, understanding the development of these languages and the classification of ancient Indian texts — along with their value and limitations as historical sources — is fundamental to answering questions on sources of ancient Indian history. This article examines the evolution of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, and the Dravidian languages, before surveying the major categories of Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Jaina texts, and concluding with a discussion of ancient India’s own historical traditions.

Languages

Development of the Sanskrit Language

• Sanskrit is the most ancient language of India. It is universally accepted to be a remote cousin of most European languages, a relationship indicated by resemblances such as pitr (“father”) and matr (“mother”).
• Vedic Sanskrit was the ancient form of the language. The earliest surviving form of Sanskrit is that of the Rig Veda, which shows many similarities with other Indo-European languages.
  • After the composition of the Rig Veda, Sanskrit developed considerably: old words were gradually forgotten or lost their original meaning, while new words — mostly borrowed from non-Aryan sources — were introduced.
  • Out of the need to preserve the purity of the Vedas, India developed the sciences of phonetics and grammar.
    • The oldest Indian linguistic text, Yaska’s Nirukta, which explains obsolete Vedic words, dates from the 5th century BC.
    • The development of Sanskrit grammar began with Panini around 400 BC. His work, the Ashtadhyayi, is the oldest book on Sanskrit grammar and gave a new direction to the language.
• Panini’s grammar and its significance:
  • With Panini, the language virtually reached its classical form and developed little thereafter, except in vocabulary. His grammar effectively stabilised Sanskrit, and it presupposes the work of many earlier grammarians.
  • One of ancient India’s greatest achievements is its remarkable alphabet — commencing with vowels and followed by consonants, all classified scientifically according to their mode of production, in sharp contrast to the haphazard and inadequate Roman alphabet. It was only with the Western discovery of Sanskrit that a science of phonetics arose in Europe.
  • Though its fame remains restricted by its specialised nature, Panini’s grammar is one of the greatest intellectual achievements of any ancient civilisation, and the most detailed and scientific grammar composed anywhere in the world before the 19th century.
  • The great terseness of Panini’s system makes it very difficult to follow without preliminary study and a suitable commentary. Later Indian grammars are mostly commentaries on Panini — for example, the Mahabhasya (“Great Commentary”) of Patanjali (2nd century BC), and the Kasika Vrtti (“Banaras Commentary”) of Jayaditya.
  • All grammarians widely accepted Panini’s grammar, and no one seriously dared to infringe it; the language was fixed and could only develop within the framework of his rules. It was from Panini’s time onwards that the language began to be called “perfected,” “refined,” or “chaste.”
• Sanskrit’s spread through political and literary patronage:
  • The first important dynasty to use Sanskrit was that of the Sakas of Ujjain. In inscriptions, its first expression is found in the Junagarh Rock inscription of Rudradamana at Girnar.
  • In literature, Ashvaghosha (1st century AD) is believed to have been the first Sanskrit dramatist.
  • In the Gupta period, Sanskrit developed a more refined form, and this is the period when chaste Sanskrit and its poetic style reached their culmination. The evolution of an ornate style is an important aspect of this development, clearly expressed in the literary works of Kalidasa. This refined form of Sanskrit was used not only in literature but also on coins and in inscriptions.
• Religious and Buddhist Sanskrit literature: The Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and Dharmasutras are all written in Sanskrit. Buddhist Sanskrit literature includes the rich literature of both the Mahayana and Hinayana schools.
  • The most important work of the Hinayana school is the Mahavastu (written in mixed Sanskrit, Pali, and Prakrit), a storehouse of stories.
  • The Lalitavistara is the most sacred Mahayana text, and it supplied literary material for the Buddhacarita of Ashvaghosha.
• Phases in the development of Sanskrit literature:
  1. It begins with Vedic literature — the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Brahmanas, and the Aranyakas.
  2. The second phase, ranging from 600 BC to 200 BC, is regarded as the Sutra period, based on the nature of literary development.
  3. The third phase, from 200 BC to 300 AD, is related to the literary works of chaste Sanskrit, the earliest example of which is the work of Ashvaghosha.
  4. Development of Sanskrit literature reached its zenith during the Gupta period — a period devoted entirely to the creation of pure literature, evident in works such as epics (Mahakavya) and semi-epics (Khandakavyas).
     • An important aspect of this period is the variation seen across literary works, along with the ornate style adopted in them.
     • The development of dramas/plays was a significant feature of Gupta literature — mostly comedies, written in verse, with the stirring of emotions considered the standard of ideal literature. A distinctive convention of these plays was that characters of high varna spoke Sanskrit, while women and Shudras spoke Prakrit.
     • This period’s literary development can be seen in the works of Kalidasa, Shudraka, and Vishakhadatta, among others.
• Sanskrit is perhaps the only language that transcended the barriers of region and boundary — from north to south and east to west, there is no part of India that has not contributed to, or been affected by, this language.

Development of the Prakrit Language

• During the Vedic period, the ordinary Aryan tribesman spoke a simpler tongue, closely akin to classical Sanskrit. By the time of the Buddha, the masses were speaking languages much simpler than Sanskrit — these were the Prakrits, of which several dialects have been attested. Prakrit was thus associated with common people and was simpler than Sanskrit in both sound and grammar.
• There is no single entity called “the Prakrit language”; the word refers to various languages of India with a complicated relationship to Sanskrit. The everyday speech of ancient India has been preserved for us largely through the unorthodox religions, whose earliest scriptures were composed in languages approximating those spoken by the people.
• The period of development of Prakrit literature runs from 500 BC to 800 AD.
  • Most inscriptions of the pre-Gupta period, notably the great series of Ashokan edicts, are in Prakrit. The women and humbler characters of Sanskrit drama are also made to speak in Prakrit.
• Development by the Jainas: The literature of Prakrit was developed mainly by the Jainas.
  • Its Maharashtrian branch (spoken in the north-western Deccan) was used and developed by the Svetambaras, while the Digambaras developed the Shourseni branch (Mathura region).
  • An important stage in the development of Prakrit was the emergence of Paishachi; the last stage was the development of Apabhramsha.
• Literary and grammatical works:
  • Some important literary works in Prakrit are the Gathasaptasati by Hala and the Parishishtaparvan by Hemachandra.
  • The grammar of Prakrit was also developed; two important works are the Prakrit Prakasha by Vararuchi and the Prakrit Lakshana by Chandra.
  • Secular, ethical texts were also written in Prakrit, reflecting moralistic idealism — for example, the Setubandha of Pravarasena and the Gaudavaho of Vakpati.

