HISTORIOGRAPHY  Is a separate branch by itself – nature and scope has a special
value to research
 Every modern historian should – know how history has been
written
 In practical sense would teach him much more than the
theoretical study of historical writing
• Historiography is nothing but the history of history
• It is – history of historical thought
• An independent branch of history in its own right
• It is neither solely political, nor social, nor cultural,
nor moral nor literary history
• But in a way a combination of all these into one
It comes under the history of ideas
 Job – not – examination of – particular object – but study of
ideas which prompted a historian
 Approach is to know – psychology of the historian – form an
estimate of his work
• To know his technique of writing and
• To pass judgment on his performance as - historian
 Naturally Historiography occupies – unique place different
from theoretical or regular history
 Rich market of history – with variety of shops –
Historiography – forms its own merchandise
 Caters to those – wish to make history-writing their
profession
 It entered – field very late
 Before 19th century – hardly an attempt to record the history
of historical writing
 Just as – all branches of natural sciences – Greeks were –
pioneers to lay a firm foundation
 History too – they were – originators – made historical
writing a conscious art
The Greeks – Romans – Christians – Jews and – Arabs – very
strong sense of history
Indian thought – conscious of the controversial nature
Excepting – legends, myths and traditions in – Puranas – we
have hardly a great historical writing comparable to the
historical literature of either – West or Middle East
 ANCIENT HISTORIOGRAHY  Ballads – first instrument for the rise of historical literature
GREEK HISTORIOGRAHY  Thus – logographers mark – transition from myth to history
• Historiography – Product of Greek mind – made it –  Whereas – Greece the growth – witnessed of the change from
powerful branch myth to ballad – ballad to history
• It did not begin until – 5th or 6th century before Christ  In India – remained myth and ballad alone without pushing
the ballad to the next logical stage of history
• Not habit – preserving any records of their pasts
HERODOTUS
 The Greek mind – nothing beyond the Trojan War
 Celebrated – father of History
 Early writers – so close to – epic age
 He who – the link between the logographers on the one hand
 The charm of poetry – they were called logographers – those
and the historians on the other
who combined words to make a speech
 Hailed from Ionia – place of great writers and thinkers
 Job – mainly to produce versified word-puzzle or word-
riddle  Greek historiography – never predominantly Attica
(province of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle)
 After Herodotus – writers took to simple prose in order to
sketch legends and traditions  Herodotus – chose – Persian Wars – subject of his history
 Earliest Greet Historiographers – in a way the poets whose  He – very fond of narrating stories
songs do contain a sketch of the conditions of contemporary
 Croesus – first prince of Asia who attacked the Greeks
society
 Herodotus – gives his genealogy, recounts his greatness and
 Homer belonged to this category of poets – his poems
fall and rise and fall of – Median empire
exhibits lot of historical material
 His narrative becomes more interesting – one central idea
 Hesiod – another great poet – attempt to furnish – respectable
leads on to another, one aspect to another, until the conflict
ancestry to Greek Gods
 he narrates between the Greeks and the Persians becomes a
comprehensive history both of Greece and of Persia
 He traces the events after the death of Cyrus – when Persian
power passed - to Cambysses who conquered Asia and Egypt
o Last two books of Herodotus – composed first in 456 to 445
B.C
o Noteworthy feature – writing – travel from place to place –
like Arab historians – obtain first-hand information
o Unity of his writing
o First - noticeable in his history – consistence and
continuity – his entire work
o Second – vigorous spirit he displays and powerful
style – adopts – his narrative most interesting
Few weakness – unavoidable
• His ignorance of the language of the other people
• Excusable – learning – Persian or Egyptian
language – not easy
• Secondly – inherent weakness to believe what he
heard
• Serious weakness – as a history writer – should
know what grave errors – likely to commit
• Thirdly – his graze for style stood in – way of
checking the accuracy of his data
• Not given to judging men and events
objectively (accurate)
Despite these
• Possessed – great virtues as intelligent curiosity
• Sincere purist of an object and clear understanding of
– problem – he could easily be pronounced – not only
the first – also a great historian of the world
• Holds high place in – respects
• A story-teller – never be surpassed
• So close to the epic age – preserved the simplicity
• Has the imagination, sensitivity and the spontaneity
• No history has ever had a nobler exponent than
Herodotus – says Thucydides
• Herodotus work – in nine books – each named after one of
the nine muses or Greek Goddesses – reside over the
branches of knowledge
• There is coordination- rhythm and easy flow in his writing –
it sustains interest throughout the narrative
 INDIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY
ANCIENT PERIOD
 Indian – one of the oldest civilization of the world
 Older than Chinese and Greek
 India faced many – ups and down – it resulted to bigger gaps
in the study of Ancient historiography
 Not an easy task to study ancient Indian history
 All records reveal – Indians touched every aspect of life in
their writings
 If Chronology is the eye of history – ancient Indian
history will have always to be blind
 If history is a scientific record of unique events – Indians
were ignorant of it
 If history is an inquiry into the past with the logical
purpose of explaining its causes and consequences –
ancient Indians had no historical sense
 If history is philosophy in motion – Indians could never
be excelled
 If history is the record of the growth of human mind –
Indians do surely have a history – shape pattern may not
