Assess the importance of the accounts of the Chinese and Arab travellers in the reconstruction of the history of India.

Theme

T3 Sources of history: inscriptions, rock-cut caves, travellers, Sangam & Persian texts

What UPSC asks in this theme

UPSC asks how specific sources help reconstruct history: Ashokan inscriptions, rock-cut caves, Chinese and Arab travellers, Persian texts, Sangam literature. The angle is always 'what does this source tell us, and what are its limits'.

What to cover

• Ashokan edicts: dhamma, administration, extent of empire, script (Brahmi, Kharosthi)
• Rock-cut caves: Barabar, Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta and what they reveal on art, religion, patronage
• Travellers: Megasthenes, Fa-Hien, Hiuen Tsang, Al-Biruni, Ibn Battuta
• Persian sources: Ain-i-Akbari, Baburnama, court chronicles
• Sangam literature: social and economic life vs weak political chronology

Writing the answer

• Structure: what the source is → what it reveals (polity, economy, society, religion) → its limitations or biases
• Name at least three specific examples per answer

These notes are for the whole theme, built from all 5 of its PYQs. UPSC does not publish model answers.