Development of the Pali Language

• One very important early Prakrit was Pali, which became the language of the Theravadin Buddhists. It was accepted as the formal language of the Theravadin sect and given literary expression, developing as the language of Buddhist religious texts, of which the Tripitakas are the most important.
• The Buddha thought in Magadhi, which was also the official language of the Mauryan court. Some scholars believe Magadhi Prakrit to be the early form of Pali, since the Theravada commentaries refer to Pali as “Magadhan” or the “language of Magadha.”
• Pali was associated with common people. Its literary development began in 500 BC and continued until 700–800 AD.
  • An important work of Pali literature is the Milindapanho, from the period 200 BC to 300 AD, whose content — in the form of a conversation — shows a high quality of literature.
  • The poetic form of Pali is more important than its prose version, and in the later period, the grammar of the Pali language also developed to some extent.

Related Prakrit Developments

• Ardha-Magadhi: A later, hybrid form of Magadhi, somewhat influenced by the Western Prakrits, usually known as Ardha-magadhi (“Half-Magadhi”), became the sacred language of the Jainas, in which a large literature was composed.
• Apabhramsa: Another stage in the development of the Indo-Aryan languages, meaning “falling away,” it was a vernacular of Western India that achieved literary form in the middle ages and was used by Jaina writers in Gujarat and Rajasthan for composing poetry.
• A similar degenerate Prakrit was used in Bengal by a few late Buddhist poets and is the ancestor of modern Bengali.

Development of the Dravidian Languages

• The Dravidian languages had been flourishing for centuries. Four of them — Tamil, Canarese (Kannada), Telugu, and Malayalam — have distinctive scripts and written literatures.
  • Tamil is spoken in the south, from Cape Comorin to Madras.
  • Canarese is spoken in Mysore and parts of Andhra Pradesh.
  • Telugu is spoken from Madras northwards to the borders of Orissa.
  • Malayalam is spoken in Kerala.
• Tamil is certainly the oldest of these languages, with a literature going back to the early centuries AD.
• Some authorities believe the Dravidian languages are remotely affiliated with the Finno-Ugrian group (which includes Finnish and Hungarian) — a hypothesis with interesting implications for prehistoric race movements, though it remains uncertain.
• Dravidian is virtually an independent group of languages with a distinctive character; its varied vowels distinguish it from the northern languages.
• Sanskrit influence on Dravidian languages:
  • Sanskrit began to affect these languages very early, and by the Middle Ages, the learned looked upon their suffixes as nominal and verbal endings on the analogy of Sanskrit — though in the oldest texts, such suffixes are used only sparingly.
  • The earliest Tamil literature contains comparatively few Sanskrit loan-words, and those it does contain are generally adapted to the Tamil phonetic system. The gradual growth of Aryan influence resulted in the borrowing of many more words in the Middle Ages, often in their correct Sanskrit form.
  • Telugu and Canarese, spoken further north, were naturally even more strongly influenced by Sanskrit.
• Chronology of literary development:
  • Canarese first appears in inscriptions at the end of the 6th century, and its earliest surviving literature goes back to the 9th century.
  • Telugu did not become a literary language until the 12th century, and only became truly important as the court language of the Vijayanagara Empire.
  • Malayalam, very closely akin to Tamil, was established as a separate language by the 11th century.

Texts

Brahmanical Texts: Shruti and Smriti

Brahmanical texts are classified into two broad categories: Shruti and Smriti.

Shruti

• Shruti literally means “that which is heard,” and refers to the body of the most authoritative, ancient religious texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism.
• It was believed to have been revealed to sages by God — heard by the sage, hence the name Shruti.
• It includes the four Vedas, along with their four types of embedded texts — the Samhitas, the early Upanishads, the Brahmanas, and the Aranyakas.
• Shruti texts have been referred to as apaurusheya (not created by humans).

Smriti

• Smriti literally means “that which is remembered.” These are a body of Hindu texts usually attributed to a specific author, traditionally written down, in contrast to the Shrutis (considered authorless), which were transmitted verbally across generations and eventually fixed.
• Smritis represent the remembered, written tradition in Hinduism. The Smriti literature is a vast corpus of derivative work, and all Smriti texts are regarded as ultimately rooted in, or inspired by, Shruti.
• The Smriti corpus includes, but is not limited to:
  • The six Vedangas (grammar, meter, phonetics, etymology, astronomy, and rituals).
  • The Upavedas (meaning “applied knowledge”) — traditional literatures containing certain technical subjects, such as Ayurveda and Dhanurveda.
  • The Itihasa (literally, “so indeed it was”) — the epics, namely the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
  • Texts on the four proper goals of human life (purusharthas):
    • Dharma: Texts discussing dharma from religious, social, moral, and personal-ethics perspectives. Each of the six major schools of Hinduism has its own literature on dharma. Examples include the Dharma-sutras (particularly of Gautama, Apastamba, Baudhayana, and Vasishtha) and the Dharma-shastras (particularly the Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti, Naradasmriti, and Vishnusmriti). At the level of personal dharma, this also includes many chapters of the Yogasutras.
    • Artha: Texts discussing artha from individual, social, and policy perspectives, encompassing economic policy, politics, and law — for example, the Arthashastra of Chanakya, the Kamandakiya Nitisara, the Brihaspati Sutra, and the Sukra Niti.
    • Kama: Texts discussing arts, emotions, love, erotics, relationships, and the pursuit of pleasure. The Kamasutra of Vatsyayana is the most well known; others include the Ratirahasya, Jayamangala, Smaradipika, Ratimanjari, Ratiratnapradipika, and Ananga Ranga.
    • Moksha: Texts that develop and debate the nature and process of liberation, freedom, and spiritual release. Major treatises include the later Upanishads (the early Upanishads are considered Shruti literature), the Vivekachudamani, and the shastras on Yoga.
  • The Puranas (literally, “of old”).
  • The Kavya, or poetical literature.
  • The extensive Bhasyas (reviews and commentaries on Shrutis and non-Shruti texts).
  • The sutras and shastras of the various schools of Hindu philosophy.
  • The numerous Nibandhas (digests) covering politics, medicine (Charaka Samhita), ethics (Nitishastras), culture, arts, and society.

