CreatureHistory

4. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources

3. Literary Sources

5. Archaeology Dating Methods

6. UGC NET JRF Latest Syllabus

1. Wonder That Was India

History Factsheet -2

1. Friedrich Max Muller was the first European to designate Aryans as a race.

2. Milk and its products were used by the Vedic Aryans as a staple food.

3. Epic Mahabharata talk about battle of Mahabharata which is believed to have been fought at Kurukshetra for 18 days.

4. Ashram system of Vedic period was four stages of life of a human. They are as follows in ascending order:

(a).Brahamcharya (i.e. Student life)

(b).Grihastha (i.e. Family life)

(c).Vanaprastha (i.e. Retired life)

(d).Sanyasa (i.e. life of Renunciation).

5. Religious book “Shrimad Bhagavad Gita” originally written in – Sanskrit language.

6. Purusha sukta is hymn (10.90) of the Rigveda. It is a most commonly used Vedic Sanskrit hymn. It is recited in almost all Vedic rituals and ceremonies.

7. Important Buddhist Anupali Texts are:

(a).Divyavadan –contains stories of later Mauryan kings & Shunga king and life of Gautam Buddha.

(b).Aryamanjushrimulkalpe –contains political events of Pre-Mauryan period to Vardhana period.

(c).Lalit Vistar –contains acts of Gautama Buddha along with religious and social conditions of that time.

8. Important Buddhist Pali Texts are:

(a).Tripitaka –earliest and most important texts, throws light on social and religious life of India of that time. It comprises three pitakas namely, Vinaya pitaka, Sutta pitaka and Abhidhamma pitaka.

(b).Deep Vansha –compiled in 4^th century AD in Sri Lanka.

(c).Maha Vansha –compiled in 5^th century AD in Sri Lanka.

(d). Milindpannaho –also known as “Questions of Milind”, is a dialogue between greek king Milind (Menander, a Indo-Greek ruler) and Buddhist monk Nagasena (Nagarjuna).

9. Vinaya Pitaka – contains disciplinary rules and regulations for leading a monastic life, compiled in 1^st Buddhist council held in Rajagriha, Bihar (483BC).

10. Sutta Pitaka –largest and most important text among tripitakas as,

(a).Ambattha sutta of Digh Nikaya of Sutta pitaka contains description of special pride of Kshatriya for blood purity.

(b).Anguttara Nikaya of Sutta pitaka contains list of 16 Mahajanpadas.

(c).Jataka (stories) of Khuddaka Nikaya of it contains 549 folk tales of previous births of Gautama Buddha.

11. Sutta Pitaka was compiled in 1^st Buddhist council held in Rajagriha, Bihar (483BC).

12. From sceneries curved on railings of Bharahuta stupa & Sanchi stupa, we know that the compilation of Jataka had been begun in 1^st century BC.

13. Abhidhamma pitaka –deals with doctrines of the Buddha in scholastic manner. It was compiled in 3^rd Buddhist council held in Pataliputra, Bihar (250BC).

References:

2. India's Ancient Past

3. History of Ancient India

4. IGNOU Study Material

5. Indian Art & Culture

Also see:

1. Historical Sources

2. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources

3. Bharatvarsha

4. UGC NET JRF Latest Syllabus

5. UPSC Content

6. Inscriptions

7. Sabha and Samiti

History Factsheet Index

Exam Oriented One Liner

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Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources of History

Historical sources can be classified into Primary, Secondary and Tertiary sources on the basis of their originity. These classes are useful in understanding various historical sources and their authenticity.

1. Primary Sources

Primary sources are firsthand accounts created at the time of historical event occurred or are records of original ideas. Because they were created when or soon after the events happened, they are usually more useful to historians than secondary sources. Examples of primary sources are diaries, photographs, manuscripts, inscriptions, maps, arts, paintings, archaeological sites, etc.

Primary sources consists of information that has not been analysed, commented on or interpreted. It can be biased, depending on the viewpoint of the author as of other group of sources. It can be used when you need an exact account of event or idea without influence of other writers.

