Earliest Human presence

The evidence for remains (stone tools and a skull) in central India show
the presence of an early species of man, Homo Erectus. Archaeologists
think they lived in India between 200,000 to 500,000 years ago. This
period is known as the Paleolithic era.

India’s social, economic, and cultural configurations are the products of

a long process of regional expansion. Indian history begins with the
birth of the Indus Valley Civilization and the coming of the Aryans.
These two phases are usually described as the Pre-Vedic and Vedic
age. Hinduism arose in the Vedic period.
Vedic Era: The Beginning of The History Of
India

Vedic Era

Vedic Era is the most influential era in Indian civilization, so much to

the extent that it still has a lot of influence in modern Indian society. It
is one of the oldest teachings of India and among the oldest teaching
still so influential in modern society.
Unlike many other ancient teachings, the transmission of these
teachings was mainly oral though brahmin scholars primarily, until
around the 5th century. There are four Vedas, and the first one is the
Rigveda. As per Rigved the whole regions in which the Aryans were
first settled in India which was called as the Land of 7 Rivers or Sapta
Sindhawa. The other three are Samveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda.
The Vedas have verses in praise of gods and others. 
Vedas texts and its content

The Advent of Caste System in History  of India

 Brahmins were priests, teachers and carried the oral tradition of Vedas
and Puranas
 Kshatriyas were the warrior communities known for their valor
 Vaishyas did agriculture, trading, and commerce
 The Shudras were the general working class like blue collard workforce
in modern times

During the period of the Vedic civilization, there were many Aryan
clans (disputed by some Indian Historians) and tribes. Some of them
combined and became bigger like the kingdom of the Kurus.

The vedic period is one of the most important time for Hindu Religion
and ancient history of India. Many Hindu religious texts were composed
during this time. This period is called Vedic because the four Vedas
were composed during this period.

 Vedic Age began with the arrival of Aryans.

 There are many conflicts among historians regarding the origin of Aryans.
Though it is believed that Aryans were semi-nomadic pastoral people and originated
from the area of Caspian Sea in central Asia. They entered India through the Khyber
Pass of the Hindukush mountain.

 Vedic period (BC 1500-600) is divided into two periods-early Vedic periods (BC
1500-1000) and Late Vedic period (BC 1000-600)

Persian and Greek invasion

 Around the 5th century BC, north-western parts of India faced
invasion by the Achaemenid Empire and by the Greeks
of Alexander the Great. A Persian way of thinking,
administration, and lifestyle came to India. This influence became
bigger during the Mauryan dynasty.
From around 520 BC, the Achaemenid Empire’s Darius I ruled a large
part of north-western parts of the Indian subcontinent. Alexander later
conquered these areas. Achaemenid rule lasted about 186 years. In
modern times, there are still traces of this Greek heritage to be found
in parts of north-western India.

Greco-Buddhism (also spelled as Græco-Buddhism) is a combination of

the cultures of Greece and Buddhism. This mixture of cultures
continued to develop for 800 years, from the 4th century BC until the
5th century AD. The area where it happened is the modern day’s
Afghanistan and Pakistan. This mixture of cultures influenced
Mahayana Buddhism and the spread of Buddhism to China, Korea,
Japan, and Tibet.

The Magadha empire

The Magadha formed one of the sixteen kingdoms in ancient India. The
core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges. Its
first capital was Rajagriha (modern Rajgir in the Bihar state of India)
then Pataliputra (modern Patna).

Magadha expanded to include most of Bihar and Bengal, followed by

much of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. The ancient kingdom of
Magadha is mentioned in Jain and Buddhist texts. It is also mentioned
in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas A state of Magadha, possibly
a tribal kingdom is recorded in Vedic texts much earlier than 600 BC.

Magadha played an important role in the development of Jainism and

Buddhism, and two of India’s greatest empires, the Maurya Empire and
Gupta Empire, originated from Magadha. These empires saw advances
in ancient India’s science, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and
philosophy. This was the Indian “Golden Age”.