The Shruti Literature (Vedic Texts)

• The word Veda is derived from the root vid, meaning “to know,” and refers to the sacred knowledge contained in the Vedic texts.
• The Vedas constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.
  • They are also called Shruti (“what is heard”) literature, distinguishing them from other religious texts, called Smriti (“what is remembered”).
  • Hindus consider the Vedas to be apaurusheya — impersonal and authorless — and as revelations seen by ancient sages after intense meditation.
  • In the Mahabharata, the creation of the Vedas is credited to Brahma. The Vedic hymns themselves assert that they were skilfully created by Rishis (sages) after inspired creativity, just as a carpenter builds a chariot.
• There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda. Each Veda is sub-classified into four major text types:

The Samhitas

• The Samhitas are the collections of hymns or mantras; the nature of the hymns varies from one Veda Samhita to another.
• The Rigveda Samhita is a collection of 1,028 hymns divided into 10 mandalas. As the earliest compositions, they depict the life of the early Vedic people in India.
• The Samaveda Samhita is a collection of verses mostly taken from the Rigveda but arranged in a poetic form to facilitate singing — that is, the prayers of the Rig Veda were set to tune, and this modified collection became known as the Sama Veda Samhita.
• The Yajurveda Samhita contains not only hymns but also the rituals that accompany their recitation, since the hymns represent mantras in the performance of sacrifices. The rituals reflect the social and political milieu in which they arose, and were performed either publicly or individually.
• The Atharvaveda Samhita is a collection of hymns related to worldly affairs, containing magical spells and charms to ward off evil spirits and diseases; its contents throw light on the beliefs and practices of the non-Aryans.

The Brahmanas

• The Brahmanas are prose commentaries on the Samhitas, full of ritualistic formulae, that explain the social and religious meaning of rituals, giving details and explanations of sacrificial rituals and their outcomes.

The Aranyakas

• The Aranyakas are texts on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, and symbolic sacrifices, composed in the Aranyas (forests/jungles).
• They interpret sacrificial rituals in a philosophical way and represent a spiritual explanation of sacrifice.

The Upanishads

• The Upanishads are texts discussing meditation, philosophy, and spiritual knowledge.
• The word “Upanishad” is derived from upa (nearby) and nishad (to sit down) — that is, “sitting down near,” referring to groups of pupils sitting near the Guru to learn from him in the Guru-shishya parampara (tradition).
• The Upanishads mark the culmination of Indian thought and are the final parts of the Vedas. Because they contain abstract and difficult discussions of ultimate philosophical problems, they were taught to pupils at the end of their studies — hence they are called the “end of the Vedas.” The Vedas start with the worship of the manifest, as that is obvious, and then slowly transform into the knowledge of the unmanifest.
• The Upanishads reflect the last composed layer of texts within the Vedas and are commonly referred to as Vedanta, variously interpreted to mean the “last chapters” or “parts” of the Vedas.
• They form an important part of India’s literary legacy, dealing with questions such as the origin of the universe, life and death, the material and spiritual world, and the nature of knowledge. While they present philosophical ideas about sacrifices, the universe, and the human body, the concepts of Brahman (Ultimate Reality) and Atman (Soul, Self) remain central to all the Upanishads.
• The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions.
  • The earliest Upanishads are the Brihadaranyaka (belonging to the Sukla Yajur Veda) and the Chandogya (belonging to the Sama Veda). Other important Upanishads include the Aitareya, Kena, and Katha Upanishads.
• Notes:
  • There are more than 200 known Upanishads, one of which, the Muktika, gives a list of 108 Upanishads.
  • Only the early Upanishads are considered Shruti literature; the rest are included in Smriti literature.
  • The Aranyakas are sometimes identified as the karma-kanda (ritualistic section), while the Upanishads are identified as the jnana-kanda (spirituality section).

Shruti Literature as a Source of History

Positive aspects:

• It is the main source for knowing Vedic life and culture from 1500 BC to 600 BC, throwing light on the social, economic, political, and religious life of the Vedic period.
• It is an important source for the Brahmanical tradition, reflecting its religious beliefs, practices, and point of view.
• It provides geographical information about north and north-western India — for example, the names of rivers and mountains.

Limitations:

• Being religious literature, religious ideas overshadow the historical facts, and references to possible historical events are few — for instance, the Battle of the Ten Kings.
• Many extra-worldly elements are mentioned within these religious texts.
• There is a problem in correlating the evidence with archaeology, since adequate archaeological evidence to substantiate the literary sources is often lacking.
• There is considerable vagueness and ambiguity, and the exact meaning of many words is not easy to determine.
• There are problems with dating, chronology, and authorship — the dates suggested for these texts vary from 6000 BC to 1000 BC.
• Their historical usefulness is largely limited to a particular region — the north-western part of India.

Various Smriti Literatures

Vedangas

• Six classes of sutras are recognised as Vedangas — the “limbs” of the Vedas, also known as an extension of the Vedas.
• These are not books but subjects, and they are essential for reading, understanding, and applying the Vedas. They can be tabulated as follows:
  • Shiksha: Deals with the pronunciation of Vedic mantras (phonetics).
  • Nirukta: Concerned with etymology — the origin of words and the formation of Vedic words.
  • Chhanda: Deals with the metrical formation of Vedic mantras — the arrangement of words in verse.
  • Vyakarana: Concerned with grammar.
  • Jyotisha: Deals with astrology.
  • Kalpasutras: Ceremonial guides or didactic manuals on ritual practice, broadly divided into four sub-divisions:
    • Shrautasutras: Incorporate rituals derived from the Shrutis (the Vedas, Brahmanas, etc.), often public ceremonies such as the Rajasuya and Ashvamedha.
    • Grihyasutras: Contain detailed prescriptions about domestic rituals, especially Samskaras (sacraments) connected with birth, marriage, and death.
    • Shulbasutras: Directly attached to the Shrautasutras, laying down norms, methods, and minute rules regarding the measurement and construction of sacrificial altars.
    • Dharmasutras: Prescribe norms of daily conduct for individuals and the consequences of their violation. The Dharmasutras represent the earliest law books in ancient times, written between 600–300 BC.

Various Dharmasutras:

• Gautama Dharmasutra: The oldest, comprising about one-fourth of the total sutras on Rajdharma.
• Apastamba Dharmasutra: The second oldest, comprising about one-tenth of the total sutras on Rajdharma; its commentary by Haradatta is known as the Vijjvalavritti.
• Baudhayana Dharmasutra: Chronologically later than Apastamba, comprising about one-eighth of the total sutras on Rajdharma.
• Vasishtha Dharmasutra: About one-sixth of the total is devoted to Rajdharma.
• Vishnu Dharmasutra: Professes to be a revelation by the Supreme Being — though such Dharmasutras are avowedly the works of sages; its commentary is by Bharuchi.
• Note: The sutra style of writing expresses ideas in very short and condensed statements.

