Ancient Indian History: Sources of Ancient Indian History

                     history of India

Q. This sub-continent extending from the Himalayas in the north to the ocean in the south is known as Bharatvarsha, which is called 'Bharatvarsha' i.e. 'country of Bharatas' in epics and Puranas and its residents are called Bharati i.e. children of Bharata. Bharata was the name of an ancient clan. The ancient Indians called their country Jambudweep, meaning Jambu (Island of Jambu trees). The ancient Iranians associated it with the name of the river Indus, which they called the Hindus, not Sindhu. It came to be known as a river. The Greeks called it "Inde" and the Arabs called it Hind. In medieval times, this country came to be known as Hindustan. This word is also derived from the Persian word "Hindu". On the basis of "" the British started calling it "India".

                                                  Q. The mountain range of Vindhya divides the country into two parts, North and South. In the north, there is a majority of speakers of Indo-European family languages and in the south, speakers of Dravidian family languages.

Note: The population of India is formed by the mixing of people of major races, they are as follows - Proto-Australoid, Paleo-Mediterranean, Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid.

  Q. Indian history is divided into three parts for the convenience of study-Ancient India, Medieval India and Modern India.

  

Note: The credit for first dividing history into three parts goes to the German historian Christoph Cellarius (1638-1707 AD).

                           Ancient India 1.

       Sources of Ancient Indian

History

Q. Information about ancient Indian history is mainly obtained from four sources- 1.1 Dharma Granth 2. Historical texts 3. Description of foreigners and 4. Archaeological evidence

  Important information from scriptures and historical texts

Q. The most ancient scripture of India is the Vedas, whose compiler Maharishi Krishna Dwaipayan Vedvyas is considered. Veda preaches Basuddhaiva Kutumbakam. Indian tradition considers Vedas as eternal and apaurushaya. There are four Vedas – Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. These four Vedas are called Samhitas.

   

Rigveda

Q. The systematic collection of knowledge of Rithas is called Rigveda. It has 10 Mandalas, 1028 Suktas (including 11 Suktas of Valakhilya text) and 10,462 hymns. The sage who recites the hymns of this Veda is called Hotri. From this Veda we get information about the political system, history and glory of Arya.

Q. The third Mandala of the Rigveda composed by Vishwamitra contains the famous Gayatri Mantra dedicated to the Sun God Savitri. The deity Som is mentioned in its 9th circle.

  Q. The handwritten hymns of its 8th Mandala are called Khil. The primary source of the idea of a Chatushvarnya society is the Purushasukta described in the 10th Mandala of the Rigveda, according to which the four varnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras) originated from the mouth, arms, thighs and feet of Brahma respectively.

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