In India, historiography begins with the Islamic conquests, as Muslim historians began writing about the progress of Islamic armies in the subcontinent and the states that they established. Before the Islamic period, the best literary sources for the historian are not
itihaas literature, but
charita biographical literature written about the lives of particular kings by contemporary court poets. For example, we have more detailed information on the Chalukya emperor Vikramaditya VI thanks to the
Vikramankadevacharita written by the Kashmiri poet Bilhana, who was staying at the Chalukya court in South India. Similarly, we know relatively more about Harsha than most other Indian kings thanks to Banabhatta's
Harshacharita. But it never occurred to any pre-modern Indian to even make a compilation of
charitas and attempt to write a detailed narrative or chronicle of Indian history. The closest we have to such a thing would be Kalhana's
Rajatarangini for the history of Kashmir, but quite frankly this work can only be described as paltry when compared to something like Tabari's
History of the Prophets and Kings (a monumental work of universal history consisting of thousands of pages and dozens of volumes, covering the history of the early Islamic civilization in great detail).