Early middle kingdoms

Satavahana Empire

Satavahana empire Remnants

The Satavahanas came to power from around 230 BC. They are also
called Andhras. For about 450 years, many Satavahanas kings ruled
most parts of the southern and central India.

Western Kshatrapa
For about 350 years, from the years 35-405, Saka kings ruled India.
They ruled the western and central parts of India. These areas are in
today’s states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Madhya
Pradesh. There were 27 independent rulers, collectively known as the
Kshatrapas.

Saka kings ruled India along aside the Kushan kings and the Satvahana
kings. Kushan kings ruled the northern parts of India. Satvahana kings
ruled the central and some of the southern parts of India.

Indo-Scythians
Indo-Scythians came to India from Siberia passing through several
places like Bactria, Sogdiana, Kashmir and Arachosia. Their coming to
India continued from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century BC. They
defeated the Indo-Greek rulers of India, and ruled India from Gandhara
to Mathura.

Gupta dynasty
The Gupta dynasty reigned from around 320 to 550 AD. The Gupta
Empire covered most of North-central India, the region Gupta Empire
(never included Pakistan); and what is now western India and
Bangladesh. Gupta society was ordered in accordance with Hindu
beliefs. The time of the Gupta Empire is seen as the Golden Age of
India. Historians place the Gupta dynasty alongside the Han Dynasty,
Tang Dynasty and Roman Empire as a model of a classical civilization.

Hun invasion

The fighting Huns.

By the first half of the fifth century, a group of people known as Huns
had settled in Afghanistan. They became powerful. They made
Bamiyan as their capital city. They started attacking northwestern
parts of India. Skandagupta, an emperor of the Gupta dynasty fought
back and kept them away for some years. At last the Huns won and
could enter most parts of northern India. With this the Gupta dynasty
came to an end. Most of north India became badly affected by this
invasion. However, Huns could not go up to the Deccan Plateau and
the southern parts of India. These parts remained peaceful. No one
knows definitely about the fate of Huns after the end of the sixth
century. Some historians believe that they mixed up fully with the
Indian people of that time.

Late Middle Kingdoms

In the history of India, Middle kingdoms of India covers a period
beginning from around the 6th-7th century. In South India, Chola kings
ruled Tamil Nadu, and Chera kings ruled Kerala. They also had trading
relationships with the Roman Empire to the west and Southeast Asia to
the east. In north India, Rajputs ruled in many kingdoms. Some of
those kingdoms continued for hundreds of years.

Harsha’s empire
After the collapse of the Gupta Empire, it was Harsha of Kanauj (a
place now in Uttar Pradesh state of India) who united the northern
parts of India in one kingdom. After his death several dynasties tried to
control north India and ruled from time to time from 7th century till the
9th century as described in some of the sections below. Some of these
dynasties were the Pratiharas of Malwa and later Kannauj; the Palas of
Bengal, and the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan.

The Pratiharas, Palas, and Rashtrakutas

The Pratihara kings ruled kingdoms in Rajasthan and some other parts
of northern India from the 6th century to the 11th century. The Palas
ruled the eastern part of India. They ruled over areas which are now
parts of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and the West Bengal,
and of Bangladesh. The Palas ruled from the 8th century to the 12th
century. In the southern parts of India, Rashtrakutas of Malakheda
(Karnataka) ruled the Deccan during the 8th-10th centuries after the
end of Chalukya rule. All these three dynasties always tried to control
entire north India. During all this time lasting for three to four hundred
years, the Chola kings were growing in power and influence.

The Rajputs
In the 6th century, several Rajput kingdoms came into being in
Rajasthan. Many other Rajput kings ruled in different parts of north
India. Some of these kingdoms continue to survive for hundreds of
years during different periods of the history of India.

