In Indian history, the period from A.D. (CE) 700 to 1200 is classified as the Early Medieval period and the period from A.D. (CE) 1200 to 1700 as the Later Medieval period. Historians studying Medieval India have numerous and varied sources: inscriptions, monuments and coins, along with the accounts left by Arab, Persian and Turkish chroniclers.
1. Sources and Their Nature
Sources are the supporting materials, documents or records in the form of evidence that help to reconstruct the past. With their aid we examine the political, economic and socio-cultural developments of a period.
- The accounts of the chroniclers are rich in detail and give first-hand information on the life of kings, but provide very little information on the life of the common people.
- The opinions of courtiers and chroniclers are often one-sided, written in a hyperbolic language that exaggerates the king's achievements.