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History of INDIA : Early Period. History: periods. 1 Prehistoric era 1.1 Stone Age 1.2 Bronze Age 2 Early historic period 2.1 Vedic period 2.2 Mahajanapadas 2. 3 Maurya Empire 3 Early Middle Kingdoms — The Golden Age 3.1 Northwestern hybrid cultures 3.2 Kushan Empire
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History: periods 1 Prehistoric era 1.1 Stone Age 1.2 Bronze Age 2 Early historic period 2.1 Vedic period 2.2 Mahajanapadas 2.3 Maurya Empire 3 Early Middle Kingdoms — The Golden Age 3.1 Northwestern hybrid cultures 3.2 Kushan Empire 3.3 Gupta rule 4 Late Middle Kingdoms — The Late-Classical Age 5 The Islamic Sultanates 5.1 Delhi Sultanate 6 Early modern period 6.1 Mughal Empire 6.2 Post-Mughal period
History: dates Stone age (7000–3000 BC) Bronze age (3000–1300 BC) Iron age (1200–26 BC) Classical period (1–1279 AD) Late medieval age (1206–1596AD) Early modern period (1526–1858 AD)
Bronze Age • began around 3300 BCE with the early Indus Valley Civilization(IVC) • IVC was centered on the Indus River and its tributaries (occupying the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, Gujarat, and southeastern Afghanistan) • IVC is primarily located in modern-day India (Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan provinces) and Pakistan • IVC is the world's earliest urban civilizations, along with Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt • The Mature Indus civilization flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE • urban centers: Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rupar, Rakhigarhi, and Lothal in modern-day India Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan • Inhabitants of the ancient IVC - the Harappans - introduced new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft (carneol products, seal carving) produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin cities built of brick multistoried houses roadside drainage system
Iron Age • Indo-Aryan culture is associated with the texts of Vedas • The Vedas are sacred to Hindus, orally composed in Vedic Sanskrit. • The Vedas are some of the oldest extant texts in the world • The Vedas laid the foundations of Hinduism and other cultural aspects of early Indian society • The Vedic period lasted from about 1500 to 500 BCE • Early Vedic society consisted of largely pastoral groups • Aryan society was socially organized around the four varnas, or social classes • The later part - an increasing movement away from the previous tribal system towards the establishment of kingdoms, called mahajanapadas • This period saw the second major rise of urbanism in India after the Indus Valley Civilization • Many of the sixteen kingdoms had coalesced to four major ones by 500/400 BCE, - the time of Gautama Buddha • The beginnings of Buddhism and Jainism
Maurya Empire • ruled by Mauryan dynasty in 322–185 BCE • a geographically extensive and powerful political and military empire • established by Chandragupta Maurya in Magadha what is now Bihar • flourished under the reign of Ashoka the Great • Ashoka ruled the Maurya Empire for 37 years from 268 BCE until he died in 232 BCE • an active foreign policy aimed at setting up a unified state, which failed • was involved in a war with the state of Kalinga • slavery developed rapidly • Ashoka's reign propagated Buddhism
Golden Age: Early Middle Kingdoms • The Satavahana dynasty (the Andhras) ruled in southern and central India after around 230 BCE. • Satakarni, the sixth ruler of the Satvahana dynasty, defeated the Sunga Empire of north India. • Kharavela, the king of Kalinga, ruled a vast empire and was responsible for the propagation of Jainism in the Indian subcontinent, started colonization in Sri Lanka, Burma, as well as the Maldives and Maritime Southeast Asia. • The Kuninda Kingdom was a small Himalayan state that survived from around the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE. • The Kushanas migrated from Central Asia into northwestern India in the middle of the 1st century CE and founded an empire that stretched from Tajikistan to the middle Ganges. • The Western Satraps (35-405 CE) were Saka rulers of the western and central part of India. • The Kalabras, a Buddhist dynasty, briefly interrupted the usual domination of the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas in the south. • The northwestern hybrid cultures of the subcontinent included the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Scythians, the Indo-Parthians, and the Indo-Sassinids.
The Classical Age • India reunited under the Gupta Empire (c. 320–550 CE) • extensive achievements in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and philosophy • Strong political administration • Strong trade ties • the Guptas performed Vedic sacrifices to legitimize their rule • patronized Buddhism • fell under Hunas and the rise of other kingdoms
Islamic Sultanates • Turks and Afghans - in the 12th and 13th centuries - invaded parts of northern India and established the Delhi Sultanate in the former Rajput holdings • Under Slave dynasty – extended to the size of the Gupta Empire • Indian cultural renaissance • "Indo-Muslim" fusion of cultures left lasting syncretic monuments in architecture, music, literature, religion, and clothing • the language of Urdu (literally meaning "horde" or "camp") was born during the Delhi Sultanate period = as Sanskrit + Persian, Turk, and Arabic • Timur (Tamerlane) defeated the army of the reigning Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud of the Tughlaq Dynasty in Delhi • Delhi was sacked
Mughal Empire • In 1526, Babur, a Timurid descendant established the Mughal Empire, covering modern day Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh • His son Humayun was forced to retreat to Kabul • a secular Hindu rule in North India from Delhi was established till 1556 • Babur’s grandson Akbar took over the city in 1556 • Akbar’s tolerant attitude to Hinduswas followed by complete Muslim dominance imposed by his successors (Aurangzeb) • went into a slow decline after 1707
Lecture 4 History: from colonial times to the 21st century Presentation: The events that changed India out of recognition Discussion: Colonialism: a curse or a blessing?