Question

Explain the following concept.

Written sources

Answer 1

1. Written sources of literature that help us to understand the history of different periods are called ‘written sources of history’.
2. After man learnt the art of writing, he started documenting different aspects of his life by maintaining written records using the art of writing.
3. Written sources help us learn about significant historical events during the medieval period. These documentations were done using scripts like Devanagri, Arabic, Persian, Modi, etc.
4. Through these documents, we can gather information about the following aspects of the past, viz., the people’s lives, food items, attire, festivals, cultural & social conditions, linguistic transactions, conventions & rules of conduct of the people, policies & administrative system of the rulers, the diplomatic relations between different rulers, contemporary political happenings, etc.
5. Examples of written sources are treatises & biographies; travelogues; chronicles like Bakhar & Tarikhs or Tavarikhs; documents of proceedings in the king's courts, Bhurjapatras; geneologies & shakavali; correspondence & dispatch documents; judicial verdicts, orders, edicts, decrees, and religious manuscripts.