Ancient India

Though the Ancient history began with evolution of the earth. The history of India commences with the evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago. But broadly Indian history comprises more than a span of 5000 years. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from somewhere around 2500 to 1750 BC, was the first major civilization in India. It actually straddled modern India and Pakistan. The people of the area had begun farming, they had invented pottery. By about 2,500 BC a prosperous farming society had grown up. The people spun cotton and they traded with other cultures such as modern day Iraq. Some of the people of the Indus Valley began to live in towns. The two largest were at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.

After the collapse of the Indus Valley civilization a new wave of people entered India. The Aryans came from central Asia and they probably entered India through Afghanistan after 1500 BC. There were probably waves of invasions over a period of time rather than just one. The Aryans were a semi-nomadic race of pastoralists. At first they wandered about with their herds of cattle rather than live in one place. However in time the Aryans settled down and became farmers. Slowly a more ordered and settled society evolved. Tribes became kingdoms. The various Indian kingdoms had begun to conquer one another. At approximately the same time the Persians captured the extreme North-west of India. Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire and penetrated the far North-west of India.

In 322 BC Chandragupta Maurya became king of the powerful and highly centralized state of Magadha in the North of India. Aided by his able advisor Kautilya Chandragupta created an empire. This new empire was rich and trade thrived. In 296 Chandragupta abdicated in favour of his son Bindusara. The greatest Mauryan ruler was Ashoka (269-232 BC). He conquered Kalinga (modern day Orissa). Afterwards he declared he was appalled by the suffering caused by war and decided against any further conquest. Asoka also converted to Buddhism. However despite his conversion to Buddhism Mauryan rule was authoritarian. After his death the Mauryan empire declined, as all empires do. It suffered an economic decline and political instability as different brothers strived to become king. A general assassinated the last Mauryan ruler in 185 BC.

The general then took over running the empire and founded the Shunga dynasty. However in 73 BC the last Shunga ruler was, in turn, assassinated. They were replaced by the Kanva dynasty which ruled from 73-28BC. A new empire was founded early in the 4th century AD by Chandragupta. After his death his son Samudragupta (335-375) conquered the whole of Northern India and much of Central India. The Gupta Empire reached a peak under Chandragupta II 375-415 AD. However it then went into decline. The Gupta Empire broke up in the early 6th century. However Gupta rule was less strict then Mauryan rule and provinces of the empire were given some autonomy.

The next great ruler in Indian history was king Harshavardhana (606-647). Harsha began as ruler of the kingdom of Thanesar. He then carved out an empire in Northern India. But Harsha's kingdom really depended on his personality to hold it together. After his death it quickly broke up.India once again became a land of several kingdoms, which were frequently at war with each other.