Ancient Books
Arts & Culture · प्राचीन पुस्तकें
📋Quick Overview
Ancient Indian literature includes Vedas, Upanishads, Epics, and scholarly works. Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes), Abhijnana Shakuntalam (Kalidasa) are heavily asked in exams.
📖Key Facts
- •Arthashastra = Kautilya/Chanakya (political science, Maurya era)
- •Indica = Megasthenes (Greek ambassador to Chandragupta Maurya)
- •Abhijnana Shakuntalam = Kalidasa (greatest Sanskrit drama)
- •Rajtarangini = Kalhana (history of Kashmir)
- •Natya Shastra = Bharata Muni (treatise on dance/drama)
- •Ashtadhyayi = Panini (Sanskrit grammar, oldest grammar book)
📝More Important Facts
- •Charaka Samhita = Charaka (ancient medical text, Ayurveda)
- •Sushruta Samhita = Sushruta (surgery text, Father of Surgery)
- •Rigveda = oldest Veda (1500 BCE, hymns to gods)
- •Manusmriti = Manu (ancient law code)
- •Panchatantra = Vishnu Sharma (animal fables, moral stories)
- •Harshacharita = Banabhatta (biography of King Harsha)
- •Buddhacharita = Ashvaghosha (biography of Buddha)
- •Si-Yu-Ki = Xuanzang/Hiuen Tsang (Chinese traveler to India)