Comprehensive Overview of Ancient Indian Historical Sources: Archaeology and Literature

all right welcome now as we had discussed yesterday the first topic inent to cover is the

sources of ancient Indian Now sources that historians use to uncover the past may be divided

broadly into two categories one of them is archaeological

sources which represent the physical remains of the past and the other are the literary

sources which are the written texts left by the previous aric we can

include those physical remains which were created by previous cultures and civilizations they are found through

Explorations and expirations in the form of archaological Mounds which may consist of buried

structures HS of artifacts such as poy coins ornaments

weapons agricultural implements other tools Etc or maybe even some

Graves containing grave Goods okay so Mounds these are heaps of Earth which have been left behind

bys graes and gra GRS Etc then we have a variety of artifacts such as ornaments

weapons and tools that we can find then apart from this orical

evidence stud coins study of coins is known

as M matics inscriptions study of inscriptions is

known as igraphy

then what other kind of archaological material is relevant to uncover the past bones of animals and humans right so

fossilized bones may be important then decayed vegetative material right

such as decayed plants or grein or seeds Etc so fossilized creative material

important fabric very good fragments of fabric or clothing as a whole that may

be left behind what else built structures such as

monuments like ports palaces temples MOS tombs madrasas other structures pleasure Resorts Bridges ramp Parts Etc or Co

sculpture in the form of Idols or non idolic iconic sculpture what

else paintings done especially on Monument walls or the walls of caves Rock paintings Etc

what else the natural dwellings that prehistoric people used to dwell in such

as rock shelters or caves right archeological sources

archeological sources discover to Explorations or excavations what do they represent they

represent the physical remains of the past and they are a very important source of reconstructing history

literary sources on the other hand in the context of India may be broadly divided into two

groups indigenous sources and foreign sources or the accounts left

behind by Foreign visitors or foreign Travelers right foreign sources

categories sources could be divided foreign literature left behind by Chinese Travelers foreign literature

left behind by Arab Travelers and foreign literature left behind

by Breo Roman Travelers

right indigenous literature may be subcategorized into

secular and religious literature religious literature in

Ancient India primarily associated with which three important faiths

Hinduism Aran and brahmanical literature Buddhism and

jism secular literature scientific literature

example brah or the samita Etc all these are scientific

literatures then works of your literature such as various

plays ramas epics

poems Etc then literature of a chronical variety that

is the accounts of the Deeds of various Kings and other important personalities biographies of non-religious

personalities such as harita or viand charita oruo Etc so biographies

then works on other non-scientific secular subjects such as law or poity or Administration such as the AR shastra or

Niti shastra so political treatises

and works which deal with the expression of art the method of of production of art the way in which athetic

sensibilities should be shaped Etc right work such as the Kamas Sutra or the N shastra

right cultural Works Etc okay so this is a superficial survey of

the different kinds of sources that are avail aailable to recreate Indian historians rely primarily on

these two types of sources to learn about Indian past

now historical sources may also be divided into two other categories primary

sources and the other is known as secondary sources what are primary

sources those archaological and literary Works which belong to the same period that the historians are studying for

example the edicts of Ashoka they belong to the period of Ashoka and were directly associated with it another

example literary example yes har charita right written by

banabhatta banabhatta was a contemporary of harsharan and had a regular audience with he was an eyewitness to the various

developments that took place during haran's re right and this kind of source is known as a primary source

sources which are contemporary to the period of

study in a sense they represent a firsthand account of the development

as they were happening okay secondary

sources sources sources that are

derived from primary sources in most

cases they are non-contemporary to

the period of study for example B sorry bery wrote a work known

as the fahi in which he has written about the achievements and administrative polic policies of not

only fosa tlak but many other great Sultans of Delhi including balban ilesha Alin Ki and Muhammad bin tlak also so

while he was a contemp ofl and was writing in the Reign

ofak his accounts with regards toos policies and achievements they were contemp they were eyewitness but can see

be said for his accounts of the dees of PR Sultans know between ilish and balban there was almost a 100 Year Gap right

they were not contemporary at all and thus uh and even if it is

contemporary not all contemporary accounts can qualify as primary sources some are secondary sources for

example example isami wrote about mamad isami was a major uh follow of the

bahman sulate that had been created by successfully rebelling against okay now he was criticizing the

policies of Muhammad bin tlak but did he have eyewitness account firsthand experience of

