In Vedic India, the greatest of sacrifices was the Ashvamedha (or Horse Sacrifice). Kings spent fortunes in the elaborate rituals, which sometimes required hundreds of officiating priests and lasted for several weeks at a time. The sacrifice of the horse was often associated with the sacrifice of the goat, as we discuss further below. Both these sacrifices were often associated with Tantric practices, and even today this ritual is often accompanied by the goat sacrifice. In fact the horse sacrifice was a fertility ritual, as it entailed the mating of the queen with the sacrificed horse and had, moreover, connections with the renovation of the cosmos this type of ritual usually represents.

• External forces entered the forest in different ways . The state required elephants for the army so the peshkash levied from forest people often included a supply of elephants.
• The hunt symbolized the overwhelming concern of the state to ensure justice to all its subjects, rich and poor. The hunt was a subject frequently painted by courts artists.
• The spread of commercial agriculture was an important external factor that impinged on the life of those who lived in forests.
• Forest products-like honey , beeswax and gum lac- were in great demand and became major items of overseas export from India.
• Elephants were captured and sold. Trade involved exchange through barter system as well. Some tribes, like the Lohanis in Punjab were involved in overland trade between India and Afghanishtan, and in the town-country trade in Punjab itself.

The five elements considered by the historians while analyzing the texts:

(i) They examine whether texts were written in Prakrit, Pali or Tamil, languages that were probably used by ordinary people, or in Sanskrit, a language meant almost exclusively for priests and elites.

(ii) They also consider the kinds of text. Were these mantras, learnt and chanted by ritual specialists, or stories that people could have read, or heard, and then retold if they found them interesting?

(iii) Besides, they try to find out about the authors whose perspectives and ideas shaped the text, as well as the intended audience, as, very often, authors keep the interests of their audience in mind while composing their work.

(iv) And they try and ascertain the possible date of the composition or compilation of the texts as well as the place where they may have been composed.

(v) It is only after making these assessments that they draw on the content of texts to arrive at an understanding of their historical significance.

Archaeologists reconstruct the past by a study of the artefacts which they unearth such as seals, coins, remains of buildings, clay, pots or burnt grains. Archaeologist reconstruct the past in the following ways:

• Archaeologists excavate the ancient sites. They try to find about the life of the people by studying various unearthed artefacts such as remains of houses, pots, jewellery, coins, agricultural tools, weighs etc.
• Zooarchaeologists study the animal bones and try to find out if these animals were domesticated. For example, Animal bones found at Harappan sites include those of cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo and pig. It show us that the Harappans were aware of these animal.
• Archaeologists try to find about the prevalence of agriculture by finding the remains of burnt grains. Some ways by which they try to find about the agricultural practices is by studying seals and terracotta sculptures. For example, representations on seals and terracotta sculpture indicate that the bull was known, and archaeologists extrapolate from this that oxen were used for ploughing.
• Archaeologists also try to find about social or economic differences amongst people in the past by studying burial sites. When graves contain pottery and ornaments, it indicate that people during that time believed in afterlife.
• Archaeologists try to look for raw material such as stone nodules, whole shells, copper ore; tools; unfinished objects; rejects and waste materials to identify the centres of craft production.
• Religious beliefs of the people can be reconstructed based on the study of seals and coins. In the Harappan Civilisation, some seals depicted rituals while some seals had plat motifs on them indicating nature worship.

Al-Biruni arrived in Ghazni as a hostage, but gradually developed a liking for the city, where he spent the rest of his life until his death at the age of 70. It was in Ghazni that Al-Biruni developed an interest in India. 

 This was not unusual. Sanskrit works on astronomy, mathematics and medicine had been translated into Arabic from the eighth century onwards. When the Punjab became a part of the Ghaznavid empire, contacts with the local population helped create an environment of mutual trust and understanding. Al-Biruni spent years in the company of Brahmana priests and scholars, learning Sanskrit, and studying religious and philosophical texts. While his itinerary is not clear, it is likely that he travelled widely in the Punjab and parts of northern India. Travel literature was already an accepted part of Arabic literature by the time he wrote. This literature dealt with lands as far apart as the Sahara desert in the west to the River Volga in the north. So, while few people in India would have read Al-Biruni before 1500, many others outside India may have done so.