Question

Prepare a project report on the archaeological sources of India

Answer 1

Explanation:

The Archaeological Source can again be divided into three groups, namely, Archaeological Remains and Monuments, Inscriptions and Coins. The Literary Source can also be divided into three groups, namely, Religious Literature, Secular Literature and Accounts of Foreigners. A brief account of these sources is given below.

Answer 2

The Archaeological Source can be divided into three groups, namely, Archaeological Remains and Monuments, Inscriptions and Coins.

Explanation:

• The Literary Source can also be divided into three groups, namely, Religious Literature, Secular Literature and Accounts of Foreigners. A brief account of these sources is given below.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONUMENTS AND COINS :

• The archaeological source of Indian history is only about two centuries old.

• Up to 1920, Indian civilization was considered to have begun about 6th century B.C. However, the excavations at Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan, and Harappa  prove its antiquity to be of 5,000 B.C.

• Epigraphy and Numismatics are the important branches of the study of history, which has greatly enhanced the knowledge of India’s past.

• Coins are an important numismatic source that tells us about the Indo-Greek, Saka-Parthian, and Kushana Kings.

• Numismatics is considered as the second most important source for reconstructing the history of India after inscriptions.

• Coins are mostly found in the hoards while digging field or constructing a building, making a road, etc.

• Coins found in systematic excavations are less in number, but are very valuable because their chronology and cultural context can be fixed precisely.

• Earliest coins are known as the punch-marked coins. They are made of either silver or copper. In addition to this, some gold punch-marked coins were also found, but they are very rare and their authenticity is doubtful.

INSCRIPTIONS :

• Inscriptions of Ashoka and Samudragupta provide valuable information about social and political status of the people of that period.

• The study of these inscriptions reveals the world about Ashoka’s views on dharma (religion) and conquests of Samudragupta.

• The inscriptions are the most important and reliable sources of Indian history.

• Inscriptions are the contemporary documents those are free from later interpolations as it is impossible to add something to it at a later period. Therefore, it comes in the original form as it was composed in and engraved.

• The manuscripts were written on soft materials like birch bark, palm leaf, paper etc. They became fragile in a course of time and were frequently required to be copied and at the time of copying, some irrelevant additions were made and some errors tend to creep in. Therefore, they are not considered as a reliable source of information about history.

• The script of the Inscriptions also helps the historian in many ways.

• The Harappan seals depict the earliest system of writings, however, they could not be decoded yet.

• The Ashokan inscriptions are claimed to be the earliest one of the systems of writing. Ashoka’s inscriptions are found written in four scripts.

• Kharoshthi script was used in Pakistan region, which is written from right to left and is evolved on the Varnamala  (alphabet) system of the Indian languages.

• Brahmi script was used for the rest of the empire from Kalsi in the north in Uttaranchal up to Mysore in the south.

• Palaeography is the study of development of the scripts.

• The epigraphic studies started in the late 18th century.

• Brahmi script was adopted by the rulers after Ashoka and continued for succeeding centuries.

• The Brahmi script kept modifying century after century, which led to the development of most of the scripts of India, including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,  and Malayalam in the south and Nagari, Gujarati, Bangla, etc. in the north.

• The modifications In the letters of the script have made it possible to ascertain the time period in which the inscription was written.

• In 1837, James Prinsep completed the chart of Ashokan alphabets.

• The inscriptions of Ashoka had been recorded in different years of his reign and are known as edicts because they are in the form of the king’s order or desire

• The edicts of Ashoka prove that he (Ashoka) was a benevolent king concerned with the welfare of not only his subjects, but also of the whole humanity.

• Inscriptions of the Indo-Greeks, ‘Saka-kshatrapas’ and ‘Kushanas’ adopt Indian names after two or three generations. These inscriptions illustrate that they were also engaged in social and religious welfare activities like any other Indian kings.

• Junagarh Rock inscription of Rudradaman was written in the mid of 2nd century A.D. It was an early example of an inscription written in Sanskrit; however, Sanskrit became prominent since the Gupta period.

• Pillar inscription of Allahabad describes the achievements of Samudragupta.

• The epigraphs of the Gupta period started trends of giving the genealogy of kings with the account of their conquests and achievements. This became a trend of the subsequent dynasties to give a list of their predecessors and mention mythology of their origins.

• The Aihole Inscription of the Chalukya king Pulkeshin-II describes a dynastic genealogy and achievements.

• The Gwalior inscription of Bhoja also gives a full account of his predecessors and their achievements.

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