Upaveda

• Upaveda means “applied knowledge,” and refers to traditional literatures containing the subjects of certain technical works:
  • Ayurveda: Deals with medicine, associated with the Rigveda.
  • Dhanurveda: Deals with archery, associated with the Yajurveda.
  • Gandharvaveda: Deals with music and dance, associated with the Samaveda.
  • Shastrashastra: Deals with military technology, associated with the Atharvaveda.

Dharmashastras

• Dharmashastras are a genre of Sanskrit theological texts, referring to the treatises (shastras) of Hinduism on dharma. There are many Dharmashastras, variously estimated at 18 to about 100, with differing and sometimes conflicting points of view.
• Each of these texts exists in many different versions, and each is rooted in Dharmasutra texts dated to the first millennium BCE, which emerged from Kalpa (Vedanga) studies in the Vedic era.
• The texts discuss:
  • Ashrama (stages of life)
  • Varna (social classes)
  • Purushartha (proper goals of life)
  • Personal virtues and duties such as ahimsa (non-violence) toward all living beings, and rules of just war
  • Duties and rites of kings
  • Slaves and their rights
  • Rights to property
  • Laws related to marriage and inheritance
  • Jatis and their duties, among other topics

Some important Dharmashastras:

• Manusmriti:
  • Belongs to the post-Mauryan period.
  • Mentions seven kinds of slaves; states that women could utter mantras only at the time of marriage.
  • Holds that women have no right to property except stridhana, and remain under the guardianship of father, husband, and son.
  • Recognises four ashramas; condemns niyoga and gambling.
  • States that gods are pleased in homes where women are honoured.
  • Contains references to varnashankara and to vratya-kshatriya (fallen kshatriya), a term used for a foreign ruling group.
• Yajnavalkya Smriti:
  • More systematic, precise, and concise than the Manusmriti.
  • Does not condemn niyoga; prescribes methods for bringing gambling under state control to add to state revenue, without condemning it outright.
  • Defines the rights of widows and accepts the right of women to inherit property.
• Narada Smriti:
  • Shows similarities with the Manusmriti.
  • Is not opposed to niyoga or to the remarriage of women.
  • Refers to 15 kinds of slaves and contains a detailed description of slaves.
• Brihaspati Smriti:
  • The first to make a clear distinction between civil and criminal justice.
  • Focuses primarily on law with little on polity, and follows the Manusmriti very closely.

Philosophical Literature

• Sankhya:
  • Samkhya Sutra by Kapila.
  • Sankhya Karika by Ishvara Krishna (also known as Vindhyavasa), 6th century AD — the most important commentary.
  • Tattva Kaumudi by Vachaspati, 9th century AD.
• Yoga:
  • Yoga Sutra by Patanjali.
  • Yoga Bhasya by Vyasa — the earliest commentary.
  • Rajamartanda by Bhoja, c. 100 AD.
• Nyaya:
  • Nyaya Sutra by Gautama.
  • Nyaya Bhasya, the earliest commentary, by Pakshila Svamin Vatsyayana, 4th century AD.
  • Nyaya Pravesha by Dinnaga (a Buddhist), which criticises Vatsyayana.
  • Nyaya Vartika, one of the world’s greatest treatises on logic, by Uddyotakara (a Pashupata), supporting Vatsyayana against Dinnaga.
  • Nyaya Bindu by Dharmakirti (a Buddhist), supporting Dinnaga against Uddyotakara.
  • Tattva Chintamani, the first work on Modern Nyaya, by Gangesha, 12th century AD.
  • Nyayavatara by Divakara (a Jaina), the first systematic writing on Jaina logic.
• Vaisheshika:
  • Vaisheshika Sutra by Kanada (also known as Kanabhuk, Uluka, or Kashyapa).
  • Padartha Dharma Sangraha by Prashastapada, 5th century AD.
• Purva Mimamsa:
  • Mimamsa Sutra by Jaimini, 4th century BC.
  • Sabara Bhasya by Sabara Svamin, 1st century AD.
  • Slokavartika, Tantravartika, Tuptika, Brihattika, and Madhyama Tika, by Kumarila Bhatta, 6th–7th century AD.
  • Vidhi Viveka and Bhavana Viveka by Mandana Mishra.
  • Sarvadarshanasamgraha and Jaiminiya-Nyaya-Mala-Vistara by Madhava, brother of Sayana.
  • Tattva Bindu by Vachaspati Mishra.
• Vedanta:
  • Badarayana wrote the Brahmasutra (or Vedanta Sutra).
  • Gaudapada, mentor of Shankara, wrote the first systematic commentary — the Agama Shastra and Gaudapada Karika.
  • Shankara wrote the Brahmasutra Bhashya.
  • Sri Harsha wrote the Khandana Khanda Khadya on Advaita.
  • Ramanuja (lived in the 11th century) wrote the Vedanta Sara (or Vedanta Samgraha, or Vedanta Dipa).
  • Nimbarka wrote the Parijata Saurabha, a commentary on the Brahmasutra, expounding Dvaitadvaita.
  • Madhva (also known as Anandatirtha or Purnaprajna) wrote a commentary on the Brahmasutra called Anuvyakhyana, expounding Dvaita.
  • Mandana Mishra wrote the Brahma Siddhi.
  • Vallabha wrote the Anubhashya on the Brahmasutra, expounding Suddhadvaita.

