Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c6.17

c6.17

Their victorious career must have given rise to abundant tradition of all kinds, warlike, religious and peaceful, and tradition must have grown with their expansion and the length of their occupation. Naturally it was impossible to remember all the accumulated traditions, much dropped out, and only what was important or specially interesting to kings, priests and people was preserved. Consequently the principal matters that would have survived would be (speaking generally) the genealogies of great dynasties, ballads and stories about famous kings and eminent rishis, and accounts of the chief popular religious beliefs and observances. Kings and rishis therefore were the prominent figures, and it is mainly with them that ancient traditions deal.