India is rich in literary sources. Sanskrit literature is the oldest of the all literatures and it is the same time most vast compared to other ancient languages such as Greek and Roman. That is why we have at our disposal an innumerable number of religious texts and classics which serve as prolific literary sources of ancient Indian history.

The sources of ancient period of history can be divided into two main headings :

1. The Literary Sources
2. The Archaeological Sources

In this article, we are going to discuss about literary sources, so we will divide this topic in two sub-headings :-

1. The Traditional Literature
2. The Foreign Writings

Literary sources of ancient history of India

The Traditional Literature

Vedas

The most ancient literature available on the soil of the country is the Vedas. There are four in number and their antiquity goes as far as to 1000 B.C. if not earlier. Their names are – the Rig Veda, the Sam Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda. Of the four, Rig Veda is the most important and most ancient. It is of course, the record of the religious life of the people having a little philosophy that was later on developed into what is known as Vedantic philosophy. It is record of their early civilization, religion, household life and day-to-day political and social working of the race. Certain points of philosophy like those of Atma and Parmatma have also been discussed in great details. The great historian, Vincent Smith is of the view that this source is especially of great importance for the period between 650 B.C. and 326. B.C.

Puranas

The next important source of traditional literature is the Puranas. It seems that the first Purana came into existence as far back as 1^st century of the Christian Era. According to Mr. N.N. Ghosh, it is probable the entire Puranas received their final shape in the 5^th or 6^th Century A.D. for neither later dynasties nor later famous rulers other than the Guptas, such as Harsha, occurs in the list of kings.

Pali and Prakrit

The next important literature before us is that of Pali and Prakrit which are records of Buddhism. There are 549 Jatakas hitherto collected and published and each of the Jatakas birth stories. Light is also thrown on the political, economic and religious conditions of early Buddhist India. The great 12 Angas, as the ancient Jain canonical text of Jainism are called, again a very important source of our information. The historical books published in Sri Lanka in Pali language throw some light upon our relation with that country.

Dramas

There are three important dramas of Kalidasa – Malavikagnimitram,Vikramorvashiyam, and Abhigyan Shakuntalam. Abhigyan Shakuntlam already translated into more than 60 European languages, through a literary work depicts the social life of the people, the dress of the time and the approach towards different social and especially the family problems.

Grammarians

The famous grammarian, Panini, and the renowned literature, Patanjli, are celebrated for their mastery over literature. Nothing directly connected with history is to be traced in their works, but very intensive study has helped historians to extract certain valuable information of historical importance from them as well. As already asserted in the very beginning, they are the sources of semi or total religious nature but information regarding the social life and the economic conditions of the country can be traced in them. In the absence of any very reliable historical book they are of great importance of our purposes of reconstructing the history of those far-off days.

Epics

The two epics – the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are of great importance from the view-point of collecting historical information about the past. The heroic nature of the people, the weapons that were used during a battle, the cause of the just and the unjust as proclaimed by the rival groups, and of course, much that is of religious importance, is recorded in them. It would be wrong to believe that history is the name of the record of the various kings and their dynasties, their conquests and achievements. A true history is the records of the rise and fall of the people, their social and religious life, the development of Art and industry, the commercial and, of course, the political condition of the day. Taking this broader view of the history it can be safely concluded that these books are of great importance.

Poets

As we come to later ages, there are court poets and writers write about their masters. Reliance cannot be given to these court poets as they are mostly hyperbolic in their expression and liberal in praising their masters. The chronological order of their description is not usually very trustworthy but they cannot be altogether rejected. The most important book of secular nature is the Arthshastra by Kautilya, the Chancellor of Chandragupta administrative machinery of the time. Though the description is of the type as to what should be done and what should not be done, it is believed that all that he suggested was acted upon the Emperor.