The Puranas

• The word Purana literally means “ancient, old” (or “story of the old days”), and denotes a vast genre of Indian literature covering a wide range of topics, particularly legends and other traditional lore.
• Origins in the bardic tradition: The Puranas emerged out of the bardic tradition — like the epics, their original authors were the Sutas, or bards, a professional class that recited ancient lore. In almost all the Puranas, the Suta Lomaharshana or his son Ugrasrava appears as narrator.
• They are composed primarily in Sanskrit, but also in Tamil and other Indian languages, and several are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, and Shakti.
• Dating: Although the Puranas cannot be precisely dated because of their character of repeating stories of “the old days,” their composition can be traced from 300 CE to 1000 CE, with the earliest Puranas compiled in the Gupta period.
• There are eighteen Puranas and about the same number of Upapuranas. Some well-known Puranas are the Brahma, Bhagavata, Padma, Vishnu, Vayu, Agni, Matsya, and Garuda Puranas.
  • The Vishnu, Narada, Bhagavata, Garuda, Padma, and Varaha Puranas are Vaishnavite.
  • The Matsya, Kurma, Linga, Shiva, Skanda, and Agni Puranas are Shaivite.
  • The Brahma Purana is also known as the Adi Purana, as it is first in chronology.
  • The Bhagavata Purana is the most popular, a work of the 9th century containing 12 books — Book X is devoted to the life of Krishna, and Kapila (of the Sankhya system) and Buddha appear as incarnations of Vishnu. This Purana rejects the superiority of the Brahmana on the basis of birth.
  • The Agni Purana has an encyclopaedic character, dealing with subjects like astronomy, geography, grammar, law, medicine, and politics; it is Shaivite and deals with the cult of Linga, Durga, and Ganesha.
  • The Brahmavaivarta Purana shows Brahma to be the creator of the world.
  • The Garuda Purana lays more emphasis on various forms of Vishnu-worship; like the Agni Purana, it too has an encyclopaedic form. It retells the contents of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Harivamsa, and contains sections on cosmography, astronomy and astrology, omens and portents, chiromancy, medicine, metrics, grammar, knowledge of precious stones (ratnapariksha), and politics (niti).
  • The most important Purana is the Vishnudharmottara Purana, which is encyclopaedic in nature, dealing — alongside its narratives — with cosmology, cosmogony, geography, astronomy, astrology, the division of time, the pacification of unfavourable planets and stars, genealogies (mostly of kings and sages), manners and customs, penances, the duties of Vaishnavas, law and politics, war strategies, treatment of diseases of humans and animals, cuisine, grammar, and metrics.
• Nature and purpose:
  • Puranas are mythological works propagating religious and spiritual messages through parables and fables, and they have had a potent influence on the development of the religious lives of the people. They are meant for the celebration of religion, the glorification of saints and kings, and the edification of readers whose faith is to be strengthened.
  • They are full of myths, stories, legends, and sermons meant for the education of common people, and thus serve as instruments of popular education. Dharma, or social duty, reflects the same Hindu law codes, essentially Brahminical in nature, presented through illustrative stories and in lecture form.
  • The Puranas are devotional material from the bhakti tradition — stories about the gods who are objects of people’s loyalty, along with practices appropriate to their worship.
  • The gods depicted are stratified, with both Vedic and post-Vedic deities appearing together. Of the Vedic gods, Indra, Agni, Soma, Vayu, and Surya reappear in Puranic lore, but are no longer central as they were to Vedic ritual, and some of their functions have changed — they have effectively been demoted in favour of the famous Hindu “triad” of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer, who dominate Puranic literature.
  • Some Puranas have a local character — the Brahma Purana may represent the Orissa version of the original work, just as the Padma may represent the Pushkara version, the Agni the Gaya version, and the Varaha the Mathura version.
  • From a historical point of view, the most important Puranas for ancient royal genealogies are the Vayu, Brahmanda, Matsya, and Vishnu Puranas.
  • Alberuni mentions all 18 Puranas.
• Theme (subject matter) of the Puranas: Traditionally, they have five core subjects (Pancha-lakshana):
  1. Sarga — the original creation of the universe.
  2. Pratisarga — the periodical process of destruction and re-creation.
  3. Manvantara — the different eras or cosmic cycles. Four ages/yugas are mentioned in the Puranas: Krita, Treta, Dwapara, and Kaliyuga, each successive age representing a phase of deterioration and degeneration in every aspect, particularly moral — a cycle connected with the cyclical decline and revival of dharma.
  4. Surya Vamsha and Chandra Vamsha — the histories of the solar and lunar dynasties of gods and sages.
  5. Vamshanucharita — the genealogies of kings. The dynastic histories of the Haryanka, Nanda, Maurya, Shunga, and Satavahana dynasties, among others, are given, with the list ending at the Guptas — indicating that most Puranas were compiled during this period.
  • Around this core skeleton, any given Purana adds diverse material:
    • Social traditions and customs.
    • Social ceremonies, sacrifices, and rituals.
    • Festivals and the duties of various castes.
    • Different types of donations.
    • The emergence of religious cults based on devotion — to Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, and others — reflecting the interaction of Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical cultural traditions and the development of Hindu religious practices.
    • Details of temple and image construction, and descriptions of places of pilgrimage.
    • Descriptions of mantras, of the priestly class, and of many folk traditions, such as tree worship.
    • Details of astronomy, medicine, cosmology, and rules and laws.
    • Interestingly, one Purana — the Vayu Purana — attempts geography and music as well, giving accounts of mountains, rivers, and places.
  • The law books of the Gupta age allowed Shudras and women to study the Puranas, giving them a wider reach and larger spread, and the Puranas played a role in spreading both religious and secular ideas in ancient times.
  • The Puranas are the meeting point of diverse religious and social beliefs, linked with the vital spiritual and social needs of the people, and are a unique outcome of the ever-continuing synthesis between various groups of Vedic Aryans and non-Aryans.

Problems with the Puranas as a source of history:

• There is a vital difference between history and mythology. History follows a certain method and can therefore be disputed, since a historian tries to gather as much evidence (not mere facts) as possible.
• Puranas are altogether different — the relevance of evidence is largely alien to them, making it impossible either to refute or to defend their claims in the historian’s sense.
• Apart from this neglect of evidence, the Puranas combine legends related to gods, demons, and life after death, which disqualifies their mythological content from serious philosophical study.
• In their defence, though the Puranas are mainly concerned with theological issues, they cover almost all aspects of life and thus deserve a place among important sources — but this very all-inclusiveness is itself a serious methodological defect.

The Itihasas (Epics)

