Introduction
India offers a unique problem when it comes to literature and literary language. It i s difficult to trace the origin of something like Indian literature because of the multiplicity of traditions that we have in India. There is no specific origin we can go back to and the longer we go back into the past, the more difficult it becomes to pinpoint the life and times of authors. Moreover, each part of India has a different history from that of the other parts of India. So it is practically impossible to give a comprehensive history of the literature of India. Naturally this makes it difficult to trace the history of translations also in India.
Although we do not have definitive information about dates of composition or identity of authors, we do certainly know that numerous works on various disciplines were produced in ancient India. The earliest texts that we know of are the Vedas which are believed to have been composed around 1500 BC. One of the earliest literary texts is the Natyashastra believed to have been written by Bharata any time between 400 BC and 400 CE. The religious epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata were significant influences. Believed to have been composed by Valmiki and Vyasa respectively, these epics were orally passed on from one generation to another till they were recorded in writing, but it is difficult to pinpoint the actual dates of composition.
The language used for all these works was Sanskrit which was the language of the educated upper class. It can be compared somewhat to Latin which was the language used for scholarly works in the west; Latin too was the language of the educated minority.
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