Where Mythology and History Meet: The Mahabharata

Every nation has lived its history, while every society has lived by its myths. But what makes the difference? History is built on facts backed by evidence, such as inscriptions, ruins, and records, while mythology is a fictional account that tends to lack proof, having been passed down as stories through the generations. At first glance, this difference appears to be as clear as black and white. However, is there a possibility for the line between them to blur?

The term "mythology" is not limited to a single meaning. It can be used as an umbrella term to collectively refer to the set of myths that belong to a particular region or religion, while also referring to the study of myths itself. A myth is a symbolic chronicle that exists in every society. It deals with extraordinary beings and events that are often linked with religious beliefs, portrayed by believers as being an account of actual events.[1] Despite not being ‘factually true’, it preserves the memories of communities, explaining the origins of our values and beliefs.

On the other hand, history, as a word, may have a fixed meaning, but its definition is not as objective in nature. It has evolved from the age of Herodotus, who coined the term itself, and continues to do so, leaving much room for its interpretation despite the many versions of it. Different schools of thought have defined history as a study of various aspects relevant to their ideologies, but the crux of them all remains the same.

History is the study of what historians reconstruct of the past using the evidence that has survived through the years. It is an interpretation of what is known to us about the significant events of the past.

The Mahabharata: A Case Study

The Mahabharata calls itself an itihasa, signifying that “it has happened.” It is a paradoxical masterpiece that talks of divine weapons, curses, and gods walking the land while simultaneously being full of dynasties, wars, and politics. Whether it is a myth woven into history, or history disguised as myth, is yet to be discovered.

Many verses of the Mahabharata read like a historical record. The elaborate lineage of kings, detailed descriptions of kingdoms, political alliances, and the accurate geography of Kurukshetra make it seem less like a fictional tale. And this might not just be a speculation.

Excavations by B. B. Lal in the 1950s at Hastinapur uncovered settlement layers that dated back to the Painted Grey Ware (PWG) culture (c. 1100 to 800 BCE), which aligns with the supposed era of the great battle. The layers of flooding discovered alongside also bear a significant similarity with the Puranas that talk of Hastinapur being abandoned after the floods.[2] Even sites like Kurukshetra, Indraprastha, and Mathura, which are central to the epic, are real geographical locations still identifiable today. The discovery made by S. R. Rao of the National Institute of Oceanography included submerged structures off the coast of Gujarat that are interpreted as the remnants of the divine city of Krishna we know as Dwaraka.[3] 

However, archaeological proof isn’t the only kind that has been found. The planetary alignments depicted in the tale, as calculated by K. S. Raghavan[4] and R. N. Iyengar[5], and those proposed by the scholars fall in sync. The geological clues in the text about the drying of the river Saraswati have also been confirmed and dated back to around 1900 BCE by satellite imagery.[6] The Mahabharata is also assumed to have a historic core due to the citation long lineage of dynasties that overlap with each other in its text.

However, it is undeniable that the history in the Mahabharata has been constantly reshaped as myth by including the cosmic element of Krishna’s intervention, portraying a clan conflict as a destiny-altering battle of justice and morality. Even the astronomical events described in the tale that inspired scientific studies were simultaneously symbolic of cosmic disorder linked to the war.

Thus, the dual nature of the Mahabharata makes it a suitable text to study when comparing these two contrasting fields of study.

Through the lens of Sociology 

The Mahabharata is a story renowned for its moral teachings, which have been preserved through oral storytelling. As Maurice Halbwachs explains, ‘collective memory’ is not as technical as a historian’s account; rather, it is shaped by the values and perspective of the people that are carrying it forward.[7] Hence, several unavoidable biases stemming from inherent human nature tend to make their way into the narratives over time. Yet, this constant evolution of the tale has allowed it to persevere to this date. This goes on to show that collective memory archives facts with meaning, and meaning can often have as much relevance as evidence.

Which is why, despite being altered through the generations, its validity stands. Hence, it opens up a compelling possibility that the Mahabharata, in its earliest form, could have been a much more believable history than the grand myth narrated today.

What if Mythology became History?

Mythological tales are native to their people and tied deeply to sentiments, beyond just religion or region. Treating myths like the Mahabharata as history would not only strengthen the roots and beliefs of the community to which this epic belongs but could also reshape India’s position on the global stage. This would, in itself, stand as testimony to the serious limitations of human technologies, for mythology has been largely dismissed due to the absence of material evidence.

On the other hand, if the Mahabharata were accepted universally as history, it could become a tool for justifying discrimination among communities, while simultaneously inciting religious wars and political unrest. This is why integrating mythology into history, though tempting, might ultimately prove detrimental to the future of world politics as a whole.

However, this should not become a reason to halt our exploration of myths through the lens of history. The fact that history could be ingrained into mythical verses, as in the case of the Mahabharata, shows that we could end up risking the loss of information holding genuine historical relevance by playing it too safe.

Conclusion

Since time immemorial, history has been equated with truth and mythology with falsehood. However, the existence of the Mahabharata serves to debunk this thought. The two may not be as different as we think, since both are elements of human imagination that involve the creation of stories, which help in understanding the past. They also provide answers to questions regarding human identity.

The Mahabharata is an epic symbolising dharma and duty, but it is elusive whether it can also be viewed as a record of a great war fought on the plains of Kurukshetra. This very uncertainty makes it a difficult task to draw a clear line between the two. Perhaps, however, the answer was never in differentiating the two, but in blending their essence like the balance achieved by the Mahabharata itself; the tale is a history when read as a tale of the rise and fall of dynasties, and a mythology when read as an epic part of Krishna’s divine leela.

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This blog has been authored by Ridhima Arora, a student at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab.

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REFERENCES

[1] Richard G.A. Buxton et al. ‘myth’ (Britannica) <https://www.britannica.com/topic/myth> accessed 18 January 2026

[2] Archaeological Survey of India, Excavations at Hastinapura and other Explorations in the Upper Ganga and Sutlej Basins (1954)

[3] S. R. Rao, The Lost City of Dvārakā (Aditya Prakashan 1999)

[4] K. S. Raghavan, ‘Date of the Mahabharata War Based on Astronomical Data’ (1993) 28(1) Indian Journal of History of Science < https://insa.nic.in/writereaddata/UpLoadedFiles/IJHS/Vol53_1_2018__Art09.pdf> accessed 15 January 2026

[5] R. N. Iyengar, ‘Internal Consistency of Eclipses and Planetary Positions in the Mahabharata’ (2003) 38(2) Indian Journal of History of Science <https://www.academia.edu/70932184/Indian_Journal_of_History_of_Science_38_2_2003_pp_77_115_Internal_Consistency_of_Eclipses_and_Planetary_Positions_in_Mahabharata> accessed 16 January 2026

[6] Yash Pal et al. ‘Remote Sensing of the “Lost” Sarasvati River’ (1980) 89 Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Earth and Planetary Sciences) < https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339791340_The_Lost_Saraswati_River_of_Northwestern_Indian_Plains_Status_and_way_forward> accessed 14 January 2026

[7] Maurice Halbwachs, ‘Space and the Collective Memory’, in Lewis A. Coser (eds), On Collective Memory (1992) <https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/hawlbachsspace.pdf> accessed 18 January 2026