1. Foreign Accounts: There are some interesting sources of information from the accounts narrated by foreign writers. India had attracted many foreign traders, pilgrims, philosophers, and invaders. Many of them left their records, impressions, and opinions about India. These help to fill in the gaps about important events.
2. Greek and Roman writers: Megasthenes, the Ambassadar of the Greek Sovereign Sefeucos to the court of Chandragupta Mourya, has left a detailed account of India during the Mauiyan **, in his book ‘Indica’. Ptolemy, another greek, wrote a geographical account of India in the 2nd century AD.
He gave information regarding the.e commercial relations of Greece with ancient India. ‘The Periplus of the Erithrean sea’, a work by an unknown greek author mentions many coastal towns, rulers-and products of India. Pliny wrote ‘Natural Historia’ (1st century AD) which gives some idea regarding Indo-Roman trade relations and the political conditions of India.
3. **** Accounts: There were some notable *** pilgrims who visited India. Fahian visited India (The reign of Chandragupta-II) in early 5th century AD and has given a vivid picture of many cities and Ashoka’ palace. He also gives information about the Gupta administration.
Hiuen Tsang (629-645 AD) visited India in the 7th century AD. He left valuable information in his book ‘Siyuki’ (Records of the western world). He visited the court of Harshavardhana and Pulikeshi-II. He has given a vivid picture of the education, religion, society, and administration of their regimes. He has also mentioned the battle of Narmada and the defeat of Harshavardhana.
4. Itsing: visited India during the end of the 7th century AD. He had travelled across India extensively and gives information regarding various cities of India like Rajagraha, Kasi, and Nalanda and describes the status of Buddhism in India at that **.
5. ** and other writers: **** writers and historians have given valuable contributions to the reconstruction of our history. Prominent among them were Firdousi’* (Ibn Hassan) ‘Shahanama’.
‘Babarnama’ by Emperor Babar, ‘Jahangirnama’ by Jahangir and ‘Akbarnama’ by Abdul Fazal and many more. The **** travellers, Sulaiman Alberuni (contemporary of Mohammad Ghazni) and Ibn Batuta, have left their records about India. Other travellers like Nicolo Conti of Italy, Abdul Razzak (Persia), Barbosa and Domingo Paes (Portugal) and Niketan (Russia) have given a lot of information regarding Vijayanagara and Bahamani Empires.
