1. Division of Ancient History and Sources
Free Ancient India rapid revision notes for UPSC, APPSC and TGPSC. Original notes are presented below with their tables, images and visual aids preserved.
1. Division of Ancient History and Sources
1.1 Division of the Past
Historians divide the human past by the kind of evidence that survives. Ancient Indian history is studied in three broad phases.
Phase |
Evidence |
Example |
Prehistory |
No written records; only archaeological remains such as stone tools |
Stone Age cultures |
Protohistory |
Writing exists but is not yet deciphered; archaeology gives most knowledge |
Harappan (Indus) civilisation |
History |
Written records that can be read and checked |
From the Vedic and Mauryan periods onwards |
Remember
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1.2 The Stone Age Cultures
Age |
Rough period |
Tools and life |
Important sites |
Palaeo-lithic (Old Stone Age) |
From about 2 million years ago to about 10,000 BCE |
Hunter-gatherers; hand-axes, cleavers, choppers, later flakes and blades; discovery of fire |
Bhimbetka (MP), Attirampakkam (TN), Hunsgi (Karnataka), Belan valley (UP), Kurnool caves (AP) |
Meso-lithic (Middle Stone Age) |
About 10,000 to 6,000 BCE |
Microliths (tiny stone tools); hunting, fishing and herding; early animal domestication; rock paintings |
Bagor (Rajasthan), Adamgarh (MP), Sarai Nahar Rai and Mahadaha (UP), Langhnaj (Gujarat) |
Neo- lithic (New Stone Age) |
Began about 7000 BCE in the north-west; later elsewhere |
Polished stone tools, farming, pottery, settled villages, domesticated animals |
Mehrgarh (Balochistan), Burzahom (Kashmir), Koldihwa and Chirand (north India), Maski and Brahmagiri (Karnataka), Utnur (AP) |
Chalco-lithic Copper-Stone Age) |
About 3000 to 1000 BCE |
Use of copper along with stone; painted pottery; village farming; no iron |
Ahar-Banas (Rajasthan), Malwa (MP), Jorwe, Inamgaon and Daimabad (Maharashtra) |
Iron Age |
From about 1200 BCE |
Iron tools and weapons; forest clearing and the spread of farming |
Painted Grey Ware sites, Hallur (Karnataka), Megalithic sites (see Chapter 10) |
Points to remember
Robert Bruce Foote found the first Palaeolithic tool in India at Pallavaram near Madras in 1863; he is called the father of Indian prehistory.
Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh) has caves with rock paintings from the Mesolithic period and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2003).
The Narmada skull from Hathnora was discovered in 1982 by Arun Sonakia.
Mehrgarh (Balochistan, Pakistan) shows the earliest farming in South Asia and is a forerunner of the Indus civilisation.
Burzahom (Kashmir) had pit dwellings, and pet dogs were buried with their owners.
Koldihwa (Uttar Pradesh) gives early evidence of rice cultivation.
Daimabad is the largest site of the Jorwe culture, known for its bronze objects; Inamgaon is a well-planned Chalcolithic village on the Bhima river.
1.3 Sources of Ancient Indian History
Source |
What it gives |
Archaeological |
Excavated sites, buildings, tools, pottery, seals and ornaments |
Inscriptions |
Dated, official records of rulers, gifts and events |
Coins |
Rulers' names, titles, religion, economy and trade |
Literature |
Religious texts, epics, chronicles, plays and technical works |
Foreign accounts |
Descriptions by Greek, Roman, Chinese and other travellers |
1.4 Archaeological Sources
The Asiatic Society was founded in 1784 in Calcutta by Sir William Jones. He identified Sandrocottus in Greek accounts with Chandragupta Maurya, which gave Indian history its first firm date.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was set up in 1861 with Alexander Cunningham as its first Director General; he is called the father of Indian archaeology.
John Marshall (Director General 1902 to 1928) led the work that revealed the Indus civilisation (announced in 1924).
Mortimer Wheeler (Director General 1944 to 1948) brought the stratigraphic method of digging layer by layer; he excavated Arikamedu (1945) and Harappa (1946).
The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 protects monuments; the ASI works under the Ministry of Culture.
Dating methods
Method |
Use |
Radiocarbon (C-14) dating |
Measures the decay of carbon in organic material such as wood, bone and charcoal; developed by Willard Libby (1949); half-life about 5,730 years |
Stratigraphy |
Deeper layers are older than upper layers |
Dendro- chronology |
Dating from tree rings |
Thermo-luminescence |
Dating of fired clay such as pottery and bricks |
1.5 Inscriptions (Epigraphy)
Inscriptions are the most reliable source because they are dated and were made at the time of the events. They are carved on rocks, pillars, caves, temple walls and copper plates.