• The two well-known and popular epics of the Sanskrit tradition are the Ramayana by Valmiki and the Mahabharata by Vyasa. Both have influenced literature for centuries across all parts of India and have several renderings in different Indian languages.
• The aim of the epics is to bring home the laws of the Smritis and the principles of the Shruti through the exploits of great national heroes — Rama and Krishna.
  • The Ramayana recounts the deeds of a divinely great hero who set an example for the entire human race, dealing with ideal conditions of humanness — a sense of brotherhood, obedience to moral law, firmness of character, honesty, sacrifice, and unbounded goodness. It presents a picture of an ideal society and accepts the principles of Sanatana Dharma and the duties of a ruler in particular.
  • The Mahabharata has a more profound theme, involving history, mythology, ethics, and metaphysics.
    • It was originally written in Sanskrit and contained 8,800 verses, and was called “Jaya,” the collection dealing with victory. These were raised to 24,000 verses and came to be known as the Bharata, named after one of the earliest Vedic tribes. The final compilation brought the verses to 100,000, coming to be known as the Mahabharata or the Satasahasri Samhita. It contains narrative, descriptive, and didactic material relating to the conflict between the Kauravas and the Pandavas.
    • The Mahabharata contains the famous Bhagavad Gita, which holds the essence of divine wisdom and is truly a universal gospel — though a very ancient scripture, its fundamental teachings remain in use even today.
• Nature of epic literature:
  • The epics are essentially different from the early Vedic literature. They arose not among the priestly classes, but among traditional bards called Sutas, who also served as charioteers, witnessed actual battle scenes, and described them first-hand in their ballads.
  • They are martial poetry, concerned not with the praise of deities but of kings and nobles; not connected with the details of sacrifices, but with events such as wars; and imbued not with higher philosophical motives, but with the practical purpose of gaining reward from the audience before whom they were recited.
  • We do not have them in their original, untampered form — they were added to by different hands at different periods. To the original nucleus were added many pieces of ancient bardic poetry containing legends connected or unconnected with the life of the epic heroes, sacred poetry dealing with numerous myths and legends of Brahmanical origin, and large sections devoted to philosophy, ethics, cosmology, and genealogy in the fashion of the Puranas, along with legends, fables, and parables. These additions indicate the great popularity the epics enjoyed at all times, and the zeal of compilers to bring together all that could be collected in them.
  • One distinctive feature of the Itihasa-Purana tradition is that the doctrine of avatara (divine incarnation) is fully developed in the epics and the Puranas. The purpose of an avatara is, first, the protection of the virtuous, and second, the destruction of the wicked and the establishment of dharma (moral order).

Buddhist Literature

• The earliest Buddhist works were written in Pali, which was spoken in Magadha and South Bihar. Buddhist works can be divided into canonical and non-canonical literature.

The Canonical Literature

• The canonical literature is best represented by the Tripitakas — that is, “three baskets”: the Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, and Abhidhamma Pitaka, all composed in Pali.
• The Vinaya Pitaka deals with the rules and regulations of daily life.
• The Sutta Pitaka contains dialogues and discourses on morality, dealing with Dharma. It is the largest and most important of the Tripitakas, containing the teachings of the Buddha, and is divided into five “Groups” (Nikayas):
  • Digha (Long) Nikaya: A collection of long sermons ascribed to the Buddha, with accounts of the circumstances in which he preached them.
  • Majjhima (Medium) Nikaya: Shorter sermons.
  • Samyutta (Connected) Nikaya: Collections of brief pronouncements.
  • Anguttara (Graduated) Nikaya: A collection of over 2,000 brief statements, arranged in eleven sections.
  • Khuddaka (Minor) Nikaya: Contains miscellaneous works in prose and verse. Among its contents are:
    • Dhammapada (verses on virtue), containing a summary of the Buddha’s universal teachings.
    • Theragatha (hymns of the elder monks) and Therigatha (hymns of the elder nuns).
    • Jatakas, a collection of over 500 poems describing the previous births of the Buddha, many in animal form.
• The Abhidhamma Pitaka deals with philosophy and metaphysics, including discourses on ethics, psychology, theories of knowledge, and metaphysical problems.
• The Mahayana sutras are a broad genre of Buddhist scriptures accepted as canonical by various traditions of Mahayana Buddhism, largely preserved in the Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist canons and in extant Sanskrit manuscripts.
  • Around 100 Mahayana sutras survive in Sanskrit, or in Chinese and Tibetan translation. Mahayana Buddhists typically consider these sutras to have been taught by Gautama Buddha, committed to memory, and recited by his disciples.

The Non-Canonical Literature

• The non-canonical literature is best represented by the Jatakas, the most interesting stories of the previous births of the Buddha. It was believed that before he was finally born as Gautama, the Buddha, practising Dharma, passed through more than 550 births, in many cases even in the form of animals — each birth story is called a Jataka.
  • The Jatakas throw invaluable light on social and economic conditions ranging from the 6th century BC to the 2nd century BC, and also make incidental reference to political events in the age of the Buddha.
• Milindapanho: Contains a dialogue between the Indo-Greek king Menander and the Buddhist monk Nagasena on philosophical issues; written in Pali during the post-Mauryan period.
• Niti Gandha (Pali): Gives an account of the teachings of the Buddha.
• Atthakatha (commentary on the Tripitaka): Written in Pali by Buddhaghosha in the 5th century AD.
• Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa: Written in Pali, in Sri Lanka, during the 4th–5th centuries AD. Their subject matter is a historical-cum-mythical account of the Buddha’s life along with a description of the Buddhist councils; they also contain references to Ashoka.
• Mahavastu (a hagiography): A sacred biography of the Buddha, giving details of the rise of the monastic order, or Sangha; written in mixed Sanskrit and Prakrit.
• Lalitavistara: A hagiography of the Buddha, also written in mixed Sanskrit and Prakrit.
• Buddhacharita: Written by Ashvaghosha, in Sanskrit, mainly dealing with the Buddha’s life.
• Avadana literature (avadana meaning “legends”): A type of Buddhist literature correlating the virtuous deeds of past lives to the events of subsequent lives, illustrating the workings of karma.
  • This literature includes around 600 stories in Pali. There are also a large number of Sanskrit collections, the chief being the Mahasamghika’s Mahavastu (“Great Book”) and the Sarvastivada’s Avadanashataka (Century of Legends) and Divyavadana (The Heavenly Legend), which include accounts relating to Gautama Buddha and Ashoka.
  • Mahayana Buddhism, which emerged at the fourth Buddhist council, adopted Sanskrit as a language of Buddhist literature.

Jaina Literature

• The Jain texts were written in Prakrit and were finally compiled in the 6th century AD at Valabhi in Gujarat.
• In ancient times, only canonical literature existed; the development of non-canonical literature took place later, in the medieval period.
• Agamas: A term used for Jaina canonical literature (also used for Shaivite canonical literature). It includes:
  • 14 Purvas: The textbooks of the old Jain scriptures — a large body of Jain scripture preached by all Tirthankaras (omniscient teachers) of Jainism, encompassing the entire gamut of knowledge available in the universe. Persons possessing knowledge of the Purvas were given the exalted status of Shrutakevali (“scripturally omniscient persons”). Both the Svetambara and Digambara traditions hold that all fourteen Purvas have been lost.
  • 12 Angas: Jaina doctrine and rules of conduct, along with the history of Mahavira — the most important texts, dealing with doctrine, rules, and the life and work of Mahavira.
  • 12 Upangas: Associated with each of the Angas; their subject matter concerns creation, the universe, and periodisation.
  • 10 Prakirnas: Doctrinal matters, in verse form, supplementing the Angas and Upangas.
  • 6 Chedasutras: Rules for monks and nuns, holding the same importance in Jainism as the Vinaya Pitaka does in Buddhism.
  • 4 Mulasutras: Concerning sermons, life in the Sangha, and the duties of monks.
  • Niryuktis: Commentaries on the Angas, prepared around 100 AD.
  • Kalpasutra: A history of Jainism from its origin, written by Bhadrabahu.
  • Acharanga Sutra: The oldest Jaina text, containing monastic rules.
• Among the important Jain scholars are Haribhadra Suri (8th century AD) and Hemachandra Suri (12th century AD).
• Jainism helped in the growth of a rich literature comprising poetry, philosophy, and grammar. These works contain many passages that help reconstruct the political history of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and the Jain texts refer repeatedly to trade and traders.

