|
History of the Indian Subcontinent |
|
|---|---|
| Stone Age | 70,000–7000 BCE |
| Mehrgarh Culture | 7000–3300 BCE |
| Indus Valley Civilization | 3300–1700 BCE |
| Late Harappan Culture | 1700–1300 BCE |
| Vedic Civilization | 1500–500 BCE |
| · Iron Age Kingdoms | · 1200–700 BCE |
| Maha Janapadas | 700–300 BCE |
| Magadha Empire | 684–26 BCE |
| · Maurya Dynasty | · 321–184 BCE |
| Middle Kingdoms | 230 BCE–1279 CE |
| · Satavahana Empire | · 230 BCE–199 CE |
| · Ancient Tamil Kingdoms | · 200 BCE–200 CE |
| · Kushan Empire | · 60–240 CE |
| · Gupta Empire | · 240–550 |
| · Chola Empire | · 848–1279 |
| Islamic Sultanates | 1210–1596 |
| · Delhi Sultanate | · 1210–1526 |
| · Deccan Sultanates | · 1490–1596 |
| Hoysala Empire | 1040–1346 |
| Vijayanagara Empire | 1336–1565 |
| Mughal Era | 1526–1707 |
| Maratha Empire | 1674–1818 |
| Colonial Era | 1757–1947 |
| Modern States | 1947 onwards |
India is the home to one of the richest and the most ancient
civilizations in the world, which existed over 5,000 years ago. This
civilization originated in the Indus River Valley, hence the name
given to it was Indus Valley civilization. It was the origin of many
ideas, philosophies and movements which have shaped the destiny of
mankind. Its people are thought to be known as Dravidians, whose
descendants still inhabit the far south of India. But the History of
India can be traced in fragments to as far back as 700,000 years
ago.
Anyone who has read romantic books written by British authors about
India will be aware of the awe that they held India in. It was
almost as if they were scared to step on the very road lest the
stones turn out to be something Buddha sat on in the year dot.
Well, there's no anti-climax here – India is indeed very old. What
is also remarkable is how well aware the common man on the street is
about the history of India. The autowallah, of the rickety
autorickshaw you take from Connaught Place to Vasant Vihar in Delhi,
might turn out to be a surprising mine of information on the story
of his country. He might have his dynasties a little haphazard and
his dates slightly askew, because for majority of Indians history
started with the Ramayana (see
Ancient Scriptures and Folklore), but he will have his facts.
The reason behind this is perhaps as old as the country itself. The
country has a tradition of verbal history; our ancients never did
bother about putting things down on paper, having never had the
privilege to be initiated to that fine old American business
tradition. What's more, there's a logic for that too. Back then
people believed in the power of the spoken word. They thought that
words or syllables when pronounced just-so created magic. Remember
that say-'be'-and-it-will-be thing? Well, that pretty much explains
the awe that ancient Indians held the Word in.
Since early times the Indian subcontinent appears to have provided an attractive habitat for human occupation. Towards the south it is effectively sheltered by wide expanses of ocean, which tended in ancient times to isolate it culturally, while to the north it is protected by the massive Himalayan ranges, which also sheltered it from the Arctic winds and the air currents of Central Asia. Only in the northwest and northeast is there an easier access by land, and through these two sectors most of the early contacts with the outside world took place. Today Indian History, like the history of every ancient culture in the world, is broadly divided into four periods:
Pre-history
From the big bang, the primeval swamp to the Indus Valley Civilization (see Ancient Indian History). There is a tendency to sometimes include the Indus Valley Civilization in prehistory, since technically prehistory includes everything that happened before the World happened. However, technically again the Indus Valley Civilization did have a script, although it has not been decoded yet. So, it's generally included in Ancient History nowadays.
Ancient History
For India, it begins from the Indus Valley Civilization (for which the date is a matter of hot debate, but historians have agreed to disagree on 3000BC) to just after the king Harsha Vardhana, which is around 700-800 BC.
Medieval History
Starting from 800BC to mid-18th century AD, that is, till the coming of the British. There is a slight hitch in this as the British were pretty much already there by this time, but again this is the accepted time when they suddenly woke up and said, "Hey we've got a kingdom going."
Modern History
From mid-18th century to the independence of India,
which is on August 15, 1947. Then the deluge. It is fashionable
among historians to deplore the lack of historical sense among
historical Indians, which has made their work very difficult.
What is heartening is that Indians still lack a sense of history and
not much is being done to record contemporary history of India. So
much so that a series on the Indian Independence movement was
commissioned by the Indian government years ago to counter a British
series on the subject. The series is still to come out, and don't
hold your breath for it either.
Indian History might seem like a labyrinth, or one of those
confusing Tower of Babel paintings. This is primarily because each
region in India was pretty much doing its own thing and creating a
history of its own. So, for the sake of everyone's sanity, we have
tried in our sections of history of India to give you a brief
background of what was happening in that period with special
reference to the major dynasties of the era. Of course, having known
that much you’ll be hungry for more, for which keep watching this
space as the saga unfolds!