International Accounts

Indigenous literature may be supplemented by overseas accounts. To India got here the Greek, Roman and Chinese language guests, both as travellers or leligious converts, and so they left behind accounts of the issues that they noticed It’s remaik- ready that Alexander’s invasion finds no point out in Indian souices, and it’s totally on the idea of the Greek sources that we’ve got to leconstruct the historical past of his Indian exploits.

The Gieek guests point out Sandiokottas, a recent of Alexander the Nice who invaded India in 324 B C. Prince Sandrokottas is recognized with Chandragupta Maurya, whose date of accession is mounted at 322 B C This identification has served because the sheet-anchoi in historic Indian chronology The Indika of Megas- thenes, who got here to the courtroom of Chandragupta Maurya, has been preserved solely m fragments quoted by subsequent classical writeis. These fragments, when lead collectively, furnish useful info not solely concerning the system of Maurya administration but in addition about social courses and financial actions within the Maurya interval. The Indika shouldn’t be free fiom credulity and exaggerations, however that is true of many different historic accounts.

Greek and Roman accounts of the primary and second centuries

Greek and Roman accounts of the primary and second centuries A.D point out many Indian ports and enumerate objects of commerce between India and the Roman Empire. The Penplus of inscriptions. They specify the years in the course of the reign of a king by which vital occasions happen A number of eras, in response to which occasions have been recorded, have been began in historic India. The Vikrama Samvat started in 58 B.C., the Saka Samvat in A.D 78; and the Gupta period in AD 319, Inscriptions document occasions within the context of time and place, and the Puranas and biographical works focus on the causes and effecl.s of an occasion. All these are indispensable to historic reconstruction, however they aren’t present in any systematic kind within the Puranas

Indians show appreciable lustoucal sense in biographical writings which began with the composition of the Harshacharita by Bunabhatta in thq seventh century. It’s a semi-biographical work written in ornate fashion, which grew to become the despair of latei imitatois It describes the early profession o( Harshavardhana Though filled with exaggerations, it offers qn wonderful concept of the courtjifc beneath Harsha and the social and spiritual life uj his in the past. Later a number of different charitas or biographies have been wntlen Sandhyakara Nandi’s Ramachaiita nan ales the story of battle between the Kaivarta peasants and the Pala prince Ramapala, ensuing within the latter’s victory. Bilhana’s Vikranumkailevachanla lccounls the achievements of his patron, Vikramaditya VI (1076-1127), theChalukya king of Kalyan Lvcn the biographies (cluiiitu) ol some retailers of Gujarat have been written within the twelfth-thirteenth centuries A.D However the most effective instance of the earliest historic writing is piovided by the Rajata- rangini oi ‘The Stream of Kings’ written by Kalhana within the twelfth century It’s a string of biographies of the kings of Kashmir, and may be thought-about to be the primary woik which possesses a number of traits of historical past as it’s understood in our occasions.