Vijayanagar empire
In 1336, two brothers named Harihara and Bukka founded the
Vijayanagara Empire in an area which is now in the Karnataka state of
India. The most famous king of this empire was Krishnadevaraya. In
1565, rulers of this empire were defeated in a battle. But, the empire
continued for about the next one hundred years.

A number of kingdoms of south India had trading relations with the

Arabs in the west, and with Indonesia and other countries of the east.

Islamic sultanates
Islamic Sultanate History of India

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 Empire, 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, left lasting cultural
influences on each other. The spread of Islam had a major impact on
the history of India and the following events.

Delhi Sultanate
Red Fort Delhi

The Delhi Sultanate was a Muslim kingdom based mostly in Delhi. It

ruled large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526)
Five dynasties ruled over Delhi Sultanate. They are the mamaluk, khilji,
tughlaq, Sayyid and the lodi dynasties. The Mamluk dynasty was
started by Qutbuddin Aibak. He was a slave and thus this dynasty is
also called the Slave Dynasty. Qutubuddin Aibak also made Qutub
Minar. His son in law, Iltutmish became the ruler after Qutubuddin
aibak. He completed the Qutub Minar.

Punjab
Guru Nanak founded Sikhism and his followers were called Sikhs. The
power of Sikhs continued to increase in the northwestern part of India.

The Sikhs became rulers of large part of northwestern India. This is

called the Sikh Kingdom or Empire. Ranjit Singh was the most famous
ruler of the Sikh Empire.
He expanded the borders of the Sikh Empire and at the time of his
death, this empire covered areas of Punjab, and present-day Kashmir
and parts of Pakistan. The Sikhs and forces of the British Raj fought
many wars.

Till Maharaja Ranjit Singh was alive, Britishers were not able to cross
the Sutlej river. After his death, they took over entire Punjab after
battles with disorganized Sikh troops.

The Sikhs had a major influence in the history of India and multi-
religious common thread with Hindus.

Durrani Empire
For a short period, a person named Ahmed Shah Durrani the founder of
Afghanistan ruled some parts of northwestern India. Historians have
named his rule as the Durrani Empire

. In 1748, he crossed the Indus River and attacked Lahore, now a part
of Pakistan. He also attacked many parts of Punjab.

Then, he attacked Delhi. At that time, Delhi was the capital of the
Mughal Empire. He took many valuable things from India. This included
the Peacock Throne of Shah Jahan and the famous diamond named
Kohinoor.

Colonial Era
Colonial period means the period during which Western countries ruled
India. These countries also ruled many other countries of Asia, Africa,
and South America. 

Company Raj
Starting in the 1600s the British East India Company began a very
profitable trading empire in India, centered in Bengal. In the mid-
1700’s Robert Clive (1725-1774) led the Company to an expanded
influence in India with victories over the French, the Bengalis, and the
Mughals. With a victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757, Clive became
the first British Governor of Bengal.

In the hundred years after the battle, the East India Company
conquered the entire subcontinent of India. They did this by trade,
political intrigue, and direct military action. The British were very
efficient administrators of their domains. But in 1857 the Indian Mutiny
almost destroyed the Company’s rule of India. Afterward, the British
government took control away from the Company. In 1858, India
became a part of the British Empire and Queen Victoria became the
Empress of India.

The British Rule

For ninety years the British ruled India and Burma as a unified territory
under the British king or queen. It was divided into eight provinces
each with a governor. These provinces were Burma, Bengal, Madras,
Bombay, UP, Central Provinces, Punjab, and Assam. A Governor-
General (Viceroy) in Calcutta was head of the government.

The British did some very harmful things to culture and society. They
took valuables, tortured and raped many Indians. T

he way they conquered India was often divided and rule. In the end,
many kingdoms were defeated by the British and the riches taken.

For example, many of the Royal Crown Jewels were taken from
previous kingdoms in India- including the Koh-I-Noor diamond (one of
the world’s largest diamonds) and also stole many other large
diamonds and gold.

