Evaluate the role of Epigraphy and Numismatics in the reconstruction of

ancient Indian History.

Epigraphy (from the Greek: ἐπιγραφή epi-graphē "on-writing", lit. "Inscription") is the study of inscriptions
and ‘inscriptions’; literally means any writing engraved on some object. In India rocks as well as lithic,
metallic, earthen or wooden pillars, tablets, plates and pots, as also bricks, shells, ivory plaques and other
objects were generally used for incising inscriptions. Often writing in relief such as we find in the legends on
coins and seals which are usually produced out of moulds or dyes, and also records painted on cave walls or
written in ink on wooden tablets are regarded as inscriptions, although these writings are not actually
engraved. The letters of certain late medieval records in the indigenous Indian alphabets are generally not
engraved but are formed by scooping out the space around them.

Similarly, Numismatics (Latin: numisma, nomisma, "coin"; from the Greek: νομίζειν nomízein, "to use
according to law") is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related
objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also
includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of
goods Numismatics is the study of coins. It is important for the study of history, especially ancient history. It
confirms, modifies and even amplifies history. To a great extent the political and economic history of a
country is constructed by numismatics and historical facts are very often corroborated or rejected by
numismatic findings. Many facts connected with administration, historical geography and religious history of
ancient India are revealed to us by numismatics.

Epigraphy and numismatics play a vital role in the reconstruction of Ancient Indian History because of the
fact that unlike Greece, Rome or China, Ancient India has no history, because the Indians of antiquity did not
care to leave written accounts of all their achievements.

It is believed that Numismatics and epigraphy merely confirms history but seldom modifies or amplifies it.
However this does not hold true for India. No connected written history of India for any period prior to the
Muhammadan conquest has come down to us. We therefore have the construct it as best as we can out of the
materials at our disposal. These belong to two main classes, the first of which consists of works written as
panegyrics by Hindu authors or as descriptive accounts by foreign travelers and historians. The second class
of materials is of more important nature, and comprises of epigraphy and numismatics.

Though it has been frequently stated the, importance of epigraphy in Indology can hardly be overemphasized.
The primary reason for the particular importance of epigraphy in the study of traditional India is extreme
scarcity of information, especially in the ancient period, of the type of historical data from literary sources
which is available for other major civilizations of the ancient and medieval world. This situation is a reflection
of what might be called the “historical” orientation of traditional Indian culture. Traditional India, with its
strongly idealistic and theoretical orientation, had little interest in what we in the modern world think of as
“history”, and except for a few outstanding exceptions, Sanskrit and classical literature include little in the
way of “historical” texts in the stricter term. As a result, the history of ancient and early medieval India must
for the most part be reconstructed from incidental sources; that is sources whose original intent was something
other than the recording of historical events as such.
Inscriptions have played hence a very vital role in the reconstruction of ancient Indian history. It is estimated
that 80 percent of our knowledge of the history of India before about A.D 1000 is derived from inscriptional
sources. Without inscriptions we would have only the vaguest notion of the history of the Mauryan empire.
The Asokan inscriptions were engraved on rocks and pillars. These are valuable sources for Mauryan Empire.
The Hathi Gumpha inscription of King Kharavela found at Udaygiri, the Nasik prosasti of Gautamaputra
Satakarni, the Aihole inscription of Pulakesin II, the Junagarh inscriptions of Rudradaman are very important
sources materials of those rulers. From the Boghaz-koi inscriptions fround in Asia Minor we get an indicect
referance about the arrival of the Aryans in India. The Allahabad prosasti of Samundra Gupta and the Gwalior
prosasti of Bhoja give information about them. The inscriptions cannot be tampered so their authenticity is
unquestionable.

Epigraphy material, directly or indirectly, provide almost the only solid chronological foundation for modern
historically oriented studies. This is true primarily because inscriptions are datable either by explicit dates or
paleographic estimates.

In the construction of the ancient history of India, coins have been classed with inscriptions in point of
importance. Numismatics is like epigraphy an important source of ancient Indian history and helps us
construct history and not merely corroborate it.

Thus comes the question of how Numismatics as compared to epigraphy has contributed to the reconstruction
of Ancient Indian history. Let us go back to 250 B.C to about 300 A.D when Indo-Bactrian Greek, Indo-
Scythian, Indo-Parthian and Kushana kings, whose might overshadowed the North of India. Our knowledge of
the indo-Bactrian Greek princes would be nothing had it not been due to the study of coins. Yes, Greek
historians like Justin and Strabo have preserved an account of some of them, but this account is of four or five
princes only and ranges scarcely half a century. On the other hand, a study of their coins reveal to us no less
than 37 such Greek princes, whose sway extends over 2 centuries and a half.

Thus epigraphy and numismatics go hand in hand in reconstructing the history of ancient India and continues
to do so.
 Bibliography

Salomon, Richard. Indian epigraphy: Indian epigraphy: a guide to the study of inscriptions in
Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan languages. New York: Oxford University Press US,
1998

Sircar, Dineshchandra. Indian Epigraphy. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1996

Sircar, Dineshchandra. Studies in Indian Coins. Motilal Banarsidass Publisher, 2008

Bhandarkar, D. R; Lectures on Ancient Indian Numismatics. Asian Educational Services, 1990

Fry, Somerset. History of the world. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1994.

Freepedia. Historical Reconstruction of India – Variety tools and Sources. 11 May 2007. R Sanjoy.
23rd August 2009.
[http://freepedia.in/Historical_Reconstruction_of_India_%E2%80%93_Variety_tools_and_Sources
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Wikipedia. Early Indian epigraphy. 16 August 2009. Anonymous. 23rd August 2009.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Indian_epigraphy]

Chennaimuseum. Introduction – Numismatic .n.d. Anonymous. 23rd August 2009.

[http://www.chennaimuseum.org/draft/gallery/04/num.htm]