Next comes the great poet Bana Bhatta who has written Harsha Charitra, a book that has been compared in utility of Akbar Nama by Abul Fazal. Smith is of the view that all that has been exaggerated can be eliminated and even then what remains is of great historical importance of our information. The history of Kashmir written by Kalhana, the Kashmiri Pandir under the caption Raja Tarangini in the 12^th Century A.D. is a book of purely historical nature and has no parallel in the annals of the ancient literature of the country. R.C. Majumdar thinks that is really an authentic historical book which has been written on real historical grounds. Though in verse, has been written cautiously to give a real historical touch to the description. His approach is historical in nature because the author himself remarks : “I have examined all works of former scholars which contain the chronicles of kings.” This is really a research work of great importance for us.

Raj Tarangini had its echoes in other parts of the country and court-poets and writers resorted to the same style of the praise of their masters. Rasmala of Someshwar. Chintamani by Maru Tunga, Prabandha Kosha by Raj Shekhar and Vasant Vilas of Bala Chandra are some of the books that were written on the style of Raj Tarangini in the different parts of the country. They appear to be like a strong telling but much of historical value can be sorted out. The biographies of Kumar Pala can lead us to reconstructed the history of Gujarat.

There are certain books which have been traced out but whose origin can be confirmed through certain Persian or Arabic translations. Chachnama, a Persian work, has been translated from Arabic which was based on some books that were traced in Sindh and taken away by the Muslim invaders. Some Nepalic literature has also been borrowed from the indigenous sources but nothing very reliable can be put forward.

The Foreign Writings

Greek writers

India has been very fortunate in having its relation from times immemorial with different foreign countries through invaders and conquerors, foreign scholars and students, travellers and sometimes simply visitors. The earliest ever recorded Indian information in a foreign literature is that of Herodotus in Greece. His description relates to two wild tribes inhabiting the Indo-Iranian border but it can be of relevance so far as the description of the border regions of the country is concerned. Many other Greek and Roman writers have recorded invasion of Alexander the Great, though it has been omitted, quite surprisingly, by all the ancient Indian writers. His invasion is important from different angles as it brought two important civilisations in contact with each other but the wounds were headed up very soon and the invasion was forgotten altogether. The far-reaching effects can be assessed from the fact that India borrowed the art of idol and statue-making from these foreigners while it imported to them the knowledge of astronomy and astrology and, of course, mathematics.

Next comes Megasthenese, the Ambassador of Selukus, in the court of Chandragupta Maurya. His memoirs, Indica though not available in its original form, have been quoted by many different writers of Greece and Rome. The extracts are of real historical nature as they were a record of Indian events by a foreign visitor. Bedion calls Megasthenese “a deliberate lier” but we cannot subscribe to his view as a foreigner had no axe to grind against the Indian ruler or the masses. Other Greek writers like Nearchus and Aristobulus had personal contacts with India and have written with great justification. Petrokils, Governor of the provinces between Caspian Sea and Indus, has been quoted by Strabo. His accounts is of importance as he wrote with personal knowledge.  

Chinese travellers

The Chinese travellers and pilgrims came to India mostly to pay their homage to the sacred land of Buddha, their saviour. The very purpose of their visits was religious but the records have been of great value to us from the view-point of history as well. Fa Hien visited the country in 5^th Century A.D. during the reins of Chandragupta Vikramaditya. His accounts of the social and religious life are very detailed and informative. He was followed by Huan Chwang during the days of Harshavardhana. He remained in India for about 15 years and during his sojourn he travelled extensively and met people of every rank. His record of the Indian people, their religion, the condition of law and order, the theory of administration as adopted by Harshavardhana, the congregational bathing ceremonies at the Sangam in Prayag and many other factors of the social life are very vivid. The last Chinese traveller of any importance is It-Sing.

We would like to conclude our account of the foreign writings by giving a reference to the Muslim scholar, Alberuni, who came to India along with Mahmud Ghazni. He was so much fascinated with the country that he mastered Sanskrit to obtain a first-hand information about Indian literature. His book, Tarikh-e-Hind is of great importance though it is politically motivated and a little biased towards the Muslim invaders.  

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