The scope of history today has expanded considerably. History is no longer a chronicle of kings. Still, historians have sought to include histories of everything, from classes regarded as marginal and insufficient to regions considered peripheral. Considering this scope of history, the writings in ancient India, like Puranic genealogies, are very narrow in nature and scope. Many of them were written by literate men, generally Brahmanas, for the consumption of the ruling elite. Vast sections of the population find little or no place within such narratives.
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It is easy to dismiss these works due to their limitations; yet, it is worth noting that their significance has been debated for nearly two centuries, and a critical appreciation of the traditions within which these texts were situated can enrich our understanding of the past.
Puranic Genealogies and What They Tell Us?
Puranas were probably written by the middle of the 1st millennium C.E., and provide historical records on rulers, sages, and the society in general. A social group known as sutas played an important role in the composition, compilation, and transmission of at least some of the narratives that were included in the Puranas. The sutas, regarded as bards, were important in early states and regarded and listed among the ‘jewels’ or key supporters of the king in the later Vedic texts.
They were expected to act as messengers of the king, accompany him in battle, and keep records as well as narrate stories about his exploits. They are, however, mentioned as low-status people in the Dharmashastras like the Manusmriti. This indicates that there was another group of people, maybe the brahmanas, contesting the claims of the sutas to be close to the ruler and transmitter of royal lore. And when the Puranas and the epics were finally written down, the writers were recognized as brahmans rather than sutas.
The Puranas provide genealogies of sages and rulers. It provides two categories of rulers – one belongs to the period before the onset of Kaliyuga, and the other is from the lunar and solar lineages, and are the heroes of the epics. The second category of rulers is lesser mortals and different genealogies, some of which run till the 5th century CE. An important feature involving the second category of rulers is that all genealogies are constructed in the future tense.
Many of the rulers mentioned in the genealogies are also known from other sources, such as inscriptions and coins. It has been suggested that genealogies were important during certain historical moments, such as when efforts were made to contest or consolidate power. They are also needed to claim certain resources like land and a kingdom. The genealogies also provide information about the kind of kingship networks.
Puranic texts provide important information, but they lack authenticity as some of the puranic texts are written in the future tense, while many of them only focus on an elite group of the kingdom, ignoring the common people of the society.