2. Secondary Sources

Secondary sources offer commentary, analysis or interpretation of primary sources. They are written many years after an event or by people not directly involved in the event. Historians draw on secondary sources either by quoting or paraphrasing in order to support certain claims that they're making/challenging or supplement prevailing interpretations that other historians have made in their works of historiography.

It can be biased, depending on the viewpoint of the author. For example, reviews, encyclopaedia, etc.

3. Tertiary Sources

Tertiary sources are those writings, books or articles based exclusively on secondary sources i.e. on the research of others. They are usually synthetic in nature that means, they pull together a number of separate but related accounts of a particular event, issue, body of scholarship, etc.

Tertiary sources are good starting point for the research projects as they help distill large amounts of information. Often tertiary sources contain footnotes that point researchers in promising directions with respect to the secondary sources. You are reading this article is a best example of tertiary source as we are writing this article by using various secondary sources.

1. Literary Sources

2. Archaeological Dating Methods

References

Also see:

1. Coins

5. Archaeological Exploration & Excavations

4. Literary Sources

Sabha & Samiti

We hear a lot about these two terms in Indian History; these were the popular tribal assemblies of ancient India.

These assemblies were one of the special feature of the Rigvedic polity. However, it is difficult to enumerate and distinguish the functions of the two organizations; both are mentioned in many passage of the Rig Veda. From Rig Veda we have traces that, the election of King was done by a tribal assembly of whole people called Samiti. The king was called the protector of his tribe. His primary task was to protect tribe and cattles, fought wars and offered prayers to the gods on behalf of people.

On the other hand, it is suggested that, Sabha was probably a Council of Elders or Nobles which acted as the National Judicature.

Also notes that, Sabha and Samiti were described in the Atharva veda as the twin daughter of Prajapati - the Creator.

Several tribal or kin-based assemblies such as the Sabha, Samiti, Vidatha and Gana are mentioned in the Rig Veda. They exercised deliberative military and religious functions. Even women's attended the Sabha and Vidatha in Rig Vedic times. The Sabha and Samiti mattered a great deal in early Vedic times, so much so that the chiefs or the kings showed an eagerness to win their support.

However, in Later Vedic times, the Rig Vedic tribal assemblies lost importance and royal powers increased at their cost. The Vidatha completely disappeared, while Sabha and Samiti continued to hold their ground but their character changed. They were now controlled by chiefs and rich nobles and women were no longer permitted to sit in Sabha which was now dominates by warriors and Brahmanas.

1. Vedanta

2. Purusharthas

3. Rina

4. Samskaras

5. Yajna

References:

Also see:

1. Coins

4. Excavation and Exploration in Archaeology

1. Excavation works, Ruined cities and other archaeology artefacts

History Factsheet - 1

1. " Study of Past" -History.

2. "The Father of History" -Herodotus.

3. "First Real Historian of the World" -Herodotus.

4. "The Father of Modern History " -Bishop William Stubbs.

5. "History repeats itself" - said by Hegel.

6. "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce" - said by Karl Marx.

7. "History is an unending dialogue between past and present" - said by E.H.Carr.

8. In India, Saka Samvata (i.e. Saka era which was reckoned from 78AD) is used in some government sectors customerly (officially - also called National Calendar), where as Gregorian calendar (which was introduced in 1582AD by Roman Pope Gregory XIII) is used everywhere practically.

9. Vedas are brahmanical religious texts. They are four in numbers and believed to be eternal origin (i.e. directly heared from God's/Cosmos by Rishis). So as they are part of Shruti Texts. They are as follows:

(I). Rig Veda - 1500BC to 1000BC in Sapta Saindhuv Region.

(II). Yajur Veda - 1000BC to 600BC in Kuru Panchalan Region.

(III). Sama Veda - 1000BC to 600BC in Kuru Panchalan Region.

(IV). Atharva Veda - 1000BC to 600BC in Kuru Panchalan Region.

