(Online Course) History for IAS Mains: Sources - Archaeological sources

Sources

Answer. The greatest handicap in the treatment of history of ancient India, both political and cultural, is the absence of a definite chronology. The literary genius of India, so fertile and active in almost all branches of study, was somehow not applied to chronicling the records of kings and the rise and fall of the states. Ancient India did not produce historians like Herodotus and Thucydides of Greece or Levy of Rome and Turkish historian AI-beruni. We have a sort of history in the Puranas. Though encyclopedic in contents, the Puranas provide dynastic history up to the beginning of the Gupta rule. They mention the places where the events took place and sometimes discuss their causes and effects. Statements about events arc made in future tense, although they were recorded much after the happening of the events. Thus inscriptions and coins become very important to reconstruct early Indian history.

Inscriptions were carved on seals, stone pillars, rocks, copper plates, temple walls and bricks or images. In the country as a whole the earliest inscriptions were recorded on stone. But in the early centuries of Christian era copper plates began to be used for the purpose. The earliest inscriptions were written in Prakrit language in the 3" century BC. Sanskrit was adopted in the second century AD. Inscriptions began to be composed in regional languages in the 9's and 10°i centuries. Most inscriptions bearing on the history of Maurya, Post-Maurya and Gupta times have been published in a series of collection called "Corpus Inscriptionum Indicaum". The earliest inscriptions are found on the seals of Harappa belonging to about 2500 B.C. and written in pictographic script but they have not been deciphered. The oldest inscription deciphered so far was issued by Ashoka in third century BC. The Ashokan inscriptions were first deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837.

We have various types of inscriptions. Some convey royal orders and decisions regarding social, religious and administrative matters to officials and people in general. Ashokan inscription belong to this category, others arc routine records of the followers of different religious. Still other types eulogize the attributes and achievements of the kings and their persons. The inscriptions engraved by emperors or kings are either prosthesis composed by court writers or grants of land assigned to individuals. Among the prismatic of emperors, the most prominent are the prasharti of Samudra Gupta engraved on Ashokan pillar at Allahabad. This was prepared by his court poet, Harisena, the Hathigumpa-Prashast' inscription of king Kharavela of Kalinga. Some of the notable inscriptions are - the Nasik inscription of King Gautami Balasree, the Gwalior inscription of King Bhoja, the Girnar inscription of King Rudradaman, the Aihole inscription of the Chalukaya King Pulkesinll, the Bhitri and Nasik inscriptions of the Gupta ruler Skanda Gupta and the Deopara inscription of the Scan ruler Vijaya Sen. The inscriptions which were used for the grants of lands were mostly engraved on copper plates. These inscriptions besides many more, of private individuals or local officers have furnished us with the names of various kings, boundaries of their kingdoms and sometimes useful dates and clues to many important events of history.

Thus inscriptions have been found very much useful in finding different facts of the history of ancient India. The history of Satavahana rulers is fully based on their inscriptions. In the same way, the inscriptions of the rulers of South India such as that of Pallava, the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas, the Cholas, and the Pandayas have been of great help in finding historical facts of the rule of their respective dynasties. Certain inscriptions found outside India have also helped in finding facts concerning the history of ancient India. One among such inscriptions is that of Bhagajakoi in Asia Minor, which was inscribed in 1400BC.

The study of coins, called numismatics, is considered as the second most important source for reconstructing the history of India. Coins are mostly found in hoards. Many of these hoards containing not only Indian coins but also those minted abroad, such as Roman coins have been discovered in different parts of the country. Coins of major dynasties have been catalogued and published. The punched mark coins are the earliest coins of India and they bear only symbols on them. These have been found throughout the country. But the later coins mentioned the name of kings, gods and dates. The area where they are found indicate the region of their circulation. This has enabled us to reconstruct the history of several ruling dynasties, especially of the Indo-Greeks. Coins also throw significant light on economic history. Some coins were issued by the guilds and merchants and goldsmiths with the permission of the rulers. This shows that craft and commerce had become important. Coins helped transactions on a large scale and contributed to trade. We get the largest number of coins in post-Maurya times. These were made of lead, pour, copper, bronze, silver and gold. The Guptas issued the largest number of gold coins. This indicates that trade and commerce flourished during post Maurya and a good part of Gupta times. But the fact that only a few coins belonging to post-Gupta times indicate the decline in trade and commerce in that period.

In conclusion, careful collection of materials derived from texts, coins, inscriptions, archaeology etc is essential for historical construction. These raise the problem of relative importance of the sources. Thus, coins and inscriptions are considered more important than mythologies found in the Epics and the Puranas.