India / History

The cave shelters of Bhimbetka in central India showcase a historical narrative from the pre-historic to the historic period. Around 3000 BC, one of the world's oldest civilizations flourished in the fertile valley of the river Indus. Excavations at Mohenjodaro and Harappa point to an evolved civilization living in well-planned cities. Seals, as also the existence of a dockyard at Lothal seem to indicate a sea-borne trade with Mesopotamia. Around 1500 BC, the Aryan presence is recorded. Aside from the horse, they introduced the worship of fire.

From nomads to settled agriculturists, the Aryans developed village communities. Hinduism was at a very nascent stage and Sanskrit, from which most north Indian scripts are derived, was the prevailing language. The Hindu epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata are products of this period.

Social and intellectual ferment in the 6th century BC led thinkers like Mahavira and Gautama Buddha to seek and offer alternate paths- Jainism and Buddhism.

When the Greek ambassador Megasthenes visited India, in the 3rd century BC, the north was consolidated into one great empire under Chandragupta Maurya. His grandson Ashoka the great (268-231 BC), however, is better known. Deeply affected by the bloodbath on the battlefield, he chose to practice and preaches the Buddhist philosophy of non-violence, both in India and abroad.

Down south, while the local rulers the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas baffled for supremacy, maritime trade with Rome flourished. St Thomas came to India in the century AD and established a Christian community here.

Between 320 and 480 AD, often referred to as the Golden Age of the Guptas, India saw the flowering of art, culture, literature and science. Erudite treatises on subjects ranging from medicine and mathematics to astronomy and even love (the famed Kamasutra) were written.

Qutub-ud-din Aibak of the Slave dynasty laid the foundation of Muslim rule in India, in the 13's century. The Tughlaqs and Lodis succeeded the Aibaks. In the 16th century Babur, established Mughal rule here. His grandson Akbar (1562-1605) is even now viewed as a progressive ruler, for he sought in many ways through administrative systems, art, culture and even religion to amalgamate disparate cultures. Physically too, the splintering kingdom became an empire. Another ruler, Shahjehan, famed for his immortal creation, the Taj Mahal, took Mughal glory to its zenith. Aurangzeb was the last great emperor of the Mughal dynasty.

The 17th century brought the Europeans; with the British, French, Dutch and Portuguese selling up trading posts. Soon commercial interests combined with political aspirations (a process in which the local rulers played an active part) and a power struggle ensued. The Baffle of Qutub Minar, New Delhi Plassey in 1757 was decisive, with the British gaining supremacy over the others.

British rule gave India a rail network as also the establishment of a bureaucracy. However, national aspirations and the desire for self-determination on the part of the Indians resulted in the First War of Independence in 1857. Though brutally suppressed, it marked the beginning of a struggle in which the Indian National Congress, founded in 1885, formed the backbone. Finally, on August 15,1947, India gained independence, On 26th January, 1950 it became a republic.

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