Archaeological and literary Sources

Lord Curzon, British India's Viceroy, had remarked that ancient India had 'the greatest galaxy of monuments in the world.' The Archaeological Survey of India was established in 1861 by the British with Sir Alexander Cunningham as the first director-general. Known as the father of Indian archaeology, he set the ball rolling on archaeological studies in India. Sir John Marshall, appointed as director-general in 1902, was instrumental in identifying the ancient Indus Valley Civilization with the help of his deputies Daya Ram Sahni and R.D. Banerji. What follow are just a few examples of archaeological sources, which are by no means exhaustive. Archaeological sites & Archaeological digs

Of all the archaeological sites and digs, none has been as amazing as the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjodaro. These brought to light the existence of an ancient urban civilisation the Indus Valley Civilisation or Harappan Civilisation that existed about 5000 years ago. Dubbed as the prehistoric discovery of the 20th century, the discovery pushed the history of the subcontinent back by a further 2500 years. Kumrahar and Bulandibagh (in modern day Patna) are two of the archaeological sites linked to Pataliputra, the capital of the Mauryans (4th - 2nd century BC). While the former has remains of a pillared hall, the latter exhibits ruins of fortification. The majestic edict-bearing Ashokan pillars are testimony to the attempt to spread imperial ideologies of emperor Ashoka Maurya among the common people.

The archaeological site at Sanchi includes stupasA stupa is a dome shaped Buddhist monument housing the relics of the Buddha., pillars, shrines and sculptures, dating from 3rd century BC to 12th century AD, and gives extraordinary insight into the history of Buddhism. The site at Sarnath too provides knowledge on Buddhism as well as on Ashoka Maurya. The Buddhist stupa-monastery sites all over India were built over many centuries. They uncover the trail of evolution of religious thoughts and practices over the period, and the development and changes in architectural and sculptural styles. The Ajanta Caves (5th century AD) have rich sculptures and paintings, providing a glimpse into the societal life of those times. The ruins of Basarh (ancient Vaishali) reveal it to be an important administrative headquarters during the period of the Guptas. The site gives information related to the economic and commercial aspect of the times. The great Rajarajeshwara (Brihadishwara) temple in Tanjore, built during the 11th century AD, was the monument which helped historians piece together the history of the Cholas of Tamil Nadu. The Vishnu temple at Ankor Vat, Combodia, and the Buddhist Stupa at Borobodur, Java, provide evidence of the spread of Buddhist influence to south-east Asia. Inscriptions The study of inscriptions has been a very important source of Indian history from the time of Ashoka till the Delhi Sultanate period. The earliest inscriptions are those on the seals from the Indus Valley Cvilisation site, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. They are written in some form of pictographic script (as a collection of pictures), but have not yet been deciphered. Brahmi Script: It is the mother script of all modern India scripts (viz. Devanagari, Tamil, Bengali), except Urdu. It was read from left to right. Karoshthi Script: An early Indian script, read from right to left, and derived from Aramaic script, which was used in the middle-east as far back as 9th century BC. It was popular under the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Parthians and the Kushanas. The script declined and vanished around 3rd century AD. The earliest deciphered inscriptions have been traced back to the 4th - 3rd century BC. Most have been issued by Ashoka as edicts inscription on pillars and rocks spreading his concept of dharma. These inscriptions were in the Brahmi script, except for those in the north-western corners of his empire, which were in Karoshthi script. The thirteenth rock edict of Ashoka expresses his remorse after the Kalinga war, and indicates his change of heart away from the warpath towards peaceful relations. The Lumbini pillar inscription is a commemorative inscription recording Ashoka's visit to Lumbini, which helped historians identify the birth place of the Buddha.

Apart from edicts, inscriptions may take the form of prashastisA prashasti is an inscription written in praise of something or someone, generally a king.. The Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman and the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta are examples. The prashastis give details about the dynasties and the kings, although they do tend to exaggerate.

Fig 3: Brahmi script from Kanheri Caves. (Source: Wikipedia, Early Indian epigraphy) From the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta (composed by his courtier Harisena), we get an idea of Samudragupta's conquests and the extent of his empire. It also conveys, for the first time, a new kind of political strategy employed by Samudragupta for the far reaches of his empire, in which the vanquished kings retained their kingdoms in return for services like tributes. Incidentally, the Allahabad pillar also contains an edict from Ashoka. Examples of donative inscriptions are the copper plate inscriptions of land grants of the Cholas and Vijayanagara kingdom of the South, providing valuable information about those dynasties. But the initial knowledge about the existence of the Cholas themselves, as well as their rivals the Pandyas and the Cheras, had come from rock inscriptions of Ashoka. Inscriptions have been useful in informing about the political, administrative and revenue systems, particularly for the medieval period (6th - 13th century AD). They have also helped identify and date historical structures like sculptures. Coins

Fig 4: Punched-marked Mauryan coin. (Adapted from: Wikipedia, Indian Coinage) The earliest coins of India were punched-marked coins made from silver or copper with symbols punched on them. They seem to have originated as far back as 6th century BC. During the Mauryan period, they had become the established currency of the subcontinent. According to some historians, punched-marked coinage was developed indigenously without any foreign influence. The cast copper coins started around 5th century BC, and were issued by local kingdoms till the 3rd century BC. They have been found all over the subcontinent except for the South, and overlapped the period of the punched-marked coins. The superior die-struck coins made their appearance in 4th century BC. The die-struck coins of the IndoGreeks (2nd - 1st century BC) were generally in silver and very well-made, bearing the name and portrait of the issuing ruler, with the reverse usually having religious symbols. It was the Indo-Greeks who introduced the practice of inscribing portrait heads into the Indian coinage system. The Greek influence was heavy in these coins. With the passage of time, particularly during the period of the Kushans (1st - 4th century AD), strong Indian influence could be seen in the coins, merging with the Greek form. The Kushans were the first to issue large quantities of gold coins. They also issued copper coins of low values. The Golden Age of the Guptas brought coinage up to an entirely new level. Made of gold, these diestruck coins were of many varieties and had classical Sanskrit inscriptions. Known as dinaras, and have been mostly found in the north With the firm establishment of the Delhi Sultanate (13th - 16th AD) pictorial motifs began to disappear from the coins, as image engraving was forbidden by Islamic faith. The coins henceforth had only inscriptions, with the king's name, title and the date according to the Hijri calendarThe Hijri calendar, or the Islamic or Muslim calendar, begins from 622AD, marking the flight of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina..

