Answer the following question in 300 words (any one)
a) Give a review of unwritten sources for the study of Early India.
Answers
Answer:
Literary and Archaeological records are the two main categories that give evidences of Ancient Indian History.
The literary source includes literature of Vedic, Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, and other literature along with other foreign accounts.
The archaeological source includes epigraphic, numismatic, and other architectural remains.
The archaeological explorations and excavations have opened the great landscapes of new information.
Indian Literary Sources
The ancient Indian literature is mostly religious in nature.
The Puranic and Epic literature are considered as history by Indians, but it contains no definite dates for events and kingdoms.
The effort of history writing was shown by a large number of inscriptions, coins, and local chronicles. The principles of history are preserved in the Puranas and Epics.
The Puranas and epics narrate the genealogies of kings and their achievements. But they are not arranged in a chronological order.
The Vedic literature contains mainly the four Vedas i.e. Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvanaveda.
The Vedic literature is in a different language called as the Vedic language. Its vocabulary contains a wide range of meaning and is different in grammatical usages. It has a definite mode of pronunciation in which emphasis changes the meaning entirely.
The Vedas give reliable information about the culture and civilization of the Vedic period, but do not reveal the political history.
Six Vedangas are the important limbs of Vedas. They were evolved for the proper understanding of the Vedas. The Vedangas are −
Siksha (Phonetics)
Kalpa (Rituals)
Vyakarna (Grammar)
Nirukta (Etymology)
Chhanda (Metrics) and
Jyotisha (Astronomy).
Vedanga has been written in the precepts (sutra) form. This is a very precise and exact form of expression in prose, which was developed by the scholars of ancient India.
Ashtadhyayi (eight chapters), written by Panini, is a book on grammar that gives excellent information on the art of writing in sutra (precepts).
The later Vedic literature includes the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads.
Brahmanas gives a description of Vedic rituals.
Aranyakas and Upanishads give speeches on different spiritual and philosophical problems.
Puranas, which are 18 in numbers give mainly historical accounts.
The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are epics of great historical importance.
The Jain and the Buddhist literature had been written in Prakrit and Pali languages.
Early Jain literature is mostly written in Prakrit language.
Prakrit language was a form of Sanskrit language.
Pali language was a form of Prakrit language which was used in Magadha.
Most of the early Buddhist literature is written in Pali language.
Pali language reached to Sri Lanka through some of the Buddhist monks where it is a living language.
Ashokan edicts had been written in Pali language.
Mahavira and Buddha are considered as the historical personalities (equivalent to the God). They have created Jain and Buddhist religious ideology respectively.
Ancient Books
The Buddhist books are called as Jataka stories. They have been given some historical importance because they are related with the previous births of the Buddha. There are more than 550 such stories.
Answer:
1. Archaeological remains and Monuments:
Ancient ruins, remains and monuments recovered as a result of excavation and exploration are archaeological sources of history. The archaeological remains are subjected to scientific examination of radio-carbon method for its dates. Archaeological sources give us some knowledge of the life of the ancient people. India is rich with ancient ruins, remains, and monument.
2. Inscriptions:
Inscriptions supply valuable historical facts. The study of inscriptions is called epigraphy. The study of the writings on ancient inscriptions and records is called palaeography. Inscriptions are seen on rocks, pillars, stones, slabs, walls of buildings, and body of temples. They are also found on seals and copper plates. We have various types of inscriptions. Some convey monarchical orders regarding administrative, religious and major decisions to the public in general.
Earliest inscriptions, namely, the seals of Harappa, dated about 2500 BC, have not been deciphered so far by any epigraphist. The later inscriptions were engraved in the Prakrit Language in the third century B.C. Ashokan inscriptions were written in the Brahmi script from left to right. Some were also engraved in the Kharosthi script from right to left. Sanskrit was used as an epigraphic medium in the second century A.D. Inscriptions were also engraved in regional languages in the ninth and tenth centuries.
For a study of Indus valley civilisation or the Harappan culture, archaeology is regarded as the chief source of information. The same archaeological evidences, collected from other parts of India, give a picture of the most ancient civilisation of India. To understand the pre-historic India, the historians must have to depend primarily on archaeology. The archaeological evidences also provide the most authentic information for writing the history of other subsequent periods.