10. "Number of Purans" - 18 Purans.

11. "Epic Ramayana" - written by Maharishi Valmiki.

12. "Epic Mahabharata" - written by Rishi Ved Vyas.

13. "Composing Time of 18 Purans & 2 Epics" - 400BC to 400AD.

References:

1. Wonder That Was India

2. India's Ancient Past

3. History of Ancient India

4. IGNOU Study Material

5. Indian Art & Culture

Also see:

1. Historical Sources

2. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources

3. Bharatvarsha

4. UGC NET JRF Latest Syllabus

5. UPSC Content

6. Inscriptions

7. Sabha and Samiti

History Factsheet Index

Exam Oriented One Liner

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Monuments: Commemorative Archaeological Sources of History

Monuments are a type of structure that was created to commemorate a person or event or which was become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times. So, we can define monuments in simple terms as, 'Commemorative Archaeological Sources of History'.

Monuments includes all artistic works concerned with architecture, sculpture, painting, etc. Through there study we know about the history of development of Arts. Besides this, it throws light on religious, socio-economic conditions of concerned times. For example, rock temples of Ajanta and Ellora with its sculptures and paintings Express the artistic finery of that period. Taj Mahal along with being a renowned symbol of love, it is also a symbol of Shah Jahan's wealth and power, and the fact that the empire had prospered under his rule.

Monuments can be classified into indigenous and foreign groups for a country. For example, in case of India, Dashavtar temple [Deogarh (U.P.) of Gupta period], Brihadishwar/Rajarajeshwar temple [Tanjore, built by Chola ruler Rajaraja I in 1000AD], etc. are indigenous monuments while Buddhist temple of Borobodur [Java Island, Indonesia built by ruler of Shailendra dynasty is a largest Buddhist temple in the World], Vaishnava temple of Angkor-Vat [Combodia, built by Suryavarma, the ruler of Kaundinya dynasty of Kambuj in 12th century A.D.], etc. are foreign monuments for India.

There are thousands of monuments are present today which tell us about the glory of past civilizations and their socio-religious-cultural lifestyle. Red Fort is the largest monument of Delhi (Capital of India) built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to serve as the palace fort for his capital Shahjahanabad (Old Name of Delhi). Red Fort is one of the top tourist places in Delhi and included in UNESCO World Heritage site. Every year, the Prime Minister of India hoists the National Flag at Red Fort on 15 August (Independence Day). You can watch video of Red Fort Complex below.

2. Exploration and Excavation

3. Literary Sources

4. Archaeological Dating Methods

References

Also see:

1. Coins

4. Literary Sources

2. Excavation works, Ruined cities and other archaeology artefacts

Coins (or Numismatics)

Coin is a small, flat, rounded piece of metal or other substances (material) used primarily as a medium of exchange (or legal tendor). Coins are the major archaeological source of history. The scientific study of coins is called Numismatics. Coins were used for various purposes such as donations, a mode of payment and a medium of exchange; that throws considerable light on economic history.

Ancient coins can be found on ground as well as unearthed by diggings. They were made of metals like copper, silver, gold, lead, potin. As they are legal tendor, coins provide important economic history. Coins give us information about some chronological issues as well. The areas where they are found indicate the extent of influence of particular ruler or kingdom and its relations with distant areas. For example, Roman coins discovered in India give us an idea about the existence of contacts with the Roman Empire.

Cowries were also used as coins however, their purchasing power was very low as compare to silver or gold or other kind of coins. They appear in substantial numbers in post-Gupta times, but may have been used earlier.

Coins helped transactions on a large scale and contributed to trade; and so speak about the economic situation of a particular period. For example, in case of India, largest number of coins dated to post-Maurya period. These coins were made of lead, potin, copper, bronze, silver and gold. The Gupta's issued largest number of Gold Coins. All this indicates that the trade and commerce flourished, especially in post-Maurya period and in a good part of Gupta period. However, only a few coins belonging to post-Gupta period have been found, which indicates a decline of trade and commerce in later period.