Fig 5: The rupiya, released by Sher Shah Suri, was the first rupee. (Adapted from: Wikipedia, History of the rupee)

Sher Shah Suri introduced important innovations into the coinage system. He started new standard weights for silver and copper coins, which were known as the rupiya (later rupee) and daam respectively, and also substantially increased the number of mints. These innovations finally reached perfection under Akbar of the Mughal dynasty, who also used the coinage to propagate his new faith. The Mughals maintained high standards of purity of its gold and silver coins and artistry in their design. Coins are important indicators of economic prosperity of the ancient states. Wide distribution of coins reflect flourishing trade and commerce, as was the case during the Kushan period. Ships on Satavahana coins are pointers to maritime trade during the period. The discovery of a large number of Roman coins in the maritime trade centers like Arikamedu of South India gives evidence of flourishing trade and commerce with the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD. Changes in coinage patterns are a reflection of political changes. Coins are very important sources of political history particularly from 200 BC to 300 AD. They are almost the only source of information for the Bactrian, Indo-Greek and the Indo-Parthian dynasties. Religious symbolism on coins provide evidence of the religious inclination of the state. During the Kushan period, the cult of Shiva was evident in the coins of Kadphises, while those minted during the reign of Kanishka depicted Buddha.

SOURCES FOR STUDYING MEDIEVAL INDIA

SOURCES FOR STUDYING MEDIEVAL INDIA LITERARY SOURCES State papers and official or private documents written in Persian provide much information for reconstructing the history of the period. Though most of it has been lost, those found in private collections throw much light on the administration, economy and society of the time. Chronicles Chronicles have provided ample information with regard to the history of medieval India. 'Minhajus-Siraj's Tabaqat-i-Nasiri gives useful information regarding the slave dynasty of Delhi up to the year 1267 AD. Zia-uddin Barani's Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi gives the history of the first si~ years of Firuz Shah Tughlaq's reign. Firuz Shah's own composition, Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi gives a record of his administrative achievements. Isami's Futah-us Salatin deals with the period extending from the rise of the Ghaznavids to the reign of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq. Babur's famous Memoirs originally written in Turki gives important information about the natural environs of the country. The Memoirs of Jahangir is an excellent source of history. Gulbadan Begum's Humayun-nama gives insight into the affairs of the royal harem. Abul Fazal's Ain-i-Akbari and Akbar-nama are the two most important works dealing with the reign of Akbar. Another important contemporary work is Badauni's Muntakhab-ul-Tawarikh. Two official chronicles i.e., Padishahnama and Alamgir-nama cover the reign of Shah Jahan and the early years of

Aurangzeb's reign. For the latter part of Aurangzeb's reign there is the Masir-iAlamgiri. Khafi Khan's Muntakhab-ul-Lubab supplies us with many facts which were earlier suppressed by Aurangzeb.The defects of the Persian chronicles are: (i) lack of objectivity, bias towards royalty; (ii) lack of interest in common people. Foreign travellers Travellers from abroad give us interesting information regarding the political, social and economic conditions in medieval India. AIBeruni's account of India during Sultan Mahmud Ghazni's conquest in his Kitab-ulHind is considered to be the finest foreign account of medieval India. Marco Polo who visited South India in the latter part of the thirteenth century has given useful information. The best known foreigners who visited India during the pre-Mughal period were the Moroccan, Thn Batuta, an Italian, Nicolo Conti, who visited Vijayanagar around AD 1294, a Persian, Akbar Razzaq who was the ambassador of Shah Rukh of Samarqand at the court of the Zamorin of Calicut and visited the Vijayanagar kingdom (around AD 1442), and a Russian, Athanasius Nikitin who visited South India in AD 1470. From the sixteenth century onwards, the European travellers who came to Iridia have left a mine of information for us. The works of Jesuit missionaries and European travellers like Barbosa, Ralph Fitch, Roe, Taverneir, Berneir, and Manucci have described the conditions of the people, the state of trade and commerce, and the magnificence of the court and the camp. COINS Coins have given useful information regarding the state of polity and economy during the Sultanate and Mughal periods. The coins of Muhammad-binTughlaq have revealed much about his reign and his kingdom. The coins of provincial rulers such as those of Bengal, for instance, with their dates and mintmarks, are specially valuable as resources of information not fully dealt with in the general chronicles. EPIGRAPHIC SOURCES Inscriptions are of greater use for the pre-Mughal rather than the Mughal period. The reigns of the Bengal Sultans, Shams-ud-din Firuz, Ala-uddin Firuz, and the Nizam Shahi king, Burhan m, have been established by studying inscriptions alone. The Bengal Sultanate, especially from the 14th to 16th centuries, has been understood solely on the basis of epigraphic sources. In many an instance, the full titles of kings and queens and the history of minor dynasties have been revealed by studying inscriptions. The inscriptions that reveal India's medieval history throw light on political aspects as well as social life. MONUMENTS Monuments testify to the growth of material prosperity and the development of culture. They do not help us much in constructing political history.