Muhammad no okay so that kind of source is also a secondary source so it is derived from other

Prime so it is not and eyewitness account or

firsthand account now of law

evidence first hand account second hand account fir hand account right so eyewitness account is considered to be

more reliable with accurate detail that source is considered to be more so among

these sources primary and secondary sources primary sources are considered to be

more reliable okay this is another basis on which the historical sour basis primary or

secondary Aral and literary sources clear now we are going to take a look add these archaological and

literary sources One By One The Heading archaeological sources these represent these

represented the physical Remains the physical remains of the

past remains of the past stop they may consist

of they may consist of the following types of

sources consist of the following types of sources one by one you can write down

Mounds ornaments weapons and tools coins inscriptions

human and animal remains human and animal remains plant material plant

material grains and seeds

seeds next fragment of Fabrics or clothing monuments and

settlements monuments and settlements sculpture sculpture

cave and wall paintings lastly caves and rock shelters caves and rock

shelters Etc okay next Point essentially essentially archaeological remains

are the accumulated are the accumulated cultural

material left behind by

Pon culture cultures by byon cultures that are Unearthed that are Unearthed to Explorations and

excavations through Explorations and excavations okay next

Point archaeology archaeology relies

primarily primarily on two types of

excavations two types of excavations a horizontal excavation or a vertical excavation down one and two

horizontal excavation and vertical excav both of them have their advantages and weaknesses what is the advantages associ

what are the advantages associated with horizontal excavation large area can be covered at

a or with relative ease right and secondly it is much easier and cheaper to do than vertical exp right like

weakness that land which hisian or archeologist try to excavate it is not always vacant

land it is uh often settled land the present day communities are occupying this those communities would have to be

displaced or only for the purpose of Archaeology is it moral or even fible to displace large numbers of peoples not

all social invol horizontal exploration excavation

vertical excavation strength that a properly vertically

excavated site can give a complete blueprint of the pattern of settlement in that particular period it can give a

complete of the evolution of human life in that particular region right so exhaustive and detail

stud Associated expensive it is a very very tedious process or delicate work

Associated large number of experts with aties are required and it is a very timeing process okay these are the

uh strengths and weaknesses of both types of excavations okay next Point Le both of these both of

these have their own strengths and weaknesses have their own strengths and

weaknesses the point while horizontal excavation while horizontal excavation is the first

step is the first step towards a major archaeological

Discovery your archical discovery and may be undertaken may be

undertaken with relative ease relative e the biggest

problem is that the sites under investigation sites under

investigation are often inhabited which creates a further which

creates a hurdle creates a hurdle towards further excavation inhabited inhabited

which creates a hurdle towards further excavation except point on the one hand one hand

vertical excavations can help create an exhaustive

picture and help create an exhaust the picture of

the evolution of human life in a particular area it is a time

taking the time taking expensive and delicate process

is a time taking expensive and delicate process so sometimes it may take several decades to fully develop a uh single

site right it consumes a lot of the expert attention that is available to us so it

is not always possible to simultaneously excavate all the sides of uh importance or interest

forve trade next main point despite these weaknesses despite

these weaknesses Archaeology is considered essential

considered essential for recreating the past for recreating the

past First St why because it has a certain specific strengths which other sources lack this is due to the

following strengths this is due to the following strengths which category of sources do you think

most of them fall under primary or secondary sources primary sources reliable primary sources because they

are contemporary and uh they are directly associated with the area of Interest write down archeological

remains sub points number one archeological remains primarily fall under the

category primarily fall under the category of primary sources which are

contemporary to the period of study and directly associated with its historical context

does does they are considered to be more important sorry they are considered to

be more reliable they are considered to be more reliable or

strength that while are iology remains silent on several important aspects of the past such as the social norms values

