:''This article is about the history of South Asia prior to the
Partition of India in 1947. For the history of the modern
Republic of India, see
History of the Republic of India.''
The 'History of India' begins with the
Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished in the north-western part of the
Indian subcontinent from 3300 to 1700 BC. This
Bronze Age civilization was followed by the
Iron Age Vedic period, which witnessed the rise of major kingdoms known as the
Mahajanapadas. In two of these, in the
6th century BC,
Mahavira and
Gautama Buddha were born.
The subcontinent was united under the
Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. It subsequently became fragmented, with various parts ruled by numerous
Middle kingdoms for the next ten centuries. Its northern regions were united once again in the 4th century AD, and remained so for two centuries thereafter, under the
Gupta Empire. This period was known as the "
Golden Age of India." During the same time, and for several centuries afterwards,
India, under the rule of the
Chalukyas,
Cholas,
Pallavas and
Pandyas, experienced its own golden age, during which
Hinduism and
Buddhism spread to much of
south-east Asia.
Islam arrived on the subcontinent early in the 8th century AD with the conquest of
Baluchistan and
Sindh by
Muhammad bin Qasim. Islamic invasions from Central Asia between the 10th and 15th centuries AD brought most of northern India under the rule at first of the
Delhi Sultanate and later of the
Mughals. Mughal rule, which ushered in a remarkable flowering of art and architecture, came to cover most of the northern parts of the subcontinent. However, several independent kingdoms, such as the
Maratha Empire and the
Vijayanagara Empire, flourished contemporaneously, in Western and southern India respectively. Beginning in the mid-18th century and over the next century, India was gradually annexed by the
British East India Company. Dissatisfaction with Company rule led to the
Indian Rebellion of 1857, after which India was directly administered by the
British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid development of
infrastructure and
economic decline.
During the first half of the 20th century, a nationwide
struggle for independence was launched by the
Indian National Congress, and later joined by the
Muslim League. The subcontinent gained independence from
Great Britain in 1947, after being
partitioned into the
dominions of
India and
Pakistan. Pakistan's
eastern wing became the nation of
Bangladesh in 1971.
Pre-Historic era
Main articles: South Asian Stone Age
Isolated remains of ''
Homo erectus'' in Hathnora in the
Narmada Valley in
Central India indicate that India might have been inhabited since at least the
Middle Pleistocene era, somewhere between 200,000 to 500,000 years ago.
[1][2] The
Mesolithic period in the Indian subcontinent covered a timespan of around 25,000 years, starting around 30,000 years ago. Modern humans seem to have settled the subcontinent towards the end of the last
Ice Age, or approximately 12,000 years ago. The first confirmed permanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago in the
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka in modern
Madhya Pradesh. Early
Neolithic culture in South Asia is represented by the
Mehrgarh findings (
7000 BC onwards) in present day
Balochistan, Pakistan. Traces of a
Neolithic culture have been found submerged in the
Gulf of Khambat,
radiocarbon dated to
7500 BC.
[3] Late Neolithic cultures sprang up in the Indus Valley region between 6000 and 2000 BC and in southern India between 2800 and 1200 BC.
The Bronze Age
"Priest King" statue from Indus valley civilisation
The Bronze Age on the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BC with the beginning of the Indus Valley Civilization. Inhabitants of the ancient
Indus river valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin.
Indus Valley Civilization
Main articles: Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization which flourished from about 2600 BC to 1900 BC, and included urban centers such as
Harappa and
Mohenjo-daro (in
Pakistan), marked the beginning of the urban civilization on the subcontinent. It was centred on the Indus River and its tributaries, and extended into the
Ghaggar-Hakra River valley,
[ Revolution in the Urban Revolution: The Emergence of Indus Urbanization, , G. L., Possehl, Annual Review of Anthropology, 1990 See map on page 263 ] the
Ganges-Yamuna Doab,
[4] Gujarat,
[5] and northern
Afghanistan.
[6]
The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, road-side drainage system and multi-storied houses. Among the settlements were the major urban centres of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as
Dholavira,
Ganweriwala,
Lothal,
Kalibanga and
Rakhigarhi. It is thought by some that geological disturbances and climate change, leading to a gradual deforestation may ultimately have contributed to the civilization's downfall. The decline of the Indus Valley Civilization also included a break down of urban society in India and of the use of distinctively urban traits such as the use of writing and seals.
