Ancient India

The Indus Valley Civilization existed in between 3000-1500 BC while the earlier Kot Diji cultures, of the pre-Indus period, existed in the period of approximately 3300-2800 BC. Harappa and the city of Mohenjo-Daro were the greatest achievements of the Indus Valley civilization. These cities are well known for their impressive, organized and regular layout.

Then came Aryans who composed these evocative hymns to nature and celebrated life exuberantly referred to themselves as Aryas usually anglicised as Aryan meaning 'noble'. The 6th Century B.C. was the period of Magadh Kingdom. Chandragupta Maurya ousted the oppressive ruler of Magadh to find his own dynasty that existed from 322 - 298 B.C.

The most famous Maurya King Ashoka the Great ruled from 273 - 232 B.C over a large kingdom stretching from Kashmir and Peshawar in the North and Northwest to Mysore in the South and Orissa in the East. He after witnessing the carnage at the battle field of Kalinga (269 B.C.) in Orissa, dedicated himself to Dharmma ( righteousness ).

In the subsequent centuries, after the Ashoka empire disintegrated,India suffered a series of invasions, and often fell under the spell of foreign rulers - Indo Bactrians, the Sakas and others. After the next 400 years of instability the Guptas established their kingdom.

Kalidas, the famous Sanskrit poet and dramatist, author of Abhijnana Shankuntalam, Kumarsambhavam and Meghadutam is believed to have adorned the Gupta court. Also the great mathematicians like Aryabhatta and astronomers like Varahmihir lived during this period. The dazzling wall paintings of the Ajanta caves too are traced back to this era.

Cholas, Pandayas and Pallavas ruled over the southern part of India during the medieval period of India’s history. Cholas ruled the territory of Deccan (today the districts of Thanjavur and Tiruchirapally) while the Pandyas reined around present day Tirunelvelli and Madurai.

Pallavas of Kanchi rose to prominence in the 4th Century A.D. and ruled unchallenged for about four hundred years. The Nayanar and Alvar saint poets belong to this period. The gemlike shore temples at Mahabalipuram date to this period. The Cholas overthrew the Pallavas were in the 9th Century and regained political primacy in south India. The 15th Century saw the decline of the Pandyas.

Timeline of Ancient Indian History

3000 - 2600 BC - Harappa Civilisation

1200 - 500 BC - Vedic Era

550 BC - Birth of Mahavira

563 - 483 BC - Sidhartha Gautama, the Buddha

327 BC - The Conquests of Alexander The Great

325 BC - Alexander The Great, still goes on

322 BC - Rise of the Mauryas, Chandragupta

298 BC - Bindusara Coronated

272 BC - Ashoka's Reign

180 BC - Fall of the Mauryas & Rise of the Sungas

30 BC - Rise of the Satvahana Dynasty

50 AD - The Kushans and Kanishkas

320 AD - Chandragupta I establishes the Gupta dynasty

360 AD - Samudragupta conquers the North

380 AD - Chandragupta II comes to power

415 AD - Accession of Kumara Gupta I

467 AD - Skanda Gupta assumes power

892 AD - Rise of the Eastern Chalukyas

985 AD - The Chola Dynasty

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Brief Timeline of Indian History

Prehistoric India

Timeline of India’s freedom struggle

Prehistoric India

The Indian prehistoric era is one of the most fascinating and intriguing eras to read about. Though there is speculation about when it originated, historians quote the approximate period from 200000 B.C to about 3500 - 2500 B.C. It is estimated that the first humans to set their foot in the Indian sub continent between 200000 B.C and 40000 B.C. Pre historic India has been divided into four major eras. These are: Stone Age, Paleolithic Era, Mesolithic Era and Neolithic Era. The Bronze Age is also mentioned here though it comes after these four eras. Further information about Indian prehistory is given below. 

Stone Age

The Stone Age was the era when early man used stones for functional and useful purposes. The Stone Age is further classified into three categories which are the Paleolithic Age, Mesolithic Age and Neolithic Age. These divisions have been made on the basis of the kind of stone tools that were used during these times. 

Paleolithic Age

The Paleolithic Age lasted till about 8000 B.C. In this age, man was essentially a food gatherer. He learnt to make weapons out of stones and also mastered the skill of hunting animals. The crude weapons were slowly carved properly and were made sharp and pointed. These special weapons were made by shredding the sides of a stone with a heavier stone. Man also learnt how to create fire and make use of it. He learnt to control fire, which helped him to improve his way of living. 