philosophy the narratives and stories or myths that drove those previous cultures they are quite vocal about certain other

aspects such as coins inscriptions scientific development

we can know about the kinds of animals that were domesticated CRS that were being grown

which can also give us insights about the that was dominant during that period we can know about their fashion we can

know about their fashion technology also we can know about uh things such as planning construction material and

quality from their graves and Grave goods from cultures their Idols Etc we can know about their religious beliefs

their beliefs in context as life after death depending on the sizes of the houses or the quality of grave Goods the

quantity of grave Goods you can also know about social inequalities present in the society from the number of coins

from the quality of coins purity of coins you can know about the volume of trade the volume of uh

commercialization and the general level of prosperity that was present in society from uh the placement of

inscriptions we can know about the territorial extent of various rulers right

Empire we can also know about foreign contacts from the presence of coins from the presence of seals and sealings we

can know about the distribution of Education from the distribution of script whether it was widely in

circulation or was it limited to some Elite context so this kind of information also

you can so write down archaeology our next Point number two

archaeology can also shed light upon various aspects such

as economy aspects such as economy social structures and

relations social structures and relations agriculture

climate religion passion settlement pattern

change production and sorry inequality Etc inequality

Etc okay so this is another strength of archaeology thir strength

that are literary sources available for All Phases of Indian

history no they are available only for the historical phase and even in the historical phase there are several gaps

that remain both the as well as foreign Source periods around people we not have any literary information so how to to

fill those gaps by relying upon archaeology okay write down

Archaeology archology is critical for studying those

periods for which literature remains silent literature remains

silent can you give some examples the entire Stone Age prehistory okay and even India's protohistoric that

is the haran civilization scpt exist but does that tell us anything directly about how the

haran people thought what they believed Etc n because it has not been deciphered so

its significance remain conf remains confined to theology but it exist only in the form

of an archaological source for us in the haran context and nothing more right so that is one othery

next number four now even for historical phases literary evidence

available can the veracity of the literary evidence be verified by archaological sources in any manner

that means that this literary source is reliable that rces the veracity of these

literary sourer information write down

archaeology archaeology also plays a very important role plays a very important

role in verifying in verifying or

discrediting or discrediting literary sources Lally

okay next main point however however are chological

sources also suffer from certain limitations from

certains from certain limitations limitations aric perishable material do human beings

work only with sorry non peral material do human beings work only with stone no they also work with wood they

also work with leather they also work with fabric they also work with with mud and straw structures

tools right but the nature of this material is perishable in nature with time it gets deay it degenerates and

then finally it disappears so the picture that is Left Behind is is it a complete picture or is it a distorted

picture is a distorted B don't an inherent weakness of archaeology an inherent weakness of

Archaeology is that it relies almost exclusively on non perishable

materials all almost exclusively on non- perishable remains on non- perishable

remains to recreate the past to recreate the past this

presents this presents a distorted picture this presents a distorted

picture because human beings rely upon

both non- perishable and perishable materials to build their

lives and perishable materials and who build their

lives perishable material we get an income complete and distorted next

shortcoming even the per sorry even the non- perishable remains that we get such as coins inscriptions or fossilized

bones or fossilized veins or monuments or Fabric or Ms

artifacts is there any certainty that we find them exactly in the state that they were left behind no chances are that

they have been Disturbed and manipulated over time natural Calamity flood so many of

these are washed away or destroyed uh some earthquake comes many monuments fall down some Invasion takes place many

of these are deliberately destroyed some coins are discovered somebody uses them for his own use right gold coins and

silver coins melt them down and use it for your own these kinds of things also happen sh natural and manmade factors

say these historical remains are manipulated over time they are dispersed and displaced does the picture that we

get through them is not always accurate example history record Asoka had erected several pillars

across the length and Bre of his Empire primarily in North IND in Western and another at toar

dayana why because phosa saw them found them and had them dragged to fosa install them over there they have been

moved from their original Lo hisi so what may have emerged as a

counter historical narrative that the region of Delhi was a very important part of the Moran Empire

it was one of the regional capitals of ashuka important political Center economic Center this may have been the

