Encyclopedia
The
history of India can be traced in fragments to as far back as 9500 years ago. Human civilizations in
India are some of the earliest recorded, and were contemporaries of civilizations in ancient
Mesopotamia and
Egypt. India's history essentially includes the entire
Indian subcontinent, including the more recent nations of
Pakistan and
Bangladesh. India is also inalienably linked with the history and heritage of the other
South Asian nations like
Sri Lanka,
Nepal and
Bhutan.
The
Indus Valley Civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates back to 3300 BCE. This was followed by the Vedic Civilization. The origin of the
Indo-Aryans is under some dispute. Some scholars today believe in some form of the
Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis, which proposes that the
Aryans, a semi-nomadic people, possibly from
Central Asia or northern
Iran, migrated into the north-west regions of the
Indian subcontinent between 2000 and 1500 BCE. The nature of this migration, the place of origin of the Aryans, and sometimes even the very existence of the Aryans as a separate people are hotly debated. The merger of the Vedic culture with the earlier Dravidian cultures apparently resulted in classical
Indian culture, though the exact details of this process are controversial, with some claiming that the Aryans moved
out of India. This theory suggests that the
Indus Valley Civilization was essentially Vedic and spread to other parts of Europe between the 6th and 2nd millenia BCE. The births of
Mahavira and
Buddha in the
6th century BCE mark the beginning of well-recorded Indian history. For the next 1500 years,
India produced its classical civilization, and is estimated by some historians to have had the largest economy of the ancient world between the
1st and
15th centuries CE, controlling between one third and one quarter of the world's wealth up to the time of the
Mughals, from whence it rapidly declined during British rule.
Incursions by Arab and
Central Asian armies in the
8th and
12th centuries were followed by inroads by traders from
Europe, beginning in the late
15th century. The British East India Company was established in 1600 CE. From 1757, the
British East India Company had begun colonising parts of India and by 1858 after defeating Sikh Empire in
Punjab in 1849, they fought 2 Anglo Sikh wars , the British Crown had assumed political control over virtually all of India. Indian armed forces in the British army played a vital role in both the
World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led by
Mohandas Gandhi,
Vallabhbhai Patel and
Jawaharlal Nehru brought independence in 1947. The subcontinent was partitioned into the Secular Democratic Republic of
India and the smaller
Islamic Republic of
Pakistan. A war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of
Bangladesh. In the 21st century, India has made impressive gains in economic investment and output, and stands as the world's largest democracy with a population exceeding one billion, is self sufficient in terms of food, and is a fast-growing, economically strong country, with the fourth largest economy in the world.
Outside of
South Asia,
India's history, culture and politics often overlap with neighbouring countries. India's culture, economy and politics has had an influence on the history and culture of the nations in
South East Asia,
East Asia and
Central Asia, such as
Indonesia,
Cambodia,
Thailand,
China,
Tibet,
Afghanistan,
Iran and
Turkestan over thousands of years. After Arab incursions into India during the early part of the second millennium CE, similar quests for access to India's fabled wealth strongly influenced the history of
medieval Europe, after the landing of
Vasco Da Gama.
Christopher Columbus discovered
America whilst searching for a new route to
India, and the
British Empire gained much of its resources after the incorporation of India as the 'Jewel in the Crown', from the late
18th century to 1947.
The Stone Age
Stone Age civilization in the Indian subcontinent started with the beginning of human settlement, and progressed towards farming, and the development of tools derived from natural objects, or crafted from raw material. The Mehrgarh community represents the earliest stage of agriculture in the subcontinent , and led to the emergance on Bronze Age culture of the Indus Valley.
The Paleolithic era
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 . The precise date of these remains is unclear, and archaeologists put it anywhere between 200,000 to 500,000 years BCE . The fossils are the earliest human remains found in
South Asia. Recent finds include a
quarry along the Malaprabha River and Ghataprabha River in the Kaladgi Basin in
Karnataka.
