Literary sources:

Sources that help historians reconstruct the past and understand socioeconomic
evolution have been broadly divided into two categories: archaeological sources and
literary sources. Literary sources are those that are written. These resources give an idea
of the advancement in human society as they exhibit the ability of humans to write and
give a broader account of events that occurred then. Literary sources are comparatively
newer and belong to a later phase of human evolution when humans started living in a
well-organized society.

o Primary Sources
o Secondary Sources
o indigenous Sources
o Foreign Sources
o Religious Sources
o Secular Sources
o Sangam Literary sources

Primary Sources
These sources represent unaltered accounts of what actually occurred or was initially
described, without any embellishment. It comprises fresh content or original materials
that lay the groundwork for further research.

Secondary Sources
These sources provide a summary or analysis of primary sources. They frequently
attempt to describe or characterize original sources. , or otherwise add value to an
original source.

Religious Literary Sources

RELIGION SERVED AS THE CORNERSTONE OF ANCIENT WORLD CIVILIZATION . INDIA
WASN'T A UNIQUE CASE. IN LIGHT OF THIS, THERE IS A SIZABLE AMOUNT OF
LITURGICAL AND AUTHORITATIVE LITERATURE FROM THE MANY CULTS THAT WERE
CULTIVATED IN PAST CULTURES .

Vedic literature includes the Vedas and other Hindu religious texts that trace their
origins to the Vedas. These literary sources give a detailed account of Aryan and Vedic
society. Vedic literature is categorized as Shruti literature and Smriti literature. Vedic
literature consists of:

o Shruti literature includes those scripts that were compilations of hymns that
were recited and passed on through generations. These had no particular author.
The Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyaka, and Upanishads are considered Shruti
literature.

o Vedas: Rig, Yajur, Sam, and Atharva are the four Vedas that the Aryans produced.
The Vedas (from Vid, "to know") was essentially a collection of Aryan hymns
addressed to the gods, who were primarily the forces of nature. The Vedas were
referred to as "Shrutis" and "a-paurusheya" (not made by any man and samhita as
well, since, in Aryan belief, they were just heard and not constructed by mankind.

o Brahmanas: The purpose of the Brahmanas' creation was to teach

the Vedic sacrificial rituals. As a result, each Veda contains its own Brahmana, such
as the Jaiminiya Brahmana of the Samveda, the Aitareya Brahmana of the
Rigveda, the Shapath of the Yajurveda, and the Gopath of the Atharvaveda.

o Aranyakas: The Aranyakas were developed to impart knowledge of Vedic

religion, particularly on sacrifices and mystic thought practised in isolation. While
Taiteriya Aranyaka is intended for the Yajur Veda, Aitareya Aranyaka is designed
for the Rig Veda.
o Upanishads: The definition of the term "Upanishad" is "to study while seated
near one's teacher." These were developed to impart the understanding of Vedic
spiritualism, covering topics such as self-knowledge, understanding of the
relationships between oneself and God, the origin of the cosmos, our role in such
a huge universe, etc.
o
o Vedanga: The Vedanga is a set of six Hindu religious disciplines that originated in
antiquity and were associated with the learning of the Vedas. The six disciplines
include Shiksha, recitations,nirukta,jyotisha,chhanda,grammar.
o
 o Sutras: In Indian literature and culture, the term "sutra" denotes an aphorism, a
collection of aphorisms, or, more generally, a condensed handbook or treatise.
The sutras were collected around the sixth century BC. Three sutras made these
namely: Shrautsutras, Dharmsutras, and Grihyasutras; together they are called
Kalpasutras.

o Smriti: Smriti was actually derived from Shruti literature. Smriti is in addition to
"that which has been remembered" and is subject to change throughout
time. Smriti literature gives visual accounts of events and was narrated or
written by a particular author.
o Puranas: The 18 major Puranas that make up the Puranas were classified in
accordance with the devotional cults that were prevalent in India throughout the
third and fourth centuries

BUDDHIST LITERATURE

Buddhist literature was mainly developed with the motive that commoners could read
them. These are written in Pali and contain the preachings of Gautam Buddha. Buddhist
literature shows the history of Buddhism and its royal patron like Ashoka.

This literature includes:

o Pitakas: Buddhist literature is a compilation of three books called Tripitakas

meaning three baskets. These include:
o Vinaya Pitaka: It contains the rules and regulations of the Buddhist
Sangh.
o Suttpitaka: It contains the teachings of Buddha.
o Abhidhamma Pitaka: It contains the philosophical aspect of Buddhism. In
summary, these works provide a wealth of information about Buddhist
principles and moral standards.
o Jatakas: The accounts of Buddha's earlier births are collected in the Jatakas. In
order to help his followers with their issues, Buddha came up with a lovely way of
using narratives from his personal experiences from his former lifetimes. The
skeptical or problem follower would then derive solutions from these stories.
o Dipvamsha and Mahavamsha: The Buddhist writings Dipvamsha and
Mahavamsha originated in Sri Lanka. It contains details on various Buddhist
scholars in addition to the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka.
o Divyavadan: In Divyavadan This Buddhist text has Napali roots. In addition to
illuminating northern dynasties from the Mauryan rulers to the Shunga era, it
contains Buddhist tales.
JAIN LITERATURE

Jain literature is considered contemporary Buddhist literature. It gives important

information in the reconstruction of the history of the doctrines of Jainism as well as
facets of the cultural life of those times. Jain literature is compiled in Prakrit. One of the
sacred books of Jainism is Agam. That contains the sayings and life realizations of
Tirthankaras.