Imp that may have been right so it is very easy to distort the image of the past through the

manipulation of archeological okay write down archaological

remains H next Point archaeological remains are often

Disturbed or displaced by natural or human

forces does leaving behind does leaving behind a distorted

picture leaving behind a distorted picture okay next shot coming number

three now is the simple discovery of these archaeological remains of the

past uh sufficient to recreate history no it has to be interpreted also interpret the historians different

Scholars right is there any guarantee that there is going to

beated knowy or maybe they are suffering from some bias or there may be certain

truisms in the field which later on may be revealed to be untr dogas later on be challenged and shattered right but

interpretations they are going to result in the creation of the historical narrative associated with that AR

ological source and because of these bias and laws and faults in methodology picture that ised that is corrupted

right down archaeological sources must be

interpreted by historians by historians to understand the their relevance understand their

relevance to understand their relevance however

misinterpretations due to personal bias misinterpretations due to personal bias

or faulty methodology or faulty methodology

May corrupt the historical narrative they corrupt the historical narrative example

the historical narrative they corrupt the historical narrative any example you can

give discover one of the seals that was discovered consisted or carried the image of a human being with an elaborate

headgear in a yogic position who are surrounded by animals on all s John

Marsh Proto right so John Marshall who was aware about the Hindu god Shiva had ascribed the status of Shiva to this

figure found on the har history later analysis that Shiva was a god which

appeared for the first time during the later secondly and

Arians they were different sets of so there was very little chance of them sharing the same philosophical base

right so this kind of interpretation is what we are saying is a faulty interpretation misin

example theories one of the earliest theories that was put forward was the Aran

Invasion okay proant of this theory was another famous Colonial

historian e and evidence he said

that excavations at moan jaro have revealed the remains of 26 skeletons and common feature in all

these skeletons is that their bodies were discarded they were not properly buried

and all of them carry wound marks

okay evid inference martim

weer that moar was probably the site of some major battle or Invasion where the helpless people of madaro were

mercilessly slaughtered by certain groups of Outsiders and who were these Outsiders Arians okay however later

research perod to belong some of these skeletons died 300 years before the other skeletons

so secondly it was also found that in almost all these skeletons the cause of death was not these wounds that had been

inflicted by some weapons they died later after these wounds had already healed could the Arians be blamed for

the of these 26 people and thus is the RN Invasion Theory now considered to be as strong as in the times of Mortimer

wheeler so Aran Invasion theory is a perfect example of a of the misinterpretation of archaeological

sources a shortcoming to or shortcoming that you may be aware of archaeological sources

Now archeological sources information but they remain silent on certain important things such

as the myths of the cultures that created these artifacts the narratives and stories their Legends their value

systems the laws that they govern themselves by right these kinds of things it is not very easy to glean from

these archeological sources and need not only the skeletal or physical picture of the past but also the human

element human elementy in fact we don't even know what the people who left Behind These cultur

sound like what was their intonation what was the way in which freed with which they

spoke language what are the derivatives or the sucesses of those

languages right and do the picture left behind by archeological sources full color black and white picture black and

white picture monochromatic pict viid color write down the picture next point the pictures

the picture created by archaeological source is is

often monochromatic is often by archaeological sources is often

monochromatic as compared to literary sources as compared to literary sources

are monochromatic as compared to literary sources

which present a much more lively image of the

past of the past okay now a general discussion about the

strength and weakness of archaological sources take down a question

underscore the importance of archaological sources

highlight their strengths and weaknesses 200 words 15 months take down another

question how does the study of

coins help us recreate ancient Indian history 100 words marks another question

shed light on the importance of

epigraphy in recreating history 100 words 15

mons I think first question you should be able to answer by this point of time we have already discussed the relative

strength and of the archeological sources and using this you can expore the importance of

aric archeological information that is what have to

Showcase you will have to use certain relevant examples I know

that but with the pass of as we go from history to Proto history to the historical phase you will get newer and

newer examples most relevant Maxim second question how does the study

of coins help us recreate ancient Indian history what is the study of coins known as numis mats

right the earliest coins to be issued in India coins punch mark

when were coins issued in India for the first time these punch Mark coins they were first issued during the

age of budha during the Maha Jan and they continued to be issued till the Moran

per okay that is from the 6th Century BC to the third century

BC what kind of metals were they made from Silver tin

and 14 14 is a greenish Brown alloy of lead and Tin

okay were they standardized coins having a standard weight or regular size or were they