Scripts
Script |
Key Points |
Brahmi |
Written left to right; mother of most Indian scripts. Used in Ashoka's inscriptions; deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837 |
Kharosthi |
Written right to left; derived from Aramaic; used in north-west India (Ashoka's Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra edicts) |
Harappan script |
Undeciphered; seals read in boustrophedon style (alternate lines in opposite directions) |
Greek and Aramaic |
Used in some Ashokan inscriptions in Afghanistan, such as Kandahar |
Important inscriptions
Inscription |
Significance |
Ashoka's edicts |
Rock edicts, pillar edicts and minor edicts in Prakrit; mostly Brahmi; Rock Edict XIII describes the Kalinga war; the earliest deciphered royal inscriptions |
Piprahwa vase |
A Buddhist relic vase inscription in Brahmi; often cited as one of the earliest Brahmi records |
Hathigumpha inscription |
Of Kharavela of Kalinga, in Odisha |
Junagadh rock inscription |
Of Rudradaman I (about 150 CE); one of the first long Sanskrit inscriptions; mentions repair of the Sudarshana lake |
Besnagar Garuda pillar |
Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador, calls himself a devotee of Vasudeva; evidence of Bhagavatism |
Allahabad Pillar inscription |
A prashasti (praise poem) of Samudragupta by Harisena |
Mehrauli iron pillar |
Records a king Chandra, usually identified with Chandragupta II |
Aihole inscription |
Of Pulakeshin II by Ravikirti (634 CE); mentions his victory over Harsha |
Copper-plate land grants |
Record gifts of land and village administration, especially from the Gupta period onwards |
1.6 Coins (Numismatics)
Punch-marked coins (karshapanas) are the earliest Indian coins (from about the 6th century BCE), usually of silver, with symbols but no inscriptions.
Indo-Greek rulers issued the first coins with the ruler's portrait and a legend.
The Kushans issued many gold coins; Vima Kadphises started them.
Gupta gold coins are called dinaras; Samudragupta issued the "Veena" type.
Satavahana coins were mostly of lead.
Roman coin hoards in south India show active Indo-Roman trade.
1.7 Literary Sources
Brahmanical literature
Text |
Key Points |
Vedas |
Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva; the main source for the Vedic age |
Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads |
Rituals, forest texts and philosophy |
Epics |
Ramayana and Mahabharata, giving views of society and politics |
Puranas |
18 Mahapuranas; give genealogies of dynasties |
Dharmashastras and Smritis |
Laws and duties, such as the Manusmriti |
Arthashastra |
By Kautilya (Chanakya); deals with administration and statecraft in the Mauryan period |
Ashtadhyayi |
Grammar by Panini; also gives social and geographical information |
Mahabhashya |
By Patanjali; refers to Pushyamitra Shunga |
Mudrarakshasa |
Play by Vishakhadatta about Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya |
Malavikagnimitra |
Play by Kalidasa with a theme from the Shunga dynasty |
Harshacharita |
Biography of Harsha by Banabhatta |
Rajatarangini |
By Kalhana (12th century); history of Kashmir; regarded as the first real historical work in Sanskrit |
Buddhist and Jain literature
Text |
Key Points |
Tripitaka |
Three "baskets": Vinaya (monastic rules), Sutta (teachings) and Abhidhamma (philosophy), in Pali |
Jataka tales |
Stories of the Buddha's earlier births; show social and economic life |
Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa |
Sri Lankan Pali chronicles; give information about Ashoka and Buddhism in Sri Lanka |
Milindapanha |
Dialogue between the Indo-Greek king Menander (Milinda) and the monk Nagasena |
Buddhacharita |
Life of the Buddha by Ashvaghosha |
Jain Agamas and Kalpasutra |
Jain canon; the Kalpasutra is by Bhadrabahu |
Bhagavati Sutra |
Jain text that, like the Buddhist Anguttara Nikaya, lists the sixteen Mahajanapadas |
Sangam literature
Early Tamil poetry and grammar: Tolkappiyam, Ettuthogai (eight anthologies), Pattuppattu (ten idylls) and Pathinenkilkanakku.
Two Tamil epics: Silappadikaram by Ilango Adigal and Manimekalai by Sattanar.
Source for the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas, society and trade with Rome.
1.8 Accounts of Foreign Travellers
Writer |
Origin |
Account |
Herodotus |
Greek |
Called the "Father of History"; his Histories say India was a Persian province under the Achaemenids |
Megasthenes |
Greek |
Ambassador of Seleucus Nicator at Chandragupta Maurya's court; wrote Indica (survives only in quotations); described Pataliputra |
Strabo and Arrian |
Greek and Roman |
Strabo wrote Geography; Arrian wrote on Alexander and India |
Pliny the Elder |
Roman |
Natural History; complained of gold flowing from Rome to India |
Ptolemy |
Greek |
Geography (about 2nd century CE); describes Indian places |
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea |
Greek |
By an unknown sailor in the 1st century CE; describes Indian ports and trade |
Fa-Hien (Faxian) |
Chinese |
Visited India in the time of Chandragupta II (about 399 to 414 CE); wrote Fo-kuo-ki |
Hiuen Tsang (Xuanzang) |
Chinese |
Visited in the time of Harsha (629 to 645 CE); wrote Si-Yu-Ki; studied at Nalanda; called "Prince of Pilgrims" |
I-Tsing (Yijing) |
Chinese |
Came in the late 7th century CE; studied at Nalanda and described Buddhist monks' life |
Taranatha |
Tibetan |
Wrote a history of Buddhism in India (early 17th century) |
Al-Biruni |
Arab-Persian |
Wrote Tahqiq-i-Hind in the 11th century, with Mahmud of Ghazni |
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