Tag: history

Seleucus Nicator was defeated by Chandragupta Maurya. Megasthenes was his ambassador. After defeat of Seleucus Nicator Megasthenes stayed back at Chandragupta Maurya’s court. His book ‘Indica’ is an important source for the study of India during the Maurya period.

Rajatarangini, historical chronicle of early India, written in Sanskrit verse by the Kashmiri Brahman Kalhana in 1148, that is justifiably considered to be the best and most authentic work of its kind. It covers the entire span of history in the Kashmir region from the earliest times to the date of its composition.

The following sources are included in the written source:-

Literary sources are divided into three categories; religious, secular and foreign accounts.Literary sources inform us about the political, social , economic , religious and cultural life of our ancestors. Most of the ancient manuscripts are religious in nature. Besides the religious literature there also exists a vast body of secular literature on the subject of mathematics, medicines and science. Many learned people were traveling around the world during the ancient and medieval period. These people were making account of what they saw in these foreign territories. For instance, Greek , Roman and Chinese travelers came to India and they left behind accounts of things that they saw.

Tamra-patra were inscriptions on copper plates. They  play an important role in the reconstruction of the history of India. They usually record grants of land or lists of royal lineages carrying the royal seal.

Bhoj-Patra tree was a particular type of tree which was widely found in the Himalayas. The bark of this particular type of tree was used for writing in ancient India. 

The bark is distinguished by its white to brownish colour. This distinctive bark peels off in very thin, almost, in transparent strips.  

Thus, it is clear that Bhoj-Patras was the bark of a particular type of tree on which ancient books were written.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

Rajatarangini is a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north- western Indian subcontinent, particularly the kings of Kashmir. It was written in Sanskrit.by Kashmiri historian Kalhana in the 12th century CE.

Ordinary people told stories, composed poems and songs, sang, danced, and performed plays. Some of these are preserved in collection of stories as the Jatakas and the Panchatantras, which were written down around this time.

The Vedic, Buddhist and Jain literature of ancient India was preserved by oral tradition. It is now available in the written form. Even so, the oral tradition is still alive.