Irregulars irregular points did they have the names of the Kings during whose Reign they were

issued Kings Canam 10 did they carry the dates of their issue they

had no images of Kings or

gods they had no dates and

also no inscriptions or Legends invol the

okay what did they have th marks punched upon them

hammer and punch them upon these coins images such as trees or the sun or moon or stars or peacocks or other birds and

animals Etc or geometric figures were punched upon them so punched images of

animals Birds stars and geometrical

figures another celestial bodies Etc they were found okay so punch

coin do we get any direct information about their religion or political history Dyas

records names of Kings Etc dates but we do get some very important useful information such

as so silver tin and protein metery they were aware of they were aw of the technology of mixing different Mater

Metals in uh fixed uh proportions to obtain Alloys we also know that uh which animals or

Birds these animals and birds can exist only in certain climates climatic information for example then the areas

from where these points have been found they represent the territorial domain of a particular region King issue coin

coin Merchant guilds we also come to know about the importance of merchant guilds in the society and since guilds

were important it also tells you about the importance of trade in the society growing trade this also tells you about

the economic transformation in the society from agrarian society to a secondary societ secondary economy the

economy was transforming the importance of CR production trade Commerce long distance trade short distance trade that

was all growing depending on the purity of coins and number of coins in circulation we can also get some

information with regards to the level of pro prosperity in the society the kind of economic transactions that were

taking place the level of monetization of the society Etc major change in Indian coinage took

place during the postm postm period May four different ruling dynasties from foreign land

established their empires in different parts of India usually North and Northwest confined right the first of

them were the Indo Greeks

and the indog Greeks were considered to be the pioneers of regular coin so they introduced

regular coins as opposed to The Irregular nature of the punch Mark a standard size a

standard shape a standard weight coins they were also the first to introduce B

coins they were also the first to introduce coins with

names and images of Kings they were also the first to

introduce coins with images and legends of different

gods and God it say right so now they became even more

useful as sources of History what kind of information can be glean from these regular Greek coins chronology establish

dtic history establish we also get firsthand evidence of religion and religious beliefs we

also get an idea of the artistic sensibility of the people who are making these coins because these coins were

issued by the Kings themselves we also learn about the shifting power dynamics when it comes to economic

manipulation merch Now power to regulate the economy is being assumed by the Kings themselves

the Kings have started playing a more important role in in regulating the economy right this new kind of

information also we can glean from these points and from the indog Greek period onwards Indian coinage continue to

evolve and over time several new feature to her period region or Dynasty coct which give us unique information

about those periods and help us distinguish the cultural context of those periods and regions from other

contemporary as well as non-contemporary periods and okay now but if you have to attempt this

answer how do coins help or how does the study of coins help us recate ancient Indian

history information so in introduction me you have to write within 20 to 30

words study of coins is known as

humatics what up it is an essential tool

for historical analysis since it sheds

light it sheds light on the following dimensions of this

okay so in these 20 to 30 words you have first given the context within which you will be writing your answer and you have

also highlighted the importance of points and the numatics for the recreation of History we have also

connected it with this connecting line to the next this is going to be your main

body as many dimensions as we can introduce that should be our objective to maximize the dimensional richness of

our points importance hisorical analysis coins tell us

about material advancement that is the level of Science and

technology we get information about the command of the people issuing these coins writing these

coins over metery which requires a number of

chemical processes and it also requires this melting of metallic or the melting of the uh metals

and the uh you can say shaping of the points finally right for sustained perod of time

so K making pyot technique

and fuel technology for example wood furnace

sufficient coal would have to be used or charcoal would have to be manufactured the kils would have to be designed in

specific manners AOW would have to be used right so

pumping mechanism would have to be made then very temperatures so this kind of material advancement was necessary for

making coins and the Very presence of coins tell us that this level of material advancement of Scientific