The Jain literature is divided into the following categories:

o Anga and Agam: These writings illuminate Mahavir's philosophy. While the
Bhagavati Sutra sheds insight into Mahavir's life story and accomplishments, the
Acharang Sutra discusses the norms of conduct for Jain monks.
o Philosophical: These included Samaysar, Pravachansar, and other thinkers. These
were primarily developed by Acharya Kundakunda, and reflected Jain spirituality.
o The Puranas: The Jain Puranas were built on the foundation of the Vedic sagas
and Puranas, but their primary focus was Jain philosophy. These included the
Padmacharit, the Maha-Purana, and the Harivamsha Purana.
o Biographies: These were comprised of Jasahar-chariu, Bhadrabahu-Charita, ,
Naykumar-chariu, etc. The Bhadrabhau-charita illuminates the circumstances
surrounding Mauryan King Chandragupta and his mentor, Bhadrabhau-Jain
Acharya.

SECULAR LITERARY SOURCES

These sources were not only contributed by Indians but also by some foreign visitors to
the Indian subcontinent. Hence, these are categorized as domestic and foreign sources.
We often refer to literature without any religious component as "secular literature”. In
other respects, a text is made up of real-world items. These were the resources that
taught us about the governance, laws and other aspects of a civilization.

Secular Literary Sources include:

o Histories: India was familiar with the writing of history. There were several
historical writings available.
o Eulogies: The compositions known as eulogies were written by charan/bhat/poets
at the court to honour the patron monarch. Although biassed, such material
educates us about the king, his lineage and dynasty, his actions and policies, etc.
o Literature: This includes epics, dramas, poetry, and compilations and provides
factual information about the economy, society, polity, etc of a time period.
o Epics: This includes the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, written by Vyasa and by
Valmiki respectively. The revolution of Aryans across the Indian subcontinent, their
interactions with local or native neighbourhoods and indigenous peoples, their
political beliefs, establishments, social cultures and beliefs, forest indigenous
 peoples, their financial system, etc. are just a few of the vast ranges of information
we learn from these epics.
o Dramas: Ashvaghosha's "Sariputta-prakaran" was regarded as the earliest drama.
Then, a renowned "Natyshastra" the play was written by the scholar Bharat.
o Poetry: A focused cognitive consciousness of perception is evoked through
poetry. Much more ancient than written language, poetry is the most ubiquitous
and earliest form of art. The first poetry was spoken or sung using rhythmic and
acoustic harmonies in ancient times.

SANGAM LITERATURE SOURCES

We may learn about prehistoric and historic Southern India via the Sangam literature.
Sangam refers to a gathering. Sangam literature as a whole comprised of poems,
presented in three assemblies, by Tamil poets. Actually, the poets gathered these poems
from different ecological zones in southern India. So, these are essentially urban poets'
collections of folklore. Manimekhalai, Pattupattu, Shilappadikaram, etc. are some of the
significant works.

INDIGENOUS SOURCES:
esources that were written by people of our own country describing the social and
religious context of the society then.

EXAMPLES OF INDIEGENOUS LITERARY SOURCES INCLUDE:

o Kautilya's Arthashastra: It was somewhere around the 4th century B.C.E. It is a

major theoretical treatise on statecraft. It reflects the administration and ethical
code of conduct during the Mauryan Empire.
o Kalidasa’s work: The court poet Vikramaditya wrote about the societal condition
of the Shunga dynasty and the Gupta period. He was regarded as the greatest
poet and dramatist in Sanskrit literature.
o Aryabhatta’s work: Aryabhatta, the great mathematician who gave the world the
numeral zero and popularised the Hindu-Arabic numeral system in the world, also
did deep research in the field of astronomy. His documented work is evidence of
technological and scientific developments in society since then.
o NatyaShastra of Bharat Muni: It is a book on dance, dramas, and musical
theater, written in Sanskrit. It developed creative writing in India since the Maurya
period. Sage Bharata Muni is credited with writing the book.
o Tholkappiyam: It is the oldest long piece of Tamil literature still in existence and
the earliest existing Tamil grammar text. It is a thorough grammar work that also
 covers sutras on sentence form, the importance of context in language, spelling,
morphology, phonology, etymology,

FOREIGN SOURCES

Foreign Sources refer to those sources which were written or documented by foreign
visitors describing the social and religious context from their point of view.

In antiquity, many immigrants from Greece, the Arab world, West Asia, and China visited
India. These tourists left a lot of records of the events they witnessed.

ROMANS AND GREEKS ACCOUNTS

o Herodotus: He is regarded as the world's first historian. He made mention of

Indian combatants battling with Persians. when the Persians and Greeks were at
war.
o Pliny: He discussed the commercial connections connecting Romans and Indians,
as well as Indian flora and animals, in his work "Natural Historia."

CHINESE ACCOUNTS

o Fa-Hien: He arrived in India in the fifth century AD, during the Gupta era. He was
indeed a Buddhist monk who travelled to India in order to learn more and explore
Buddhist historical sites. He wrote "Records of Buddhist Countries," a book that
describes Northern India's civilization and culture during the Gupta era, during his
3 years of trip.
o I-tsing: He was a Buddhist monk who also shared insightful knowledge about
Indian society,

ARAB ACCOUNTS

o Albiruni: He is a philosopher from Iran. Mahmud Ghazni, the conqueror who

sailed into India, accompanied Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al Biruni with him. During
his 13 years in India, he travelled through the majority of the country and studied
Indian and Sanskrit literature. In his work, "Taqeeq-e-Hind," he discussed the
circumstances and culture.
o Al-Masudi: In the years 941 and 943 A.D., he lived in India for 2 years. In his
writing, he discussed Rashtrakutas.

ARCHAEOLIGICAL SOURCES: