Government of Tamil Nadu
Department of Employment and Training
Course : UPSC – Civil Services Examination
Subject : Ancient History
Topic : Sources
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MATERIAL REMAINS
The ancient Indians left innumerable material remains. The stone temples in south
India and the brick monasteries in eastern India still stand to remind us of the great
building activities of the past.
Excavations have brought to light the cities which the people established around
2500 B.C. in north – western India. Similarly they tell us about the material culture
which was developed in the Gangetic plains.
The science which enables us to dig the old mounds in a systematic manner, in
successive layers, and to form an idea of the material life of the people is called
archaeology.
Material remains recovered as a result of excavation and exploration are subjected
to various kinds of scientific examination. Their dates are fixed by following the
method of radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon or Carbon 14 (C14) is a radioactive
isotope of carbon which is present in all living objects. It decays, like all
radioactive substances, at a uniform rate. When an object is living, the process of
the decay of C14 is neutralized by absorption of C14 through air and food.
However, when an object ceases to be alive, its C14 content continues to decay at a
uniform rate but it ceases to absorb C14 form air and food. By measuring the loss
C14 content in an ancient object, its age can be determined. This is because as stated
earlier, the decay of C14 takes place at a uniform rate.
COINS
Although a good number of coins and inscriptions has been found on the surface,
many of them have been unearthed by digging. The study of coins is called
numismatics. Ancient Indian currency was not issued in the form of paper, as is
being used these days, but as metal coins.
Ancient coins were made of metal – copper, silver, gold, or lead. Coin moulds made
of burnt clay have been discovered in large numbers. Most they belong to the
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Kushan period. i.e the first three Christian centuries. The use of such moulds in the
post –Gupta periods almost disappeared.
Many of these hoards, containing not only Indian coins but also those minted abroad
such as in the Roman Empire, have been discovered in different parts of the country.
Our earliest coins contain a few symbols, but the later coins mention the names of
kings, Gods or dates. The areas where they are found indicate the region of their
circulation.
This has enabled us to reconstruct the history of several ruling dynasties, especially
of the indo- Greeks who came to India from north Afghanistan and ruled here in the
second and first centuries B.C.
The Guptas issued the largest number of gold coins. All this indicates that trade and
commerce flourished, especially in Post- Maurya and good part of Gupta times. But
the fact that only a few coins belonging to post Gupta times have been found
indicates the decline of trade and commerce in that period.
INSCRIPTIONS
Their study is called epigraphy, and the study of the old writing used in inscriptions
and other old records is called paleography. In scrimptions were carved on seals,
stone pillars, rocks, copper plates, temple walls and bricks or images.
Like coins, inscriptions are preserved in various museums of the country, but the
largest number may be found in the office of the Chief Epigraphist at Mysore.
The earliest inscriptions are found on the seals of Harappa belonging to about 2500
B.C. They have not been deciphered so far. The oldest inscriptions deciphered so far
were issued by Ashoka in the third century B.C. In the fourteenth century A.D. two
Ashokan pillar inscriptions were found by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, one in Meerut and
another at a place called Topra in Haryana.
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LITERARY SOURCES
Although the ancient Indians knew writing as early as 2500 B.C., our most ancient
manuscripts are not older than the fourth century A.D., and have been found in
Central Asia. In India, they were written on birch bark and palm leaves, but in
Central Asia, where the Prakrit language had spread from India, manuscripts were
also written on sheep leather and wooden tablets. These writings are called
inscriptions.
The religious literature of the Hindus includes the Vedas, the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata the Purina’s, etc. They throw considerable light on the social and
cultural conditions of ancient times.
In post-Vedic times we have a large corpus of ritual literature. Big public sacrifices
meant for princes and men of substance belonging to the three higher varnas are laid
down in the Srautasutras, which provide for several pompous royal coronation
ceremonies. Similarly domestic. rituals connected with birth, naming, sacred thread
investiture, marriage, funerals, etc., are laid down in the Grihyasutras.
