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 vaṃśam 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.
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 theShatapatha Brahmana, as well as in Sanskrit grammar text Ashtadhyayi by Pāṇini.
[6] 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.