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The history of India begins
with the
Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and
flourished in the north-western part of the
Indian subcontinent, from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its
Mature Harappan period lasted from 2600-1900 BCE. This
Bronze Age civilization collapsed at the beginning
of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the
Iron Age
Vedic period, which extended over much of the
Indo-Gangetic plains and which witnessed the rise of
major kingdoms known as the
Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms
Magadha,
Mahavira and
Gautama Buddha were born in the
6th century BCE, who propagated their
Shramanic philosophies among the masses.
Later, successive empires and
kingdoms ruled the region and enriched its culture -
from the
Achaemenid Persian empire[1]
around 543 BCE, to
Alexander the Great[2]
in 326 BCE. The
Indo-Greek Kingdom, founded by
Demetrius of Bactria, included
Gandhara and
Punjab from 184 BCE; it reached its greatest extent
under
Menander, establishing the
Greco-Buddhist period with advances in trade and
culture.
The subcontinent was united under the
Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE.
It subsequently became fragmented, with various parts
ruled by numerous
Middle kingdoms for the next ten centuries. Its
northern regions were united once again in the 4th
century CE, and remained so for two centuries
thereafter, under the
Gupta Empire. This period, of
Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is
known among its admirers as the "Golden
Age of India." During the same time, and for several
centuries afterwards, Southern
India, under the rule of the
Chalukyas,
Cholas,
Pallavas and
Pandyas, experienced its own golden age, during
which Indian civilization, administration, culture, and
religion (Hinduism
and
Buddhism) spread to much of
south-east Asia.
Islam arrived on the subcontinent in
712
CE, when the Arab general
Muhammad bin Qasim conquered
Sindh and
Multan in southern
Punjab,[3]
setting the stage for several successive Islamic
invasions between the 10th and 15th centuries CE from
Central Asia, leading to the formation of Muslim empires
in the
Indian subcontinent, including the
Ghaznavid, the
Ghorid, the
Delhi Sultanate and the
Mughal Empire. Mughal rule came to cover most of the
northern parts of the subcontinent. Mughal rulers
introduced middle-eastern art and architecture to India.
In addition to the Mughals, several independent
Hindu kingdoms, such as the
Maratha Empire, the
Vijayanagara Empire and various
Rajput kingdoms, flourished contemporaneously, in
Western and Southern India respectively. The Mughal
Empire suffered a gradual decline in the early
eighteenth century, which provided opportunities for the
Afghans,
Balochis and
Sikhs to exercise control over large areas in the
northwest of the subcontinent until the
British East India Company[4]
gained ascendancy over South Asia.
Beginning in the mid-18th century and
over the next century, India was gradually annexed by
the
British East India Company. Dissatisfaction with
Company rule led to the
First War of Indian Independence, after which India
was directly administered by the
British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid
development of
infrastructure and
economic decline.
During the first half of the 20th
century, a nationwide
struggle for independence was launched by the
Indian National Congress, and later joined by the
Muslim League. The subcontinent gained independence
from
Great Britain in 1947, after being
partitioned into the
dominions of
India and
Pakistan. Pakistan's
eastern wing became the nation of
Bangladesh in 1971.
[edit]
Pre-Historic era
[edit]
Stone Age
-
-
Isolated remains of
Homo erectus in Hathnora in the
Narmada Valley in
Central India indicate that India might have been
inhabited since at least the
Middle Pleistocene era, somewhere between 200,000 to
500,000 years ago.[5][6]
The
Mesolithic period in the Indian subcontinent covered
a timespan of around 25,000 years, starting around
30,000 years ago. Modern humans seem to have settled the
subcontinent towards the end of the last
Ice Age, or approximately 12,000 years ago. The
first confirmed permanent settlements appeared 9,000
years ago in the
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka in modern
Madhya Pradesh, India. Early
Neolithic culture in South Asia is represented by
the
Mehrgarh findings (7000
BCE onwards) in present day
Balochistan, Pakistan. Traces of a
Neolithic culture have been found submerged in the
Gulf of Khambat in India,
radiocarbon dated to
7500 BCE.[7]
Late Neolithic cultures sprang up in the Indus Valley
region between 6000 and 2000 BCE and in southern India
between 2800 and 1200 BCE.