Both the Strautasutras and the Grihyasutras belong to circa 600-300 B.C.
The religious books of the Jainas and the Buddhists refer to historical persons and
incidents. The earliest Buddhist texts were written in the Pali language, which was
spoken in Magadha or south Bihar.
They were finally compiled in the second century B.C. in Sri Lanka, but the
canonical portions reflect the state of affairs in the age of the Buddha in India.
The Jaina texts were written in Prakrit and were finally compiled in the sixth century
A.D. in Valabhat in Gujarat. They, however, contain may passages which help us to
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reconstruct the political history of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the age of
mahavira. The Jaina texts refer repeatedly to trade and traders.
We have also a large body of secular literature. To this class belong the law-books
called the Dharmasutras and Smites which, together with their commentaries, are
called Dharmashastras. The Dharmasutras were compile in 500-200 B.C and the
principal Smritis were codified in the first six centuries of the Christian era. They
lay down the duties for different varnas as well as for kings and their officials.
An important law-book is the Arthashastra of Kautilya. The text is divided into
fifteen books, of which Books II and III may be regarded as of an earlier date. They
seem to have been the work of different hands. This text was put in its final form in
the beginning of the Christian era, but its earliest portions reflect the state of society
and economy in the age of the Mauryas. It provides rich material for the study of
ancient Indian Polity and economy.
The Sangam, literature comprised about 30,000 lines of poetry, which are arranged
in eight anthologies called, Ettuttokati. The poems are collected in groups of
hundreds such as Purananuru (The Four Hundred of the Exterior) and others.
There are two main groups Patinenkil Kannakku (The Eighteen Lower Collections)
and Pattuppattu (The Ten Songs). The former is generally assumed to be older than
the latter, and hence considered to be of much historical importance. The Sangam
texts have several layers, but at present they cannot be established on the basis of
style and content. As shown later, these layers can be detected on the basic of stages
in social evolution.
The Sangam texts refer to many settlements including Kaveripattanam whose
flourishing existence is now attested archaeologically. They also speak of the
Yavanas coming in their own vessels purchasing pepper with gold and supplying
wine and women slaves to the natives. This trade is known not only from Latin and
Greek writings but also from the archaeological record.
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FOREIGN ACCOUNTS
Indigenous literature can be supplemented by foreign accounts. To india came the
Greek. Roman and Chinese visitors, either as travelers or religious converts, and
they left behind accounts of the things that they saw, it is remarkable that
Alexander’s invasion finds no mention in Indian sources, and it is entirely on the
basis of the Greek sources that we have to reconstruct the history of his Indian
exploits.
The Greek writers mention Sandrokottas, a contemporary of Alexander the Great
who invaded India in 326 B.C. Prince Sandrokottans is identified with
Chandragupta Maurya, whose date of accession is fixed at 322 B.C.
The Indika of Megasthens, who came to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, has
been preserved only in fragments quoted by subsequent classical writers.
Greek and Roman accounts of the first and second centuries A.D mention many
Indian ports and enumerate items of trade between India and the Roman Empire.
The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea and Ptolemy’s Geography, both written in
Greek, provide valuable data for the study of ancient geography and commerce.
Of the Chinese travellers mention may be made of Fa-hsien and Hsuan Tsang.
Both of them were Buddhists, and came to this country to vist the Buddhist
shrines and to study Buddhism.
CONSTRUCTION HISTORY
Ancient history has been constructed so far mainly on the basis of literary sources,
foreign and indigenous. Coins and inscriptions play some part, but the texts
receive more weight age. Now new methods deserve attention. We have to
establish correlation between the Vedic age on the one hand and the Painted Grey
ware and other types of archaeological finds on the other.
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In sum, careful collection of the material derived from texts, coins, inscriptions,
archaeology, etc., is essential for historical construction. We have seen that this
raises the problem of the relative importance of the sources. Thus, coins,
inscriptions and archaeology are considered more important than mythologies
found in the epics and Puranas.
