Introduction-

• The ancient history of the Punjab is very varied. Most of the ancient literature on the history of Punjab has perished.
• Though there is lack of proper historical literature, the vast mass of Sanskrit literature like the Vedas, the Upnishidas, the Puranas and the two great Epics are a valuable source of information about the ancient history of Punjab.
• Though the Vedas are mainly religious in character, they also give us the glimpse of the prehistoric period.
• They give us a lot of information about the social and religious life of the Aryans who settled in the Punjab.

Sources-

• The Aratha Shastra of Kautilya reflects the demographic condition of the Punjab at the time of Alexander’s invasion.
• Patanjali, in his Mahabhasya, gives a useful account of the invasions of the Punjab by the Greeks. He talks of the attempted crossing of the river Beas by the Greeks.
• The main biographical work of the ancient history is Harsha Charita written by Baan in the 7^th century A.D. It describes the life and the political history of India of the 7^th century A.D.
• Another important biographical work of this period is Prithvi Raj Raso written by Chandbardai. It enlightens us about King Prithivi Raj and has a very useful historical material about his reign.
• The Rajatrangini written by Kalhaan in 1149-50 A.D. is the only historical book in rue sense of the term in the whole ancient literature. It relates to the history of Kashmir.

Archeological Material

• The excavations of Harappa, Mohenjodaro, and Taxila have given very reliable historical facts which were so far unknown for this world. Many ruins of the Indus Valley Civilization have been discovered at other places such as Kotla Nihang Khan (near Rupar), at Ucha Pind Sanghol in Ludhiana district, Banwali in Hissar District and Sukengdor on the east coast of Baluchistan.
• Inscriptions are the most important and the most reliable source of historical studies.
• The inscriptions found at Bogaha-koi (in Asia Minor) probably refer to the movements of the Aryans before they came to India and thus indirectly help us in reconstructing the history of the Vedic period.
• Inscriptions discovered at Persepoils and Nakshi Rustam (in Iran) contain valuable references to political contact between ancient Punjab and Iran.
• The Persepolis Inscription indicates that king Darius of Persia conquered the Indus Valley sometimes between 518 and 515 B.C.
• The Sharkot Inscription gives us information about the tribes living in the territories between Jhelum and Cenab at the time of Alexander’s invasion.
• The Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudra Gupta (fourth century A.D.) narrates the conquest of Samudra Gupta in India and the republican tribes inhabiting the Punjab.
• The Mehrauali Pillar Inscription probably narrates the exploits of Chandra Gupta II. It indicates that after crossing the seven mouths of the Indus system, he defeated the Vahalikas and annexed their territories to his western proviness.
• The Inscriptions of the Huna Chiefs Toramana and Mihirakula discovered in Khewra in the Salt Range of Punjab tell us about their rule in the Punjab. Some of Ashoka’s inscriptions give us material about the content of his empire.
• Coins are also valuable for constructing the history of ancient Punjab. A large variety of coins of Huna ruler mihirakula were found Chinlot (West Punjab, Pakistan). They indicate that the Punjab was included in his dominions.

Writings of Foreigners

• Writings of foreigners are a very valuable source of ancient history of Punjab supplementing the purely Indian sources to a great extent.
• Travellers from Greece and Iran have left their impressions about the Punjab and the North-West India. Only a few fragments of such records and portions quoted by later writers are valuable. Yet they are very useful as they supplement the evidence of India sources.
• Herodotus, Skylax and Ctesias were the early Greek writers who wrote about India before Alexander’s invasion. Herodatus and Ctesia collected information about India through the Persians. Herodotus writes the North-West India was the 20^th satrap of the Empire of king Darius. He records that the soldiers of Gandhara fought with bows of reed and short spears and those of the lower
• Skylax writes about his voyages between Persian Gulf and Indus Valley. Xenonphen (44 or 424-357 B.C.) in his, work Cyropaedea, records that Cyrus, the Great (559-530 B.C.) sent an embassy to a wealthy Indian king (who was probably Pukkusti the ruler of Gandhara) for borrowing money.
• After these early Greeks, certain Greek historians such as Aritsobulus, Nearchos, Ptolemy, Onesicitus, Ctesias accompanied Alexander in his Indian expedition. These scholars reduced into writing the account of Alexander’s wars. But for writers, Alexander’s invasion of Indian would have remained unknown to us
• The later Greek and Roman writers like Strabo, Diodoras, Arrian Piny, Ptolemy Curtius and other throw valuable light on Alexander’s invasion of the Punjab. Their accounts are more rational and highly critical. Arrian, a Grecio-Roman official (2^nd Century A.D.) gives a detailed description of India. He also gives an account of Alexander’s invasion of the Punjab. He mentions many tribal chiefs ruling in the Punjab at that time. Quintus Cunts has mentioned Alexander’s invasion of the Punjab and an account of the people living beyond the Beas.
• Nearuschus gives a description of the territory from the Persian Gulf to the Indus. Hadi Hidayatiti’s book Kerush Kabir (Persian) gives us an account of the Achacminian invasion of Gandhara in the 5^th century B.C.
• The geographer Pliny in his work Naturalis Historia has given a description of the economic conditions of India of his times.

Early Muslim Writers

• Among the early Mohammedan writers useful for ancient Punjab history, the most important is Alberuni’s work Tahqiq-i-Hind (Enquiry into India). Alberuni who accompanied Mahmud Ghaznavi on his Indian expeditions, undertook a thorough study of Indian literature and his work has been described “as a marvel of well-digested erudition in about 1000 A.D.
• Another Arabian writers who came to India much earlier, was Suleman Saudagar. His short account of the North-West India is helpful to historians but has not deserved much attention.

PERSIAN SOURCES

• Most of the history of the Punjab has been reconstructed from the various and scattered Persian Sources which are available to us.
• Among them are some good historical works but their reliability is doubtful.

The first in importance are-

The other important Persian sources include the following works-

URDU SOURCES