The region of the subcontinent that
is now the country of Pakistan has been inhabited
continuously for at least two million years.[8][9]
The ancient history of the region includes some of
South Asia's oldest settlements[10]
and some of its major civilizations.[11][12]
The earliest archaeological site in
South Asia is the
palaeolithic
hominid site in the
Soan River valley.[13]
Village life began with the
Neolithic site of
Mehrgarh,[14]
while the first urban civilization of the region was the
Indus Valley Civilization,[15]
with major sites at
Mohenjo Daro,
Lothal and
Harappa.[16]
[edit]
Bronze Age
-
-
See also:
Economic history of India and
Timeline of the economy of India
The Bronze Age on the Indian
subcontinent began around 3300 BCE with the beginning of
the Indus Valley Civilization. It is primarily centred
in modern day India (Gujarat
and
Rajasthan) and Pakistan (Sindh
and
Punjab). Historically part of
Ancient India, it is one of the world's three
earliest urban civilizations along with
Mesopotamia and
Ancient Egypt. Inhabitants of the ancient
Indus river valley, the Harappans, developed new
techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze,
lead and tin.
The Indus Valley Civilization which
flourished from about 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE marked the
beginning of the urban civilization on the subcontinent.
The ancient civilization included urban centers such as
Harappa,
Ganeriwala,
Mohenjo-daro in modern day
Pakistan and
Dholavira,
Kalibangan,
Rakhigarhi,
Lothal in modern day
India. The civilization is noted for its cities
built of brick, road-side drainage system and
multi-storied houses.
It was centred on the Indus River and
its tributaries, and extended into the
Ghaggar-Hakra River valley,[11]
the
Ganges-Yamuna Doab,[17]
Gujarat,[18]
and northern
Afghanistan.[19]
It is thought by some that geological disturbances and
climate change, leading to a gradual deforestation may
ultimately have contributed to the civilization's
downfall. The decline of the Indus Valley Civilization
also included a break down of urban society and of the
use of distinctively urban traits such as the use of
writing and seals.[20]
[edit]
Vedic period
-
Main article:
Vedic period
-
See also:
Vedas,
Ramayana, and
Mahabharata
-
Further information:
Indo-Aryan and Aryan
The
Vedic period consists of the
Indo-Aryan culture associated with the
Hindu sacred texts of
Vedas, which were orally composed in
Vedic Sanskrit.
Vedas are some of the oldest extant texts. This
period lasted from about 1500 BCE to 500 BCE, laid the
foundations of
Hinduism and other cultural aspects of early
Indian society.
Out of India theory, claim
Aryans were indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.
It is to be noted that the 19th century "Aryan Invasion
theory" has long been abandoned by scholars[21].
Instead the various scenarios of an "Aryan Immigration"
are presently researched.
Early Vedic society consisted of
largely pastoral groups, with late Harappan urbanization
being abandoned for unknown reasons.[22]
After the
Rigveda, Aryan society became increasingly
agricultural, and was socially organized around the four
Varnas. In addition to the principal texts of
Hinduism the
Vedas, the epics
Ramayana and
Mahabharata are said to have their ultimate origins
during this period.[23]
Early Indo-Aryan presence probably corresponds, in part,
to the presence of
Ochre Coloured Pottery in archaeological findings.[24]
The kingdom of the
Kurus[25]
corresponds to the
Black and Red Ware and
Painted Gray Ware culture and the beginning of the
Iron Age in Northwestern India, around
1000 BCE with the composition of the
Atharvaveda, the first Indian text to mention Iron,
as
śyāma ayas, literally "black metal." The
Painted Grey Ware culture spanning much of Northern
India were prevalent from about 1100 to 600 BCE.[24]
This later period also corresponds with a change in
outlook towards the prevalent tribal system of living
leading to establishment of kingdoms called
Mahajanapadas.
[edit]
The Mahajanapadas
-
Main article:
Mahajanapadas
-
-
See also:
Adi Shankara,
Siddhartha Gautama, and
Mahavira
-
Further information:
Upanishads, Indian
Religions, Indian
philosophy, and Ancient
universities of India
The
Mahajanapadas were the sixteen most
powerful kingdoms and republics of the era,
located mainly across the fertile
Indo-Gangetic plains, however there were
a number of smaller kingdoms stretching the
length and breadth of India
In the later Vedic Age, a number of
small kingdoms or city states had covered the
subcontinent, many mentioned during Vedic, early
Buddhist and Jaina literature as far back as 1000 BCE.
