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UPPCS Ancient History Gap Sheet: Literature, Science and Foreign Travellers.
UPPCS has asked 33 of these. 4 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
For a book, remember author, language and subject together. A person’s appearance in an option does not prove that every work attributed to that person has been tested; use book names to distinguish separate facts.
Travellers wrote for different purposes: diplomacy, pilgrimage, geography or study. Their reports offer valuable observations but are selective; connect each account to its period without treating it as a complete census of society.
✅ Already asked (33)
Grammar, drama and history
- Ashtadhyayi · Panini's Sanskrit grammar, organised in eight chapters.
- Mahabhashya · Patanjali's grammatical commentary on Panini's tradition.
- Mudrarakshasa · Vishakhadatta's Sanskrit political drama about Chandragupta Maurya's rise.
- Malavikagnimitram · Kalidasa's Sanskrit play; Agnimitra is its royal protagonist.
- Abhijnanashakuntalam · Kalidasa's drama about Dushyanta and Shakuntala.
- Meghaduta · Kalidasa's poem in which a cloud carries a message.
- Kiratarjuniya · Bharavi's Sanskrit epic about Arjuna and Shiva in a hunter's form.
- Dashakumaracharita · Dandin's Sanskrit prose work about ten princes.
- Kadambari · Sanskrit prose romance begun by Banabhatta and completed by his son.
- Nagananda · A Sanskrit play attributed to Harsha.
- Mattavilasa Prahasana · Sanskrit satire by Pallava ruler Mahendravarman I.
- Karpuramanjari · Rajasekhara's play in Prakrit.
- Rajatarangini · Kalhana's twelfth-century Kashmir chronicle in Sanskrit; eight tarangas.
- Gita Govinda · Jayadeva's twelfth-century Sanskrit poem on Krishna and Radha.
- Manusmriti · A Sanskrit Dharmashastra dealing with social duties and law, traditionally attributed to Manu.
- Buddhacharita · Ashvaghosha's Sanskrit poetic life of Buddha.
- Mrichchhakatika · Sanskrit play attributed to Shudraka; Charudatta and Vasantasena are central characters.
- Brahma Sutras · Traditionally attributed to Badarayana; a foundational Vedanta text.
Tamil and scientific works
- Tirukkural · Tiruvalluvar's Tamil work on virtue, wealth and love.
- Silappadikaram · Tamil epic attributed to Ilango Adigal; Kannagi and Kovalan are central figures.
- Manimekalai · Sattanar's Tamil Buddhist epic.
- Aryabhatiya · Aryabhata's mathematics and astronomy text, composed in 499 CE.
- Panchasiddhantika · Varahamihira's summary of five astronomical systems, including traditions with Greek influence.
- Brihat Samhita · Varahamihira's encyclopedic Sanskrit work on many practical and astronomical subjects.
- Lilavati · Bhaskara II's mathematics work, a part of Siddhanta Shiromani.
- Mitakshara · Vijnaneshvara's commentary on the Yajnavalkya Smriti.
Foreign accounts
- Indica of Megasthenes · Greek ambassador's account of Mauryan India under Chandragupta; survives in later quotations.
- Periplus of the Erythraean Sea · Anonymous Greek maritime guide of the first century CE on Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade.
- Fa-Hien's Buddhist account · Travelled in the early fifth century during Chandragupta II's reign; sought Buddhist texts.
- Xuanzang's western regions · Seventh-century pilgrim under Harsha; studied at Nalanda; account known as Si-yu-ki.
- Yijing's monastic account · Late seventh-century pilgrim; studied at Nalanda and wrote on Buddhist monastic practice.
- Al-Biruni's Kitab al-Hind · Eleventh-century study of Indian knowledge, customs and religion.
- Al-Masudi's trade account · Tenth-century Arab writer; described India's links with Canton by sea.
❌ Not asked yet (4)
Items marked 'asked in other exams' have come in UPSC or other state exams, not yet in UPPCS.
🔒 4 items not asked yet
Tamil and scientific works: 3 · Foreign accounts: 1
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⚠️ Fa-Hien belongs to Chandragupta II’s period and Xuanzang to Harsha’s. Indica is associated with Megasthenes, not either Chinese pilgrim.
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