Hindu texts to an author, as a derivative work they are considered less authoritative than "Sruti" in Hinduism. The Smrti literature is a vast corpus of diverse texts, and includes but is not limited to Vedāngas, the Hindu epics, the Sutras and Shastras, the texts of Hindu philosophies, the Puranas, the Kāvya or poetical literature, the "Bhasyas", and numerous "Nibandhas" (digests) covering politics, ethics, culture, arts and society. Many ancient and medieval Hindu texts were composed in Sanskrit, many others in regional Indian languages. In modern times, most ancient texts have been translated into other Indian languages and some in Western languages.
Ancient warfare disoriented soldiers, subsequently weakened from the previous attacks. During the Vedic period (fl. 1500–500 BC), the "Vedas" and other associated texts contain references to warfare. The earliest allusions to a specific battle are those to the Battle of the Ten Kings in Mandala 7 of the Rigveda. The two great ancient epics of India, "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata" (c. 1000–500 BC) are centered on conflicts and refer to military formations, theories of warfare and esoteric weaponry. Valmiki's "Ramayana" describes Ayodhya's military as defensive rather than aggressive. The city, it says, was strongly fortified and was surrounded by a deep moat. "Ramayana"