Name: Getting to Know Our Past
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 6 min 23 s
Description: Humans have left behind chronicles of their lives through cave art, inscriptions, and manuscripts. Let’s examine these important traces of our past.

Question

What are the main literary sources of ancient history?

Accepted Answer

Literature of all lengths, both written and oral, is a source of literature. There are two categories of literary sources: religious and secular.

Religious Literary Sources

The term "religious literature" often refers to a body of literature that has a religious theme. In religious literature, religious beliefs and traditions are a central theme or idea.

Some examples of religious literature includes the Life of Christ by Ludolph of Saxony, the Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and Vedas (in Hinduism).

Secular Literary Sources

Secular generally refers to something that is unrelated to anything spiritual or religious. Thus, literature that is not founded on religion is referred to as secular literature.

Some examples of Secular literature include the Arthashastra of Kautilya, Megasthenes' "Indica," Banabhatta's "Harshacharitra," Kalidasa's "Abhijnanasakuntalam" and "Meghaduta," folktales like "Panchatantra," legal texts like "Manusmriti," biographies of significant historical figures like "Meghaduta," and accounts of foreign travellers are all significant sources of information.

What are the main literary sources of ancient history?

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