The Mesolithic era
The Mesolithic period in the Indian subcontinent covered a timespan of around 25,000 years, starting around 30,000 BCE, where the earliest discovered sites of Mesolithic culture has been unearthed in Sri Lanka. Other settlements have also been found as far north as the caves of the
Hindu Kush, which seem to be a direct progression from upper Paleolithic art. Cave paintings of game animals and human activity such as hunting, have been found at Mesolithic sites, and early forms of religious activity seem to have been found at some sites. Overall there is a great proliferation of Mesolithic culture throughout India, suggesting widespread habitation. Hunting, gathering, fishing, and other forms of hunter-gatherer subsistence seem to have dominated the period, however early forms of herding and small scale farming have been detected.
Modern humans seem to have settled the subcontinent towards the end of the last
Ice Age about 12,000 years ago.
The Neolithic era
The first confirmed permanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago in
Bhimbetka in modern
Madhya Pradesh. By 5100 BC, people in the
Indus Valley were farming and harvesting einkorn, a primitive form of wheat. Early
Neolithic culture in South Asia is represented by the Mehrgarh findings , in Balochistan,
Pakistan. The Mehrgarh community was mostly
pastoral, lived in mud houses, wove baskets and tended to
goats and their farms. By 5500 BCE, pottery began to appear and later chalcolithic implements began to appear. By 2000 BCE, the settlement was abandoned.
Traces of a
Neolithic culture have been found submerged in the
Gulf of Khambat in 2002 . Many of the finds recovered from the area have been
radiocarbon dated to
7500 BCE. 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 Bronze Age
Bronze Age civilizations in the Indian subcontinent laid the foundations for modern Indian civilization, including urban settlements and the development of Vedic beliefs, which form the core of Hinduism. Many historians claim that the rise, and eventual decline of the
Indus Valley Civilization, and the
migration of nomadic peoples from Central Asia into the Indian subcontinent shaped its history during this period.
Indus Valley Civilization
The irrigation of the Indus Valley, which provided enough resources to support major urban centers such as
Harappa and
Mohenjo-daro around 2500 BC, marked the beginning of the Harappan Civilization. This period marked the beginning of the earliest urban society in India, known as the
Indus Valley Civilization , which thrived between 2500 and 1900 BCE. It was centred on the
Indus River and its tributaries, including the Ghaggar-Hakra River, and extended into the Ganges-Yamuna Doab,
Gujarat, and northern
Afghanistan.
The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, road-side drainage system and multi-storeyed houses. The earliest historic references to India may be those to the
Meluhha in Sumerian records, possibly referring to the Indus Valley Civilization. When compared to the contemporary civilizations of
Egypt and
Sumeria, the Indus Civilization possessed unique urban planning techniques, covered the largest geographical area, and may have been a single state, as suggested by the amazing uniformity of its measurement systems.
The
Mohenjo-daro ruins were once the centre of this ancient society. Indus Civilization settlements spread as far south as present-day
Bombay, as far east as
Delhi, as far west as the
Iranian border, and as far north as the
Himalayas. Among the settlements were the major urban centres of
Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as
Dholavira,
Ganweriwala,
Lothal, Kalibanga and Rakhigarhi. At its peak, some archaeologists are of the opinion that the Indus Civilization may have had a population of well over five million. To date, over 2,500 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region to the east of the Indus River in Pakistan. 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}.
Archaeological resources suggest that the diverse geography of ancient India was increasing in the amount and specialization of faunal remains around 2400 to 1500 BCE. This specialization suggests that the Indus Valley Civilizations were dependent upon the alluvial soils of the rivers, which produced high yield crops. By 2600 BCE, the presence of a state level society is evident, complete with hierarchical rule and large scale public works. These include accomplishments such as irrigation, warehouses for grain, public streets, and brick-lined drainage systems for sanitation. Around the middle of the second millennium BCE, the region of the Indus River basin, in which approximately two-thirds of currently known sites were located dried up, and the sites were abandoned.
