Iron Age India
Encyclopedia
Iron Age India, the Iron Age
in the Indian subcontinent
, succeeds the Late Harappan (Cemetery H) culture, also known as the last phase of the Indus Valley Tradition. The main Iron Age archaeological cultures of India are the Painted Grey Ware culture
(1100 to 350 BC) and the Northern Black Polished Ware
(700 to 200 BC).
The earliest Iron Age sites in South India
are Hallur
, Karnataka
and Adichanallur
, Tamil Nadu
at around 1000 BC. Technical studies on materials dated c. 1000 BCE at Komaranhalli (Karnataka
) showed that the smiths of this site could deal with large artifacts, implying that they had already been experimenting for centuries, which drew attention to the presence of iron in Chalcolithic deposits at Ahar, and suggested that “the date of the beginning of iron smelting in India may well be placed as early as the sixteenth century BC” and “by about the early decade of thirteenth century BC iron smelting was definitely known in India on a bigger scale”.
Historical states of the Iron Age:
Most of the Vedic period
(excepting the earliest phase of the core of the Rigveda
) falls within the early part of the Indian Iron Age (12th to 6th centuries BC). The development of early Buddhism
takes place in the Magadha
period (5th to 4th centuries BC).
The North Indian Iron Age can be taken to end with the rise of the Maurya Empire
and the appearance of literacy (the edicts of Ashoka
, r. 272-232 BC) indicating the gradual onset of historicity
. South India simultaneously enters historicity with the Sangam period, beginning in the 3rd century BC.
From the 2nd century BC, the cultural landscape of Northern India is transformed with lasting effect with the intrusion of the Indo-Scythians
and Indo-Greeks, and the states succeeding this period, up to the medieval Muslim conquests are conventionally grouped as Middle kingdoms of India
or Classical India.
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
in the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
, succeeds the Late Harappan (Cemetery H) culture, also known as the last phase of the Indus Valley Tradition. The main Iron Age archaeological cultures of India are the Painted Grey Ware culture
Painted Grey Ware culture
The Painted Grey Ware culture is an Iron Age culture of Gangetic plain, lasting from roughly 1200 BC to 600 BC. It is contemporary to, and a successor of the Black and red ware culture. It probably corresponds to the later Vedic period. It is succeeded by Northern Black Polished Ware from ca. 500...
(1100 to 350 BC) and the Northern Black Polished Ware
Northern Black Polished Ware
The Northern Black Polished Ware culture of South Asia is an Iron Age culture, succeeding the Painted Grey Ware culture...
(700 to 200 BC).
The earliest Iron Age sites in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
are Hallur
Hallur
Hallur is an archaeological site located in the Haveri district , in the Indian state of Karnataka. Hallur, South India's earliest Iron Age site, lies in a semi-arid region with scrub vegetation, located on the banks of the river Tungabhadra. The site is a low mound about 6.4 m high...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
and Adichanallur
Adichanallur
Adichanallur is an archaeological site near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, India. The town is known locally as Aathichanallur, and has been the site of a number of very important archeological digs.-Archaeological excavations:...
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
at around 1000 BC. Technical studies on materials dated c. 1000 BCE at Komaranhalli (Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
) showed that the smiths of this site could deal with large artifacts, implying that they had already been experimenting for centuries, which drew attention to the presence of iron in Chalcolithic deposits at Ahar, and suggested that “the date of the beginning of iron smelting in India may well be placed as early as the sixteenth century BC” and “by about the early decade of thirteenth century BC iron smelting was definitely known in India on a bigger scale”.
