Indian Literature

Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian

subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter.
The Republic of India has 22 officially recognized languages.
The earliest works of Indian literature were orally transmitted. Sanskrit
literature begins with the oral literature of the Rig Veda a collection of
sacred hymns dating to the period 1500–1200 BCE. The Sanskrit
epics Ramayana and Mahabharata appeared towards the end of the 2nd
millennium BCE. Classical Sanskrit literature developed rapidly during the
first few centuries of the first millennium BCE,[1] as did the Tamil Sangam
literature, and the Pāli Canon. In the medieval period, literature
in Kannada and Telugu appeared in the 9th and 11th centuries
respectively.[2] Later, literature in Marathi, Odia and Bengali appeared.
Thereafter literature in various dialects of Hindi, Persian and Urdu began to
appear as well. Early in the 20th century, Bengali poet Rabindranath
Tagore became India's first Nobel laureate in literature. In contemporary
Indian literature, there are two major literary awards; these are the Sahitya
Akademi Fellowship and the Jnanpith Award. Eight Jnanpith Awards each
have been awarded in Hindi and Kannada, followed by five
in Bengali and Malayalam, four in Odia, four
in Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu and Urdu,[3][4] two each in Assamese and Tamil,
and one in Sanskrit.
FIVE CLASSICS
-Vedic literature
-Epic Sanskrit literature
- Classical Sanskrit literature
-Prakrit literature
-Pali literature

Vedic literature
Main article: Vedas Examples of early works written in Vedic Sanskrit include the holy
Hindu texts, such as the core Vedas and Upanishads. Other examples include the Sulba Sutras,
which are some of the earliest texts on geometry.

Epic Sanskrit literature

Main article: Indian epic poetry Ved Vyasa's Mahabharata and Valmiki's Ramayana,
written in Epic Sanskrit, are regarded as the greatest Sanskrit epics.
Classical Sanskrit literature
Main article: Sanskrit literature The famous poet and playwright Kālidāsa wrote one epic:
Raghuvamsha (Dynasty of Raghu) ; it was written in Classical Sanskrit rather than Epic Sanskrit.
Other examples of works written in Classical Sanskrit include the Pāṇini's Ashtadhyayi which
standardized the grammar and phonetics of Classical Sanskrit. The Laws of Manu is a famous
text in Hinduism. Kālidāsa is often considered to be the greatest playwright in Sanskrit
literature, and one of the greatest poets in Sanskrit literature, whose Recognition of Shakuntala
and Meghaduuta are the most famous Sanskrit plays. Some other famous plays were
Mricchakatika by Shudraka, Svapna Vasavadattam by Bhasa, and Ratnavali by Sri Harsha. Later
poetic works include Geeta Govinda by Jayadeva. Some other famous works are Chanakya's
Arthashastra and Vatsyayana's Kamasutra.

Prakrit literature
The most notable Prakrit languages were the Jain Prakrit (Ardhamagadhi), Pali, Maharashtri
and Shauraseni. One of the earliest extant Prakrit works is Hāla's anthology of poems in
Maharashtri, the Gāhā Sattasaī, dating to the 3rd to 5th century CE. Kālidāsa and Harsha also
used Maharashtri in some of their plays and poetry. In Jainism, many Svetambara works were
written in Maharashtri. Many of Aśvaghoṣa's plays were written in Shauraseni as were a sizable
number of Jain works and Rajasekhara's Karpuramanjari. Canto 13 of the Bhaṭṭikāvya[5] is
written in what is called "like the vernacular" (bhāṣāsama), that is, it can be read in two
languages simultaneously: Prakrit and Sanskrit.
Pali literature Main article: Pali Canon The Pali Canon is mostly of Indian origin. Later Pali
literature however was mostly produced outside of the mainland Indian subcontinent,
particularly in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Pali literature includes Buddhist philosophical
works, poetry and some grammatical works. Major works in Pali are Jataka tales, Dhammapada,
Atthakatha, and Mahavamsa. Some of the major Pali grammarians were Kaccayana, Moggallana
and Vararuci (who wrote Prakrit Prakash).
Indian Dynasties
Chandragupta Maurya (324-300 BC)

