History of India

History of India

This article is about the history of the Indian subcontinent prior to the partition of India in 1947. For the modern Republic of India, see History of the Republic of India. For Pakistan and Bangladesh, see History of Pakistan and History of Bangladesh.

"Indian history" redirects here. For other uses, see Native American history.

The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago.^[1] TheIndus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, was the first major civilization in South Asia.^[2] A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.^[3] This Bronze Age civilization collapsed before the end of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilization, which extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and which witnessed the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira andGautama Buddha were born in the 6th or 5th century BCE and propagated their śramanicphilosophies.

Most of the subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. It became fragmented, with various parts ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the next 1,500 years. This is known as the classical period of Indian history, during which time India has sometimes been estimated to have had the largest economy of the ancient and medieval world, with its huge population generating between one fourth and one third of the world's income up to the 18th century. Much of northern and central India was united in the 4th century CE, and remained so for two centuries, under the Gupta Empire. This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known among its admirers as the "Golden Age of India". From this time, and for several centuries afterwards, southern India, under the rule of the Chalukyas, Cholas,Pallavas, and Pandyas, experienced its own golden age. During this period, aspects of Indian civilization, administration, culture, and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to much of Asia.

Kingdoms in southern India had maritime business links with the Roman Empire from around 77 CE. Muslim rule in the subcontinent began in 8th century CE when the Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh and Multan in southern Punjab in modern day Pakistan,^[4] setting the stage for several successive invasions from Central Asia between the 10th and 15th centuries CE, leading to the formation of Muslim empires in the Indian subcontinent such as the Delhi Sultanateand the Mughal Empire. Mughal rule came from Central Asia to cover most of the northern parts of the subcontinent. Mughal rulers introduced Central Asian art and architecture to India. In addition to the Mughals and various Rajput kingdoms, several independent Hindu states, such as theVijayanagara Empire, the Maratha Empire, Eastern Ganga Empire and the Ahom Kingdom, flourished contemporaneously in southern, western, eastern and northeastern India respectively. The Mughal Empire suffered a gradual decline in the early 18th century, which provided opportunities for the Afghans, Balochis, Sikhs, and Marathas to exercise control over large areas in the northwest of the subcontinent until the British East India Company gained ascendancy over South Asia.^[5]

Beginning in the mid-18th century and over the next century, large areas of India were annexed by the British East India Company. Dissatisfaction with Company rule led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, after which the British provinces of India were 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 theMuslim League. The subcontinent gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, after the British provinces were partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistanand the princely states all acceded to one of the new states.

Stone Age India

STONE AGE(7000–3000 BC)

The South Asian Stone Age covers the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods inSouth Asia. Evidence for the most ancient anatomically modern Homo sapiens in South Asia has been found in the cave sites of Batatotalena and Belilena in Sri Lanka.^[1] InMehrgarh, in what is today western Pakistan, the Neolithic begins ca. 7000 and lasts until 3300 BCE and the first beginnings of the Bronze Age. In South India, the Mesolithic lasts until 3000 BCE, and the Neolithic until 1400 BCE, followed by a Megalithictransitional period mostly skipping the Bronze Age. The Iron Age begins roughly simultaneously in North and South India, around 1200 to 1000 BCE (Painted Grey Ware culture, Hallur).

HOMO ERECTUS

Homo erectus lived on the Pothohar Plateau, in upper Punjab, Pakistan along the Soan River (nearby Rawalpindi) during thePleistocene Epoch. Soanian sites are found in the Sivalik region across what are now India, Pakistan and Nepal.^[2]

Biface handaxe and cleaver traditions may have originated in the middle Pleistocene.^[3] The beginning of the use of Acheulian and chopper-chopping tools of lower paleolithic may be dated to approximately the middle Pleistocene

THE COMING OF HOMO SAPIENS

Analysis of mtDNA dates the immigration of Homo sapiens to South Asia to 70,000 to 50,000 years ago.^[5] An analysis of Y chromosome haplogroups found one man in a village west ofMadurai to be a direct descendant of these migrators.^[6] These populations spread further to Southeast Asia, reaching Australia by 40,000 years ago. Cave sites in Sri Lanka have yielded the earliest record of modern Homo sapiens in South Asia. They were dated to 34,000 years ago. (Kennedy 2000: 180). For finds from the Belan in southern Uttar Pradesh radio carbon data have indicated an age of 18-17kya. Palaeolithic rock art is also well-known.

At the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka humans lived throughout the Upper Paleolithic (10th to 8th millennia BC), revealing cave paintings dating to ca. 7000 BC; the Sivaliks and the Potwar(Pakistan) region also exhibit many vertebrate fossil remains and paleolithic tools. Chert, jasperand quartzite were often used by humans during this period.

NEOLITHIC

The aceramic Neolithic (Mehrgarh I, Baluchistan, Pakistan, also dubbed "Early Food Producing Era") lasts ca. 7000 - 5500 BC. The ceramic Neolithic lasts up to 3300 BC, blending into theEarly Harappan (Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age) period. One of the earliest Neolithic sites inIndia is Lahuradewa, at Middle Ganges region, C14 dated around 7th millennium BC.^[7] Recently another site near the confluence of Ganges and Yamuna rivers called Jhusi yielded a C14 dating of 7100 BC for its Neolithic levels.^[8]

In South India the Neolithic began by 3000 BC and lasted until around 1400 BC.South Indian Neolithic is characterized by Ashmounds since 2500 BC in Andhra-Karnataka region, expanded later to Tamil Nadu. Comparative excavations carried out in Adichanallur in Thirunelveli District and in Northern India have provided evidence of a southward migration of the Megalithic culture^[9] The earliest clear evidence of the presence of the megalithic urn burials are those dating from around 1000 BC, which have been discovered at various places in Tamil Nadu, notably atAdichanallur, 24 km from Tirunelveli, where archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of India unearthed 12 urns with Tamil Brahmi script on them containing human skulls, skeletons and bones, plus husks, grains of rice, charred rice and Neolithic celts, giving evidence confirming it of the Neolithic period 2800 years ago. This proved that Tirunelveli area has been the abode for human habituation since the Neolithic period about 3,000 years ago. Adhichanallur has been announced as an archaeological site for further excavation and studies.

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