10.ANCIENT INDIA: SOURCES, LITERATURE AND SCIENCE
INFORMATION SOURCES FOR ANCIENT INDIA
Indian literary sources
Source | Author | Language | Date | Notes |
Veda Samhitas | Various | Sanskrit | 1st m. BCE | Gives account of life of people in addition to philosophy, religion etc |
Arthashastra | Chanakya | Sanskrit | 4th c. BCE | Covers Mauryan period under Chandragupta Maurya Treatise on statecraft, economy and military strategy |
Sangam literature | Various | Tamil | c. 600 BCE – 300 CE | Primarily Dealt with everyday themes |
Foreign literary sources
Source | Author | Language | Date | Notes |
Indika | Megasthenes | Greek | 4th c. BCE | Ambassador of Seleucus I to court of Chandragupta Maurya Used by later writers Strabo and Arrian Describes geography, politics, various kingdoms, caste system |
Indica | Arrian | Greek | 1st c. CE | Considered one of most important sources about India Covers travel of Alexander’s officer Nearchus from India to Babylon Covers geography, esp. Indus and Ganges Describes social structure Describes seven castes, physical appearance, absence of slavery Used Indika (Megasthenes) as source |
Geographica | Strabo | Greek | 1st c. CE | Descriptive history of people and places all over the world Consists of 17 volumes of material |
Fa-Hien | Chinese | Around 400 CE | Travelled to India/Ceylon to obtain Buddhist scriptures |
Epigraphical sources
Note that more than 55% of epigraphical inscriptions in India are in Tamil
Inscription | Location | Attributed to (date) | Notes |
Indus valley inscriptions | IVC | c. 2600 – 1900 BCE | Indus script remains undeciphered |
Edicts of Asoka | All over India | Asoka 3rd c. BCE | In Praktrit, Sanskrit, Greek |
Heliodorus pillar | Besnagar (Madhya Pradesh) | c. 110 BCE | In Sanskrit (Brahmi) Dedicated by Heliodorus to god Vasudeva Heliodorus was the Ambassador of Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to court of Sunga king Bhagabhadra Describes relationship b/w Sungas and Indo-Greeks |
Hathigumpha incription | Udayagiri (Orissa) | Kharavela (Kalinga) (150 BCE) | In Prakrit (Brahmi script) Main source of info about Kharavela Mentions conflict with Demetrius Mentions conflict with Uttarapatha |
Rabatak inscription | Rabatak (Afghanistan) | Kanishka 127-151 CE | In Bactrian (Greek script) Describes Kushan dynasty |
Halmidi inscription | Halmidi (Karnataka) | c. 450 CE | Oldest inscription in Kannada (Brahmi script) |
LITERATURE IN ANCIENT INDIA
Important ancient Sanskrit literature
Work | Category | Author (date) | Notes |
Mahabharata | Epic | Vyasa | |
Ramayana | Epic | Valmiki | |
Ashtadhyayi | Treatise on grammar | Panini (5th -4th c. BCE) | One of the earliest known grammars of Sanskrit |
Nirukta | Treatise on grammar | Yaksa | |
Mrichakatika | Play | Shudraka (2nd c. BCE) | Set in Pataliputra Hindi film Utsav was based on this |
Karnabhara, Charudatta | Play | Bhasa (1st BCE – 4th CE) | Bhasa wrote about 13 plays He is considered to be one of most important Sanskrit authors (after Kalidasa) |
Urubhanga | Play | Bhasa | Based on Mahabharata Depicts story of Duryodhana after fight with Bhima |
Madhyamavyayoga | Play | Bhasa | Based on the Mahabharata |
Malavikagnimitram | Play | Kalidasa (4th -5th CE) Gupta period | Tells the story of King Agnimitra falling in love with servant girl Malavika Agnimitra was the son and successor to Pushyamitra Sunga |
Abhijanasakuntalam | Play | Kalidasa | Tells story of king Dushyanta and his marriage to Shankuntala Considered to be Kalidasa’s most popular play |
Vikramaorvasiyam | Play | Kalidasa | Story of king Pururavas in love with celestial Urvashi |
Raghuvamsa | Poetry | Kalidasa | Kings of Raghu dynasty |
Kumarasambhava | Poetry | Kalidasa | Story of birth of Karthikeya |
Rtusamhara | Poetry | Kalidasa | Describes six seasons using context of love |
Meghaduta | Poetry | Kalidasa | Story of a Yaksha sending a message to his lover through a cloud One of Kalidasa’s most popular poems |
Ratnavali | Play | Harshavardhana (590-647 CE) | Story of king Udayana and princess Ratnavali Contains one of the earliest references to festival Holi |
Nagananda | Play | Harshavardhana | Describes prince Jimutavahana’s self-sacrifice to save serpents |
Priyadarsika | Play | Harshavardhana | |
Kiratarjuniya | Poetry | Bharavi | Describes contest b/w Arjuna and lord Shiva |
Shishupala Vadha | Poetry | Magha |
Important ancient literature in Tamil
Note that Sangam literature itself contains about 2400 poems by more than 470 poets. For obvious reasons, not all of them can be listed here
Work | Category | Author | Notes |