Sangam Literature

• Sangam literature represents a vast collection of rich Tamil literature produced during the Sangam Age (roughly 400–300 BC to 300–400 AD) in South India.
• It is essentially secular literature, though it depicts various aspects of religious life. In the early period it was written in Brahmi, and later the Grantha script was used.
• It is the product of three Sangams (assemblies of litterateurs and poets) held under the auspices of the Pandyan kings.
  • The works of the First Sangam do not survive.
  • The Second Sangam produced the great work on grammar, the Tolkappiyam, written by Tolkappiyar.
  • The Third Sangam produced:
    • The Patthu Patu (Ten Idylls).
    • The Ettuthokai (Eight Collections).
    • 19 minor didactic poems, the most popular being the Kural or Tirukkural, written by Tiruvalluvar.
    • 10 epics, the most important being the Silappadikaram and the Manimekalai.
• Sangam literature consists essentially of poems representing two broad categories:
  • Agam (Love), and
  • Puram (War and the praise of kings).
  • Agam literature is further divided on the basis of region:
    • Kurinchi — hills.
    • Palai — dry land.
    • Mullai — forest land.
    • Marutham — cultivated land.
    • Neithal — coastal region.
• The Sangam literature throws light on the social, economic, religious, and political life of the Sangam Age. It depicts the life of both the ruling classes and common people, providing information on dynastic history, the exploits of kings, and wars, as well as social classes, economic pursuits, and religious practices and beliefs.

Other Kinds of Literature

Sanskrit Drama and Plays

• Origins: The dialogue hymns of the Rig Veda represent the earliest elements of drama, while Bharata’s Natyashastra is the earliest extant work on Sanskrit dramaturgy.
• Ashvaghosha:
  • Credited with the authorship of three Buddhist dramas in Sanskrit; the authorship of one, the Sariputra Prakarana, is established, while the other two remain doubtful.
• Bhasa:
  • Belongs to the 2nd or 3rd century AD, before Kalidasa; Kalidasa makes a reverential reference to him.
  • Wrote the largest number of plays — at least 13 plays in Sanskrit, also using Prakrit.
  • Among his significant plays are the Madhyama Vyayoga, Pratima Nataka, and Abhishheka Nataka (based on themes from the Ramayana), and the Charudatta (whose theme, the love affair between Vasantasena and Charudatta, is also the theme of Mrichchhakatika by Shudraka).
• Shudraka:
  • Predates Kalidasa; wrote the play Mrichchhakatika in Sanskrit.
  • Based on the plot of Bhasa’s Charudatta, but in Shudraka’s version the theme is combined with a political event, and Vasantasena eventually becomes the lawful wife of Charudatta. The character Vidushaka also appears in this play.
• Kalidasa:
  • A Brahmin of Ujjain and a Shaivite, belonging to the 4th century AD, recognised as a gem of Sanskrit literature.
  • His first play, Malavikagnimitram, is a comedy in which Agnimitra falls in love with a maid.
  • His second play, Vikramorvashiyam, is a fairy tale of love between a celestial nymph and a mortal, with elements borrowed from the Rig Veda and the Shatapatha Brahmana.
  • His most important play, Abhijnanashakuntalam, borrows the story of Shakuntala from the Mahabharata, revolving around Dushyanta and Shakuntala.
  • Kalidasa also wrote two Mahakavyas:
    • Raghuvamsha: Based on the Ramayana and some Puranas, describing 30 kings of the solar race, one of whom is Raghu.
    • Kumarasambhava: The story of the birth of Kumara, son of Shiva and Parvati, who vanquished the demon Taraka.
  • He also wrote the lyrical poem Meghaduta and another poem, Ritusamhara.
    • Meghaduta: A Yaksha, separated from his beloved through his master’s curse, requests a cloud to carry his message from Ramagiri to Alaka.
    • Ritusamhara: Describes the six seasons.
• Harsha: Three plays are ascribed to him:
  • Ratnavali: His most perfect play, and his first work — a close imitation of Kalidasa.
  • Priyadarshika: Introduces the new device of the Garbha-nataka (a drama within a drama), used for the first time in Sanskrit drama, and later used by Bhavabhuti in the Uttararamacharita and by Rajashekhara in the Balaramayana.
  • Nagananda: His last work, depicting the story of Jimutavahana, with a Buddhist tinge.
• Bhavabhuti:
  • Belonged to the beginning of the 8th century AD; born in Vidarbha.
  • Served as the court poet of Yashovarman, king of Kannauj, according to the Rajatarangini.
  • Wrote three plays:
    • Mahaviracharita: Describes the early life of Rama, based on the Ramayana.
    • Malatimadhava: Describes the love between Malati and Madhava, with a happy ending.
    • Uttararamacharita: His last of the three plays, dealing with the story of the Uttarakhanda of the Ramayana, and using the Garbha-nataka device.
  • Bhavabhuti is considered to have surpassed Kalidasa in depicting sentiments, particularly karuna (pathos or tenderness). There is no Vidushaka in his plays — a negation of hasya (humour) — and his love theme is more spiritual than sensuous, unlike Kalidasa’s.
• Vishakhadatta:
  • Belonged to the 7th century AD; son of Maharaja Bhaskaradatta or minister Prithu.
  • Wrote the Mudrarakshasa, based on political and historical themes — a drama without a heroine and without shringara (romantic sentiment) — describing the role of Chanakya in winning over Rakshasa, the minister of the Nandas.
  • Also wrote the Devichandraguptam, describing how Dhruvadevi was saved by Chandragupta II from the Shakas.
  • Also wrote the Abhisarikavanchitaka (or Bandhitaka), based on the legend of Udayana and Padmavati.
• Rajashekhara:
  • Son of minister Darduka, belonging to the Yayavara family of Maharashtra, in the 9th century AD; was the Guru of Mahendrapala (Pratihara). His wife, Avantisundari, was an accomplished princess of the Chahamana family.
  • Composed four dramas:
    • Balaramayana: A Rama play, using the Garbha-nataka device.
    • Balabharata: Composed for the king Mahipala (Pratihara).
    • Viddhashalabhanjika.
    • Karpuramanjari: Composed at the instance of Avantisundari.
  • He also wrote the Kavyamimamsa on poetics, and the Harivilasa and Bhuvanakosha on geography.
• Kshemishvara (also known as Kshemendra, though not the same as the Kashmirian writer Kshemendra):
  • Wrote the Chandakaushika for the king Mahipala (Pratihara), in the 11th century AD, and also wrote the Naishadhananda.
• Other notable plays:
  • Prasannaraghava by Jayadeva.
  • Tapatisamvarana by Kulashekhara, king of Kerala.
  • Karnasundari by Bilhana, at the court of Vikramaditya VI.
  • Lalitavigraharajanataka by Somadeva, for the Chahamana king Vishaladeva.