Vedic Civilization
The Vedic Civilization is the
Indo-Aryan culture associated with the Vedas, which are some of the oldest extant texts, orally composed in Vedic Sanskrit. The exact connection between the genesis of this civilization and the Indus Valley Civilization on one hand, and a possible
Indo-Aryan migration on the other hand, is the subject of dispute. Early Vedic society was largely pastoral. After the Rigveda, Aryan society became increasingly
agricultural, and was organized around the four Varnas, or Castes. Several small kingdoms and tribes merged to form a few large ones, such as the Kuru and
Pançala, some of which were often at war with each other.
In addition to the principal texts of Hinduism , the great Indian epics including the famous stories of
Rama and
Krishna are said to have their ultimate origins during this period, from an oral tradition of unwritten bardic recitation. The
Bhagavad Gita, another primary text of Hinduism well-known for its philosophical nature, is contained in the Mahabharata.
Early Indo-Aryan presence probably corresponds, in part, to the presence of
Ochre Coloured Pottery in archaeological findings. The kingdom of the Kurus corresponds to the Black and Red Ware culture and the beginning of the
Iron Age in Northwestern India, around 1000 BCE .
Painted Grey Ware cultures spanning much of Northern India marks the Middle Vedic period, followed by a wave of urbanization that occurred across the Indian sub-continent, from
Afghanistan to
Bengal, in the
6th century BCE. A number of
kingdoms and oligarchies, often called
republics, emerged across the
Indo-Gangetic plain and the northern part of the
Deccan during this period. 16 of these
Republics, called
Mahajanapadas , are referred to in the ancient literature of the period.
The 16 Mahajanapadas of the Iron Age
During the iron age, a number of small kingdoms or city states covered the subcontinent, many mentioned during Vedic literature as far back as 1000 BCE. By 500 BCE, sixteen monarchies and 'republics' known as the
Mahajanapadas stretched across the
Indo-Gangetic plains from modern-day Afghanistan to
Bangladesh, and many smaller clans mentioned within early literature seem to have been present across the rest of the subcontinent. The largest of these nations were
Magadha, Kosala, Kuru and
Gandhara. The right of a king to his throne, no matter how it was gained, was usually legitimized through religious right and genealogies concocted by priests who ascribed divine origins to the rulers. There is some controversy about how closely the political entities of this period can be represented by those mentioned in the
Vedas, and ancient epics of India. The educated speech at that time was
Sanskrit, while the dialects of the general population of northern India were referred to as Prakrits.
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 first composed early in this period. They had a huge effect on Indian philosophy, and were contemporary to the development of
Buddhism and
Jainism, indicating a golden age of thought in this period, similar to that in ancient Greece. It was in 537 BCE, that
Gautama Buddha gained enlightenment and founded
Buddhism, which was initially intended as a supplement to the existing Vedic dharma. Around the same time period, in mid-6th century BCE,
Mahavira founded
Jainism. Both religions had a simple doctrine, and were preached in Prakrit, which helped it gain acceptance amongst the masses. While the geographic impact of Jainism was limited, Buddhist nuns and monks eventually spread the teachings of Buddha to
Central Asia,
East Asia,
Tibet,
Sri Lanka and
South East Asia.
Recorded history from this period of fragmented states is sparse, up until the advent of
Buddhism and
Jainism but the Mahajanapadas were roughly equivalent to the
ancient Greek city-states of the same period in the
Mediterranean, producing philosophy which would eventually form the basis of much of the eastern world's beliefs, just as ancient Greece would produce philosophy that much of the western world's subsequent beliefs were based on. The period effectively ended with the onset of
Persian and
Greek invasion, and the subsequent rise of a single Indian empire from the kingdom of Magadha.
Kuru kingdom
The location of the Kuru kingdom was in the area of modern
Haryana state in India, and their capital was Indraprastha, which may have been the most powerful city in India, prior to the rise of the Magadhan city of
Pataliputra. The Kuru kingdom figures prominently in the list of Mahajanapadas. At the time of Buddha, the Kuru realm was only three hundred leagues in extent, but was a cultural hub. The kingdom corresponds in name to the Kuru dynasty mentioned in the Indian epic
Mahabharata.
