Write in detail about various sources of information of modern Indian history.
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Literary Sources:
Indian Tradition of History Writing
Many foreign scholars opined that Indians had no sense of history writing and whatever was written in the name of history is nothing more than a story without any sense.But this appears to be a very harsh judgment.. Because the knowledge of history was given a very high place in ancient India. It was accorded sanctity equal to a Veda.Atharvaveda, Brahmans and Upanishads include Itihas-Purana as one of the branches of knowledge.Kautilya in his Arthashastra (fourth century B.C.) advises the king to devote a part of his time every day for hearing the narrations of history.
Puranic Literature
The Puranic literature is very vast18 main Puranas, 18 subsidiary Puranas and a large number of other books.According to the Puranas, following are the subject matters of history:SARGAevolution of universe)PRATISARGAinvolution of universeMANVANTANTARrecurring of timeVAMSAgenealogical list of kings and sagesVAMSANUCHARITAlife stories of some selected characters
They speak about several eras:
erastarts inVikrama Samvat57BCShaka Samvat78ADGupta era319ADNarration of Puranas were a part of the annual ritual in every village and town during the rainy season and at the time of festivals. It was treated as a powerful vehicle of awakening of cultural and social consciousness.in all the Puranas royal genealogies are dealt with the reign of Parikshit, the grandson of Arjun, as a benchmark.All the earlier dynasties and kings have been mentioned in past tense.While the latter kings and dynasties have been narrated in future tense.This may be because of the fact that the coronation of Parikshit marks the beginning of Kali Age.Many scholars think that this also points to the fact that perhaps the Puranas were completed during the reign of Parikshit.In the context of the Puranas it may be remembered that in ancient India, Itihas was looked upon as a means to illuminate the present and future in the light of the past.The purpose of history was to understand and inculcate a sense of duty and sacrifice by individuals to their families, by the families to their clans, by the clans to their villages and by the villages to Janapada and Rashtra and ultimately to the whole humanity.History was not meant to be an exhaustive compendium of the names of the kings and dynasties and their achievements etc.The two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, may also be used as a source. It is generally held that there have been constant interpolations in these works.The Puranas may not satisfy the modern definition of historiography or those who wrote it may not have been awe of the “historian’s crafts”, but they seem fully aware of the purpose of their work and the purpose of history itself.
Ramayana, Valmiki
composition started in 5BC. passed through five stage. fifth stage in 12AD6000 verses=>12000 verses and finally 24000 verses.As a whole, this text seems to have been composed later than Mahabharata.
Mahabharata, Vyas
reflects the state of affairs between 70BC to 4ADoriginally 8800 verses, collection dealing with victory.Later raised to 24000 verses- came to be known as Bharata after Bharat tribefinal compilation: 1 lakh verses and came to be known as Mahabharata or Satasahasri Samhita.didactic portion from Post Maurya, Gupta times.
Puranic Literature: Limitations
Most of the ancient literature is religious in nature, and those which are claimed to be history by Indians, i.e., puranic and epic literature, contain no definite dates for events and kings.In the Puranas and epics, we find genealogies of kings and sometimes their achievements. But it is difficult to arrange them in chronological order.Puranic literature helps tracing Lord Ram of Ayodhya around 2000B.C. but the extensive exploration in Ayodhya donot show any settlement around that date. Similarly, Lord Krishna can be traced to 200 BC-300AD. But excavations in Mathura, donot attest his presence. Counter argument: The epics Ramayana and Mahabharata have undergone several editions through ages, hence difficult to tie up with specific era.
Vedic Literature
The Four Vedas: We cannot find much trace of political history in the Vedas, but can have reliable glimpses of the culture and civilization of the Vedic period.Vedic literature are entirely in a different language, which can be called the Vedic language. Its vocabulary contains a wide range of meaning and at times different in grammatical usages.It has a definite mode of pronunciation in which emphasis changes the meaning entirely. This is the reason why an elaborate means to protect and preserve the mode of pronunciation of the Vedas have been devised.By the means of Ghana, Jata and other types of pathas we can not only determine the meaning of the mantras but also can hear the original tone on which these were sung thousands of years ago.Because of these pathas, no interpolations in the Vedas are possible.