[7]
Vedic age
Main articles: Vedic period
The Vedic culture is the
Indo-Aryan culture associated with the
Vedas, which are some of the oldest extant texts, orally composed in
Vedic Sanskrit. It lasted from about 1500 BC to 500 BC. Properly speaking, the first 500 years (1500 - 1000 BC) of the Vedic Age correspond to
Bronze Age India and the next 500 years (1000 - 500 BC) to
Iron Age India. Many scholars today postulate an
Indo-Aryan migration into India, proposing that early Indo-Aryan speaking tribes migrated into the north-west regions of the Indian subcontinent in the early 2nd millennium BC. Most scholars postulate these Indo-Aryan tribes as originating in Iran, Kurdistan or Anatolia from where they migrated east into India, and west into Europe, overunning the native northern Europeans and finally assimilating with them whilst spreading their language and culture.
[8]
Early Vedic society consisted of largely nomadic pastoral groups with late Harappan urbanization being abandoned for unknown reasons.
[9] After the
Rigveda, Aryan society became increasingly agricultural, and was socially organized around the four
Varnas. In addition to the principal texts of Hinduism (the Vedas), the epics (the
Ramayana and
Mahabharata) are said to have their ultimate origins during this period.
[10] Early Indo-Aryan presence probably corresponds, in part, to the presence of
Ochre Coloured Pottery in archaeological findings.
[11] The kingdom of the
Kurus corresponds to the
Black and Red Ware culture and the beginning of the Iron Age in Northwestern India, around
1000 BC (roughly contemporaneous with the composition of the
Atharvaveda, the first Indian text to mention Iron, as , literally "black metal").
Painted Grey Ware cultures spanning much of Northern India were prevalent from about 1100 to 600 BC.
[11] This later period also corresponds with a change in outlook towards the prevalent tribal system of living leading to establishment of kingdoms called ''Mahajanapadas''.
Establishment of Mahajanapadas
Main articles: Mahajanapadas
The Mahajanapadas were the sixteen most powerful kingdoms and republics of the era, located mainly across the fertile
Indo-Gangetic plains, however there were a number of smaller kingdoms stretching the length and breadth of India
In the later Vedic Age, a number of small kingdoms or city states had covered the subcontinent, many mentioned during Vedic literature as far back as 1000 BC. By 600 BC, sixteen monarchies and 'republics' known as the ''
Mahajanapadas'' —
Kasi,
Kosala,
Anga,
Magadha,
Vajji (or Vriji),
Malla,
Chedi,
Vatsa (or Vamsa),
Kuru,
Panchala,
Machcha (or Matsya),
Surasena,
Assaka,
Avanti,
Gandhara,
Kamboja — stretched across the
Indo-Gangetic plains from modern-day Afghanistan to south pole. This was the second major urbanisation in India after the Indus Valley Civilization. Many smaller clans mentioned within early literature seem to have been present across the rest of the subcontinent. Some of these kings were hereditary, other city states elected their rulers. The educated speech at that time was
Sanskrit, while the dialects of the general population of northern India were referred to as
Prakrits. These sixteen kingdoms had reduced to four by 500 BC, that is by the time of
Siddhartha Gautama, probably due to infighting. These four were Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala and Magadha.
[13]
Hindu rituals at that time were complicated and conducted by the priestly class. It is thought that the
Upanishads, late Vedic texts dealing mainly with incipient philosophy, were composed in the later Vedic Age and early in this period of the ''Mahajanapadas'' (from about 800 - 500 BC). Upanishads had a huge effect on Indian philosophy, and were contemporary to the development of Buddhism and
Jainism, indicating a golden age of thought in this period. It was in 537 BC, that Siddhartha Gautama attained the state of awakenedness - "enlightenment", and became known as the 'Buddha' - the awakened one. Around the same time period, in 510 BC,
Mahavira founded Jainism. The Buddha's teachings and Jainism had simple doctrines, and were preached in Prakrit, which helped them gain acceptance amongst the masses. While the geographic impact of Jainism was limited, Buddhist nuns and monks eventually spread the teachings of Buddha to
Central Asia,
East Asia,
Tibet,
Sri Lanka and South East Asia.
Persian & Greek invasion
Alexander's conquests reached the northernmost edge of India, around the
Indus river in modern day Pakistan, which was slightly further than the
Achaemenid Empire
Much of the northwestern Indian Subcontinent (present day Eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan west of the Indus) came under the rule of the Persian
Achaemenid Empire in c. 520 BC during the reign of
Darius the Great, and remained so for two centuries thereafter.