Ettuthokai | Poetry | Various (600 BCE- 300 BCE) | Part of Sangam literature Ettuthokai contains 8 anthologies: Ainkurunuru, Akananuru, Purananuru, Kalittokai, Kuruntokai, Narrinai, Paripatal, Patirrupattu Each of these anthologies in turn contain hundreds of poems by multiple authors Deals with two themes: Akam (personal life) and Puram (war, politics) |
Pathupattu | Poetry | Various | Part of Sangam literature Pathupattu contains 10 idylls (mid length books): Tirumurugattruppatai, Kurinjipattu, Malaipatukatam, Maturaikkanji, Mullaipattu, Netunalvatai, Pattinappalai, Perumpanatrupatai, Porunaratruppatai, Sirupanatrupatai Deals mainly with themes of nature |
Tolkappiyam | Grammar | Tolkappiyar | Earliest available work of Tamil literature |
Aimperumkappiyam | Epics | Various | Collection of five large narrative epics The five epics were: Silappadhigaram, Manimegalai, Sivaka Chintamani, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi Specific epics described below |
Silappadhigaram | Epic | Ilango Adigal (1st c. CE) | Describes story of Kannagi in her quest to save husband Kovalan Describes in detail life, politics, trade, settlements of Greeks etc Story evolves in themes of three: three kingdoms, three heroes, three heroines etc Considered one of most important ancient Tamil literature |
Manimegalai | Epic | Seethalai Sathanar (1st-2nd c. CE) | Story of Manimegalai, daughter of Kovalan Sequel to Silappadhigaram |
Sivaka Chintamani | Epic | Tirutakkatevar | Story of man who becomes king and then renounces throne |
Valayapathi | Epic | Unknown | Work lost |
Kundalakesi | Epic | Nagakuthanar | Original work lost, only fragments survive Supposedly describes story of Buddhist monk Kundalakesi |
Tirukkural | Ethics | Thiruvalluvar | Couplets of ethics Contains 1330 couplets Thirukkural remains the book translated into most number of languages in the world |
SCIENCE IN ANCIENT INDIA
Work | Subject | Author | Notes |
Vedanga Jyotisha | Astrology | Lagadha (1st c. BCE) | Describes rules for tracking motion of sun and moon |
Yavanajataka | Astrology | Sphujidvaja 1st-2nd c. CE) | Translated it mean “Nativity as per the Greeks” It is a collection of astrology-related ideas borrowed from Greek world Gives rules for building horoscopes |
Surya Siddhanta | Astronomy | Establishes rules to determine motions of stellar objects | |
Paulisa Siddhanta (Doctrine of Paul) | Astronomy | Based on works of Paul of Alexandria (c. 378 CE) | |
Romaka Siddhanta (Doctrine of the Romans) | Astronomy | Based on works of Rome It is the only Indian work based on the tropical system | |
Vasishta Siddhanta | Astronomy | Attributed to sage Vasishta | |
Panchasiddhantika | Astronomy | Varahamihira (c. 550 CE) | Work that compares five treatises on astronomy viz. Surya Siddhanta, Paulisa Siddhanta, Romaka Siddhanta, Vasishta Siddhanta and Paitamaha Siddhanta |
Sulba sutras | Mathematics | Baudhayana (c. 800 BCE), Apasthamba (c. 600 BCE), Katyayana (c. 200 BCE) | Baudhayana enumerated the Pythagoras theorem. He also described square root of 2 and geometric shapes such as squares and rectangles Apasthamba and Katyayana developed these principles further |
Chandahsastra | Mathematics | Pingala (4th-2nd c. BCE) | First known description of binary numeral system in the world Also describes Pascal’s triangle, binomial theorem and Fibonacci numbers |
Aryabhatiya | Astronomy, mathematics | Aryabhata (c 522 CE) | Introduced decimal value notation Describes heliocentric model of solar system Explained lunar and solar eclipses Gave duration of one year as 365 days 6 hrs 12 min 30 sec Gave value of pi (3.1416) Correctly calculated earth’s circumference as 24,835 miles Aryabhata’s principles are still in use for fixing the Hindu calendar Panchanga |
Mahabhaskariya | Mathematics, astronomy | Bhaskara I (c. 600 – 680 CE) | Representation of numbers in positional system Solved Wilson’s theorem and Pell equation |
Brahmasputasiddhanta | Mathematics, astronomy | Brahmagupta (c. 630 CE) | Describes solution of linear equation Solve system of simultaneous indeterminate equations Sum of series Introduced the concept of zero Formula for cyclic quadrilaterals Rebutted the idea that moon is farther from earth than the sun |
Literature
Author | Book |
Bhasa | Svapanavasavdattam |
Shudrak | Mrichchakatika |
Amarkosh | Amarsimha |
Iswara Krishna | Sankhya Karika |
Vatsyana | Kama Sutra |
Vishnu Gupta | Panchatantra |
Narayan Pandit | Hitopdesha |
Bhattin | Ravan Vadha |
Bhaivi | Kiratarjunyam |
Dandin | Daskumarachanta |
Aryabhatta | Aryabhattyan |
Vishakha Datta | Mudura Rakshasa |
Indrabhuti | Nanassiddhi |
Varahamihara | Panchasiddh antika, Brihad Samhita |
