The Ancient Indian Civilization

Timeline of the history of ancient India:

2800 BCE: the Indus Valley civilization begins to emerge
1700 BCE: the Indus Valley civilization vanishes
1500 BCE: Aryan tribes begin to infiltrate into northern India from central Asia
800 BCE: The use of iron and alphabetic writing begin to spread to northern India from the
Middle East
500 BCE: two new religions, Buddhism and Jainism, are founded
327 BCE: Alexander the Great conquers the Indus Valley; this leads to king Chandragupta
Maurya of Maghada conquering the Indus Valley from Alexander the Great’s successor (304
BCE)

The detail of the Alexander Mosaic showing Alexander the Great.

290 BCE: Chandragupta’s successor, Bindusara, extends the Mauryan conquests into central
India
269 BCE: Ashoka becomes the Mauryan emperor
251 BCE: a mission led by Mahinda, Asoka’s son, introduces Buddhism to the island of Sri
Lanka
232 BCE: Asoka dies; shortly after, the decline of the Mauryan empire sets in

Urban civilization first appeared in ancient India with the Indus Valley civilization in the early
third millennium BCE, in what is today Pakistan and north-west India. This was contemporary
with other early civilizations of the ancient world, in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, and is
one of the earliest civilizations in world history. It is famous for its large and well-planned cities.
The Indus Valley civilization vanished in the mid-2nd millennium BCE. In the following
thousand years, a people known as the Aryans, speaking an Indo-European language, moved into
northern India from central Asia. They came into India as pastoral, semi-nomadic tribes led by
warrior chieftains. Over time, they settled down as rulers over the native Dravidian populations
they found there, and formed tribal kingdoms.
This period of ancient Indian history is known as the Vedic age, as it was depicted in the earliest
Indian writings, called the Vedas. It is also the formative period in which most of the basic
features of traditional Indian civilization were laid down. These include the emergence of early
Hinduism as the foundational religion of India, and the social/religious phenomenon known as
caste. There were four types of caste:

1.Brahmins were priests, teachers and carried the oral tradition of Vedas and Puranas

2. Kshatriyas were the warrior communities known for their valor

3.Vaishyas did agriculture, trading, and commerce

4.The Shudras were the general working class like blue collard workforce in modern times

A page from the manuscript Seventy-two Specimens of Castes in India

The period lasted from around 1500 BCE through to 500 BCE; that is, from the early days of the
Aryan migrations through to the age of the Buddha.
The tribal society of the early Aryans gave way to the more complex society of the Classic
Age of Ancient India. This period saw the rebirth of urban civilization in the Indian
subcontinent, and with it, a literate culture. It was one of the most creative ages in the history of
India, and saw the emergence of two new religions, Jainism and Buddhism.

Painting of Indra on his elephant mount, Airavata.

This period of ancient India ended with the rise of the first great imperial state in ancient India,
the Mauryan empire, after 320 BCE.
The Maurya empire was in effect an outgrowth of the kingdom of Magadha. Under a line of
kings of the Nanda dynasty (reigned c. 424-322 BCE), this kingdom dramatically expanded to
cover a large part of northern India; and under the following Maurya dynasty, the empire went
on the cover all of north and central India.
The most famous of the Maurya emperors, in fact the most famous ruler in ancient India’s
history and one of the most notable in the entire ancient world, was Ashoka (also spelt Asoka –
reigned 272-232 BCE). He was a remarkable and attractive ruler: compassionate, tolerant, firm,
seeking justice and well-being for all his subjects.
Fifty years or so after Ashoka’s death the huge Mauryan empire began to crumble. Outlying
provinces fell away, and by the mid-2nd century BCE the empire had shrunk to its core areas.

Indo-Scythians came to India from Siberia passing through several places like Bactria, Sogdiana,
Kashmir and Arachosia. Their coming to India continued from the 2nd century BC to the 1st
century BC. They defeated the Indo-Greek rulers of India, and ruled India from Gandhara to
Mathura.