[14] In 334 BC,
Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor and the Achaemenid Empire, reaching the north-west frontiers of the Indian subcontinent; there, he defeated King
Puru in the
Battle of the Hydaspes (near modern-day Jhelum, Pakistan) and conquered much of the Punjab.
[15] However, Alexander's troops refused to go beyond the Hyphases (
Beas) River near modern day
Jalandhar,
Punjab. Alexander left many Macedonian veterans in the conquered regions; he himself turned back and marched his army southwest.
The Persian and Greek invasions had important repercussions on Indian civilization. The political systems of the Persians was to influence future forms of governance on the subcontinent, including the administration of the Mauryan dynasty. In addition, the region of Gandhara, or present-day eastern Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan, became a melting pot of Indian, Persian, Central Asian and Greek cultures and gave rise to a hybrid culture,
Greco-Buddhism, which lasted until the 5th century AD and influenced the artistic development of
Mahayana Buddhism.
The Magadha Empire
Main articles: Magadha Empire
Amongst the sixteen Mahajanapadas, the kingdom of Magadha rose to prominence under a number of dynasties. According to tradition, the
Haryanka dynasty founded the Magadha Empire in 684 BC whose capital was Rajagriha, later
Pataliputra, near the present day
Patna. This dynasty was succeeded by the
Shishunaga dynasty which, in turn, was overthrown by the
Nanda dynasty in 424 BC. The Nandas were followed by the
Maurya dynasty.
Maurya dynasty
Main articles: Maurya Dynasty
Map depicting the largest extent of the Mauryan Empire in dark blue, and allied or friendly areas in light blue
In 321 BC, exiled general
Chandragupta Maurya, under direct patronage of the genius of
Chanakya, founded the Maurya dynasty after overthrowing the reigning king
Dhana Nanda. Most of the subcontinent was united under a single government for the first time under the Maurya rule. Mauryan empire under Chandragupta would not only conquer most of the Indian subcontinent, but also push its boundaries into Persia and
Central Asia, conquering the Gandhara region. Chandragupta Maurya is credited for the spread of Jainism in southern Indian region.
Chandragupta was succeeded by his son
Bindusara, who expanded the kingdom over most of present day India, barring
Kalinga, and the extreme south and east, which may have held tributary status.
Bindusara's kingdom was inherited by his son
Ashoka the Great who initially sought to expand his kingdom. In the aftermath of the carnage caused in the invasion of
Kalinga, he renounced bloodshed and pursued a policy of
non-violence or ahimsa after converting to Buddhism. The
Edicts of Ashoka are the oldest preserved historical documents of India, and from Ashoka's time, approximate dating of dynasties becomes possible. The Mauryan dynasty under
Ashoka was responsible for the proliferation of
Buddhist ideals across the whole of
East Asia and South-East Asia, fundamentally altering the history and development of Asia as a whole. Ashoka's grandson
Samprati adopted Jainism and helped spread
Jainism.
Post Mauryan Magadha dynasties
The
Sunga Dynasty was established in 185 BC, about fifty years after Ashoka's death, when the king
Brihadratha, the last of the Mauryan rulers, was murdered by the then commander-in-chief of the Mauryan armed forces, Pusyamitra Sunga. The
Kanva dynasty replaced the Sunga dynasty, and ruled in the eastern part of India from 71 BC to 26 BC. In 30 BC, the southern power swept away both the Kanvas and Sungas. Following the collapse of the Kanva dynasty, the
Satavahana dynasty of the
Andhra kingdom replaced the Magadha kingdom as the most powerful Indian state.
Early middle kingdoms — the golden age
Main articles: Middle kingdoms of India
Badami Chalukya territories
The middle period was a time of notable cultural development. The
Satavahanas, also known as the Andhras, were a dynasty which ruled in Southern and Central India starting from around 230 BC.
Satakarni, the sixth ruler of the Satvahana dynasty, defeated the Sunga dynasty of
North India.
Gautamiputra Satakarni was another notable ruler of the dynasty.
Kuninda Kingdom was a small Himalayan state that survived from around the 2nd century BC to roughly the 3rd century AD. The
Kushanas invaded north-western India about the middle of the 1st century AD, from Central Asia, and founded an empire that eventually stretched from
Peshawar to the middle
Ganges and, perhaps, as far as the
Bay of Bengal. It also included ancient Bactria (in the north of modern Afghanistan) and southern
Tajikistan. The
Western Satraps (35-405 AD) were
Saka rulers of the western and central part of India. They were the successors of the Indo-Scythians (see below) and contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and the Satavahana (Andhra) who ruled in Central India.