Technology had been attained had been achieved di what

else regular or dated coin you get dates and references the names of kings and dynasties that they

belong so it is very important for establishing chronology right dimensions at least for three or

four dimensions example for example you can write almost the entire chronology

of indog Greek Kings has been recreated on the basis of coinage

alone literary not have been able to know about all theod of their ra which king succeeded

whom right d right that we would have never known about right similarly coins are

also a very good source of learning about religion

you because because coins often carry the images of gods and goddesses they also carry Legends HS mantras Etc

associated with different gods and goddesses that can they can also shed light on uh the regional spread of

different religions similarly

coin we can also learn about the level of

trade right if large number of points of high domination high value are in circulation that means long distance

trade is flourishing L most of the coins small denomination low denomination daily

transactions coins use if there is a good balance what does it mean that both foreign as well as domestic

trade is flourishing in nature right coins can also shed light upon the level

of prosperity in a particular time period L economic conditions stable and if the

is if theall purity of precious metal coins is high that means Prosperity was high and there was economic stability

but when impurities are higher it means that Prosperity is declining or there are some economic

problems that are present then coins can also shed light on

territorial extent means that wherever these coins are found in

large numbers with great regularity these were the areas controlled by the people who used

to issue the inst then foreign

conts for example during the postmodern period a large number of Roman coins were found

in different parts of India that means that direct trade was taking place between India and the Roman

Empire we also learn about art Aesthetics and

sensibilities the way in which different Kings and gods are depicted in coins of different periods that is not constant

what change so indog Greek Kings completely different this also tells us not only

about the changing sensibilities of art but also about how the Kings or the ruling class of this wanted to

projects for example as a living incarnation of God himself as Vishnu right

who is the myological consort of Vish lakmi right Greek Kings on the other

hand what have they tried to do they have while they have tried to portray themselves as super human beings

L divinity claim so they have always presented themselves in profile

for and they always wearing a it is clear that they are Kings but element of divinity so the sensibilities of art as

well as Royal ideologies can be reflected in these points clear so this is the way in which coins

can help us in recreating conclusion diens 1 2 3 4 five six seven

right eight that is more than conclusion what was the

question how does the study of coins help usate children in history how can you conclude this

answer the study of history

would does be

incomplete without coins okay full stop

coins give us essential information which if

absent would permanently that is it you have to underline the

importance of coins in recreating next question on the importance of epigraphy

in recreating once again introduction me first of all you'll have to explain

what is epigraphy epigraphy it refers to the

study of inscriptions further you will continue inscriptions are considered to be

among the most most valuable form

of archaeological sources due to their following strengths their following

strengths is strength this is going to be the main body what are the strengths of

inscriptions they shed light on the level of material advantage inscriptions you need specific tools it

is also found that inscriptions were not always Ed on the stones pillars and monuments at the place where those ston

pillars and monuments are presently situated in fact those uh pillars were prepared in a particular place they had

to be transported over long dist communication infastructure teolog support right they also tell us

about settlement patterns and trade

routs inscriptions these were messages that had been inscribed upon stone or walls of

monuments or pillars Etc by different people such as Kings or prominent mobiles or Merchants Etc right now what

do you think was the purpose of these inscriptions to give a message to the ordinary people and and mageary

people important cities and towns or along important trade routs cities towns trade routs but okay

so the location of these inscriptions can also help us recreate the geographical location of important

cities towns and the trade routs next these inscriptions also shed light on

the teritorial extent of the empires for example

Ashoka who left behind a large number of inscriptions inscriptions

now we get his inscriptions from uh North Pakistan also we get his

inscriptions from utarak also get his inscriptions from the India Nepal border biar the whole of Bangladesh get his