The Gupta dynasty reigned from around 320 to 550 AD. The Gupta Empire covered most of
North-central India, the region Gupta Empire (never included Pakistan); and what is now western
India and Bangladesh. Gupta society was ordered in accordance with Hindu beliefs. The time of
the Gupta Empire is seen as the Golden Age of India. Historians place the Gupta dynasty
alongside the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and Roman Empire as a model of a classical
civilization.

By the first half of the fifth century, a group of people known as Huns had settled in Afghanistan.
They became powerful. They made Bamiyan as their capital city. They started attacking
northwestern parts of India. Skandagupta, an emperor of the Gupta dynasty fought back and kept
them away for some years. At last the Huns won and could enter most parts of northern India.
With this the Gupta dynasty came to an end. Most of north India became badly affected by this
invasion. However, Huns could not go up to the Deccan Plateau and the southern parts of India.
These parts remained peaceful. No one knows definitely about the fate of Huns after the end of
the sixth century. Some historians believe that they mixed up fully with the Indian people of that
time.

In the history of India, Middle kingdoms of India covers a period beginning from around the 6th-
7th century. In South India, Chola kings ruled Tamil Nadu, and Chera kings ruled Kerala. They
also had trading relationships with the Roman Empire to the west and Southeast Asia to the east.
In north India, Rajputs ruled in many kingdoms. Some of those kingdoms continued for hundreds
of years.

After the collapse of the Gupta Empire, it was Harsha of Kanauj (a place now in Uttar Pradesh
state of India) who united the northern parts of India in one kingdom. After his death several
dynasties tried to control north India and ruled from time to time from 7th century till the 9th
century as described in some of the sections below. Some of these dynasties were the Pratiharas
of Malwa and later Kannauj; the Palas of Bengal, and the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan.

The Pratihara kings ruled kingdoms in Rajasthan and some other parts of northern India from the
6th century to the 11th century. The Palas ruled the eastern part of India. They ruled over areas
which are now parts of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and the West Bengal, and of
Bangladesh. The Palas ruled from the 8th century to the 12th century. In the southern parts of
India, Rashtrakutas of Malakheda (Karnataka) ruled the Deccan during the 8th-10th centuries
after the end of Chalukya rule. All these three dynasties always tried to control entire north India.
During all this time lasting for three to four hundred years, the Chola kings were growing in
power and influence.

In the 6th century, several Rajput kingdoms came into being in Rajasthan. Many other Rajput
kings ruled in different parts of north India. Some of these kingdoms continue to survive for
hundreds of years during different periods of the history of India.

In 1336, two brothers named Harihara and Bukka founded the Vijayanagara Empire in an area
which is now in the Karnataka state of India. The most famous king of this empire was
Krishnadevaraya. In 1565, rulers of this empire were defeated in a battle. But, the empire
continued for about the next one hundred years.

A number of kingdoms of south India had trading relations with the Arabs in the west, and with
Indonesia and other countries of the east.

Islamic Sultanate History of India

Islam spread across the Indian subcontinent over a period of 500 years. In the 10th and 11th
centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established sultanates in Delhi. In the early 16th
century, descendants of Genghis Khan swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal
Empire, which lasted for 200 years. From the 11th to the 15th centuries, southern India was
dominated by Hindu Chola and Vijayanagar Dynasties. During this time, the two systems—the
prevailing Hindu and Muslim—mingled, left lasting cultural influences on each other. The
spread of Islam had a major impact on the history of India and the following events.
 Red Fort Delhi

The Delhi Sultanate was a Muslim kingdom based mostly in Delhi. It ruled large parts of the
Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526) Five dynasties ruled over Delhi Sultanate. They
are the mamaluk, khilji, tughlaq, Sayyid and the lodi dynasties. The Mamluk dynasty was started
by Qutbuddin Aibak. He was a slave and thus this dynasty is also called the Slave Dynasty.
Qutubuddin Aibak also made Qutub Minar. His son in law, Iltutmish became the ruler after
Qutubuddin aibak. He completed the Qutub Minar.

