Can Purāṇas be a source of Indian History?

Western scholars have ignored Purāṇas as a source of Indian history because they carry fanciful accounts, and instead relied on non-Indian sources. Arvind Sharma says it is time to reassess this notion that Hindus did not have a sense of history.

However, if the accounts of the Greeks about India were translated into Sanskrit, they will read just like a Purāṇa. We are glad Faxian visited India, but despite the reputation of Chinese as a nation steeped in historiography, he does not even mention the name of the king through whose empire he passed. Xuanzang is richer in historical detail but his account, like that of Faxian, is full of accounts of Buddhist miracles, just as the Purāṇas are full of Hindu miracles.