Question

explian the importance of official and indigenous literary resources in studying the modern history​

Answer 1

Literary Sources of Ancient Indian History

Literary sources of Ancient Indian History: The ancient literature and the religious books are important sources of information for the reconstruction of ancient Indian history. Their classification is simple – religious and secular literature, historical literature and foreign accounts.

1. Religious Literary Sources of Ancient Indian History

Religious literature provides information for the period between the beginning of the Aryans into India and Alexander’s invasion into India.

The Vedic, Buddhist, Jain and other contemporary literature are the religious literary sources of Ancient Indian History.

The Vedic Literature

The Vedic literature – such as Chaturvedas, Vedanga, the Sutrasahitya, etc. gives us a clear picture of the political, social and economic life of the Aryans, and of the nonstop conflicts between the Aryans and the non-Aryans.

The four Vedas are Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva. The Historic Facts about religious ceremonies and rituals of the Aryans can be traced from Vedic literature.

The Buddhist Literature

The principal Buddhist literature such as – Tripitaka, Nikaya, Jataka, Dvipavamsa or Dipavamsha etc. gives us an impression of the socio-economic-religious condition of existing Indian society.

Dvipavamsa (or Dipavamsa) together with Mahavamsa narrates the history of Ceylon. The life of the Buddha and the principles of Buddhism can be understood from the ‘Lalitavistara’ and ‘Vaipulya Sutra’.

The work called ‘Jataka’ contains records relating to the life of Buddha in his previous birth. According to the Buddhist belief, the Buddha had experienced many births before being born in the Sakya family at Kapilavastu and thereafter got enlightened and came to be known as Buddha. There are about 550 Jataka that gives us an idea of the contemporary social, political, economic and religious life of the Indians. They were possibly compiled in the second and third centuries (A.D.). The Jataka stories occupy an important place in the history of civilization of the third century A.D.

Other Imporant Religious Literatures as Sources of Ancient Indian History

The Jain religious works, such as, Bhagabati sutra, Merutunga, etc. are important religious works and serves as sources of Ancient Indian History.

The ‘Mahabhashya’ of Patanjali, the ‘Gargi-Samhita’, the ‘Ashtadhoyi’ of Panini, the ‘Arthashastra’ of Kautilya etc., contain valuable information of ancient Indian history. Kautilya was the prime-minister of Mauryan Empire. Arthashastra gives us details on various aspects of economy and government.