Indian Manuscripts – Mocomi.com

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1. Indian
Manuscripts
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2. INTRODUCTION
Indian literature dates back to the courts of monarchs
over 5000 years ago. Back then literature was not in the
form of written texts as we know it today, but in the form
of oral poetry, song, and verse. Classical Indian lan-
guages were warehouses of ancient wisdom that were
stocked by folklore imagination. The literature of ancient
India was based in inquiry into questions about life, death
and nature. Even mathematics, astronomy, cosmology and
science were keenly inspected. The act of passing down
knowledge took place in the gurukuls (schools) of the
monarchs of Indian antiquity and is known as the oral tra-
dition.
Gurukul system
Indian
Manuscripts
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3. THE ORAL TRADITION
The body of shared knowledge was passed down from
generation to generation in an oral tradition that re-
mained unbroken for centuries, nay- millennia. In fact
until quite recently literature reached its audience through
performance and experience, which is how even people
who do not know how to read and write are very in-
formed about their own culture.
Oral tradition of teachings
by Gautama Budha
Indian
Manuscripts
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4. THE ORAL TRADITION
In the oral tradition before written language, long texts of
histories and ideas were memorised and passed down
from mouth to ear. Each text would use a mnemonic
system (an auditory learning aid) to help the memoriser
remember such a large volume of knowledge. Every gen-
eration made their additions to the body of work but no
modifications were made to original texts simply because
it would mean changing the tune of the song.
Calender in the mnemonic system
Indian
Manuscripts
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5. Writing played a very important role in the knowledge
based societies of ancient times. Documenting became a
necessity as civilised life became more complex. Writ-
ing was a convenient way of transmitting information and
a reliable means of keeping historical records. The repre-
sentation of language in a textual medium dates at
around 4000 BC .
THE WRITTEN TRADITION
Valmiki writting
Ramayana
Indian
Manuscripts
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6. The long texts that were transmitted orally gradually
began to be recorded on copper plates, birch, palm
leaves, and even paper. The oral tradition continued to
be a means of learning the Vedas but has been passed
down to us through a large collection of manuscripts.
Sanskrit has no native script because it was spoken in a
purely oral society. When it was written the scripts used
by regional scribes were used and therefore virtually all
major writing systems have been used to create Sanskrit
manuscripts. Also, many original Sanskrit texts were trans-
lated into many different Indian languages as this tradi-
tion of documenting the existing oral tradition was
considered essential to propagating knowledge and
language.
THE WRITTEN TRADITION
Devimahatmya manuscript on palm-leaf, in an early Bhujimol script, Bihar or Nepal, 11th century
Indian
Manuscripts
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7. THE WRITTEN TRADITION
One of the oldest bodies of text in the world are the
Vedas that were created between 1500 – 500 BC.
During that time the language of the street was called
Vedic. The Vedas are written in Classical Sanskrit, a
complex form of Vedic.
Around the 4th century a grammarian known as Panini
wrote a book called Panniyam, which contained 3,959
linguistic rules. This transformed Classical Sanskrit into
what is called Modern Sanskrit.
Manuscript
illustration
of the Battle of
Kurukshetra
Indian
Manuscripts
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8. THE MANUSCRIPTS OF INDIA
India is said to have the largest collection of manu -
scripts in the world scattered all across the country.
Indian manuscripts were written in a variety of languages
and scripts that have survived till today. These are in the
Grantha, Devanagiri, Nandinagiri, and Telegu scripts
and multiple languages. The heritage and history of India
is well documented in these treasures.
Suryaprajnapati Sutra
Indian
Manuscripts
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9. THE MANUSCRIPTS OF INDIA
There is a big difference in the way we store information
in the digital age and how the people of ancient India did
it. Palm leaf was the most common form of paper. The
center rib of a palm frond was removed leaving two
strips. The strips were pressed flat and trimmed to one
size before being smoothed down by sandpaper.
Palm Tree
Indian
Manuscripts
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10. THE MANUSCRIPTS OF INDIA
Scribes would use a sharp instrument to actually carve the
writing into the surface of the leaf. The nearly invisible
text was made visible by covering the leaf with a black
pigment like carbon black. After the leaf was cleaned,
the residue remained in these scratches and made the
writing visible.
Prayers on the
Palm leaf
Indian
Manuscripts
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11. THE MANUSCRIPTS OF INDIA
The scribes would delicately write on both side of the
strip of palm leaf. These pages were then bound to-
gether by a string either at one end of the strip so it could
fan out, or read like a book as we do now. The front and
back cover of the manuscript would always be a hard
material in order for protection. These covers were most
often adorned and sometimes even made of precious
materials such as ivory.
Indian
Manuscripts
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12. ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
Recording and documenting history and culture was not
restricted to the Indian subcontinent. The ancient Egyp-
tians were using a similar technique on papyrus and the
Mesopotamians as well. During the rise of Christianity
around 400 AD, manuscripts began to feature small
images and colourful decoration that would illustrate the
text. A text with miniature paintings along with illus-
trations that framed the text in a box is known as an
illuminated manuscript.
15th century manuscript of the De mulieribus claris by Giovanni Boccaccio.
Indian
Manuscripts
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13. ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
This tradition came to India by 800 AD. Jain, Hindu and
Buddhist traditions of illuminated manuscripts exist in vari-
ous parts of India. However it became the dominant style
of creating manuscripts during the Mughal period.
Akbar the great was by far the biggest patron of illumi-
nated manuscripts in India. He had studied painting him-
self in his youth and had inherited his father's library of
After he moved his capital to Fatepur Sikri he set up a
school dedicated to miniature painting under the tute-
lage of Persian master artists.
Emperor Jahangir receiving his two sons, an album-painting in gouache on paper
Indian
Manuscripts
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14. ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
This style soon spread to the surrounding Hindu courts and
the Hindu epics of the Ramayana, Mahabharata,
smaller fables and fairy tales began to find themselves
in this format in all languages and scripts.
The people of the Indian subcontinent have historically
been a culture of knowledge. Thousands of texts and illu-
minated manuscripts have survived to this day. It is proof
that whether in the midst of war or prosperity, kings and
scholars worked to preserve the culture and histories of
their people. So the next time you write a note, imagine
who might find it years from now.
Illuminated miniature of
Sri Guru Granth Sahib Nishan
Indian
Manuscripts
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15. PROJECT
There are scores of scripts that originated in the Indian
subcontinent. Can you find out which ones are still used
today?
Hint: You might find more than one language that uses the
same script.
Learn how to write your name in 3 different scripts you
don't already know.
Write a report about what you read in the style of an
illuminated manuscript. Have a small picture in one
corner and place your text around it.
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Indian
Manuscripts
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