Ancient India Sources

Ancient India Chapter 1 - Sources

Even though the Puranic genealogies may not be literally true, they are still important to reconstruct political history of ancient India. Comment.

Background discussion

In last few years, UPSC has started asking a lot of direct questions based on sources which are of historiographical interest. Specifically, with respect to Purana and Shruti literature, here are a few questions recently asked by UPSC

1.  Evaluate the contribution of the Puranas in disseminating secular knowledge among the masses in ancient India. [2013, 15m]

2.  How far can the ancient Indian Sruti literature be used as historical sources? [2015, 15m]

3.  How did early Indian historical tradition, as reflected in Itihasa-Purana, emerge? What are the distinctive features of this genre? [2018, 20 Marks]

Apart from shrutis and smritis in general and itihas-puranas, charitas, prashastis and other suchlike traditional accounts, there are very many sources from which one can glean historical information. Many of these works were composed by literate men, generally brahmanas, for consumption by the ruling elite. They were designed to proclaim and legitimize claims to power by new aspirants. They were also deployed to consolidate claims of more established rulers. However, apart from the authors and patrons, the vast sections of the population find little place within such narratives.

It may seem easy and fashionable to dismiss these works on account of their limitations. Yet, it is worth remembering that their significance has been debated for nearly two centuries, and that a critical appreciation of the traditions within which these texts were located can enrich our understanding of the past.

Initially, these texts were opened up for scrutiny using modern techniques of analysis in the colonial context. Works that purported to be itihasa-puranas were found wanting compared with histories produced in ancient Greece and Rome. It was used to argue that, as they lacked a sense of history, early Indians and by extension their descendants were intellectually inferior to their western counterparts. It led to a nationalist reaction, where virtually any and every textual tradition which had some semblance of chronological underpinnings, was valorised as embodying historical “fact.” These responses also have in turn been critically examined and questioned. 

Even though the Puranic genealogies may not be literally true, they are still important to reconstruct political history of ancient India. Comment.

Usefulness of the Puranas

Puranas are Hindu religious texts that contain narratives about the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, discourses on cosmology, geography and Hindu philosophy. Every Purana deals with five topics, viz. Sarga, Prati-Sarga, Vansa, Manvantara and Vanshacharita. It is the fifth topic which is useful for students of history. 

A lot of research has been done on the Puranas. In addition to a large number of articles written on the subject, the works of F.E. Pargiter are important. According to Dr. Winternitz, the Puranas are valuable to the historian of political history on account of their genealogies, even though they can only be used with great caution and careful discrimination. 

The major Puranas are 18 in number, but all of them are not equally important for historical purposes. As sources of History, we depend largely on the Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana, Matsya Purana, Brahma Purana and Bhavishya Purana.

One finds following types of genealogies in the Puranas. 

•  Lineages of sages. 

•  Genealogies of rulers – divided into before and after the onset of the Kaliyuga. The first category, delineating the original solar and lunar lineages, includes the heroes of the epics, and these are partly or entirely untrue. The second category of rulers are lesser mortals and they contain useful historical material. 

They describe the various kings who ruled in the Madhyadesh. They fill in the gap from the end of the epic age to the rise of Buddha. They refer to historical dynasties of Janapada and Mahajanapada era till Gupta and mention various dynasties like Haryanka, Shishunaga, Nanda, Maurya, Shunga, Kanva and Andhra etc.

Dr. V. A. Smith has shown that the Vishnu Purana is very reliable as regards the Mauryan dynasty and the Matsya Purana is reliable as regards the Andhra and Shishunaga dynasties. The Vayu Purana describes the rule of the Guptas as it was under Chandragupta I. 

At the end of the list of kings, certain Puranas give a series of dynasties of low and barbarian origin such as Abhiras, Gardabhas, Sakas, Yavanas, Tusaras, Hunas, etc.

Even though the Puranic genealogies may not be literally true, they are still important to reconstruct political history of ancient India. Comment.

Limitation of the Puranas and its counter-argument

It has been suggested by various modern historians like A.B. Keith that the genealogies of the Puranas were invented by some fertile brains of some people at the instance of and to please the reigning kings. However, there is nothing to support such a view. 

•  The Pauranik profess to tell the truth and they had nothing to gain from kings and their descendants who were already dead and gone. They had nothing to gain from the public in general. 

•  It would have been very difficult to compile the dynastic lists from pure imagination. The Sutas were interested in the work of preserving the texts of the Puranas and thus the Puranic Literature must have been faithfully preserved and transmitted. It seems that ancient royal genealogies were carefully studied, analysed and preserved by their custodians. 

Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that there are certain serious shortcomings in the Puranas.

•  History is mixed up with fables and folklore. The legends in the Puranas are religious and not historical. 

•  Some of the things given in the Puranas are based on hearsay and are not corroborated from other reliable sources.

•  At some places, the various Puranas give conflicting accounts.

•  In the dynastic lists, the Puranas themselves do not say that each successor in the list was a son or a relative of his predecessor. It is certain that in many cases the successor only belonged to the tribe of the predecessor and not to his family. There is some ambiguity there.

While studying the Puranas, we should neither be prejudiced nor credulous about the truth of the facts mentioned in them. Each fact should be studied, analysed and corroborate separately. 

Higher Order Analysis

All the Puranic genealogies, which in some cases run till about the 5th century CE, are constructed in the future tense. It could've been a strategy to suggest that these rulers were destined to rule (strategy for legitimation). 

Genealogies become particularly important when attempts are made to either contest or consolidate power. Invoking genealogies at such moments helps asserting status through illusion of stability and permanence.

Many of the rulers mentioned in the Puranic genealogies are known from other sources such as inscriptions and coins as well. At the same time, not all rulers who are known from other sources find place in these genealogies. Clearly, traditions of recording the names of rulers were widely prevalent, and were more or less systematised within the Puranic tradition.

One can also examine whether kinship is traced bilaterally (i.e. through both parents) or is patrilineal or (in some rare instances) matrilineal. One can also examine the positions assigned to elder and younger brothers in these texts. Thus, the genealogies often provide information about the kind of kinship networks that were valorised.

Even if such genealogies may not be completely true, their selective appeal to events and ancestors allow us to speculate on the circumstances in which such strategies of drawing on or even constructing a mythical past may have been important.