Guru Nanak founded Sikhism and his followers were called Sikhs. The power of Sikhs continued
to increase in the northwestern part of India.The Sikhs became rulers of large part of
northwestern India. This is called the Sikh Kingdom or Empire. Ranjit Singh was the most
famous ruler of the Sikh Empire.He expanded the borders of the Sikh Empire and at the time of
his death, this empire covered areas of Punjab, and present-day Kashmir and parts of Pakistan.
The Sikhs and forces of the British Raj fought many wars.Till Maharaja Ranjit Singh was alive,
Britishers were not able to cross the Sutlej river. After his death, they took over entire Punjab
after battles with disorganized Sikh troops.The Sikhs had a major influence in the history of
India and multi-religious common thread with Hindus.

For a short period, a person named Ahmed Shah Durrani the founder of Afghanistan ruled some
parts of northwestern India. Historians have named his rule as the Durrani Empire. In 1748, he
crossed the Indus River and attacked Lahore, now a part of Pakistan. He also attacked many parts
of Punjab.Then, he attacked Delhi. At that time, Delhi was the capital of the Mughal Empire. He
took many valuable things from India. This included the Peacock Throne of Shah Jahan and the
famous diamond named Kohinoor.

Society & Economy: The Vedic age was a “dark age” in Indian history, in that it was a time of
violent upheaval, and no written records from that period have survived to shed light on it. It
was, however, one of the most formative eras of ancient Indian civilization. So far as society is
concerned, the coming of Aryans into ancient India, and their establishing themselves as the
dominant group, gave rise to the caste system. This divided Indian society into rigid layers,
underpinned by religious rules. Originally there were just four castes, the priestly caste, the
warrior caste, the farmers and traders, and the menial workers. Outside the caste system
altogether, excluded from Aryan-dominated society, were the “Untouchables”.
As early Aryan society evolved into the more settled and more urban society of ancient India,
these caste divisions persisted. New religious movements, the Jains and Buddhists, rebelled
against it, preaching that all men are equal. However, caste was never overthrown. As time went
on, indeed, it became more complex, and more rigid. It has endured right up to the present day.
In the earliest times, many hunter-gatherer groups inhabited much of the Indian sub-continent.
However, the economic history of ancient India is one of agricultural advance. The use of iron
spread from the Middle East from around 800 BCE, making farming more productive, and
populations grew. At first, this occurred on the plains of northern India. However, iron-age
farming gradually spread throughout the entire subcontinent. The hunter-gatherers were
squeezed more and more into the forests and hills of India, eventually to take up farming
themselves and being incorporated into Aryan society as new castes.
The spread of iron-age farming was a crucial development in the history of ancient India as it led
to the rebirth of urban civilization in the subcontinent. Cities grew up; trade expanded; metal
currency appeared, and an alphabetical script came into use.
Government: The tribal chiefs of early Aryan society were the ancestors of the princes and
kings we encounter in later Indian history. The re-emergence of cities enabled properly
organized states to appear. Most of these were kingdoms, but uniquely in the ancient world
outside the Mediterranean, some were republics.
The rise of the Mauryan empire to cover most of ancient India involved the creation of
a provincial administration which spanned much of the subcontinent. The empire was divided
into provinces, and an empire-wide tax-gathering organization was developed. Also created was
an extensive espionage system. A network of roads running from south and north and east to
west was maintained. Mauryan power rested ultimately on its formidable army, which seems to
have been one of the largest in the ancient world.
The establishment of provinces, with strong centres of state power distributed in key locations
throughout much of the subcontinent, set the stage for the next chapter in India’s history. As
Mauryan power weakened, these provinces became powerful regional kingdoms, covering a
territory far greater than the ancient Aryan homeland of northern India and reaching down into
southern India.