Different empires such as the
Pandyan Kingdom,
Early Cholas,
Chera dynasty,
Kadamba Dynasty,
Western Ganga Dynasty,
Pallavas and
Chalukya dynasty dominated the southern part of the Indian peninsula, at different periods of time. Several southern kingdoms formed overseas empires that stretched across South East Asia. The kingdoms warred with each other and Deccan states, for domination of the south.
Kalabhras, a Buddhist kingdom, briefly interrupted the usual domination of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in the South.
Northwestern hybrid cultures
The north-western hybrid cultures of the subcontinent included the ''Indo-Greeks'', the ''Indo-Scythians'', the ''Indo-Parthians'', and the ''Indo-Sassinids''. The first of these, the
Indo-Greek Kingdom, founded when the
Greco-Bactrian king
Demetrius invaded the region in 180 BC, extended over various parts of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lasting for almost two centuries, it was ruled by a succession of more than 30 Greek kings, who were often in conflict with each other. The
Indo-Scythians were a branch of the Indo-European
Sakas (
Scythians), who migrated from southern
Siberia first into
Bactria, subsequently into
Sogdiana,
Kashmir,
Arachosia,
Gandhara and finally into India; their kingdom lasted from the middle of the 2nd century BC to the 1st century BC. Yet another kingdom, the
Indo-Parthians (also known as
Pahlavas) came to control most of present-day Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, after fighting many local rulers such as the
Kushan ruler
Kujula Kadphises, in the Gandhara region. The
Sassanid empire of Persia, who were contemporaries of the Guptas, expanded into the region of present-day Pakistan, where the mingling of Indian and
Persian cultures gave birth to the
Indo-Sassanid culture.
Roman trade with India
Main articles: Roman trade with India
Roman trade with India started around 1 AD following the reign of
Augustus and
his conquest of
Egypt, theretofore
India's biggest trade partner in the West.
The trade started by
Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BC kept increasing, and according to
Strabo (II.5.12.
[16]), by the time of
Augustus up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from
Myos Hormos to India. So much gold was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the
Kushans for their own coinage, that
Pliny (NH VI.101) complained about the drain of specie to India:
These trade routes and harbour are described in detail in the 1st century AD
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Gupta dynasty
Main articles: Gupta Empire
Famous ancient fresco from the
Ajanta Caves, made during the Gupta period
In the 4th and 5th centuries, the
Gupta Dynasty unified northern India. During this period, known as India's
Golden Age, Hindu culture, science and political administration reached new heights.
Chandragupta I,
Samudragupta, and
Chandragupta II were the most notable rulers of the Gupta dynasty. The Vedic
Puranas are also thought to have been written around this period. The empire came to an end with the attack of the
Huns from central Asia. After the collapse of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century, India was again ruled by numerous regional kingdoms. A minor line of the Gupta clan continued to rule Magadha after the disintegration of the empire. These Guptas were ultimately ousted by the Vardhana king
Harsha, who established an empire in the first half of the seventh century.
The White
Huns, who seem to have been part of the
Hephthalite group, established themselves in Afghanistan by the first half of the fifth century, with their capital at
Bamiyan. They were responsible for the downfall of the Gupta dynasty, and thus brought an end to what historians consider a golden age in northern India. However, much of the
Deccan and southern India were largely unaffected by this state of flux in the north.
Late middle kingdoms — the classical age
Main articles: Middle kingdoms of India
The classical age in India began with the resurgence of the north during
Harsha's conquests around the 7th century, and ended with the fall of the
Vijayanagar Empire in the South, due to pressure from the invaders to the north in the 13th century. This period produced some of India's finest art, considered the epitome of classical development, and the development of the main spiritual and philosophical systems which continued to be in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
King Harsha of
Kannauj succeeded in reuniting northern India during his reign in the 7th century, after the collapse of the Gupta dynasty. His kingdom collapsed after his death. From the 7th to the 9th century, three dynasties contested for control of northern India: the
Pratiharas of
Malwa and later Kannauj; the
Palas of
Bengal, and the
Rashtrakutas of the Deccan. The
Sena dynasty would later assume control of the Pala kingdom, and the Pratiharas fragmented into various states. These were the first of the
Rajputs, a series of kingdoms which managed to survive in some form for almost a millennium until Indian independence from the British. The first recorded Rajput kingdoms emerged in
Rajasthan in the 6th century, and small Rajput dynasties later ruled much of northern India. One Rajput of the
Chauhan dynasty,
Prithviraj Chauhan, was known for bloody conflicts against the encroaching Islamic Sultanates. The
Shahi dynasty ruled portions of eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and Kashmir from the mid-seventh century to the early eleventh century. Whilst the northern concept of a pan-Indian empire had collapsed at the end of Harsha's empire, the ideal instead shifted to the south.