- Chandragupta Maurya was the founder

of the Maurya Empire in ancient India.
He built one of the largest-ever empires
on the Indian subcontinent and then,
according to Jain sources,
he renounced it all and became a Jain monk

( Ashoka the great (273-236 BC)

- Ashoka sometimes Ashoka the Great, was an Indian

emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, who ruled almost all
of the Indian subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BCE.
The grandson of the founder of the Maurya Dynasty,
Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka promoted the spread
of Buddhism across ancient Asia.

(Kushan Dynasty (40-176 A)

- The Kushan Empire was a syncretic empire,

formed by the Yuezhi, in the Bactrian territories
in the early 1st century.

Kanishka (78-101 or 102 AD)

- Kanishka the Great, an e JidduKrishnamurti mperor
of the Kushan dynasty in the second century,
is famous for his military, political, and spiritual
achievement. A descendant of Kujula Kadphises,
founderof the Kushan empire, Kanishka came to rule
an empire in Bactria extending to Pataliputra
on the Gangetic plain.

Gupta Dynasty (320-550 AD)

-The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire

existing
from the mid-to-late 3rd century CE to 543 CE.
it covered much of the Indian subcontinent.
 Vardhana or Pushyabhuti Dynasty (560-647 AD)
- The Pushyabhuti dynasty, also known as the
Pushpabhuti dynasty or Vardhana dynasty,
ruled parts of northern India during 6th and
7th centuries

Ghazni Dynasty (962-1116 AD)

- He created an empire that stretched from the Oxus
to the Indus valley and the Indian Ocean; in the west
he captured (from the Būyids) the Iranian cities of Rayy
and Hamadan. A devout Muslim, Maḥmūd reshaped
the Ghaznavids from their pagan Turkic origins into
an Islamic dynasty and expanded the frontiers of Islam.

Famous Philosophers from IndiAN

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Birthday: September 5, 1888

Nationality: Indian
Famous: Educators Presidents
Died At Age: 86
Sun Sign: Virgo
Also Known As: S. Radhakrishnan, DrRadhakrishnan, Radhakrishnan
Born In: Thiruttani Famous As: Confident, Ambitious
Family: Spouse/Ex-: Sivakamu
Children: SarvepalliGopal
Died On: April 17, 1975 Place Of Death: Chennai

SarvepalliRadhakrishnan was an Indian philosopher and statesman who served as the

president of the nation from 1962 to 1967. Prior to this, he had served as the first Vice
President of India from 1952 to 1962. An educator by profession, he had ventured into
politics quite late in life. Born into a poor Brahmin family in southern India, he grew up
to be an intelligent and bright boy with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Birthday: September 26, 1820

Nationality: Indian Famous: Philanthropists Writers
Died At Age: 70
Sun Sign: Libra Born In: PaschimMidnapore District, West Bengal, India
Famous As: Social Reformer, Philosopher
Family: Spouse/Ex-: Dinamani Devi Father: ThakurdasBandyopadhyay
Mother: Bhagavati Devi
Children: Narayan Chandra
Died On: July 29, 1891

The social reformer who strived to make life better for the women of India and pushed the
British government to pass the Widow Remarriage Act, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a
Bengali polymath who lived during the 19th century. Vidyasagar was a brilliant man, an
educator by profession; he was deeply pained by the injustices faced by several sections of the
Indian society.
Amartyasen

Birthday: November 3, 1933

Nationality: Indian
Famous: Quotes By AmartyaSen Atheists
Age: 85 Years, 85 Year Old Males
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Born In: Santiniketan
Famous As: Economist & Philosopher
Family: Spouse/Ex-: Emma Georgina Rothschild (M. 1991),
Eva Colorni (M. 1971–1985), NabaneetaDevSen (M. 1959–1971)
Father: AshutoshSen
Mother: AmitaSen
Children: AntaraDevSen, NandanaSen

AmartyaSen is a much-admired, award winning economist, writer and philosopher. A voice of

the poor and malnourished, tirelessly engrossed in the problems of the society’s poorest
people, he has devised practical solutions to prevent food shortage and starvation. This Nobel
laureate has helped create the United Nations Human Development Index and was featured on
Time Magazine’s list of ‘World's 50 Most Influential People Who Matter’. A leading intellectual,
Sen’s books have been translated in more than thirty languages across the world.