Gandhara kingdom
The location of the Gandhara kingdom was in the area of what is today northern Paksitan and southern Afghanistan, and major cities included
Peshawar and
Taxila, the latter of which is where Panini formulated his complete Sanskrit grammar around 500 BCE, marking the transition from Vedic Sanskrit to
Classical Sanskrit. It was one of the most powerful of the Mahajanapadas, and also appeared in the
Mahabharata epic, as an ally of the Kuru kingdom. The name Gandhara only disappeared 1500 years later, as part of the conquests of the controversial
Mahmood of Ghazni.
Kosala kingdom
The location of the Kosala kingdom was in the area of Oudh in
Uttar Pradesh state in India, and their capital was Ayodhya. Like Kuru, Magadha and Gandhara, they represented one of the most powerful post-Vedic states in India, but were eventually weakened and absorbed by the growing Magadhan Empire during the Haryanka dynasty, and subsequent dynasties. The area featured prominently in epic Sanskrit literature such as the Ramayana, and was visited by
Buddha and
Mahavira.
Anga kingdom
The location of the Anga kingdom was in the area of Bhagalpur and Monghyr in
Bihar state of India. Their capital was said in the Indian epics to be the city of Malini, known later as Champa. Their terrotory may have at some point extended to the sea, and their capital was known as a center of commerce, perhaps trading as far away as modern Vietnam.
Kalinga kingdom
- Main article: Kalinga
Kalinga was one of the many kingdoms throughout India at the time that were not one of the Mahajanapadas, however, they would play an important role in one of ancient India's most famous events - the conquest of their kingdom by the Emperor Asoka Maurya. Located in modern
Orissa, the Kalinga kingdom may have begun the cultural link between India and the islands that would later become Indonesia that persisted throughout history.
Persian and Greek invasion
Around the 5th century BCE, the northern Indian subcontinent was invaded by the
Achaemenid Empire and the Greeks of Alexander's army. This had important repercussions for Indian Civilization, as the political systems of the Persians would have an influence on later Indian political philosophy, including the administration of the
Mauryan dynasty, and a melting pot of Indian, Persian, Central Asian and Greek culture was created in the modern region of Afghanistan, producing a unique hybrid culture.
Achaemenid Empire
Much of the northwestern
Indian Subcontinent was ruled by the Persian
Achaemenid Empire from c. 520 BCE during the reign of
Darius the Great, up until its conquest by Alexander. Lands in present-day Punjab, the Indus River from the borders of Gandhara down to the Arabian Sea, and some other parts of the Indus plain, became a satrapy of Alexander's empire. According to
Herodotus of
Halicarnassus, it was the most populous and richest of all the twenty satrapies of the empire. Achaemenid rule lasted about 186 years. The Achaemenids used the
Aramaic script for the Persian language. After the end of Achaemenid rule, the use of Aramaic in the Indus plain diminished, although we know from inscriptions from the time of
Emperor Asoka that it was still in use two centuries later. Other scripts, such as
Kharosthi and Greek became more common after the arrival of Alexander.
Alexander's Empire
The interaction between Hellenistic Greece and Buddhism began when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor and the
Achaemenid Empire, reaching the north-west frontiers of the Indian subcontinent in 334 BCE. There, he defeated King
Puru in the
Battle of the Hydaspes and conquered much of the Punjab. However, Alexander's troops refused to go beyond the Hyphases River near modern day
Jalandhar,
Punjab, India, he crossed the river and ordered to erect giant altars to mark the eastern most extent of his empire on the east bank of the Beas. He also set up a city named Alexandria nearby and left many Macedoninan veterans there, he himself turned back and marched his army southwest.
Alexander created garrisons for his troops in his new territories, and founded several cities in the areas of the