The
Chalukya Empire ruled parts of southern and central India from 550 to 750 from
Badami,
Karnataka and again from 970 to 1190 from
Kalyani, Karnataka. The
Pallavas of Kanchi were their contemporaries further to the south. With the decline of the Chalukya empire, their feudatories,
Hoysalas of
Halebidu,
Kakatiya of Warangal,
Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri and a southern branch of the
Kalachuri divided the vast Chalukya empire amongst themselves around the middle of 12th century. Later during the middle period, the
Chola kingdom emerged in northern
Tamil Nadu, and the
Chera kingdom in
Kerala. By 1343 A.D., all these kingdoms had ceased to exist giving rise to the
Vijayanagar empire. Southern Indian kingdoms of the time expanded their influence as far as
Indonesia, controlling vast overseas empires in Southeast Asia. The ports of southern India were involved in the
Indian Ocean trade, chiefly involving spices, with the
Roman Empire to the west and Southeast Asia to the east.
[17][18] Literature in local vernaculars and spectacular architecture flourished till about the beginning of the 14th century when southern expeditions of the sultan of Delhi took their toll on these kingdoms. The Hindu Vijayanagar dynasty[Karnata Rajya] came into conflict with Islamic rule (the
Bahmani Kingdom) and the clashing of the two systems, caused a mingling of the indigenous and foreign culture that left lasting cultural influences on each other. The Vijaynagar Empire eventually declined due to pressure from the first Delhi Sultanates who had managed to establish themselves in the north, centered around the city of Delhi by that time..
The Islamic sultanates
Main articles: Islamic empires in India
After the
Arab-Turkic invasion of India's ancient northern neighbour
Persia, expanding forces in that area were keen to invade India, which was the richest classical civilization, with the only known diamond mines in the world. After resistance for a few centuries by various north Indian kingdoms, short lived Islamic empires invaded and spread across the northern subcontinent over a period of a few centuries. Prior to Turkic
invasions, Muslim trading communities flourished throughout coastal South India, particularly in Kerala, where they arrived in small numbers through trade links via the Indian Ocean with the Arabian peninsula, however, this marked the largescale introduction of western religion into the primarily
dharmic culture of India, often in puritanical form.
Bahmani Sultanate and
Deccan sultanates flourished in the south.
Delhi sultanate
Main articles: Delhi Sultanate
In the 12th and 13th centuries,
Arabs,
[19] Turks and
Afghans invaded parts of northern India and established the
Delhi Sultanate at the beginning of the 13th century, from former Rajput holdings. The subsequent
Slave dynasty of Delhi managed to conquer large areas of
northern India, approximate to the ancient extent of the Guptas, while the
Khilji Empire was also able to conquer most of
central India, but were ultimately unsuccessful in conquering most of the subcontinent. The Sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance. The resulting "Indo-Muslim" fusion left lasting monuments in architecture, music, literature, and religion. It is surmised that the language of
Urdu (literally meaning "horde" or "camp" in various Turkic dialects) was born during the Delhi Sultanate period as a result of the mingling of Sanskritic prakrits and the Persian, Turkish and Arabic favored by the Muslim rulers. The Delhi Sultanate is the only Sultanate to stake a claim to possessing one of the few female rulers in India,
Razia Sultan (1236-1240).
Informed about
civil war in
India, a
Turco-Mongol conqueror
Timur began a trek starting in 1397 to invade the reigning
Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud of the
Tughlaq Dynasty in the north Indian city of
Delhi. The Sultan's army was defeated on
December 17, 1398. Timur entered Delhi and the city was sacked, destroyed, and left in ruins.
