I think the Valmiki version is true - and it's treated as such by historians like Dr RC Majumdar. Obviously, when you insert it as history, any supernatural events that are described - like say, the Devas going to Vishnu and him being in the payasa that's distributed to the 3 queens, or Hanuman lifting the mountain - those wouldn't make it there. But things like the travels of Rama that take him to Lanka, killing Ravan, exiling Sita after he becomes king, Shatrughan becoming the king of Madhupura, Bharat defeating the Gandharvas and installing his sons as the rulers of Takshashila and Pushkalavati, Lakshman and Rama conquering Karupadhadesh and installing Lakshman's sons there, Kush moving to a new capital Kushavati and Luv becoming the ruler of Kaushalya's Kosala - all that is a part of history.
Note that when something from the epics is put down as history, it cannot include anything supernatural or anything about the gods - that is faith, and can't be rationally accepted in those records.
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