MANUSCRIPTS

MANUSCRIPTS

There are several ways of finding out about the past. One is to search for and read books that were written long ago. These are called manuscripts because they were written by hand (this comes from the Latin word ‘manu’, meaning hand). These were usually written on palm leaf, or on the specially prepared bark of a tree known as the birch, which grows in the Himalayas.

Over the years, many manuscripts were eaten away by insects, some were destroyed, but many have survived, often preserved in temples and monasteries. These books dealt with all kinds of subjects: religious beliefs and practices, the lives of kings, medicine, and science. Besides, there were epics, poems, plays. Many of these were written in Sanskrit, others were in Prakrit (languages used by ordinary people) and Tamil.

Source: This topic is taken from the NCERT TEXTBOOK

INSCRIPTIONS

INSCRIPTIONS

We can also study inscriptions. These are writings on relatively hard surfaces such as stone or metal. Sometimes, kings got their orders inscribed so that people could see, read and obey them. There are other kinds of inscriptions as well, where men and women (including kings and queens) recorded what they did. For example, kings often kept records of victories in battle.

Can you think of the advantages of writing on a hard surface? And what could have been the difficulties?

An old inscription. This inscription dates to about 2250 years ago and was found in Kandahar, present-day Afghanistan. It was inscribed on the orders of a ruler named Ashoka. When we write anything, we use a script. Scripts consist of letters or signs. When we read what is written, or speak, we use a language. This inscription was inscribed in two different scripts and languages, Greek (top) and Aramaic (below), which were used in this area.

We have seen that inscriptions are inscribed on hard surfaces. Many of these were inscribed several hundreds of years ago. All inscriptions contain both scripts and languages. Languages that were used, as well as scripts, have changed over time. So how do scholars understand what was inscribed? This can be done through a process known as decipherment.

One of the most famous stories of decipherment comes from Egypt, a country in North Africa where there were kings and queens about 5000 years ago.

Rosetta is a town on the north coast of Egypt, and here an inscribed stone was found, which contained inscriptions in three different languages and scripts (Greek, and two forms of Egyptian). Scholars who could read Greek figured out that the names of kings and queens were enclosed in a little frame, called a cartouche. They then placed the Greek and the Egyptian signs side by side and identified the sounds for which the Egyptian letters stood. As you can see, a lion stood for L, and a bird for A. Once they knew what the letters stood for, they could read other inscriptions as well.

Source: This topic is taken from the NCERT TEXTBOOK

ARCHEOLOGY

ARCHEOLOGY

There were many other things that were made and used in the past. Those who study these objects are called archaeologists.

They study the remains of buildings made of stone and brick, paintings, and sculptures. They also explore and excavate (dig under the surface of the earth) to find tools, weapons, pots, pans, ornaments, and coins. Some of these objects may be made of stone, others of bone, baked clay, or metal. Objects that are made of hard, imperishable substances usually survive for a long time.

Archaeologists also look for bones — of animals, birds, and fish — to find out what people ate in the past. Plant remains to survive far more rarely — if seeds of grain or pieces of wood have been burnt, they survive in a charred form. Do you think cloth is found frequently by archaeologists?

Historians, that is, scholars who study the past, often use the word source to refer to the information found from manuscripts, inscriptions, and archaeology. Once sources are found, learning about the past becomes an adventure, as we reconstruct it bit by bit. So historians and archaeologists are like detectives, who use all these sources like clues to find out about our pasts.

Source: This topic is taken from the NCERT TEXTBOOK