Mesolithic Age

The Mesolithic Age lasted from 8000 B.C - 4000 B.C. In this age the size of the groups grew to form small communities. The number of mouths to feed increased and needed constant nurturing for continuation. The tools improved and became more refined and sharp. There was a drastic change in the food and clothing of man. The tools were modified and now the sharp stones were attached to strong tree branches using ropes and vines. These new weapons or hand axes could be flung on animals from a safe distance. Apart from this, farming techniques were developed and man began to grow crops. Man also learnt to draw and paint and the evidence is found in the form of cave paintings found in India. 

Neolithic Age 

Neolithic (New Stone Age) settlements in the Indian sub-continent are not older than 4000 BC. The Neolithic Age lasted from 4000 B.C - 2500 B.C and is known as the last stage of the Stone Age era. The main features of this age were the finely flaked weapons and small tools made of stone that were used for day to day work. This age also saw domestication of cows, horses and other poultry and farm animals. Their products were used for dairy and meat items. The wheel, which was a very important invention, was created during this age. Shortly after this age around 1800 B.C, tools were made of copper and bronze and were used for many practical purposes.

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is the era when metals were used and improvised for making tools and other weapons. This age came immediately after the Neolithic Age and aided in the development of the metallurgy industry. It came into being in 3500 B.C in the Middle East. The Bronze Age in India is roughly estimated to have begun around 3300 B.C. It almost coincided with the beginning of the Indus Valley Civilization. People living in Indus Valley produced bronze, copper and tin thus developing new techniques of metallurgy.

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Indian History

India is 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 is the origin of many of the ideas, philosophies and movements which have shaped the destiny of mankind. The civilization with its main cities Mohenjadaro and Harappa flourished for over eight centuries. Its people thought to be Dravidians, whose descendants still inhabit the far south of India. This civilization declined around 1500 B.C., probably due to ecological changes.

Aryan and Greek Invasions: The country was influenced by many invasions, the Arya or Aryans (1500BC) as they are known today, are the first invaders.  As they settled in the middle Ganges River valley, they adapted to antecedent cultures. They spoke a group of languages which have become known as Indo-European. They settled in the region to the north west of India, known as the Punjab. With time, the Aryans were engaged in struggle with the dark skinned people or Dasyus. The Dasyus were the Dravidians. The superiority of the Aryans resulted in the Dravidian submission.

The second great invasion into India occurred around 500 BC, when the Persian kings Cyrus and Darius, pushing their empire eastward, conquered the prized Indus Valley. After centuries of obscurity, doubt and conjecture, India came into the full light of recorded history with the invasion of Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 327 BC. Although Alexander crossed the Indus and defeated an Indian king, he turned back without extending his power into India.

Maurya and Gupta Periods: In the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., northern India was unified under the Gupta Dynasty. This period, known as India's Golden Age.

India's first imperial dynasty, founded by Chandragupta Maurya.Maurya dynasty reached its peak around 260 BC under the Emperor Ashoka, the most famous figures in Indian History. In the fifth century, large parts of India were united under Ashoka. He also converted to Buddhism, and it is in his reign that Buddhism spread to o ther parts of Asia. It is in the reign of the Mauryas that Hinduism took the shape that fundamentally informs the religion down to the present day. Successor states were more fragmented.

The Gupta period has been described as the golden age of Indian history and under their rule of northern India, arts, including poetry and literature, flourished. The exquisite Ajanta and Ellora caves were excavated in this period. Gupta period extended from 320AD to 480AD. But in 455 AD the Huns invaded India from the north and destroyed the Guptan Empire. Again India was split into small kingdoms until the Muslim invasions around 1000 AD.                                                

Muslim Invasions: The Medieval Period in Indian history began with the Muslim Invasions.In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established sultanates in Delhi. 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, leaving lasting cultural influences on each other. In the early 16th century, descendants of Genghis Khan swept across the Khyber Pass,  defeated Ibrahim Lodi the last ruler of the Delhi Sultanate at the battle of Panipat  and established the Mughal (Mogul) Dynasty, which lasted for 200 years.

The golden era of the Mughal period was under the rule of Akbar the great.

European Invasions: The Portuguese were the first Europeans to settle in India, in Goa, in the fifteenth century (1498). The Europeans arrived even before the Mughals. The Dutch East India company was chartered in 1602 and they established spice trade and factories in Cochin, Nagapatinam and Agra. They did not have any military ambitions for India. In 1613, the British East India Company, a trading company, started its first trading post in Gujarat.

Meanwhile around 1644, the French established trade with India. Pondicherry was the hub of French settlements. Other French factories and settlements were at Surat, their first trading post in 1666, then Masulipatanam, Karikal, Chandernagore in Bengal and Mahe at the Malabar coast. The struggle for establishing supremacy in trade resulted in wars between the English and the French in the Deccan. 