[20]
The Mughal era
Approximate extent of the Mughal dynasty in the 17th century
,
Mughal Empire
In 1526,
Babur, a
Timurid (
Turco-Persian) descendant of
Timur, swept across the
Khyber Pass and established the
Mughal Empire, which lasted for over 200 years. The
Mughal Dynasty ruled most of the Indian subcontinent by 1600; it went into a slow decline after 1707 and was finally defeated during the ''1857 war of independence'' also called the
Indian rebellion of 1857. This period marked vast social change in the subcontinent as the Hindu majority were ruled over by the
Mughal emperors, some of whom showed religious tolerance, liberally patronising Hindu culture, and some of whom destroyed historical temples and imposed taxes on non-Muslims. During the decline of the
Mughal Empire, which at its peak occupied an area slightly larger than the ancient
Maurya Empire, several smaller empires rose to fill the power vacuum or themselves were contributing factors to the decline. The Mughals were perhaps the richest single dynasty to have ever existed.
During the Mughal era, the dominant political forces consisted of the Mughal Empire, its tributaries, and later on the rise of its successor states, including the Maratha confederacy, who fought an increasingly weak and disfavoured Mughal dynasty.The Mughals, while often employing brutal tactics to subjugate their empire, had a policy of integration with Indian culture, which is what made them successful where the short-lived Sultanates of Delhi had failed.
Akbar the Great was particularly famed for this. Akbar declared "Amari" or non-killing of animals in the holy days of Jainism. He rolled back the ''Jazia Tax'' for non-Muslims. The Mughal Emperors married local royalty, allied themselves with local Maharajas, and attempted to fuse their Turko-Persian culture with ancient Indian styles, creating unique
Indo-Saracenic architecture. It was the erosion of this tradition coupled with increased brutality and centralisation that played a large part in their downfall after
Aurangzeb, who unlike previous emperors, imposed relatively non-pluralistic policies on the general population, that often inflamed the majority Hindu population.
Post-Mughal regional kingdoms
India in 1760 A.D.
The post-Mughal era was dominated by the rise of the Maratha suzerianity as other small regional states (mostly post-Mughal tributary states) emerged, and also by the increasing activities of European powers (see colonial era below). The Maratha Kingdom was founded and consolidated by
Shivaji. By the 18th century, it had transformed itself into the Maratha Empire under the rule of the
Peshwas. By 1760, the Empire had stretched across practically the entire subcontinent. This expansion was brought to an end by the defeat of the Marathas by an
Afghan army led by
Ahmad Shah Abdali at the
Third Battle of Panipat (1761). The last Peshwa, Baji Rao II, was defeated by the
British in the
Third Anglo-Maratha War.
Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, which was founded around 1400 AD by the
Wodeyar dynasty. The rule of the Wodeyars was interrupted by
Hyder Ali and his son
Tippu Sultan. Under their rule Mysore fought a
series of wars sometimes against the combined forces of the British and Marathas, but mostly against the British with some aid or promise of aid from the
French. Hyderabad was founded by the
Qutb Shahi dynasty of
Golconda in 1591. Following a brief Mughal rule,
Asif Jah, a Mughal official, seized control of Hyderabad declaring himself Nizam-al-Mulk of Hyderabad in 1724. It was ruled by a hereditary
Nizam from 1724 until 1948. Both Mysore and Hyderabad became princely states in British India.
The Punjabi kingdom, ruled by members of the
Sikh religion, was a political entity that governed the region of modern day Punjab. This was among the last areas of the subcontinent to be conquered by the British. The
Anglo-Sikh wars marked the downfall of the Sikh Empire. Around the 18th century modern Nepal was formed by Gorkha rulers, and the Shahs and the Ranas very strictly maintained their national identity and integrity.
Colonial era
Main articles: Colonial India
Vasco da Gama's discovery of a new sea route to India in 1498 paved the way for European commerce with India.
[21] The
Portuguese soon set up trading-posts in
Goa,
Daman,
Diu and
Bombay. The next to arrive were the
Dutch, the
British—who set up a trading-post in the west-coast port of
Surat[22] in 1619—and the
French. Although the continental European powers were to control various regions of southern and western India during the ensuing century, they would eventually lose all their Indian dominions to the British, with the exception of the French outposts of
Pondicherry and
Chandernagore, the Dutch port of
Travancore, and the Portuguese colonies of
Goa,
Daman, and
Diu.
The British Raj
Main articles: British Raj
The extent of the
British Empire, with India and Burma shown in violet
The
British East India Company had been given permission by the Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1617 to trade in India.
[23] Gradually their increasing influence led the ''
de-jure'' Mughal emperor
Farrukh Siyar to grant them ''dastaks'' or permits for duty free trade in
Bengal in 1717.