inscriptions from orisha also Andra Pradesh also K also and Gujarat

also that all mades so all these places were part of ashoka's this entire

Zone was under the influence of the a okay next

now who these inscriptions we can also get information about cultural uh contacts between different groups of

people right we can know about historical migrations

right there is a site in Turkey known as Bas koi we have an inscription over here

that carries the text of a treaty between two tribes that had been fighting each other for a very long time

right these were the hitani andani tries significant Discovery thatat both the leaders of both these

tribes vowed or took Oaths in the name of certain gods or concept Gods mentioned in

Indra vun Ashwini twins Etc right Gods Gods weic Gods these were the gods that

Arians used to worship that means that Bas inscription which is dated to around 2000 BC

belongs to the Aran and or India migrate right this tells us

about the origin of that it was outside India then we can also get information about

the language and script used by people in different parts

of the country during different time periods for example at gandahar

the languages used were Greek and aramic region Greek influence or middle

eastern influence right the scripts were also Greek and aramic at shahabas

gari and man the language was prit but the script

was a or rest of India May the language was procrit but the script

was okay this it tells us about the distribution of various linguistic and strural communities in the mod Empire

similar analysis can be made for other time periods also for example suum period and po period

deep incription Tamil inscriptions Tamil inscription as in other parts of India prit and Sanskrit inscription will find

more okay so language and script then foreign contacts or foreign

relations yes for example

aokas 13th major Rock edict consists of the list of those countries where he had sent his dhad

dutas that is those Ambassador which he had sent specifically to spread dhama countries rers names mentioned that

means formal contacts existed between themma further we find a list of five Greek

kingdoms along with the names of their kings with whom Ashoka had exchanged Raj dutas or ambassadors embassies in

countries asok establish right this tells us about the existence of foreign contact diplomatic

as well as cultural contacts what other kind of information does do inscriptions

provide they provide us dynastic knowledge

and political information relevant to important Kings for example

the r prasti of samudra gupt incription is

aeric inscription meaning it is written in the form of ay prash form that is why prasti here what is primarily

listed the military achievements of similarly

the iole inscription this is another ulistic Tanger inscription belonging to pulin thei

written by Ravi kti it also encapsulates the military exploits of P the second including his victory over arhan so

important battles political developments details then these inscriptions also shed light

on social Customs religious institutions and

practices etc for example Iran inscription belonging to the year 510

CE for the first time gives the evidence of the practice of Sati okay

similarly aokas second major Rock edict talks about the presence

of slavery in the mod Empire Ashoka instructs his people that slaves should be treated kindly with love and

affection they should not be killed unnecessary these kinds of things we come to

about then many of these descriptions are also in the form of Charters public

Charters the names of officials their titles and their duties Etc they are mentioned

and recreating the structure of AD and by learning these details about the administrative structure we can also

learn about the responsibilities of the state and knowing this we can go about the nature of the political system the

amount of power that was exercised by the king and the way in which power was power was shared between the center and

the peripheral regions as well as the top levels of administration how it was delegated to the levels below right

administrative structure and nature of quality

then from the Gupta period onwards we start finding new types of inscriptions inscriptions inscriptions

recording BRS of land initially to Priestly class and to religious s and later to officials especially military

officials so land grants the rise of

plalism Etc this is all also reflected in the inscriptional records right and land grants sat

not only ownership of the land or the right to collect revenue from the land was transferred by the Kings to the

donies to the granes but also certain other powers it also imposed certain liabilities and duties upon the people

who were inhabiting these lands right so it also tells us about the evolution of the society the way in which labor was

distributed the way in which the state as well as its subsidiaries that is the beasts and the feudal Lords exercise

control over the general population The Peasants the producing class right so agrarian

structure and social relations also

reflected through these inscriptions right then apart from this

information inscriptions through we also find certain inscriptions which are apolitical in

nature political inscriptions they are in cribed either by the Kings or their subordinates governor regional

administrator and some a political inscriptions a political inscriptions they were V