conform to the text book definition of history
 If history is the reflection of what goes on in the realm of
reality – we have to revise our old notion (idea) that
Indians were poles apart from historical consciousness
 Certainly debate between those – think – ancient Indians
were lacking of historical sense and those who think that they
did not have the historical sense - in favor of for the higher
purpose
 Undoubtedly there is limitless stuff of history concealed in
the form of legends, myths, traditions, anecdotes, epics,
puranas and variety of – literary records which – not history
in themselves but historical material of which history is
composed
 Ancient Indians did not build – historical mansions – cut the
quarries, brought the material, carved and softened it and
conceived of a plot without proceeding further to finish the
project
 They deliberately avoid doing research
 Lack of contact with the outside world – particularly in the
realm of ideas – political contacts were numerous – may be
a factor
 Roman historiography did not emerge until Rome conquered
Greece
 Arab historiography followed the Iranian traditions
Kalhana wore history – he was from Kashmir – exposed to
Chinese and Islamic historical traditions
• A chronicle of the king of Kashmir
• Only region in India where – tradition of historical
writing in – real sense of – term was maintained
• Owing to – fact that Kashmir was in contact with
other peoples possessing a stronger sense of history –
such as – Chinese and the people of Islamic world
• Kalhana – son of Campaka – Rajatarangini consists
of – 8000 highly polished verses in eight books –
composed in 1148 AD
• Kalhana had – historical sense – says – historian
should ‘make vivid before one’s eyes pictures of a
bygone age’
• Had a good conception of – proper sources for
writing history
• Had a critical mind which did not accept as true
whatever was mentioned in – sources
• He utilized all – data of – chronicles that were
available to him including – inscriptions and –
prasastis of – earlier kings, as also – coins of – past
• Has written making full use of – traditional chronicles
• Has dealt at length on the merits of benevolent
despotism which comes closer to the idea of Plato..
• Kalhana – touched on – drawbacks of feudalism
which leads to rivalries, conflict and instability in –
political structure
• Indirectly – suggests reforms in – form of government
• AL Basham stats… Kalhana’s attitude to history was
– general trend of – entire period
• Kalhana – primarily as a poet and only secondarily
as historian
Kautilya’s Arthasastra – fully discovered only in the 20th
century – thanks to Shamasastri - became – motivating
factor for its search
R.C. Majumdar opined – after all we need not be so much
disappointed by the absence of historical literature – it is
there in plenty if only we have the eyes to see it
It may not be in the way presented to us by Herodotus or
Thucydides
K.A. Neelakanta Sastri’s statement – ‘literature is, in other
countries, the base of history, in India it is often a snare’.
Appears very strange indeed
 If history is an X-ray machine that gives us an idea of the • Moral values – degraded due to – polyandry
inner working of the human mind, that existing literature
PURANAS
serves exactly that purpose
 Provide immense material for ancient Indian
RAMAYANA
historiographers
 Heroic poems or legends
 These – some kind of historical novels
 Ramayana high lights – ancient monarchical form of
 18 in number – gave knowledge about ancient dynasties
government
 These – probably composed in the 8th century B.C
 Society existed caste system and Brahmins – high place in
society  Vishnu, Vayu, Bhagawat, Matsya and Brahma Puranas –
significant from – historical point of view
 Father – head of the family
 Provide source material for the Nandas, the Mauryas and the
 People – expected to live pure, simple and spiritual life
Kushans
 Polygamy prevailed in Royal families
 Also provides history of royal families, evolution of State
MAHABHARATHA and all events from – days of Buddha till the end of the rule
of Guptas
• Longest epic of the world
 Puranas tell us – powerful dynasties in – South – Kanvas,
• Tells – during Mahabharata age monarchy – still the form of
Sungas and Andhras
government
 Matsya Purana give – main events about the Andhras
• Throws light on – Later Vedic Period
 Important contribution – give us genealogical (ancestral)
• Polygamy still existed among royal
lists of the rulers – which not found in any sources
• Position of women – became lower
• Educated imparted by the gurus
BUDDHIST LITERATURE
  Made valuable contribution to Indian historiography  Contributed to – development of Indian historiography
 A religious literature – possess rich material – history writing  Wrote – ‘Harsha Charita’ – first quarter of 7th century A.D
 Include “Tripitakas” – throw light – important event of life  Harsha Charita – biography of his patron Pushyabhuti
of Buddhist Harsha
 The Vinayapitaka – describes – foundation of the Buddhist  It is not merely a work of history – a literary work
community
 Bana does not provide – complete life of Harsha – he made
 Proceeding apparently in chronological order to record attempt to mix historical and fictitious (untrue) stories and –
subsequent evens pointed out how Harsha go it the fortune
 Sittu Pitika and Abhidarmma Pitika – throws light on Socio- BILHANA
economic, politicval and religious condition of India during
 Belong to a Kashmiri Brahmin family
the 6th century B.C
 Chalukya king of Kalyani Somesvara Patronised Bilhana
 Mahavishashya – by Asva Ghosha another Buddhist
literature – deals with important aspect of Indian history  Produced the play ‘Karnasundari’ – written about marriage
of Karnadeva I of Anihlvad with Mayamalladeva
 Gives – information about Chandra Gupta Maurya, Ashoka
and Kanishka  Most important work Vikramagadeva Charita
JAIN HISTORIOGRAPHY  Says historical facts about Vikramaditya VI – as a generous
person
 Parisistha Parvana by Hem Chandra and Vijakshyaprijnapti
– point out – many historical happenings of great importance
 Padma Charita by Vimala – Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa –
throw lights on Vikramaditya and conquest of – Sakas and
Scythians
BANABHATTA