In 1757, at the Battle of Plassey, Robert Clive, an employee of the British East India Company, defeated the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah and established their political sovereignty in India. It was an important step towards the eventual British dominance of the country

The conquest of India, which could be said to have begun with the Battle of Plassey (1757), was practically completed by the end of Dalhousie's tenure in 1856. It had been by no means a smooth affair as the simmering discontent of the people manifested itself in many localized revolt during this period. However, the Mutiny of 1857, which began with a revolt of the military soldiers at Meerut, soon became widespread and posed a grave challenge to the British rule. The revolt was controlled by the British within one year, it began from Meerut on 10 May 1857 and ended in Gwalior on 20 June 1858. Britain then ruled India with local rulers for over three hundred years.

Indian Independence: A national movement for independence was created. Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Subhas Chandra Bosh, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Mahamana, Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel, Sarojini Naidu, Chander Shekhar Azad were the notable people of the movement. But the most relevantverent leader of the movement was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Gandhi worked with Jawaharlal Nehru, the secretary of the Indian National Congress and  transformed the Indian National Congress political party into a mass movement to campaign against the British colonial rule. After several years of struggle, Britain decided to quit India. 

On August 15, 1947, India became a dominion within the Commonwealth, with Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister. Enmity between Hindus and Muslims led the British to partition British India, creating East and West Pakistan, where there were Muslim majorities. India became a republic within the Commonwealth after promulgating its constitution on January 26, 1950.

Brief Timeline of Indian History

Ancient India History: The Indus Valley Civilisation, Harrapa | Aryans and the Vedic Age | Rise of Religions and Emergence of the State | The Gupta Age | The Southern Kingdoms

Medieval India History: The Muslim Invasion | Mughal empire | The Marathas

Modern India History: Coming of the Europeans | East India Company | India's freedom struggle

India's Freedom Struggle

In ancient times, people from all over the world were keen to come to India. The Aryans came from Central Europe. The Persians followed by the Iranians and Parsis immigrated to India. Then came the Mughals. Alexander the Great too, came to conquer India but went back after a battle with Porus. Hu-en Tsang from China came in pursuit of knowledge and to visit the ancient Indian universities of Nalanda and Takshila. Vasco da Gama from Portugal came to trade his country's goods in return for Indian species. The French came and established their colonies in India. Lastly, the Britishers came and ruled over India for nearly 200 years.

Timeline of India’s freedom struggle: A brief time line of Indian freedom struggle from The early European when the East India company was formed (1600) to the freedom of India(1947) is as follows

The Early European

1498 - Vasco-da-gama arrived in India.

1600 – East India Company was formed.

1748 - Anglo-French War in India.

1757 - Battle of Plassey(After the battle of Plassey in 1757, the British achieved political power in India.).

The East India Company

1799 - British defeat Tipu Sultan.

1805 - Anglo-Maratha War.

1846 - Anglo-Sikh War- Sikhs Defeated.

1856 - The British conquest and its authority were firmly established.

1857 - First Indian War of Independence.

The conquest of India, which could be said to have begun with the Battle of Plassey (1757), was practically completed by the end of Dalhousie's tenure in 1856. It had been by no means a smooth affair as the simmering discontent of the people manifested itself in many localized revolt during this period. However, the Mutiny of 1857, which began with a revolt of the military soldiers at Meerut, soon became widespread and posed a grave challenge to the British rule. The revolt was controlled by the British within one year, it began from Meerut on 10 May 1857 and ended in Gwalior on 20 June 1858

1858 – End of East India Company (November 1, 1858 declared that thereafter India would be governed by and in the name of the British Monarch through a Secretary of State.)

Indian National Congress

1885 - Indian National Congress was formed by Allen Octavian Hume.

The Indian National Congress became the leader of the Indian Independence Movement, with over 15 million members and over 70 million participants in its struggle against British rule in India.

1915 - Home Rule League was founded by Annie Besent.

1919 - Khilafat Movement, Jalianwala Bagh Massacre, The Rowlat Act.

1921 - Rise of Gandhi and his Civil Disobedience Movement.

1922 - Gandhi Suspended movement after the Chauri-Chura violence.

1928 - Murder of Lala Lajpat Rai and subsequent revolutionary activities.

1929 - Singh and Dutt threw a bomp onto the corridor of the assemnbly and shouted "Inquilab Zindabad".

1930 - The Dandi Salt March, The Simon Commission, First Round Table Conference.

1931 - Second Round Table Conference, Gandhi-Irvin Pact.

1937 - Provincial Autonomy Begins with Congress winning power in many states. WWII breaks out and  political deadlock in India.

1942 - The Quit India Movement, Rise of Subhas Chandra Bose.

1946 - INA men tried. Muslim League Adamant about Pakistan.

1947 - India was Partioned. Britishers Left India - Freedom at Midnight.