The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c24.26

v1.c24.26

The Kshatriya literature of the heroic age of India has for the most part been lost. Such of it as has survived has owed its preservation to its association with religion. The commemoration of the lineage of kings found a place in religious ceremonial, as, for instance, in the year-long preparation for the ‘horse-sacrifice,’ by the performance of which a king ratified his claim to suzerainty over his neighbours. It is no doubt to such commemorations that we owe the dynastic lists which have been preserved in the Purāṇas.