During famines and floods, many people died because the government
did not help enough. Any Indian not able to pay the British taxes could
be forced into prison and/or publicly beaten. Political opponents were
jailed and sometimes killed for speaking out against colonial rule.
After taking much of the India’s natural resources for hundreds of
years, England was criticized for not protecting Indians during the
partition of India and Pakistan. During the partition of India and
Pakistan, millions of Indians and Pakistanis died.

The British also did good things. They built railroads, telegraphs and
telephones, improved trade, standardized laws, and water supplies.
Many of these things were done to help improve commerce in India
and taxes provided to England.

They created the Indian Civil Service for administering rules and
regulations. They also tried to eliminate practices like burning widows.

The British ruled India primarily for the economic benefit of Britain.
India produced cheap raw materials for British industry. Indians had to
buy British manufactured goods and profits went back to Britain.
During the colonial era, India was mostly economically deprived and a
very rich civilization had a period of extreme poverty first time in the
history of India

The Indian Independence Movement: History of

India Rewritten
Mahatma Gandhi was the main leader of Indian Opposition movement through non-violence

Many people in India wanted to be free from British rule. The struggle
for independence was long and difficult. Many people protested against
the British.

The British tortured the Indians. They tried hard to break the equality
and fraternity of Indians. Their motto was divide and rule. They made
wars between Hindus and Muslims and as a result, India was separated
into Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

The most important leader of the struggle for Indian independence was
Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi believed in a non-violent opposition towards
the British.

India won its independence, along with Muslim Pakistan, and became a
free country on August 15, 1947. Pakistan won independence in 14
August, some hours before India. It was a turning point in the history of
India and an advent of a new modern India
Republic of India

Emblem of India

On 15 August 1947, the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two
countries, India (Hindustan) and Pakistan. With this, the British Raj in
the Indian subcontinent ended. On 26 January 1950, Hindustan
adopted a constitution. From that day, Hindustanis became the
Republic of India or Indians.

During the last 72 years, the Republic of India has seen

different stages in its national life. Some of them are as follows:
 It fought three wars against Pakistan, and one war against China.
Wars with Pakistan were fought in 1947, 1965, and 1971. In 1999, it
had a limited skirmish in Kargil. The war with China was fought in
1962. In 1971, the Republic of India also helped Bangladesh in its
freedom struggle.
 Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru (the first Prime Minister
of India), India had adopted a socialist economy. Some economists
think it was a mixed economy. In a mixed economy, socialism and
capitalism continue together. During this period, lasting for several
years up to end-1980s, India could rapidly develop its infrastructure,
science and technology.
 By the early 1990s, India had changed its economic policies. It
started several reforms to attract more capital from other countries.
Local businessmen and industrialists also got more freedom to carry
out their activities.
 In 1974, India had already detonated its first nuclear bomb. It
repeated the same in 1998. With this, it became a nuclear power.
 Presently (As of 2019), India is currently the fifth largest economy
in terms of gross GDP.
 It is the 4th largest economy of the world when accounting for
purchasing power parity. Some economists think that in coming
decades, India’s economy will become still larger.
The fifth century saw the unification of India under Ashoka, who had
converted to Buddhism, and it is in his reign that Buddhism spread in
many parts of Asia. In the eighth century, Islam came to India for the
first time and by the eleventh century had firmly established itself in
India as a political force. It resulted into the formation of the Delhi
Sultanate, which was finally succeeded by the Mughal Empire, under
which India once again achieved a large measure of political unity.

It was in the 17th century that the Europeans came to India. This
coincided with the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, paving the way
for regional states. In the contest for supremacy, the English emerged
‘victors’. The Rebellion of 1857-58, which sought to restore Indian
supremacy, was crushed; and with the subsequent crowning of Victoria
as Empress of India, the incorporation of India into the empire was
complete. It was followed by India’s struggle for independence, which
we got in the year 1947.