[24] The
Nawab of Bengal Siraj Ud Daulah, the ''
de facto'' ruler of the Bengal province, opposed British attempts to use these permits. This led to the
Battle of Plassey in 1757, in which the East India Company army, led by
Robert Clive, defeated the Nawab. This was the first political foothold that the British acquired in India. Clive became the first Governor of Bengal in 1757.
[25] After the
Battle of Buxar in 1764, the Company acquired the civil rights of administration in Bengal from the Mughal Emperor
Shah Alam II, beginning its formal rule in India.
[26]
The East India Company monopolized the trade of Bengal. They introduced a land taxation system called the
Permanent Settlement which introduced a feudal like structure (See ''
Zamindar'') in Bengal. By the 1850s, the East India Company controlled most of the Indian sub-continent, which included present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. Their policy was sometimes summed up as
Divide and Rule, taking advantage of the enmity fostering between various princely states and social and religious groups.
The first major movement against British rule resulted in the
Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the "Indian Mutiny" or the "First War of Independence". After a year of turmoil, and reinforcement of the East India Company's troops with British soldiers, the British emerged victorious. In the aftermath all power was transferred from the East India Company to the
British Crown, which began to administer most of India directly. It controlled the rest through
local rulers. The last Mughal emperor,
Bahadur Shah Zafar, was exiled to Burma and his line abolished.
The Indian Independence movement
Main articles: Indian independence movement
The first step toward Indian independence and western-style democracy was taken with the appointment of Indian councillors to advise the British
viceroy,
[27] and with the establishment of provincial Councils with Indian members the councillors' participation was subsequently widened in legislative councils.
[28] From 1920 leaders such as
Mohandas Gandhi began mass movements to campaign against the British Raj.
Revolutionary activities against the British rule also took place throughout the Indian sub-continent, these movements succeeded in bringing Independence to the Indian sub-continent in 1947.
Independence and Partition
Main articles: Partition of India
Main articles: History of the Republic of India
Along with the desire for independence, tensions between Hindus and Muslims had also been developing over the years. The Muslims had always been a minority, and the prospect of an exclusively Hindu government made them wary of independence; they were as inclined to mistrust Hindu rule as they were to resist the Raj. In 1915,
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi came onto the scene, calling for unity between the two groups in an astonishing display of leadership that would eventually lead the country to independence.
The profound impact
Gandhi had on India and his ability to gain independence through a totally non-violent mass movement made him one of the most remarkable leaders the world has ever known. He led by example, wearing homespun clothes to weaken the British textile industry and orchestrating a march to the sea, where demonstrators proceeded to make their own salt in protest against the British monopoly. Indians gave him the name Mahatma, or Great Soul. The British promised that they would leave India by 1947.
India gained independence in 1947, after being
partitioned into the
Republic of India and
Pakistan. Following the division, rioting broke out between Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in several parts of India, including Punjab, Bengal and Delhi, leaving some 500,000 dead.
[ The Making of Pakistan, , Richard, Symonds, Faber and Faber, 1950, ASIN B0000CHMB1 ] Also, this period saw one of the largest mass migrations ever recorded in modern history, with a total of 12 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims moving between the newly created nations of India and Pakistan.
References
1. Still a mystery G.S Mudur
2. The Hathnora Skull Fossil from Madhya Pradesh, India
3. Ancient shorelines of Gujarat, India, during the Indus civilization (Late Mid-Holocene): A study based on archaeological evidences, , A.S, Gaur, Current Science,
4. ''Indian Archaeology, A Review.'' 1958-1959. Excavations at Alamgirpur. Delhi: Archaeol. Surv. India, pp. 51–52.
5. The Harappan "Port" at Lothal: Another View, , Lawrence S., Leshnik, American Anthropologist, New Series,, 1968
6. Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, , Jonathan, Kenoyer, Oxford University Press, ,
