From 8000 BC, the Mesolithic age began and continued upto 4000 BC in India. During this time, sharp and pointed tools were used for killing fast-moving animals. The beginning of plant cultivation also appeared. Chotanagpur plateau, central India and south of the river Krishna are some of the various Mesolithic sites. Neolithic (New Stone Age) [...]
In the north-western parts of the Indian subcontinent, there flourished a highly developed civilization. It derived it’s name from the main river of that region, ‘Indus ‘. At it’s peak, it stretched across the whole of Sindh, Baluchistan, Punjab, Northern Rajasthan, Kathiawar and Gujarat. The cities were far more advanced than their counterparts in prehistoric [...]
The Aryans migrated from the North-west to the area called Sapta-Sindhava (the land of the seven rivers) – Eastern Afghanistan, Punjab and the fringes of western Uttar Pradesh. All that is known of the half millennium following the fall of the Indus Civilization comes from the Vedas, a collection of sacred hymns attributed to the [...]
Hinduism had become much more than a religion; it was a way of life. Caste was the social manifestation of the underlying Hindu concept of reincarnation, causality and duty. The four original castes split up over the ages into myriads of subcastes. There was an elaborate system of precedence by which each group had a [...]
The Mauryan empire was established under the leadership of Chandragupta Maurya (322 BC – 296 BC). Our knowledge of this period is derived from the writings of the Greek, Megasthenes, who wrote Indica. He wrote, not only about the capital city of Pataliputra, but also about the empire as a whole and about the splendour [...]
After the break-up of the Mauryan empire, a number of foreigners came to India in waves and contributed to its culture. The main invaders were the Bactrian Greeks, the Parthians, the Shakas and the Kushans. This was an era symbolised by progress and upheavals; of kingdoms and cultural fusion. All this radically altered the very [...]
India, south of the Vindhya mountains and the Narmada river, was known as Deccan. Further south was the land of the Dravidas (or Tamils). From ancient times, these lands were home to Indians of non-Aryan origin. Satavahanas The Satavahanas (28 BC – 250 AD), also known as the Andhras, emerged as an independent power in [...]
The major kingdoms of this period were the Chalukyas, the Pallavas and the Pandyas. The Chalukyas built their kingdom on the ruins of the Vakatakas, who in turn had built theirs on the remains of the Satavahanas. They established their capital at Vatapi (modern Badami). The eastern part of the Satavahana kingdom (in the deltas [...]
Chalukyas For three hundred years after the mid-sixth century, the Chalukyas were engaged in a long struggle for supremacy with the Pallavas. The Pandyas sometimes joined this conflict as a poor third against the Pallavas. Pulakesin II (609 AD – 642 AD), the most famous Chalukya king, was the one who defeated Harsha on the [...]
In the fourth century AD a new Indian dynasty, the Guptas, arose in Magadha and established a large kingdom over the greater part of northern India. This period is also referred as the ‘Classical Age’ of ancient India, and lasted for more than 200 years. Our knowledge of this period comes from Fa-hien, a Chinese [...]
