एक दुखी परिवार – 4

The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Anatomically modern humans, as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago.

But when we come to recorded history , it is the  Indus Valley Civilization which comes to the fore.

It flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE.

It flowered  in present-day Pakistan and northwest India

It was the first major civilization in South Asia. A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappanperiod, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.

This civilization  extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and which witnessed the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. 

In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha propagated their Shramanic philosophies during the fifth and sixth century BCE.

Most of the subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. From the 3rd century BC onwards Prakrit and Pali literature in the north and the Sangam literature in southern India started to flourish.^[4][5] The famous Wootz steel originated in south India in the 3rd century BC and began to be exported to foreign countries.^[6][7][8]

Various parts of India were ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the next 1,500 years, among which the Gupta Empire stand out. This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known as the classical or "Golden Age of India". During this period, aspects of Indian civilization, administration, culture, and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to much of Asia, while kingdoms in southern India had maritime business links with the Roman Empire from around 77 CE. Indian cultural influence spread over many parts of Southeast Asia which led to the establishment of Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia (Greater India).

The most significant event between the 7th and 11th century was the Tripartite struggle between the Pala Empire, Rashtrakuta Empire, and Gurjara Pratihara Empire centered on Kannaujthat lasted for more than two centuries. Southern India saw the rule of the Chalukya Empire, Chola Empire, Pallava Empire, Pandyan Empire, and Western Chalukya Empire. Seventh century also saw the advent of Islam as a political power, though as a fringe, in the western part of the subcontinent in modern day Pakistan. The Chola dynasty conquered southern India and successfully invaded parts of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka in the 11th century.The early medieval period Indian mathematics influenced the development of mathematics and astronomy in the Arab world and the Hindu numerals were introduced.

Muslim rule started in parts of north India in the 13th century when the Delhi Sultanate was founded in 1206 CE by the central Asian Turks.The Delhi Sultanate ruled the major part of northern India in the early 14th century, but declined in the late 14th century, when several powerful Hindu states emerged like the Vijayanagara Empire, Gajapati Kingdom, Ahom Kingdom and Mewar dynasty. In the 16th century Mughals came from Central Asia and covered most of India gradually. The Mughal Empire suffered a gradual decline in the early 18th century, which provided opportunities for the Maratha Empire, Sikh Empire and Mysore Kingdom to exercise control over large areas in the subcontinent.^[15][16]

From the late 18th century to the middle of 19th century, large areas of India were annexed by the British East India Company. Dissatisfaction with Company rule led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, after which the British provinces of India were directly administered by the British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid development of infrastructure and economic stagnation. During the first half of the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for independence was launched with the leading party involved being the Indian National Congresswhich was later joined by other organizations as well.

(Cont...)

The subcontinent gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, after the British provinces were partitionedinto the dominions of India and Pakistan and the princely states all acceded to one of the new states.