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History of India: Ancient Civilizations to Modern Times

07-Jul-2024
History of India: Ancient Civilizations to Modern Times

India is a great country whose history is so rich that you will find it hidden in every corner. By studying history, we are able to know how civilization and culture developed in our country, how religion and religious practices came into existence or what many such historical events have happened.

History of Ancient India

Indus Valley Civilization

Scholars of Indian history believed that there was no civilization in India before Alexander, archaeologists discovered 'Indus Valley Civilization' and 'Harappan Civilization' in the third decade of the 20th century.

Geographical Coverage

Apart from India, this civilization is also spread in some areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. It was spread in a triangular shape over an area of 13 lakh square kilometres.

In 1921, 'Harappan Civilization' was discovered under the leadership of Sir Dayaram Sahni, Chairman of the Indian Archaeological Department. The Indus Valley Civilization was inhabited by four races – Mediterranean, Mongoloid, Alpine and Proto-Australoid.

According to the new discovery, this civilization is about 8000 years old. Archaeologists determined this civilization on the basis of skeletons found here, in which the maximum number of skeletons were found in Mohenjodaro.

Major sites of Indus Valley Civilization

Harappa – Harappa was first discovered in 1921. Presently it is located in Montgomery district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Stuart Piggott has called it a 'semi-industrial city'.

Mohenjodaro – It means ‘mound of corpses’. It is situated on the banks of the Indus River in Pakistan. Its governance system was democratic.

Lothal – It is located in the south of the village of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, near the Bhogava River. It was discovered in 1955. It was a port, which was very important for trade in Western Asia.

Kalibanga – Its location is on the banks of the Ghaggar River in Rajasthan. Its meaning is ‘black bangles’.

Vedic Civilization

Vedic or Aryan civilization came after the Indus Valley Civilization. Aryans created the Vedic culture, in this culture the word Arya is used for superiority. Aryans used the Sanskrit language.

(Rigvedic period 1500 to 1000 BC) Rigveda Samhita was composed during this period. During this period the life of Aryans depended on agriculture and animal herding. Some things of Rigveda are found in Avesta (an ancient text of the Iranian language).

Expansion of Mahajanapadas

Mahajanapadas were formed due to the merger of Aryans. These were 16 Mahajanapadas, they expanded in the sixth century BC. During this time, trade and growth took place in India, hence it is considered the beginning of the political history of India.

In this century, the use of iron became widespread in the regions of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which boosted trade and commerce and greatly benefited the regional classes.

16 Mahajanpad

  • Angha
  • Magadh
  • Vats
  • Kashi
  • Kaushal
  • Vajji
  • Malla
  • Matasya
  • Panchal
  • Shoorsen
  • Cheti
  • Kamboj
  • Avanti
  • Kuroo
  • Gandhaar
  • Ashmak

Maurya Empire

Evidence of this empire is found in Jain and Buddhist literature, many foreign writers like Arrian etc. wrote about the Maurya dynasty.

Establishment of Maurya Dynasty

Chandragupta, the founder of the Maurya dynasty, along with his guru Chanakya, defeated the cruel ruler Ghananand in the fourth century BC and established it in Magadha, Pataliputra was its capital.

Major Rulers of Maurya Dynasty

  • Chandragupta Maurya (322 AD to 298 AD)
  • Bindusara (297 AD to 273 BC)
  • Ashoka (268 BC to 232 BC)

History of Medieval India (Madhyakalin Bharat)

Many historical sources tell us what type of medieval history India was like. Muslim rule in India was established by the Turks, the Turks also attacked India in several phases, the first of which was done by Mahmud Ghaznavi between 1000 and 1027 AD.

Ghulam Dynasty (1206 to 1290 AD)

Qutubuddin Aibak – He made Lahore his capital in June 1206, he laid the foundation of Qutub Minar, also known as ‘Lal Baksh’. He died in 1210.

Shamsuddin Iltutmish – Aibak's son Aramshah was installed on the throne, due to which anarchy spread, Iltutmish (son-in-law of Aibak) defeated him and captured the throne, after which he completed the construction of Qutub Minar in 1231-1232 AD.

Razia Sultan – She was the daughter of Iltutmish, who was the first female Muslim ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.

Khilji Dynasty (1290-1320 AD)

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq – He gained the throne of Delhi in 1320 AD and established a city named Tughlakabad in Delhi. He died in 1325 AD. Muhammad bin Tughlaq – In 1327 AD, he took command of Delhi, and kept his capital at Daulatabad. Bin Tughlaq died in 1351.

Firozshah Tughlaq – Became the Sultan of Delhi in 1351, and reduced the number of 24 Karos to 4.

Lodi dynasty (1451 to 1526 AD)

  • Bahlol Lodi – (1451 to 1489 AD)
  • Sikandar Lodi – (1489 to 1517 AD)
  • Ibrahim Lodi – (1517 to 1526 AD)

Mughal Empire

The arrival of the Mughals brought new changes in the medieval period of India. The Mughal dynasty was established by Babar (1526-1530 AD). Babar was the first to use the Tugluma war policy in the first battle of Panipat (1526 AD).

Humayun (1530-40 AD and 1555-1556 AD)

  • Shershah Suri (1540-1545 AD)
  • Akbar (1556-1605 AD)
  • Jahangir (1605 to 1627 AD)
  • Shahjahan (1627 to 1658 AD)
  • Aurangzeb(1658 AD to 1707 AD)
  • Bahadur Shah I (1707-1712 AD) was called Shahe Bekhabar by Khafi Khan. The last ruler of the Mughals was Bahadur Shah Zafar.

Maratha Empire

Shivaji established this empire, Shivaji achieved the title of Chhatrapati and he died in 1680 AD.

History of Modern India

Vasco da Gama came to India in 1498 AD from Portugal and entered India from Calicut on the west coast of India.

1600 AD Elizabeth I granted rights to the East India Company and the first factory was set up in Surat in 1608, the French set up the first factory in Surat in 1668.

Bengal – After the death of Aurangzeb, Bengal became independent and made Murshidabad the capital. The Battle of Buxar took place in 1764, and the alliance against the British was defeated.

Mysore – After 1782 AD, Tipu Sultan tried for independence and formed a separate army, the British, Nizam and Marathas together defeated Tipu Sultan, after the death of Tipu, Mysore was captured by Lord Wellesley.

Rebellion Of 1857

This rebellion was the first rebellion of India's independence, which was started by Mangal Pandey in Barrackpore. But this rebellion was unsuccessful, the reason for this was that it could not spread towards the south, and the kings of many states helped the British in stopping this movement.

During this period, Brahmo, Arya and Prarthana societies were established in the country, apart from this, Swami Vivekananda established the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 AD, and in 1894, Vedanta Society was formed in New York.

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