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Discover India - history |
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India's history goes back to 3,200 BC. A meeting ground of all magnetic religions like Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism. Judaism. Zoroashtrianism, Christianity and Islam all exist within the country.It has always been an invader's paradise like Persians, Greeks, Chinese nomads, Arabs, Portuguese, British and other raiders had their way with the land.In short, India has always been simply too big, too complicated, and too culturally subtle to let any one empire dominate it for long.Similiarly the culture for two adjoining territories also differs.Traders and foriegn influences were lured to india due to its great natural wealth. Thus, Chinese fishing nets in Kerala are a throwback to that country's ancient maritime trade, while in the north, terra-cotta figurines of the centuries BC bear distinctly Greek traces.The discovery of India's most ancient civilization literally happened by accident. In the mid-1800's, construction of a railway line between Karachi and Punjab, found ancient, kiln-baked bricks along the path of the track which were determined to be 5000 years old.Soon afterwards 2 major cities harappa and mohenjodaro were discovered but the civilizations declined due to ecological changes. Beginning with a mysterious culture along the Indus River and in farming communities in the southern lands of India, the history of the sub-continent is one puncuated by constant integration with migrating peoples and with the diverse cultures that surround India. |
| During the second millennium B.C Aryan-speaking tribes migrated from the northwest into the subcontinent and settled in the middle Ganges River valley, adapting to antecedent cultures. The political map of ancient and medieval India was made up of small kingdoms with fluctuating boundaries. In the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., northern India was unified under the Gupta Dynasty. During this period, known as India's Golden Age, Hindu culture and political administration reached new heights. Islam spread across the Indian subcontinent over a period of 500 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established sultanates in Delhi. In the early 16th century, descendants of Genghis Khan swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal (Mogul) Dynasty, which lasted for 200 years. From the 11th to the 15th centuries, southern India was dominated by Hindu Chola and Vijayanagar Dynasties. During this time, the two systems--the prevailing Hindu and Muslim--mingled, leaving lasting cultural influences on each other. The first British outpost in South Asia was established in 1619 at Surat on the northwestern coast. Later in the century, the East India Company opened permanent trading stations at Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta, each under the protection of native rulers. The British expanded their influence from these footholds until, by the 1850s, they controlled most of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In 1857, a rebellion in north India led by mutinous Indian soldiers caused the British Parliament to transfer all political power from the East India Company to the Crown. Great Britain began administering most of India directly while controlling the rest through treaties with local rulers. In the late 1800s, the first steps were taken toward self-government in British India with the appointment of Indian councilors to advise the British viceroy and the establishment of provincial councils with Indian members; the British subsequently widened participation in legislative councils. Beginning in 1920, Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi transformed the Indian National Congress political party into a mass movement to campaign against British colonial rule. The party used both parliamentary and nonviolent resistance and non-cooperation to achieve independence. Thus India gained independence under the leadership of great leaders.
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