Contents
[hide]- 1 Pre-Historic era
- 2 Persian and Greek invasions
- 3 The Magadha Empire
- 4 Early middle kingdoms — the golden age
- 5 Late middle kingdoms — the classical age
- 6 The Islamic sultanates
- 7 The Mughal era
- 8 Post-Mughal regional kingdoms
- 9 Colonial era
- 10 The Indian Independence movement
- 11 Independence and Partition
- 12 References
- 13 Further reading
- 14 See also
- 15 External links
Pre-Historic era
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. 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, 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 Pakistan 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 and Harappa.[16]
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age on the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BCE with the beginning of the Indus Valley Civilization. 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 and Mohenjo-daro (in modern day Pakistan), Dholavira and Lothal (in modern day India). 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]
The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, road-side drainage system and multi-storied houses. Among the settlements were the major urban centres of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as Dholavira, Ganweriwala, Lothal, Kalibangan and Rakhigarhi. 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]
Iron Age
Vedic period
The Vedic culture is 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, and during which time the definitions of much of latter Indian language, culture and most importantly, religion were laid down. However, the timing of this period is disputed by some nationalist Indian historians who posit the earlier date of 3000 BCE.[21] Properly speaking, the first 500 years (1500 - 1000 BCE) of the Vedic Age correspond to Bronze Age India and the next 500 years (1000 - 500 BCE) to Iron Age India. Many scholars today postulate an Indo-Aryan migration into India, proposing that early Indo-Aryan speaking tribes migrated into the north-west regions of the Indian subcontinent in the early 2nd millennium BCE. Some scholars postulate these Indo-Aryan tribes as originating in Central Asia and Afghanistan from where they migrated east into India, and west into Mesopotamia and finally assimilating with them whilst spreading their language and culture.[22] This has been opposed by the proponents of Out of India theory, who 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[citation needed]. 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.[23] 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 (the Ramayana and Mahabharata) are said to have their ultimate origins during this period.[24] Early Indo-Aryan presence probably corresponds, in part, to the presence of Ochre Coloured Pottery in archaeological findings.[25] The kingdom of the Kurus[26] 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 (roughly contemporaneous 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.[25] This later period also corresponds with a change in outlook towards the prevalent tribal system of living leading to establishment of kingdoms called Mahajanapadas.
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