Religion: The civilization of ancient India was an astonishing seedbed of religious innovation.
Reconstructing the Indus Valley civilization’s religion is impossible, but there is strong evidence
that it had a major impact on the subsequent religious history of India. In any case, the next
period of ancient Indian history, the Vedic age, saw the rise of early Hinduism, from which all
other Indian religious systems arose.
 Excavated ruins of Mohenjo-daro, with the Great Bath in the front.
Reproduced under Creative Commons license 1.0
The Aryan belief-system revolved around a pantheon of gods and goddesses. It also came to
include the concept of the “Cycle of Life” – reincarnation of the soul from one creature
(including both animals and humans) to another. Later, the idea of the material world being an
illusion became widespread. Such ideas were emphasized more strongly in the new teachings of
Jainism and Buddhism, which both also had their origins in ancient India, in the years around
500 BCE.
Jainism was founded by Mahariva (“The Great Hero”, lived c. 540-468 BCE). He emphasized an
aspect already present in early Hinduism, non-violence to all living things. He also promoted the
renunciation of worldly desires and an ascetic way of life.
Buddhism was founded by Gautama Siddharta, the Buddha (“The Enlightened One”, lived c. 565
to 485 BCE). He came to believe that extreme asceticism was not a fruitful basis for a spiritual
life. However, like Jains, he believed that the release from worldly desires was the way to
salvation. In daily life, Buddhists emphasized the importance of ethical behaviour.
Both Buddhism and Jainism flourished under the Mauryan empire. Some scholars believe that it
was in this period, especially under Asoka, that Buddhism became established as a major religion
within ancient India.
Literature: Strongly linked to these religious developments, ancient India produced a
fantastically rich literature. In the centuries after coming into northern India, the Aryans
developed a great abundance of poems, tales, hymns, spells and so on, in an oral tradition known
as the Vedas. They were written down long after the “Vedic age”. Another body of literature that
was composed towards the end of the Vedic age were the Upanishads, a collection of works of
prose and poetry which explore deep religious and philosophical concepts, including the idea that
the material world is an illusion, and the implications of this idea for the individual soul.
Later in ancient India’s history, religious and other ideas came to be expressed in short texts
called sutras. The earliest Jain and Buddhist scriptures were in this form, setting out the sayings
of their founders in a brief, pithy way. Alongside these arose a tradition of elaborate epic poetry.
The most famous examples are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These retell famous
incidents in semi-mythological history, far back in the Vedic age.
As well as religious writings, ancient India produced works on mathematics, medicine, and
politics. The Arthashastra of the famous statesman Kautilya anticipates Machiavelli by almost
2,000 years.
All these works were written in Sanskrit, the ancient language of the Aryans. This is an Indo-
European language distantly related to Persian, Greek, Latin, German and other tongues. The
Sanskrit script was based on the Aramaic alphabet, which came to India from the Middle East
some time before 500 BCE. One of the greatest linguists in world history flourished sometime in
the following centuries. This was Panini. He set out highly logical rules of grammar, which
formed the basis of classical Sanskrit. His underlying idea was that words should express
meaning as efficiently as possible – the brief sutras in ancient Indian scriptures embody this
principle. The influence of Panini’s work on the history of Indian high culture is incalculable.
Much Indian education came to be based on its principles, even if not in Sanskrit; they trained
Indian scholars in a rigorous logic which acted as a major stimulus to intellectual thought and
debate.
Art and Architecture: Apart from figurines from the Indus Valley civilization, the earliest
examples of the art of ancient India which have come down to us are from magnificent cave
temples in central India. The spread of such temples – either located in natural caves which have
been shaped to create a religious space, or entirely carved from rock – was originally a Buddhist
innovation, which Hindus later adopted.  Here, stone carvings and painted frescoes dating from
ancient times have come down to us, the earliest dating from the Mauryan empire, or just after.
The most famous early cave-temples are found at Ellora, in central India.
Another Buddhist innovation was the stupa, a dome-shaped monument in which religious relics
were stored. The earliest of these date from Mauryan times, with the Great Stupa at Sanchi being
the most famous.
Apart from cave temples, ancient Indian buildings – secular and religious – were largely made of
wood and bricks. Unfortunately none have survived from this early period of India’s history.
Apparently they incorporated rounded arches atop their windows and doors – in which case they
preceded arched architecture in the West by several centuries.