Chanakya

Chanakya was an Indian philosopher, economist,

and statesman who wrote the Indian political treatise,
the ‘Arthashastra’ (Economics).

Born: 371 BC
Nationality: Indian
Famous: Quotes By Chanakya Philosophers
Died At Age: 88
Born In: India
Famous As: Philosophe
r Died On: 283 BC
Place Of Death: Pataliputra

Chanakya was a philosopher, economist, and statesman who wrote the Indian political treatise, the
‘Arthashastra’ (Economics). In this seminal work he had compiled almost every aspect of what had been
written in India up to that time regarding property, economics, or material success. He is considered a
pioneer in the fields of political science and economics in India due to the significant contributions he
made to the development of these fields. Chanakya, also identified as Kauṭilya or Vishnu Gupta, was a
powerful statesman in the court of the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta and played a pivotal role in
the establishment of the Maurya empire. Born into a Brahmin family, Chanakya was educated at
Takshashila, an ancient centre of learning located in north-western ancient India.

Jiddu Krishnamurti
JidduKrishnamurti was a famous public speaker, mystic,
author, philosopher and spiritual leader. This biography
provides detailed information about his childhood, life
, works, activities and timeline Birthday: May 12, 1895
Nationality: Indian
Famous: Quotes By JidduKrishnamurti
Philosophers Died At Age: 90
Sun Sign: Taurus
Born In: Madanapalle
Famous As: Public Speaker & Philosopher
Family: Father: JidduNarayaniah Mother: Sanjeevamma Siblings: Nityananda
Died On: February 17, 1986
Place Of Death: Ojai Founder/Co-Founder: Krishnamurti Foundation

JidduKrishnamurti was one of the paramount spiritual leaders of the 20th century.
When he was just a little boy, he was pronounced as the ‘teacher who would deliver the
world’. This declaration was made by Dr. Annie Besant, the-then president of the
Theosophical Society. To prepare the world for his wisdoms, an organization called
‘Order of the Star in the East’ was formed and young Krishnamurti was placed as the
organization’s head. Despite enduring two decades of laborious training for the role, he
rejected the title and set out on his psychic expedition. For nearly 60 years after setting
out on his quest, he travelled the world, giving discourses to large audiences and to
individuals about the need for a fundamental alteration in the world.

AdiShankara
AdiShankara was an early 8th century Indian Hindu
philosopher and theologian whose teachings had a
profound influence on the growth of Hinduism.
Born: 788 ad
Nationality: Indian
Famous: Theologians Philosophers
Died At Age: 32
Also Known As: AdiSankara, Sa?Karacarya
Born In: Kalady
Famous As: Advaita
Philosopher Died On: 820
Place Of Death: Kedarnath Founder/Co-Founder: Akhara
AdiShankara was an 8th century Indian Hindu philosopher and theologian whose
teachings had a profound influence on the growth of Hinduism. Also known as
ShriAdiShankaracharya and BhagavatpadaAcharya (the guru at the feet of Lord), he
was a religious reformist who critiqued the rituals-oriented schools of Hinduism and
cleansed the Vedic religious practices of ritualistic excesses. AdiShankara is best
remembered for his remarkable reinterpretations of Hindu scriptures and his
commentaries on the Vedic canon (Brahma Sutras, Principal Upanishads and
Bhagavad Gita). He was an exponent of the Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy
which refers to the recognition that the true Self, Atman, is the same as the highest
Reality, Brahman.
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