The information accumulated in literary works, which are documented ways of knowing, reveals the fundamentals of an ancient civilization. The sources for imagistic, mechanical, and graphic ensembles include chronicles, letters, books, and witness testimonies.

Literature and archaeology are two sources of historical information. Religious and secular literature both have literary origins. Religious literature includes texts like the Jatakas and the Ramayana that are concerned with a particular religion.

The advantage of getting facts out of a literary source is that it includes data gathered from a variety of sources, including rich informational reserves, dynamic types of works with storylines, and graphical sources in addition to more traditional sources.

What are Literary Sources?

Sources that help historians reconstruct the past and understand socioeconomic evolution have been broadly divided into two categories: archaeological sources and literary sources. Literary sources are those that are written. These resources give an idea of the advancement in human society as they exhibit the ability of humans to write and give a broader account of events that occurred then. Literary sources are comparatively newer and belong to a later phase of human evolution when humans started living in a well-organized society.

Dating literary sources

The use of manuscripts by historians presents them with a number of challenges when it comes to dating literary materials. During those times, there wasn’t a typewriter, etc, so scribes manually copied documents. Copying manuscripts is not a simple task.

To gather more information about literary sources, you can go through their types in detail.

Literary sources are documents of literature that may be accessed in a book and offers important historical data. Literary sources are categorized depending on the unmodified narrative of the occurrence that actually occurred, although some of which are predicated on the study of those unaltered accounts. In this section, we will discuss all types of literary sources: 

• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Domestic Sources
• Foreign Sources
• Religious Sources
• Secular Sources
• Sangam Literary sources
• Scientific Literary sources

Primary Sources

These sources represent unaltered accounts of what actually occurred or was initially described, without any embellishment or judgment. It comprises fresh content or original materials that lay the groundwork for further research. Original concepts are presented, fresh breakthroughs are discussed, or contemporary information is shared in primary sources.

Secondary Sources

These sources provide a summary or analysis of primary sources. They frequently attempt to describe or characterize original sources. They frequently consist of works that analyze, interpret, restructure, or otherwise add value to an original source.

Domestic Sources

Resources that were written by people of our own country describing the social and religious context of the society then.

Examples of Domestic Literary Sources include:

• Kautilya’s Arthashastra: It was somewhere around the 4th century B.C.E. It is a major theoretical treatise on statecraft. It reflects the administration and ethical code of conduct during the Mauryan Empire.
• Kalidasa’s work: The court poet Vikramaditya wrote about the societal condition of the Shunga dynasty and the Gupta period. He was regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in Sanskrit literature.
• Aryabhatta’s work: Aryabhatta, the great mathematician who gave the world the numeral zero and popularised the Hindu-Arabic numeral system in the world, also did deep research in the field of astronomy. His documented work is evidence of technological and scientific developments in society since then.
• NatyaShastra of Bharat Muni: It is a book on dance, dramas, and musical theater, written in Sanskrit. It developed creative writing in India since the Maurya period. Sage Bharata Muni is credited with writing the book.
• Tholkappiyam: It is the oldest long piece of Tamil literature still in existence and the earliest existing Tamil grammar text. It is a thorough grammar work that also covers sutras on sentence form, the importance of context in language, spelling, morphology, phonology, etymology, semantics, and prosody.

Foreign Sources

Foreign Sources refer to those sources which were written or documented by foreign visitors describing the social and religious context from their point of view.

In antiquity, many immigrants from Greece, the Arab world, West Asia, and China visited India. These tourists left a lot of records of the events they witnessed. These foreign visitors had no allegiance to any local sovereign, thus their descriptions are objective and offer first-hand knowledge on the topics they covered. The incursion of Alexander gave several Greek and Roman adventurers and traders access to India. 

Romans and Greeks Accounts:

• Herodotus: He is regarded as the world’s first historian. He made mention of Indian combatants battling with Persians. when the Persians and Greeks were at war.
• Pliny: He discussed the commercial connections connecting Romans and Indians, as well as Indian flora and animals, in his work “Natural Historia.”

Chinese Accounts:

• Fa-Hien: He arrived in India in the fifth century AD, during the Gupta era. He was indeed a Buddhist monk who travelled to India in order to learn more and explore Buddhist historical sites. He wrote “Records of Buddhist Countries,” a book that describes Northern India’s civilization and culture during the Gupta era, during his 3 years of trip.
• I-tsing: He was a Buddhist monk who also shared insightful knowledge about Indian society, religion, and culture.

Arab Accounts:

• Arab’s Sulaiman: In the ninth century A.D., he went to India. The kings of his period, Pal and Pratihar, were subjects of his writings.
• Albiruni: He is a philosopher from Iran. Mahmud Ghazni, the conqueror who sailed into India, accompanied Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al Biruni with him. During his 13 years in India, he travelled through the majority of the country and studied Indian and Sanskrit literature. In his work, “Taqeeq-e-Hind,” he discussed the circumstances and culture.
• Al-Masudi: In the years 941 and 943 A.D., he lived in India for 2 years. In his writing, he discussed Rashtrakutas.