Earliest coins contain a few symbols, but later coins depict the figures of kings and divinities and also mention their names and dates. As figures of kings along with their name and dates tell us about period of their region; the areas where these coins are found indicating region of its circulation. This enable historian to reconstruct history of several ruling dynasties.

Portray of kings, God's, religious symbols and legends; all of these throws light on the art and religion of that time.

Some coins were also issued by Guilds of Merchants and goldsmiths with the permission of rulers. This shows that crafts and commerce had become important.

A large number of coins are preserved in museums all of the World. For example, Indian coins are preserved in museums at Calcutta, Patna, Lucknow, Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai and Chennai. Many Indian coins are found in the museums of Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Indian coins catalogue is also available in all over the World like in British Museum of London.

The punch marked coins are the earliest coins of India, also known as Aahat coins. The coinage of the Mauryan Empire was an example of the punch-marked coinage of Magadha.

The Samudragupta's Aswamedha coins, Lion-slayer coins give us an idea of Samudragupta's ambition and love of hunting.

1. Monuments

3. Exploration and Excavation

4. Literary Sources

References

Also see:

1. Bharatvarsha

4. Literary Sources

6. Archaeology Dating Methods

1. Excavation works, Ruined cities and other archaeology artefacts

UGC NET - History (Syllabus, Study Material & Reference)

Excavation and Exploration in Archaeology

In archaeology, exploration and excavation works play an important role. Exploration is the act of searching, for the purpose of discovery of information or resources. Archaeologists first explore new sites with the help of sources and modern technology like aerial photography, chemical analysis of soils, etc and then excavation work started.

So, the location of artefacts is generally done by identifying sites and collecting them from the surface of such sites and unearthing them by conducting excavations. In this process of exploration and selection of sites, earlier they were selected on the basis of oral traditions, mythological references, finds of certain items on the surface due to soil erosion or shapes of the mounds, etc. Now a days, many scientific methods are employed which provide some proof or indication of human habitation in the past. Some of these are as follows:-

1. Aerial photography which records the slightest change in the level of the ground surface. It also records differences in the colouring of the soil (i.e. soil markers) or the development vegetation (i.e crop markers), which are often due to buried Archaeological remains. This methods is more effective in open landscape and not in forested area.

2. Underwater prospection to detect wrecks of ships or submerged sites. Highly sophisticated equipments have been developed for this purpose (underwater television camera, bathyscaphes, etc.)

3. Magnetic detection of metal objects like ovens, hearths, field-in pits and wells, foundations, tombs and so on by means of equipment such as proton or caesium magnetometers, proton gradiometers, etc.

4. Detection of electrical anomalies in the subsoil caused by the presence of foundations (which reduce conductivity) or filled-in pits (which increase conductivity) by means of potentiometers designed to measure the resistivity of the subsoil.

5. Prospection by acoustic or seismic methods using instruments that register vibratory phenomena obtained by reflection, refraction or resonance following the sounding of the site or variable-frequency Hertzian wave transmission.

6. Chemical analysis of soils, especially the measurement of phosphate and potassium contents, makes it possible to detect soils on which humanity has left its mark (former dwelling sites).

With some other methods, even if modern techniques are followed it is mainly indicative and archaelogists have to make a physical inspection of the site to take a decision about excavation. Most of the sites are noticed accidentally through diggings for building construction, laying or roads or railway lines or cultivating land. For example, Harappan Civilization came to light when the contractors laying a railway line nearby decided to procure bricks from the mound and exposed it. After that, subsequent excavations revealed the earliest civilization of the subcontinent.

Excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. Excavation involves the recovery of several types of data from a sites. This data includes artifacts, burials, ruined cities, bones, etc.

There is always a possibility of finding artefacts from various layers of the same site. This generally happens when the same site is used and inhabited repeatedly by the succeeding generations. In such a situation as one goes deeper into digging one goes back in time. Many a times material remains may not be neatly available in different layers and their might be overlapping and mix-up of the available artefacts in different layers.

