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Nearly five thousand years back
flourished India's first major civilisation along the Indus River
valley. The twin cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa now in Pakistan
were ruled by priests and held the rudiments of Hinduism. These
civilisations are known to possess a sophisticated lifestyle, a
highly developed sense of aesthetics, an astonishing knowledge of
town planning and an undecipherable script language. The Indus
civilization at one point of time extended nearly a million square
kilometres across the Indus river valley. It existed at the same
time as the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Sumer but far
outlasted them. Surviving for nearly a thousand years the Indus
valley civilisation fell to tectonic upheavals in about 1700 BC,
which caused a series of floods.
 The coming of the Aryans around 1500 BC, gave the final blow to
the collapsing Indus Valley civilisation. At the dawn of Vedic
ages the Aryans came in from the North and spread through large
parts of India bringing with them their culture and religious
beliefs. The Four Vedas or the important books of Hinduism were
compiled in this period.
In 567 B.C. the founder of the Buddhist Religion Gautama Buddha
was born. During this time lived Mahavira, who founded the Jain
Religion. The Indian subcontinent is full of caves and monuments
devoted to these religions and are worth a visit.
Two hundred years later, in the 4th century B.C., Emperor Ashoka,
one of the greatest King of Indian history, led the Mauryan Empire
to take over almost all of what is now modern India. This great
leader embraced Buddhism and built the group of monuments at
Sanchi (a UNESCO world heritage site). The Ashoka pillar at
Sarnath has been adopted by India as its national emblem and the
Dharma Chakra on the Ashoka Pillar adorns the National Flag.
They were followed by the Guptas in the north, while in the south
part of India several different Hindu empires, the Cholas, the
Pandyas and the Cheras spread and grew, trading with Europe and
other parts of Asia till the end of the 1100s.
Christianinty entered India at about the same time from Europe.
Legend has it that St. Thomas the Apostle arrived in India in 52
A.D. Even earlier than that people of the Jewish religion arrived
on India's shores.
In approximately the 7th century A.D. a group of Zoroastrians, or
Parsees, landed in Gujarat and became a part of the large mix of
religions in India today, each of which adds its important and
distinctive flavour.
In the 15th century Guru Nanak laid the foundation of the Sikh
religion in Punjab.
I n 1192, Mohammed of Ghori, a ruler from Afghanistan, came into
India and captured several places in the north including Delhi.
When he went home he left one of his generals in charge who became
the first Sultan of Delhi. During this time Islam, was introduced
into a major part of Northern India. It may be mentioned that even
before that, just after the period of the prophet, Islam was
brought to the western coast of India by Arab traders and
flourished in what is now Kerala.
The Dehli Sultanate gradually took control of more and more of
North India over the next 200 years, till Timur, who was called "Timur
the Lame" or "Tamberlane" came from Turkey in 1398 to attack
India. He and his army stole all the valuables that they could
carry and left again, and after that the Delhi Sultanate was never
so strong again. Soon the Mughals, who were from Iran, came in and
took control of the north.
In the meantime south , in 1336, the Hindu Vijayanagar empire was
set up and became very strong.
The Europeans - Portuguese, French, Dutch, Danish and British -
started arriving in the early 1600s. All of them held territories
in India and made friends and enemies among India's rulers as they
got more and more involved, with the Indian politics, but it was
the British who eventually controlled most of India and finally
made it one of their colonies.
India got its independence from Britain in 1947 after a long
struggle led mostly by Mahatma Gandhi. In the process of becoming
independent, India became, two countries instead of one. In the
years since independence India has made huge progress and coped
with great problems, and has developed its industry and its
agriculture, and has maintained a system of government which makes
it the largest democracy in the world. |