Historical states of the Iron Age:
| Iron Age Iron Age The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing... India Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends... |
• 1200–272 |
|---|---|
| Vedic Civilization | • 2000–500 |
| -Black and Red ware culture Black and red ware culture The black and red ware culture is an early Iron Age archaeological culture of the northern Indian subcontinent. It is dated to roughly the 12th – 9th century BC, and associated with the post-Rigvedic Vedic civilization.... |
• 1300–1000 |
| -Painted Grey Ware culture Painted Grey Ware culture The Painted Grey Ware culture is an Iron Age culture of Gangetic plain, lasting from roughly 1200 BC to 600 BC. It is contemporary to, and a successor of the Black and red ware culture. It probably corresponds to the later Vedic period. It is succeeded by Northern Black Polished Ware from ca. 500... |
• 1200–600 |
| -Northern Black Polished Ware Northern Black Polished Ware The Northern Black Polished Ware culture of South Asia is an Iron Age culture, succeeding the Painted Grey Ware culture... |
• 700–200 |
| Maha Janapadas Mahajanapadas Mahājanapadas , literally "great realms", were ancient Indian kingdoms or countries... |
• 700–300 |
| Magadha Empire | • 684–424 |
| Nanda Empire | • 424-321 |
| Chera Kingdom | • c. 300 –1102 |
| Chola Empire | • c. 300 –1279 |
| Pandya Kingdom | • c. 300 –1345 |
| Maurya Empire Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC... |
• 321–184 |
| Pallava Empire | • 250 –800 |
| Sunga Empire Sunga Empire The Sunga Empire or Shunga Empire was a royal Indian dynasty from Magadha that controlled vast areas of the Indian Subcontinent from around 185 to 73 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pusyamitra Sunga, after the fall of the Maurya Empire... |
• 185–73 |
| Kanva Empire Kanva dynasty The Kanva dynasty replaced the Sunga dynasty in Magadha, and ruled in the eastern part of India from 75 BCE to 26 BCE.The last ruler of the Sunga dynasty was overthrown by Vasudeva of the Kanva dynasty in 75 BC. The Kanva ruler allowed the kings of the Sunga dynasty to continue to rule in obscurity... |
• 75–26 |
| Maha-Megha-Vahana Empire Maha-Meghavahana Dynasty The Maha-Megha-Vahana Dynasty was an ancient ruling dynasty of Kalinga after the decline of the Mauryan Empire. The third ruler of the dynasty, Kharavela, conquered much of India in a series of campaigns at the beginning of the common era.-External links:... |
• 250s –400s |
| Kuninda Kingdom Kuninda Kingdom The Kingdom of Kuninda was an ancient central Himalayan kingdom from around the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century, located in the modern state of Uttarakhand and southern areas of Himachal in northern India.-Kingdom:... |
• 200s –300s |
| Indo-Scythian Kingdom Indo-Scythians Indo-Scythians is a term used to refer to Sakas , who migrated into Bactria, Sogdiana, Arachosia, Gandhara, Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE.... |
• 200 –400 |
| Satavahana Empire Satavahana The Sātavāhana Empire or Andhra Empire, was a royal Indian dynasty based from Dharanikota and Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh as well as Junnar and Prathisthan in Maharashtra. The territory of the empire covered much of India from 230 BCE onward... |
• 230 –220 |
| Indo-Greek Kingdom Indo-Greek Kingdom The Indo-Greek Kingdom or Graeco-Indian Kingdom covered various parts of the northwest regions of the Indian subcontinent during the last two centuries BC, and was ruled by more than 30 Hellenistic kings, often in conflict with each other... |
• 180 –10 |
Most of the Vedic period
Vedic period
The Vedic period was a period in history during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed. The time span of the period is uncertain. Philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedas, was composed roughly between 1700–1100 BCE, also...
(excepting the earliest phase of the core of the Rigveda
Rigveda
The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
) falls within the early part of the Indian Iron Age (12th to 6th centuries BC). The development of early Buddhism
History of Buddhism in India
Buddhism is a world religion, which arose in and around ancient Magadha, India , and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama , who is known as the Buddha...
takes place in the Magadha
Magadha
Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...
period (5th to 4th centuries BC).
The North Indian Iron Age can be taken to end with the rise of the Maurya Empire
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...
and the appearance of literacy (the edicts of Ashoka
Ashoka
Ashok Maurya or Ashoka , popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests...
, r. 272-232 BC) indicating the gradual onset of historicity
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
. South India simultaneously enters historicity with the Sangam period, beginning in the 3rd century BC.
From the 2nd century BC, the cultural landscape of Northern India is transformed with lasting effect with the intrusion of the Indo-Scythians
Indo-Scythians
Indo-Scythians is a term used to refer to Sakas , who migrated into Bactria, Sogdiana, Arachosia, Gandhara, Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE....
and Indo-Greeks, and the states succeeding this period, up to the medieval Muslim conquests are conventionally grouped as Middle kingdoms of India
Middle kingdoms of India
Middle kingdoms of India refers to the political entities in India from the 3rd century BC after the decline of the Maurya Empire, and the corresponding rise of the Satavahana dynasty, beginning with Simuka, from 230 BC...
or Classical India.
See also
- Middle kingdoms of IndiaMiddle kingdoms of IndiaMiddle kingdoms of India refers to the political entities in India from the 3rd century BC after the decline of the Maurya Empire, and the corresponding rise of the Satavahana dynasty, beginning with Simuka, from 230 BC...
or Classical India - History of Buddhism in IndiaHistory of Buddhism in IndiaBuddhism is a world religion, which arose in and around ancient Magadha, India , and is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama , who is known as the Buddha...
- Epic IndiaEpic IndiaEpic India is the geography of Greater India traditionally around early 10th century BC and later on from the Sanskrit epics, viz. the Mahabharata and the Ramayana as well as Puranic literature ....
- MahajanapadasMahajanapadasMahājanapadas , literally "great realms", were ancient Indian kingdoms or countries...
- Maurya EmpireMaurya EmpireThe Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...
- Iron Age ChinaIron Age ChinaThe Iron Age in Ancient China began in ca. 600 BC . Ancient China is taken to last until the beginning of Early Imperial China and the rise of the Qin Dynasty in the 3rd century BC...