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{{Short description|Genre of ancient and medieval literature}}
'''Vamsa''' ({{langx|sa|वंश|Vaṃśa|translit-std=IAST}}) is a [[Sanskrit]] word that means 'bamboo, family, lineage'.<ref name=vamsabuddhist/><ref name="Thapar1978p293"/><ref name=sanskvamsa/> It also refers to a genre of ancient and medieval literature in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. This genre focuses on genealogies. They resemble the conventional histories found in the European literature, but differ as they predominantly chronicle myths and may integrate spiritual doctrines such as rebirths. A {{Lang|sa-Latn|vaṃśa}} can be focussed on a dynasty, family, individual such as a saint, line of teachers of a particular tradition, or a place particularly of pilgrimage. Some of these texts are titled with {{Lang|sa-Latn|vaṃśa}} as a suffix.<ref name=vamsabuddhist>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/vamsa Vamsa: Buddhist Literature], Encyclopaedia Britannica</ref><ref name="Thapar1978p293"/><ref name=sanskvamsa>[https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/ vaMza] Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (2008 revision), University of Koeln, Germany</ref>

==Etymology==
The word {{Lang|sa-Latn|vaṃśa}} has ancient roots and refers to bamboo cane or sugar cane reed. According to Monier Monier-Williams, the term evolved to mean 'lineage', likely inspired by the periodic lengths of a cane, where one distinct segment follows the previous, grows, ends and is the basis of another. The word is found in the sense of "line of teachers", genealogy and family tree in the''[[Shatapatha Brahmana]]'', as well as in Sanskrit grammar text ''Ashtadhyayi'' by [[Pāṇini]].<ref name=sanskvamsa/> A related genre of Indic literature is the ''Charita'', which focuses on individual [[hagiography|hagiographies]].<ref name="Sreedharan2004p320">{{cite book|author=E. Sreedharan|title=A Textbook of Historiography, 500 B.C. to A.D. 2000|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jJVoi3PIejwC&pg=PA320| year=2004| publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-2657-0|page=320}}</ref>

{{Lang|sa-Latn|Vaṃśa}} appears in other Indic languages in derivative forms, such as ''bans''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ravindra K. Jain|title=Between History and Legend: Status and Power in Bundelkhand|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fghQhiowlycC&pg=PA6|year=2002|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-2194-0|pages=6–7}}</ref>

==Buddhism==
''[[Buddhavamsa|Buddhavaṃsa]]'', ''[[Dipavamsa|Dipavaṃsa]]'', and ''[[Mahavamsa|Mahāvaṃsa]]'' are examples of Buddhist {{Lang|sa-Latn|vaṃsas}}. The ''Buddhavaṃsa'' chronicles the mythical lineage of 24 buddhas who preceded the actual human [[Buddha]] as Siddhartha, and includes the Bodhisatta doctrines.<ref>K.R. Norman (1983), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 7: Pali Literature, Editor: Jan Gonda, Otto Harrassowitz, {{ISBN|3-447-02285-X}}, pages 92-94</ref> The ''Dipavaṃsa'' and ''Mahāvaṃsa'' both are Theravada chronicles of the island of [[Sri Lanka]] presenting legends about the place from the birth of the Buddha to about the early medieval era.<ref name=vamsabuddhist/><ref>K.R. Norman (1983), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 7: Pali Literature, Editor: Jan Gonda, Otto Harrassowitz, {{ISBN|3-447-02285-X}}, pages 7-10</ref> According to Geiger, the Mahavamsa is likely based on Dipavamsa, these chronicles are of doubtful reliability.<ref>W Geiger (1930), [http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/gei.htm The Trustworthiness of the Mahavamsa], Indian Historical Quarterly, Volume 6, Number 2, pages 205-226</ref>

The ''[[Dathavamsa|Dāthāvaṃsa]]'' is the chronicle of the Buddha's tooth relic until the 9th-century CE. The ''[[Thupavamsa|Thūpavaṃsa]]'' is the purported legendary chronicle of the great stupa in Sri Lanka, mostly ahistorical stories from the 1st millennium. The ''[[Sāsanavaṃsa]]'' is Burmese text, written in 1861,<ref>K.R. Norman (1983), A History of Indian Literature, Volume 7: Pali Literature, Editor: Jan Gonda, Otto Harrassowitz, {{ISBN|3-447-02285-X}}, page 2</ref> with a mythical description of central India from the 1st millennium BCE and thereafter, about the diffusion of Buddhism and its monastic institutions outside India.<ref>Mabel Bode (1899), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25208138 The Author of the Sāsanavaṃsa], The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Cambridge University Press, (Jul., 1899), pp. 674-676</ref><ref name=vamsabuddhist/> The ''Sangītivaṃsa'' is a Thai text composed in the 18th-century which traces the Buddha lineage in India, Buddhism's spread from India to Thailand and its history in the latter country, as well as an account of its decline.<ref name=vamsabuddhist/>