Religious Literary Sources

Religion served as the cornerstone of ancient world civilization. India wasn’t a unique case. In light of this, there is a sizable amount of liturgical and authoritative literature from the many cults that were cultivated in past cultures. Along with the social, cultural, and political context of the era under consideration, they delved deeply into socialist philosophy. The following are some religious literary sources: 

Vedic Literature:

Vedic literature includes the Vedas and other Hindu religious texts that trace their origins to the Vedas. These literary sources give a detailed account of Aryan and Vedic society. Vedic literature is categorized as Shruti literature and Smriti literature. Vedic literature consists of:

• Vedic: Rig, Yajur, Sam, and Atharva are the four Vedas that the Aryans produced. The Vedas (from Vid, “to know”) was essentially a collection of Aryan hymns addressed to the gods, who were primarily the forces of nature. The Vedas were referred to as “Shrutis” and “a-paurusheya” (not made by any man), since, in Aryan belief, they were just heard and not constructed by mankind. The Vedas are referred to as “Samhita” as well.
• Brahmanas: The purpose of the Brahmanas’ creation was to teach the Vedic sacrificial rituals. As a result, each Veda contains its own Brahmana, such as the Jaiminiya Brahmana of the Samveda, the Aitareya Brahmana of the Rigveda, the Shapath of the Yajurveda, and the Gopath of the Atharvaveda.
• Aranyakas: The Aranyakas were developed to impart knowledge of Vedic religion, particularly on sacrifices and mystic thought practised in isolation. While Taiteriya Aranyaka is intended for the Yajur Veda, Aitareya Aranyaka is designed for the Rig Veda.
• Upanishads: The definition of the term “Upanishad” is “to study while seated near one’s teacher.” These were developed to impart the understanding of Vedic spiritualism, covering topics such as self-knowledge, understanding of the relationships between oneself and God, the origin of the cosmos, our role in such a huge universe, etc.
• Vedanga: The Vedanga is a set of six Hindu religious disciplines that originated in antiquity and were associated with the learning of the Vedas. The six disciplines include Shiksha, Kalpa, Vyakaran, Nirukta, Chanda, and Jyotish.
• Shad Darshanas: These encompass subjects including theory, reasoning, the soul’s relationship with God, particles, Vedic ceremonies, the layout of the cosmos, and more.
• Sutras: In Indian literature and culture, the term “sutra” denotes an aphorism, a collection of aphorisms, or, more generally, a condensed handbook or treatise. Hindus, Buddhists, and Jain all use sutras, a category of ancient and medieval Indian scriptures. The sutras were collected around the sixth century BC. Three sutras made these namely: Shrautsutras, Dharmsutras, and Grihyasutras; together they are called Kalpasutras.
• Shruti literature includes those scripts that were compilations of hymns that were recited and passed on through generations. These had no particular author. The Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyaka, and Upanishads are considered Shruti literature. 
• Smriti: Smriti was actually derived from Shruti literature. Smriti is in addition to “that which has been remembered” and is subject to change throughout time. Smriti literature gives visual accounts of events and was narrated or written by a particular author. 
• Puranas: The 18 major Puranas that make up the Puranas were classified in accordance with the devotional cults that were prevalent in India throughout the third and fourth centuries.

Buddhist Literature:

Buddhist literature was mainly developed with the motive that commoners could read them. These are written in Pali and contain the preachings of Gautam Buddha. Buddhist literature shows the history of Buddhism and its royal patron like Ashoka.

This literature includes:

• Pitakas: Buddhist literature is a compilation of three books called Tripitakas meaning three baskets. These include:
  • Vinaya Pitaka: It contains the rules and regulations of the Buddhist Sangh.
  • Suttpitaka: It contains the teachings of Buddha.
  • Abhidhamma Pitaka: It contains the philosophical aspect of Buddhism. In summary, these works provide a wealth of information about Buddhist principles and moral standards.
• Jatakas: The accounts of Buddha’s earlier births are collected in the Jatakas. In order to help his followers with their issues, Buddha came up with a lovely way of using narratives from his personal experiences from his former lifetimes. The skeptical or problem follower would then derive solutions from these stories. 
• Dipvamsha and Mahavamsha: The Buddhist writings Dipvamsha and Mahavamsha originated in Sri Lanka. It contains details on various Buddhist scholars in addition to the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka.
• Divyavadan: In Divyavadan This Buddhist text has Napali roots. In addition to illuminating northern dynasties from the Mauryan rulers to the Shunga era, it contains Buddhist tales.

Jain Literature:

Jain literature is considered contemporary Buddhist literature. It gives important information in the reconstruction of the history of the doctrines of Jainism as well as facets of the cultural life of those times. Jain literature is compiled in Prakrit. One of the sacred books of Jainism is Agam. That contains the sayings and life realizations of Tirthankaras.

The Jain literature is divided into the following categories:

• Anga and Agam: These writings illuminate Mahavir’s philosophy. While the Bhagavati Sutra sheds insight into Mahavir’s life story and accomplishments, the Acharang Sutra discusses the norms of conduct for Jain monks.
• Philosophical: These included Samaysar, Pravachansar, and other thinkers. These were primarily developed by Acharya Kundakunda, and reflected Jain spirituality.
• The Puranas: The Jain Puranas were built on the foundation of the Vedic sagas and Puranas, but their primary focus was Jain philosophy. These included the Padmacharit, the Maha-Purana, and the Harivamsha Purana.
• Biographies: These were comprised of Jasahar-chariu, Bhadrabahu-Charita, , Naykumar-chariu, etc. The Bhadrabhau-charita illuminates the circumstances surrounding Mauryan King Chandragupta and his mentor, Bhadrabhau-Jain Acharya.