By 500 BCE, sixteen monarchies and 'republics' known as
the
Mahajanapadas —
Kasi,
Kosala,
Anga,
Magadha,
Vajji (or Vriji),
Malla,
Chedi,
Vatsa (or Vamsa),
Kuru,
Panchala,
Machcha (or Matsya),
Surasena,
Assaka,
Avanti,
Gandhara,
Kamboja — stretched across the
Indo-Gangetic plains from modern-day Afghanistan to
Bengal and Maharastra. This period was that of the
second major urbanisation in India after the Indus
Valley Civilization. Many smaller clans mentioned within
early literature seem to have been present across the
rest of the subcontinent. Some of these kings were
hereditary; other states elected their rulers. The
educated speech at that time was
Sanskrit, while the dialects of the general
population of northern India are referred to as
Prakrits. Many of the sixteen kingdoms had coalesced
to four major ones by 500/400 BCE, by the time of
Siddhartha Gautama. These four were
Vatsa,
Avanti,
Kosala and
Magadha.[26]
Hindu rituals at that time were
complicated and conducted by the priestly class. It is
thought that the
Upanishads, late Vedic texts dealing mainly with
incipient philosophy, were composed in the later Vedic
Age and early in this period of the Mahajanapadas
(from about 600 - 400 BCE).
Upanishads had a substantial effect on
Indian philosophy, and were contemporary to the
development of Buddhism and
Jainism, indicating a golden age of thought in this
period. It is believed that in 537 BCE, that Siddhartha
Gautama attained the state of "enlightenment", and
became known as the 'Buddha' - the awakened one. Around
the same time,
Mahavira (the 24th Jain
Tirthankara according to Jains) propagated a similar
theology, that was to later become
Jainism.[27]
However, Jain orthodoxy believes it predates all known
time. The
Vedas are believed to have documented a few Jain
Tirthankars, and an ascetic order similar to the sramana
movement.[28]
The Buddha's teachings and Jainism had doctrines
inclined toward asceticism, and were preached in
Prakrit, which helped them gain acceptance amongst
the masses. They have profoundly influenced practices
that Hinduism and Indian spiritual orders are associated
with namely, vegetarianism, prohibition of animal
slaughter and ahimsa (non-violence).
While the geographic impact of
Jainism was limited to India, Buddhist nuns and monks
eventually spread the teachings of Buddha to
Central Asia,
East Asia,
Tibet,
Sri Lanka and South East Asia.
[edit]
Persian and Greek invasions
-
See also:
Achaemenid Empire,
Greco-Buddhism,
Alexander the Great, and
Gangaridai
Alexander's conquests
reached the northernmost edge of India,
around the
Indus river in modern day Pakistan,
which was slightly further than the
Achaemenid Empire
Much of the northwestern Indian
Subcontinent (present day Eastern Afghanistan and
Pakistan) came under the rule of the Persian
Achaemenid Empire in c. 520 BCE during the reign of
Darius the Great, and remained so for two centuries
thereafter.[29]
In 334 BCE,
Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor and the
Achaemenid Empire, reaching the north-west frontiers of
the Indian subcontinent. There, he defeated King
Puru in the
Battle of the Hydaspes (near modern-day Jhelum,
Pakistan) and conquered much of the Punjab.[30]
Alexander's march East put him in confrontation with the
Nanda Empire of
Magadha and
Gangaridai Empire of
Bengal. His army, exhausted and frightened by the
prospect of facing larger Indian armies at the Ganges
River, mutinied at the
Hyphasis (modern
Beas) and refused to march further East. Alexander,
after the meeting with his officer,
Coenus, was convinced that it was better to return.
The Persian and Greek invasions had
important repercussions on Indian civilization. The
political systems of the Persians was to influence
future forms of governance on the subcontinent,
including the administration of the Mauryan dynasty. In
addition, the region of Gandhara, or present-day eastern
Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan, became a melting
pot of Indian, Persian, Central Asian and Greek cultures
and gave rise to a hybrid culture,
Greco-Buddhism, which lasted until the 5th century
CE and influenced the artistic development of
Mahayana Buddhism.
[edit]
The Magadha
-
-
See also:
Pataliputra
Amongst the sixteen Mahajanapadas,
the kingdom of Magadha rose to prominence under a number
of dynasties. According to tradition, the
Haryanka dynasty founded the Magadha Empire in 684
BC whose capital was Rajagriha, later
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