Indian Tradition of History Writing
Many foreign scholars opined that Indians had no sense of history writing and whatever was written in the name of history is nothing more than a story without any sense.But this appears to be a very harsh judgment.. Because the knowledge of history was given a very high place in ancient India. It was accorded sanctity equal to a Veda.Atharvaveda, Brahmans and Upanishads include Itihas-Purana as one of the branches of knowledge.Kautilya in his Arthashastra (fourth century B.C.) advises the king to devote a part of his time every day for hearing the narrations of history.
Puranic Literature
The Puranic literature is very vast18 main Puranas, 18 subsidiary Puranas and a large number of other books.According to the Puranas, following are the subject matters of history:SARGAevolution of universe)PRATISARGAinvolution of universeMANVANTANTARrecurring of timeVAMSAgenealogical list of kings and sagesVAMSANUCHARITAlife stories of some selected characters
They speak about several eras:
erastarts inVikrama Samvat57BCShaka Samvat78ADGupta era319ADNarration of Puranas were a part of the annual ritual in every village and town during the rainy season and at the time of festivals. It was treated as a powerful vehicle of awakening of cultural and social consciousness.in all the Puranas royal genealogies are dealt with the reign of Parikshit, the grandson of Arjun, as a benchmark.All the earlier dynasties and kings have been mentioned in past tense.While the latter kings and dynasties have been narrated in future tense.This may be because of the fact that the coronation of Parikshit marks the beginning of Kali Age.Many scholars think that this also points to the fact that perhaps the Puranas were completed during the reign of Parikshit.In the context of the Puranas it may be remembered that in ancient India, Itihas was looked upon as a means to illuminate the present and future in the light of the past.The purpose of history was to understand and inculcate a sense of duty and sacrifice by individuals to their families, by the families to their clans, by the clans to their villages and by the villages to Janapada and Rashtra and ultimately to the whole humanity.History was not meant to be an exhaustive compendium of the names of the kings and dynasties and their achievements etc.The two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, may also be used as a source. It is generally held that there have been constant interpolations in these works.The Puranas may not satisfy the modern definition of historiography or those who wrote it may not have been awe of the “historian’s crafts”, but they seem fully aware of the purpose of their work and the purpose of history itself.
Ramayana, Valmiki
composition started in 5BC. passed through five stage. fifth stage in 12AD6000 verses=>12000 verses and finally 24000 verses.As a whole, this text seems to have been composed later than Mahabharata.
Mahabharata, Vyas
reflects the state of affairs between 70BC to 4ADoriginally 8800 verses, collection dealing with victory.Later raised to 24000 verses- came to be known as Bharata after Bharat tribefinal compilation: 1 lakh verses and came to be known as Mahabharata or Satasahasri Samhita.didactic portion from Post Maurya, Gupta times.
Puranic Literature: Limitations
Most of the ancient literature is religious in nature, and those which are claimed to be history by Indians, i.e., puranic and epic literature, contain no definite dates for events and kings.In the Puranas and epics, we find genealogies of kings and sometimes their achievements. But it is difficult to arrange them in chronological order.Puranic literature helps tracing Lord Ram of Ayodhya around 2000B.C. but the extensive exploration in Ayodhya donot show any settlement around that date. Similarly, Lord Krishna can be traced to 200 BC-300AD. But excavations in Mathura, donot attest his presence. Counter argument: The epics Ramayana and Mahabharata have undergone several editions through ages, hence difficult to tie up with specific era.
Vedic Literature
The Four Vedas: We cannot find much trace of political history in the Vedas, but can have reliable glimpses of the culture and civilization of the Vedic period.Vedic literature are entirely in a different language, which can be called the Vedic language. Its vocabulary contains a wide range of meaning and at times different in grammatical usages.It has a definite mode of pronunciation in which emphasis changes the meaning entirely. This is the reason why an elaborate means to protect and preserve the mode of pronunciation of the Vedas have been devised.By the means of Ghana, Jata and other types of pathas we can not only determine the meaning of the mantras but also can hear the original tone on which these were sung thousands of years ago.Because of these pathas, no interpolations in the Vedas are possible.
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