Science and Technology: In mathematics, the scholars of ancient India clearly understood the
Pythagorean theorem, that the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is
equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.  The religious texts of the Vedic period
contain examples of simple Pythagorean triples, such as, “The rope stretched along the length of
the diagonal of a rectangle makes an area which the vertical and horizontal sides make together.”
A medical treatise called the Sushruta Samhita (6th century BCE) describes 1120 illnesses, 700
medicinal plants, a detailed study on anatomy, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57
preparations based on animal sources. Cataract surgery was known to ancient Indian physicians,
and was performed with a specially designed curved needle to loosen the lens and push the
cataract out of the field of vision.
 A statue dedicated to Sushruta at the Patanjali Yogpeeth institute in Haridwar.
Reproduced under Creative Commons 3.0

Refferrences:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_India
2. https://www.ancient.eu/india/
3. https://knowindia.gov.in/culture-and-heritage/ancient-history.php
4. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/world-history-beginnings/ancient-
india/a/the-indus-river-valley-civilizations

Md. Zahid Hasan

ID: 1520539642

The Modern Indian Civilization

Modern Indian History

During the late 16th and the 17th Centuries, the European trading companies in India competed
with each other ferociously. By the last quarter of the 18th Century, the English had outdone all
others and established themselves as the dominant power in India. The British administered India
for a period of about two centuries and brought about revolutionary changes in the social,
political and economic life of the country.
 
However, the zenith of colonization was achieved when the British arrived in the early 1600s as
traders. Capitalizing on the disintegration that existed in India after the Mughal rule, the British
actively used the strategy of ‘divide-and-rule’ to rule over India for over 2 centuries. While the
British had come in earlier, they only achieved political power in 1757 AD after the Battle of
Plassey. 
 
They took a keen interest in the resources that India had to offered and have been looked back at
as plunderers of India’s wealth of resources - as they took cotton, spices, silk, and tea, amongst
numerous other resources. While they did lay out a massive chunk of India’s infrastructure, by
also bringing the Indians steam engines, it is seldom looked back at as an equal relationship. The
British Raj was divisive and pit Indians against one another, on the basis of religion; and also
mistreated the laborers. The Indians were essentially slaves of the British rule and were working
hard without any returns on their work. This, naturally, led to multiple mutinies; and prominent
freedom fighters came to the forefront. Different ideologies of thought believed that there were
different ways of gaining freedom; however, they all had one common goal - freedom. 
 
The British queen had asserted that the aim of the British was to help India progress - however,
multiple problems arose without the consultation of Indian leaders. One important instance of
this was when in the First World War, Britain launched an attack on Germany on behalf of India,
even though India did not wish for that to happen; and millions of Indian soldiers were at the
forefront of the British Indian Army during both the world wars - further fuelling the Indian
resistance. Over a million Indian soldiers were killed in both the World Wars.

Mahatma Gandhi was the main leader of Indian Opposition movement through non-violence

Many people in India wanted to be free from British rule. The struggle for independence was
long and difficult. Many people protested against the British.

The British tortured the Indians. They tried hard to break the equality and fraternity of Indians.
Their motto was divide and rule. They made wars between Hindus and Muslims and as a result,
India was separated into Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
The most important leader of the struggle for Indian independence was Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi believed in a non-violent opposition towards the British.

India won its independence, along with Muslim Pakistan, and became a free country on August
15, 1947. Pakistan won independence in 14 August, some hours before India. It was a turning
point in the history of India and an advent of a new modern India.

Emblem of India

On 15 August 1947, the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two countries, India
(Hindustan) and Pakistan. With this, the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent ended. On 26
January 1950, Hindustan adopted a constitution. From that day, Hindustanis became the
Republic of India or Indians.

Narendra Damodardas Modi is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime
Minister of India since 2014. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the
Member of Parliament for Varanasi.

Society & Economy: At once a stable society, comfortably couched in time-worn traditions, and
a chaotic crucible of new ideas, modern India is distinguished by diversity and united by
patriotism.

There are countless issues that divide the country, including socioeconomic factors such as caste,
class, and access to basic needs and education; regional variations like the dozens of official
languages and various different cuisines; religious differences that divide communities and often
result in distinct neighborhoods; and the deep gender inequality that transcends even the division
between urban and rural populations. And yet many factors unite India. Even in terms of
language, English and Hindi are common to most of urbanized India, at least at a basic level.
And although major urban areas have been joined by roads (no matter the quality of these roads),
the democratizing power of the Indian rail system is not to be underestimated. A shared history
of colonialism, active media, a sprawling government bureaucracy, and an engaged political
body help create a relatively cohesive Indian society. And, of course, there is the fact that Indian
people are, by and large, incredibly warm and welcoming.
The economy of India is characterized as a developing market economy. It is the world's fifth-
largest economy by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).
According to the IMF, on a per capita income basis, India ranked 139th by GDP (nominal) and
118th by GDP (PPP) in 2018.

