Sources

The full bibliography.

Every paper, report, and primary text the site draws from. We don’t cite anything that isn’t listed here. The library grows over time; entries are tiered by how much weight a citation carries (Tier 1 = peer-reviewed top venue; Tier 3 = useful background, cite cautiously).

Tier 2

Reputable; cite carefully

Book

Fair use (cited)

A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India

Upinder Singh · 2008 · Pearson Longman

Comprehensive survey textbook with extensive citations to primary archaeological literature.

Archaeology Texts

Book

Fair use (cited)

Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300

Romila Thapar · 2002 · Penguin

Standard one-volume narrative history. Read for synthesis; check primary sources for specific claims.

Archaeology Texts

Paper

Fair use (cited)

Early Sources for South Asian Substrate Languages

Michael Witzel · 1999 · Mother Tongue (Special Issue, October 1999)

Witzel's much-cited argument for non-Indo-Aryan substrate languages preserved in Vedic. Influential, contested in places.

Linguistics Texts

Primary text

Public domain

Kautilya's Arthashastra (English translation)

R. Shamasastry (translator), Kautilya · 1915 · Government Press, Bangalore

First complete English translation. Public domain. Hosted in the Swaveda translation library.

Texts Governance

Primary text

Public domain

The Hymns of the Rigveda, Translated with a Popular Commentary

Ralph T. H. Griffith (translator) · 1896 · E. J. Lazarus & Co., Benares

Public-domain Rigveda translation. Older — modern scholars (e.g., Jamison & Brereton) have superseded it on philology — but still useful for orientation.

Texts