History of INDIA: Early Period

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History of INDIAEarly Period
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History periods

• 1 Prehistoric era
• 1.1 Stone Age
• 1.2 Bronze Age
• 2 Early historic period
• 2.1 Vedic period
• 2.2 Mahajanapadas
• 2.3 Maurya Empire
• 3 Early Middle Kingdoms The Golden Age
• 3.1 Northwestern hybrid cultures
• 3.2 Kushan Empire
• 3.3 Gupta rule
• 4 Late Middle Kingdoms The Late-Classical Age
• 5 The Islamic Sultanates
• 5.1 Delhi Sultanate
• 6 Early modern period
• 6.1 Mughal Empire
• 6.2 Post-Mughal period

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History dates

• Stone age (70003000 BC)
• Bronze age (30001300 BC)
• Iron age (120026 BC)
• Classical period (11279 AD)
• Late medieval age (12061596 AD)
• Early modern period (15261858 AD)

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Stone Age
Isolated remains of Homo erectus  central India the Middle Pleistocene era (between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago)
The earliest archaeological site in the Soan River valley the Paleolithic era (two million years ago)
First tools by proto-humans in the northwestern part of India the Paleolithic era (two million years ago)
More extensive settlement across the subcontinent in the Neolithic period, after the end of the last Ice Age  (12,000 years ago)
The first confirmed semipermanent settlements in the heart of India 9,000 years ago
Early Neolithic culture Haryana, the Gulf of Khambat 7500 BCE
Neolithic agriculture cultures in the Indus Valley region around 5000 BCE
in the lower Gangetic valley around 3000 BCE
in South India, spreading southwards/northwards around 1800 BCE
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Bronze Age

• began around 3300 BCE with the early Indus Valley
  Civilization (IVC)
• IVC was centered on the Indus River and its
  tributaries (occupying the Ghaggar-Hakra
  River valley, the Ganges-Yamuna
  Doab, Gujarat, and southeastern Afghanistan )
• IVC is primarily located in modern-day India
  (Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan provinces)
  and Pakistan
• IVC is the world's earliest urban civilizations,
  along with Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt
• The Mature Indus civilization flourished from
  about 2600 to 1900 BCE
• urban centers 
• Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rupar, Rakhigarhi,
  and Lothal in modern-day India
• Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-daro in
  modern-day Pakistan
• Inhabitants of the ancient IVC - the Harappans -
  
• introduced new techniques in metallurgy and
  handicraft (carneol products, seal carving)
• produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin
• cities built of brick
• multistoried houses
• roadside drainage system

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Iron Age

• Indo-Aryan culture is associated with the texts
  of Vedas
• The Vedas are sacred to Hindus, orally composed
  in Vedic Sanskrit.
• The Vedas are some of the oldest extant texts in
  the world
• The Vedas laid the foundations of Hinduism and
  other cultural aspects of early Indian society
• The Vedic period lasted from about 1500 to 500
  BCE
• Early Vedic society consisted of largely pastoral
  groups
• Aryan society was socially organized around the
  four varnas, or social classes
• The later part - an increasing movement away from
  the previous tribal system towards the
  establishment of kingdoms, called mahajanapadas
• This period saw the second major rise of urbanism
  in India after the Indus Valley Civilization
• Many of the sixteen kingdoms had coalesced to
  four major ones by 500/400 BCE, - the time
  of Gautama Buddha
• The beginnings of Buddhism and Jainism

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Maurya Empire

• ruled by Mauryan dynasty in 322185 BCE
• a geographically extensive and powerful
  political and military empire
• established by Chandragupta Maurya in Magadha what
  is now Bihar
• flourished under the reign of Ashoka the Great
• Ashoka ruled the Maurya Empire for 37 years from
  268 BCE until he died in 232 BCE
• an active foreign policy aimed at setting up a
  unified state, which failed
• was involved in a war with the state of Kalinga 
• slavery developed rapidly
• Ashoka's reign propagated Buddhism

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Golden Age Early Middle Kingdoms

• The Satavahana dynasty (the Andhras) ruled in
  southern and central India after around 230 BCE. 
• Satakarni, the sixth ruler of the Satvahana
  dynasty, defeated the Sunga Empire of north
  India.
• Kharavela, the king of Kalinga, ruled a vast
  empire and was responsible for the propagation
  of Jainism in the Indian subcontinent, started
  colonization in Sri Lanka, Burma, as well as
  the Maldives and Maritime Southeast Asia.
• The Kuninda Kingdom was a small Himalayan state
  that survived from around the 2nd century BCE to
  the 3rd century CE.
• The Kushanas migrated from Central Asia into
  northwestern India in the middle of the 1st
  century CE and founded an empire that stretched
  from Tajikistan to the middle Ganges.
• The Western Satraps (35-405 CE) were Saka rulers
  of the western and central part of India.
• The Kalabras, a Buddhist dynasty, briefly
  interrupted the usual domination of the Cholas,
  Cheras, and Pandyas in the south.
• The northwestern hybrid cultures of the
  subcontinent included the Indo-Greeks,
  the Indo-Scythians, the Indo-Parthians, and
  the Indo-Sassinids.

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The Classical Age

• India reunited under the Gupta Empire (c. 320550
  CE)
• extensive achievements in science,
  technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literatur
  e, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion,
  and philosophy 
• Strong political administration
• Strong trade ties
• the Guptas performed Vedic sacrifices to
  legitimize their rule
• patronized Buddhism
• fell under Hunas and the rise of other kingdoms

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Islamic Sultanates

• Turks and Afghans - in the 12th and 13th
  centuries - invaded parts of northern India and
  established the Delhi Sultanate in the
  former Rajput holdings
• Under Slave dynasty extended to the size of the
  Gupta Empire
• Indian cultural renaissance
• "Indo-Muslim" fusion of cultures left lasting
  syncretic monuments in architecture, music,
  literature, religion, and clothing
• the language of Urdu (literally meaning "horde"
  or "camp") was born during the Delhi Sultanate
  period as Sanskrit  Persian, Turk, and Arabic
• Timur (Tamerlane) defeated the army of the
  reigning Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud of
  the Tughlaq Dynasty in Delhi
• Delhi was sacked

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Mughal Empire

• In 1526, Babur, a Timurid descendant established
  the Mughal Empire, covering modern
  day Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh
• His son Humayun was forced to retreat to Kabul
• a secular Hindu rule in North India
  from Delhi was established till 1556
• Baburs grandson Akbar took over the city in 1556
• Akbars tolerant attitude to Hindus was followed
  by complete Muslim dominance imposed by his
  successors (Aurangzeb)
• went into a slow decline after 1707

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Lecture 4

• History from colonial times to the 21st century
• Presentation The events that changed
• India out of recognition
• Discussion Colonialism a curse or a
• blessing?