==Hinduism==
The [[Puranas|Purana]] genre of [[Hindu texts|Hindu literature]] includes genealogies similar to the Buddhist texts. Each Purana describes the ''vaṃśa'' (lineage) and a ''vaṃśānucharita'' (accounts of kings and sages). The two most prominent royal lineages are called the ''[[Suryavansha|Suryavamsha]]'' and the ''[[Lunar dynasty|Chandravamsha]]'', the solar and the lunar lineages of kings, families, and communities.<ref name="Thapar1978p293">{{cite book|author=Romila Thapar|title=Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fK3VTUrWsD0C&pg=PA293|year=1978|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-0808-8|pages=292–297}}</ref><ref name="Lotter2011">{{cite journal|last1=Lotter|first1=Stefanie|title=Distinctly Different Everywhere: Politics of Appearance Amongst Rana Elites Inside and Outside Nepal|journal= Comparative Sociology|volume= 10|issue= 4|year= 2011|pages= 508–527|doi= 10.1163/156913311X590600}}</ref> The ''[[Harivamsa]]'' is the legendary genealogy of Yadavas and story of the Hindu god [[Krishna]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Edwin F. Bryant|title=Krishna: A Sourcebook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2n4VDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA95|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972431-4|pages=95–102}}</ref> It is found as an appendix to the ''[[Mahabharata]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Couture | first1=André | last2=Schmid | first2=Charlotte | last3=Couture | first3=Andre | title=The Harivaṃśa, the Goddess Ekānaṃśā, and the Iconography of the Vṛṣṇi Triads | journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society | publisher=American Oriental Society | volume=121 | issue=2 | year=2001 | doi=10.2307/606559 | pages=173–192| jstor=606559 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Austin | first=Christopher R | title=The Abduction of Śrī-Rukmiṇī: Politics, Genealogy and Theology | journal=Religious Studies and Theology | publisher=Equinox Publishing | volume=33 | issue=1 | year=2014 | doi=10.1558/rsth.v33i1.23 | pages=23–46}}</ref> The Puranas mention lineages of various creatures like [[daitya]]s, [[Nāga|naga]]s, as well as the descendants of [[prajapati]]s and [[rishi]]s. Additionally there are two relatively newer royal {{Lang|sa|vaṃsa}}s, vaṃsas, the [[Agnivansha|Agnivamsha]]<ref name="Mehta1980">{{citation |author=Jaswant Lal Mehta |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUk5k5AN54sC&pg=PA34|year=1980|publisher=Sterling |isbn=978-81-207-0617-0 |page=34 }}</ref>{{efn|There are numerous variant spellings of these clan names.}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Yadava |first=Ganga Prasad |title=Dhanapāla and His Times: A Socio-cultural Study Based Upon His Works |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aY_I3zgxfpsC&pg=PA32 |publisher=Concept |year=1982 }}, page 32.</ref> and the [[Nāga|Nagavamsha]].<ref>{{Citation | last =Tiwari | first =Shiv Kumar | year =2002 | title =Tribal Roots Of Hinduism | publisher =Sarup & Sons}}, page 177-231.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Dasgupta|first=Samira|title=Reflection Of Ethno-science: Study On The Abujh Maria|year=2005|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-8183240253|page=9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blqwRwrfAUMC&q=Nagavanshi+dynastyD&pg=PA9|author2=Amitabha Sarkar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/ranchi/ranchi-bids-tearful-farewell-to-last-maharaja.html|title=Ranchi bids tearful farewell to last Maharaja|website=www.dailypioneer.com|access-date=2018-11-19}}</ref>

==Jainism==
The literature of [[Jainism]] includes the ''Vamsa'' genre, such as its version of ''Harivamsa''.<ref name="Sreedharan2004p320"/>

==See also==
*[[Bansuri]]
*[[:Category:Sri Lankan chronicles]]
*[[Burmese chronicles]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

[[Category:Buddhist literature]]
[[Category:Hindu literature]]
[[Category:Sanskrit literature]]

Vaṃsa - Revision history

MargretGerken: starting a page initial version