Government: India is a federal (or quasi-federal) democratic republic with a parliamentary

system of government largely based on the UK model. India’s modern parliamentary institutions
originate from the British colonial administration but developed organically as a result of
increasing Indian demand for greater representation in government. India’s federal legislative
branch consists of the President, the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) as the upper house, and the
Lok Sabha (House of the People) as the lower house. If a political party or a coalition receives
more than half of the total number of seats in the Lok Sabha, which in its current composition is
273 seats, that party/coalition is able to form a government. Elections to the Lok Sabha are
carried out using a first-past-the-post electoral system. In order for a bill to become law in India,
it must undergo a three-stage process in each house of Parliament that involves introduction,
consideration, and final passage, and must also be given presidential assent.

National Parliament of Indai

Religion: Religion plays a large part in modern Indian society, and worship is an important
component: people often pray regularly in temples, mosques, gurdwaras, and churches, but may
also have family shrines at home, composed of icons, portraits, and statues. Ritual fasting is a
regular occurrence in many religions, whether weekly for some very pious Hindus or yearly
during Ramadan for devout Muslims. Religious conventions can often bleed into cultural ones,
influencing diet, neighborhood, occupation, and clothing choice.

Literature: The rise of modern Indian literature in the nineteenth century reveals the complexity
of India’s encounter with colonialism, and of the country’s entry into modernity. As early as
1835, the British colonial government had introduced English education for upper-class Indians,
so that they could serve in the administration of the colony. With the establishment, in 1857, of
universities in the three Presidencies of Madras (Chennai), Bombay (Mumbai), and Calcutta
(Kolkata), a significant number of Indians gained access to European thought. The colonists had
hoped that an English education would teach their Indian subjects Western values, and would
wean them from what they considered pernicious ideas propagated by Indian religious and
literary texts. However, from the very beginning, Indian writers shaped the Western literary form
to suit Indian linguistic, literary, and cultural sensibilities, drawing eclectically from the diverse
literary traditions they had inherited, both classical and popular, in Sanskrit,Persian, and the
regional languages.

Art and Architecture: Indian architecture has taken on many styles and forms throughout
history. Many of these past forms have become globally iconic, such as the Taj Mahal and South
Indian Temples. Domes, minarets (slender towers), intricate latticework, and calligraphy work
are all traditional characteristics of Indian architecture that can be found on sites like the Taj
Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is an example of traditional Indian architecture.

In terms of representing and upholding Indian tradition, the Lotus Temple in New Delhi, India is
a prime example. The temple was finished in 1986 by Iranian-American architect Fariborz Sahba
and looks just as modern as the day it was completed. The temple takes a traditional symbol (the
lotus flower) and translates it into a modern architectural form. The Lotus has three layers of
petals that are each made out of concrete shells that transition from completely open to partially
closed at the very top. The ceiling is glass, supported by steel, and allows for natural light to
filter in through the top of the lotus. This mix of modern materials makes for a very elegant and
peaceful form, prefect for the flower it seeks to represent.
 Lotus Temple

Science and Technology: Over the recent past, Science and Technology has made tremendous
contribution towards the settlement of industries in India.
Starting from the micro level to the macro level, research and development in the field of
technology has created an ideal niche for the overall growth of the economic condition of the
country. The perceptible examples are the development of Atomic Energy, Space Science,
dozens of successful satellite systems, advanced medical technologies, etc.1990, i.e., the
landmark era. Globalization, liberalization, and privatization, facilitated this growth.
Refferences:

1. https://www.india.gov.in/my-government

2. https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/society+and+culture+in+modern+india/361324.html

3. https://www.fodors.com/world/asia/india/experiences/modern-indian-society-266119230

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_India

Name: Khorshadul Islam

ID:1521333642