inscriptions also known as donative inscriptions the deed of a donation made by an

individual or group of individual towards a particular resident primarily a priest or a group of priest or a

religious institutions Temple or a mut or a Buddhist Monastery or the Buddhist s right so

and such reles similar kind of inscriptions were

also made recording donations made by individuals or groups towards certain

recipients right ancient period private individuals

Merchants right so the importance of merchant

guilds is also reflected from these donative in not only importance of merchant guilds but specifically in

different regions different kinds of GS us to operate so distribution

of merchant me reflect okay so this is the importance

of inscriptions for recreating the ancient past conclusion

does our understanding of the past would remain incom

complete without as compared to literary sources they considered to be far more reli sources

or inscriptions but inscriptions

sour virus if tree leaves ET sub perishable material inscriptions Stones walls copper

plates what would be easier it is easier to manipulate literary sources far more difficult to

manipulate inscriptional sources right therefore inscriptional sources are relatively free from redactions or

interpolations examp prasti is actually written on one of the pillars left behind by Ashoka at

inscriptions one inscription obviously belongs to Ashoka the other belongs to samudra gupt

samt later inscription belongs to had them inscribed on top of the inscription left behind

by Original Part original inscription this has been embossed on top of the original incription of right so this is

another strength of the inscriptions over the literary Source right down they are far more

reliable than literary sour es and literary sources yes you are right uh noras it

also helps to corroborate information provided by the other sources the coins or the archaeological sources right so

far more reliable than the literary sources since they are since they are free from

reductions and interpolations reductions and interpolations and

interpolations okay that is one way in which we can conclude this

archeological next coming to the literary sources two

categories indigenous and foreign right first we are going to

deal with the indigenous sources indigenous sources can also be categorized into

religious and secular sour religious

sources religious sources can themselves be categorized into Hindu literature

with this literature and gen

lit first we are going to talk about Hindu literature now Hindu

literature may also be subdivided into two categories to the

literature also known as a

Oran and secondly R literature okay now shuti literature is considered

to be revealed sages and then they have translated

orally to younger generation this is how that literature has survived over several Generations before it was

written down for the first meaning to hear right these are revealed words a purushan right purush

means human being man right a purush mean somebody who is not so it is of nonhuman origin humans creation that

means it is of divine origin these are revealed Works which are considered to be of divine

origin literature only the four V can you name them chronological

order rade Sade yajur and

atar the VAS themselves consist of four different types of

wordss each V has a samita it can have one or more Brahman Associated to

it similarly it can have multiple arakas Associated and several

total 108 samita is the core text of the vas okay these are collections

of HS it is collection of mantras which must be recited in order to propitiate God in order to worship God dedicated to

different gods and God okay these are the original Vic Works

clear now next set of Vic Works to emerge were the brahmanas with the passage of time

the Vic religion became performative and became ritualized in so along with the chanting ofas certain sacrifices Yas be

per so certain to be created so these were codified in the

form of works as so these contain

details of rituals okay now as the religion became

more and more ritualized vly domination started to because rituals became the medium through which the priests allowed

certain people to participate fate and religious activity While disallowing others it became the basis for social

inequality also right now some people were in favor of it others were not in favor

and debate debate discussing the veracity or theity of these rituals this is going to result

in the creation of a new set ofure known as AR comes from the

word Forest so these are also known as Forest books written by philosophers who had taken s and gone into the

forest introspection discussions and on the basis of that they came to their

philosophical conclusions so these arakas contain philosophical debates about the rituals they try to

philosophically examine rituals some of them support some of the rituals while some rituals are condemned okay so these

are philosophical explanations of philosophical tradition religion

Associated and it is going to mature in the misss these are works of pure reason these are works of pure philosophy

dealing with the ideas of metaphysics they try to answer questions such as what is the nature of

God what is the nature of the universe that he has is it mutable or is it unchangeable is it permanent or is it

temporary it has been created can it be destroyed or is it permanent in what is the relationship between man and God

what is the life force of uh human beings Soul right what is the association of