Excavation can be vertically or horizontally. Vertical excavation means lengthwise digging to uncover the period-wise sequence of cultures; it is generally confined to a part of the site. While horizontal excavation entails the excavator to obtain a complete idea of the site culture in a particular period. As most sites have been dug vertically, they provide a good chronological sequence of material culture. Horizontal diggings are very expensive. Excavations conducted at various sites in the valley of Indus River, Lothal in Gujarat, Kalibangan in Rajasthan give us knowledge of the civilization during c. 2700 B.C.

2. Literary Sources

3. Archaeological Dating Methods

References:

Also see:

1. Coins

4. Literary Sources

4. Excavation Works, Ruined Cities and other Archaeological Artefacts.

Inscriptions (or Epigraphy)

In general terms, inscriptions are writings or texts carved on solid objects as stone, pillars, walls, seals, temples, rocks, caves, forts, copper tablet, wooden tablet, bricks, etc. They are the most authentic, accurate and reliable archaeological evidences to know our past. The study of inscriptions is called Epigraphy.

Inscriptions represents various languages at different places and period of time. They were written in all languages like Prakrit, Pali, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telgu, etc. Most of them written in Brahmi script till 7th century A.D. afterthat, strong regional variations in script was seen.

On the basis of contents of inscriptions, they can be grouped as follows:

1. Administrative Inscriptions

2. Religious and Didactic Inscriptions

3. Eulogistic Inscriptions

4. Commercial Inscriptions

5. Magical Inscriptions

6. Donative Inscriptions

7. Commemorative Inscriptions

1. Administrative Inscriptions

These inscriptions give valuable information regarding the extent of the kingdom, administration, etc. Ashoka's edicts are a specimen of this group. The Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman I, Banskhera Copper plate inscription of Harsha, Sohgaura copper plate Inscription, are some other examples.

2. Religious and Didactic Inscriptions

These inscriptions give information about religious and moral matters of the time. Best speciem of this group of inscription is Ashoka's Edicts. Bhabru edict expresses Ashoka's faith in the Triratna of Buddhism. Rock edict X, XI and XII preached religious toleration, true charity and practicing Dhamma.

3. Eulogistic Inscriptions

These inscriptions give information about name and genealogy of the ruler, his military and political achievements, inter-state relations, the political ideas, his patronage and personal accomplishments. These inscriptions eulogise the achievements of kings and never speak of their defeats or weaknesses. So, they are very important from the political point of view. Ashoka's Edicts, Hathigumpha inscriptions of Kharavela of Kalinga and the Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudragupta are some of best examples. The Aihole stone inscription (Karnataka) of the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II written by Ravikirti, Girnar Rock inscription of Rudradaman, Mandasaur stone pillars inscription of Yasodharman, Nasik cave inscription of Usavadata, Gwalior prasati of King Bhoja, are some other examples.

4. Commercial Inscriptions

These inscriptions provide us information of commercial and trade. Their specimens are to be found on the seals of the Indus Valley. They mostly used as stamp to stamping goods.

5. Magical Inscriptions

These inscriptions contains magical formulas on them and used as amulets. These group of inscriptions were found in Harrappan seals. These seals represents various animals, trees and deities.

Note: The Harappan inscriptions were written in Pictographic Script and has not been deciphered yet.

6. Donative Inscriptions

These inscriptions deals with donations of caves or buildings to monks, land and villages to monks and priests, money to educational institutions, monasteries and brahmans.

7. Commemorative Inscriptions

These inscriptions were the record events like birth, death or other important events. Some of inscriptions in this group contain poetic compositions and dramatic works; they are termed as literary inscriptions due to these properties. For example, Rummindei inscription (Nepal), Sarnath inscription (U.P.), Dhauli inscription (Odisha), Jaugada inscription (Odisha) of Ashoka, it mentions that a huge stone pillar was erected and huge stone wall was constructed at the birthplace of Buddha (many years after his coronation).

So, Epigraphy throws light on the life lived in the past, the nature of society and economy and the general state of life as a reliable information source.