Katha (Story) Literature

• The Panchatantra is the earliest story collection, compiled by Vishnu Sharma, belonging to the Gupta period, and written to educate the foolish sons of King Amarakirti.
• The Hitopadesha by Narayana is the second famous collection of Indian stories.
• Brihatkatha: By Gunadhya, in Paishachi Prakrit, now lost, probably composed in the 1st century AD.
  • The Brihatkathashlokasamgraha, by Buddhaswamin (8th century AD), is a Nepalese version of the Brihatkatha.
  • The Brihatkathamanjari, by Kshemendra (11th century AD), is a Kashmirian version. Kshemendra, court poet of King Ananta of Kashmir, also wrote the Bharata Manjari, Ramayana Manjari, Padya Kadambari, and Dashavatara Charita.
  • The Kathasaritsagara, by Somadeva (11th century AD), is another Kashmirian version of the Brihatkatha, written for Suryamati, wife of King Ananta of Kashmir.
• Other story collections include the Shukasaptati, Vetala Panchavimshatika, and Simhasana Dvatrimshika.

Books on Polity

• The science of polity is known by different names — Arthashastra, Dandaniti, Nitishastra, Rajaniti.
• Arthashastra: By Chanakya (Vishnugupta); its commentary, the Pratipada Panchika, is by Bhattasvamin.
• Nitisara: By Kamandaka, 8th century AD.
• Sukra Niti Sara: By Sukracharya.
• Laghu Arhan Niti Shastra: By Hemachandra.

The Nature of Ancient Indian Historical Traditions

• Is there any evidence of an interest in preserving the memory of the past — of a historical tradition — in ancient texts?
• Romila Thapar has drawn a useful distinction between “embedded” and “externalised” forms of history:
  • Embedded history is where the historical consciousness has to be prised out, as in myth, epic, and genealogy.
  • Externalised history reflects a more evident and self-conscious historical awareness, as seen in chronicles and biographies.
  • Thapar points out that the embedded forms of historical consciousness tended to be connected with lineage-based societies, while the externalised forms were connected with state societies.

Later Vedic Texts and Historical Consciousness

• Later Vedic texts contain certain types of compositions that reflect a historical consciousness — the dana-stutis, gathas, narashamsis, and akhyanas. All these were directly connected with the performance of sacrifices (yajnas).
  • The dana-stutis are hymns praising the generosity and exploits of kings.
  • The gathas are songs in praise of kings, sung on the occasion of certain sacrifices.
  • Narashamsis were used in rituals and are preserved in texts such as the Brahmanas and Grihyasutras.
  • Akhyanas are narrative hymns in dialogue form, referring to mythical and possibly historical events.
• The king-lists in the Puranas and epics represent more substantial evidence of an ancient Indian historical tradition. The epics are themselves known as itihasa, and are supposed to record things that actually happened — whether they happened in the way described being, of course, a separate issue.

Bards and Transmitters of Historical Tradition

• Bards, known as Sutas and Magadhas, played an important role in maintaining these historical traditions.
• The poets and bards of the ancient Tamil land who eulogised their royal patrons can also be seen as creators and transmitters of a historical tradition.

Mythico-Historical Accounts and Sacred Biographies

• The Buddhist Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa, which offer a mythico-historical account of how Buddhism travelled to Sri Lanka, also represent a historical tradition. Mention may also be made of the sacred biographies within the Buddhist, Jaina, and Hindu traditions.

Royal Biographies, Inscriptions, and Archives

• Notwithstanding their eulogistic nature, royal biographies too reflect a historical tradition.
• Mention can also be made of royal inscriptions, many of which contain a prashasti with the king’s genealogy and references to his exploits, usually intended to shower praise on him.
• The Arthashastra and the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang mention royal archives preserving official records in every Indian city, while Al-Biruni’s 11th-century Tahqiq-i-Hind refers to the archives of the Shahi kings of Kabul. Unfortunately, no such ancient archives survive.

A Different Notion of History

• While there is evidence of different kinds of historical traditions in ancient and early medieval India, these traditions were very different from modern notions of history.
• The intellectuals of every age and society select the aspects of the past they consider important, and interpret and present them in their own way. Since ancient and modern societies differ from each other in so many respects, it is not surprising to find major differences in their ways of looking at the past.
• Modern historians distinguish between myth and history; ancient texts do not.
• The historical traditions of ancient India were connected with religious, ritualistic, and court contexts, whereas history in our own times is an academic discipline based on research, linked to modern institutions such as universities and research institutes.
• The ways in which the past was understood and represented in ancient texts are, therefore, very different from the methods, techniques, and goals of historical research today.

Conclusion

The evolution of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, and the Dravidian languages, together with the vast corpus of Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Jaina texts, constitutes one of the most valuable — and most complex — bodies of source material for reconstructing early Indian cultural history. Each stream of literature, whether the Shruti and Smriti traditions, the epics and Puranas, or the canonical works of Buddhism and Jainism, offers its own distinct vantage point on the social, religious, political, and intellectual life of its age, even as each carries the limitations natural to religious, courtly, or bardic composition. As Romila Thapar’s distinction between embedded and externalised history reminds us, ancient India’s own historical consciousness did not mirror the modern academic discipline of history, but was woven instead into myth, genealogy, biography, and ritual. Reading these languages and texts critically — alongside archaeological, epigraphic, and numismatic evidence — remains essential to building a well-rounded understanding of early Indian cultural history for the UPSC History Optional.