7. The Post-Urban Period in northwestern India. Retrieved on May 12 2007.
8. In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth, , J.P., Mallory, Thames & Hudson, 1989,
9. India:Reemergence of Urbanization. Retrieved on May 12 2007.
10. The Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume 1: Balakanda, Valmiki, , , Princeton University Press, ,
11. Indian History, Krishna Reddy, , , Tata McGraw Hill, ,
12. Indian History, Krishna Reddy, , , Tata McGraw Hill, ,
13. Indian History, Krishna Reddy, , , Tata McGraw Hill, ,
14. The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 B.C.) Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art
15. The Generalship of Alexander the Great, , J.F.C., Fuller, Da Capo Press, ,
16. "At any rate, when Gallus was prefect of Egypt, I accompanied him and ascended the Nile as far as Syene and the frontiers of Ethiopia, and I learned that as many as one hundred and twenty vessels were sailing from Myos Hormos to India, whereas formerly, under the Ptolemies, only a very few ventured to undertake the voyage and to carry on traffic in Indian merchandise." Strabo II.5.12. ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html Source
17. Miller, J. Innes. (1969). The Spice Trade of The Roman Empire: 29 B.C. to A.D. 641. Oxford University Press. Special edition for Sandpiper Books. 1998. ISBN 0-19-814264-1.
18. Search for India's ancient city. BBC News. Retrieved on June 22 2007.
19. See P. Hardy's review of Srivastava, A. L. "The Sultanate of Delhi (Including the Arab Invasion of Sindh), A. D. 711-1526", appearing in ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', University of London, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1952), pp. 185-187.
20. Invasion By Tamerlane
21. Vasco da Gama: Round Africa to India, 1497-1498 CE From: Oliver J. Thatcher, ed., The Library of Original Sources (Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co., 1907), Vol. V: 9th to 16th Centuries, pp. 26-40.
22. Indian History - Important events: History of India. An overview
23. The Great Moghul Jahangir: Letter to James I, King of England, 1617 A.D. From: James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History, 2 Vols. (Boston: Ginn and Co., 1904-1906), Vol. II: From the opening of the Protestant Revolt to the Present Day, pp. 333–335.
24. KOLKATA (CALCUTTA) : HISTORY
25. Robert Clive, Baron Clive, 'Clive of India', 1725-1774
26. The Transformation from a Pre-Colonial to a Colonial Order: The Case of India
27. Canning, (Lord)
28. Minto-Morley Reforms
Further reading
★ Allan, J. T. Wolseley Haig, and H. H. Dodwell, ''The Cambridge Shorter History of India'' (1934)
★ Chandavarkar, Raj. ''The Origins of Industrial Capitalism in India: Business Strategies and the Working Class in Bombay 1900-1940'' (1994)
★ Cohen, Stephen P. ''India: Emerging Power'' (2002)
★ Daniélou, Alain. ''A Brief History of India'' (2003)
★ Das, Gurcharan. ''India Unbound: The Social and Economic Revolution from Independence to the Global Information Age'' (2002)
★ Keay, John. ''India: A History'' (2001)
★ Kishore, Prem and Anuradha Kishore Ganpati. ''India: An Illustrated History'' (2003)
★ Kulke, Hermann and Dietmar Rothermund. ''A History of India.'' 3rd ed. (1998)
★ Mahajan, Sucheta. ''Independence and partition : the erosion of colonial power in India'', New Delhi [u.a.] : Sage 2000, ISBN 0-7619-9367-3
★ Majumdar, R. C., H.C. Raychaudhuri, and Kaukinkar Datta. An Advanced History of India London: Macmillan. 1960. ISBN 0-333-90298-X
★ Majumdar, R. C. The History and Culture of the Indian People New York: The Macmillan Co., 1951.
★ Mcleod, John. ''The History of India'' (2002)
★ Rothermund, Dietmar. ''An Economic History of India: From Pre-Colonial Times to 1991'' (1993)
★ Smith, Vincent. ''The Oxford History of India'' (1981)
★ Spear, Percival. ''The History of India'' Vol. 2 (1990)
★ Thapar, Romila. ''Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300'' (2004)
★ Wolpert, Stanley. ''A New History of India'' 6th ed. (1999)
See also
★ History of South Asia
★ History of Pakistan
★ Emperor Bharata
★ Economic history of India
★ Economy of India
★ Historical maps of India
★ History of Buddhism
★ History of Hinduism
★ Indian maritime history
★ Kingdoms of Ancient India
★ List of Indian Monarchs
★ List of Indian Princely States
★ Military history of India
★ Timeline of Indian history
★ Mughal empire
★ Emperor of India
External links
★ India Chronology World History Database
★ Indian History - Ancient, Medieval and Modern
★ Central Oregon Community College:India Timeline
★ Sources of Early Indian History
★ A Tribute to Hinduism
★ A Concise History of India
★ A Timeline of Indian History
★ Looking for a Hindu Identity
★ Indian History and Culture
★ Indian History
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