Next Article:

1. Coins or Numismatics

2. Monuments

3. Excavation works, Ruined cities and other archaeology artefacts

4. Exploration and Excavation

References

1. Wonder That Was India

2. India's Ancient Past

3. History of Ancient India

4. IGNOU Study Material

Also see:

1. Bharatvarsha

2. Historical Sources

3. Archaeological Sources

4. Literary Sources

5. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources

6. Archaeology Dating Methods

7. UGC NET JRF Latest Syllabus

Home

Excavation Works, Ruined Cities & other Archaeological Artefacts

In earlier articles, we learnt about classification of Archaeogical sources; which had classified into four broader category as

1. Inscriptions

2. Coins

3. Monuments, and

In this article we will learn about Excavation work, Runied cities and other Archaeological artefacts.

In history, exploration and excavation work played curcial role in finding archaeological sources, which helps us to reconstruct history. Exploration is the first task of historians and researchers to explore things relevant for their work. It motivate a historian to start Excavation work, if required. From these two primary tasks we will able to collect various kind of artefacts, inscriptions, coins, monuments or runied cities or sites; where ancients were lived once and using these artefacts. Today, we have a number of methods to explore a site and similarly methods and techniques are available to excavate these sites.

[Read Article on Exploration & Excavation to know more about Methods and techniques; here it is not relevant.]

If we talk about Ruined Cities, these are one of the first findings of exploration, (as exploration work certain us that this site may be habitat of some ancient civilizations). After that, excavation work begin and we see a number of artefacts of particular ancient civilization from that runied site. For example, Excavation works at Harappa (Pakistan), Mohen-jodaro (Pakistan) reveal about Great Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) which exist approximately 5000 years ago in Indian Subcontinent. It is after that discovery of IVC that we begun to talk of a civilization on Indian soil prior to Vedic time.

If we talk about Ruined city of Mohen-jodaro (situated in Larkana district of Sind, Pakistan), most of the information collection by excavation work shows a glorious history of India. We got knowledge of town planning, housing, sealings, metallurgy, casting, trade and commerce, etc. and all this indicates us about an urban society.

The excavation of Ataranjikhera indicate that in Gangetic valley of India, use of Iron begun in 1000B.C.

Apart from ruined cities we collect a number of other archaeological artefacts in the form of pottery, terracotta, wheel, coins, tablets, etc. These artefacts and sources may be founded during exploration work on the surface specially in case of inscriptions, monuments, buildings, paintings etc. Or founded by excavation works like coins, terracotta, seals, pottery, amulets, wheels, food grains, carbon footprints of milk, etc. The earliest dancing girl statue found in IVC is a good example.

Seal representing the mother Goddess as a plant growing from her womb; stone figurine of bearded man, has been found from Mohen-jodaro.

A large numbers of potteries were found at all IVC sites. They were experts in the use of Potter's wheel; their pottery was red and black, incised, polychrome and glazed. These pots were decorated with a variety of pleasing designs, floral and geometric, birds figures, animal figures and human figures. We found very vast number of goblets, drinking cups, stone jars from IVC sites. These artefacts reconstructing a history of well flourished urban society.

Conclusion:

Inscriptions, Coins, Monuments, Ruined Cities and other artefacts founded by exploration and excavation work are archaeological historical sources. From these sources and runied sites, we learn about material culture which was developed in that region in ancient time. They shows the layout of the settlement in which people lived, the types of pottery they used, the form of house in which they dwelt, types of cereals people ate, types of tools and implements used, buiral practices, religious practices, etc. and all of these findings worked as historical sources to reconstruct History of past.

1. Dating of Archaeological sources

2. Literary sources

3. Foreign Accounts

4. Geographical factors in History

5. Periodization in History

References:

5. Indian Art & Culture

Also see:

1. Rina

3. Varnasrama

4. Vedanta

12. Exploration and Excavation in Archaeology

8. UPSC Content

9. Inscriptions

10. Purusharthas

11. Sabha and Samiti