Ancient History

5000-7000 yrs Stone Age /soft soil /

lasted long bc no need .
Marginal Village subsistence societies
 Indus Valley Civilisation 3000-1500 BC (Moenjo Daro.)

• River Valley Civilization, it was pre-Aryans

•  A surplus economy based on new technology
such as weaving and leather craft
• Metal Age , soft metals like copper, tin and
bronze
• Terracotta Pottery: communal like bricks,
domestic-pots and toys
• Traders ( Local, International)
 Town planning
• Urban Civilization that lived in a structured city
protected by a city wall that has access through
gates
• Towns were well planned, Zonal Layered made of
baked bricks that were geometrically perfect
• According to an estimates over 1000 big and small
towns were part of IVC
• Layout-proper street structure, public baths and
underground drainage, public spaces etc.
• They practiced idol worship
 What happened to IVC?
• After thriving for over 1000 years the IVC
disappeared. There are no signs of earthquake or
war to end this great civilization
• Most probably climatic change, change of flow of
river or long drought forced these people to move
eastward into Ganges-Jemna plains
Aryans coming to India
 Aryan Civilization 1500-500 BC
 

• Origin: Central Asia location Iran/Afghan. The Indo-

European language speakers, who called
themselves Aryans, stream into India sometime
around 2,000 BC – 1,500 BC when the Indus Valley
civilization came to an end, bringing with them
Sanskrit and a distinctive set of cultural practices
• Social, pol. Eco. ( Integrated ) Tribal
 In India,
• Some locals were adopted as equal others divided
in 4 class
• Race superiority thought Dravidians were inferior
• Way of life: Nomadic-settled rural or semi
permanent. They were warriors
• Economic Activity: herding, hunting and farming
• Migration: Reasons
• Level of Development-subsistence 
• Achieved peace through cooperation with locals
 Assimilation of Aryans & Locals

• Process: conflict, conquer, cooperation,

assimilation
• New way of life (Indian culture & civilization)
• Social, Eco. & Pol.:
• Patriarcha: Male head & age superiority
• Set of values
• Layered originally functional: caste system
• Cultural , Ideas, philosophy, religion
• Language written ( Vedas )
 Economy
• From subsistence to surplus,
• Basic technology (plough)
• Skills-Textile, Spinning wheel, weavers, spinners,
carpentry, blacksmiths, ( iron age ) tanners and
dentistry
• Leisure, song, dance
 Political
• City states-Gangetic Kingdoms
• Centered around a city, on a trade route
• Male head
• State Collected land revenue
• In return provided security
• Unifying villages around in religion
• Temple
• Homage & sacrifices
• Wealth of the state
 Historic Timeline
• c. 2300 – c. 1900 BC Indus Valley civilization
• c. 1900 – c. 520 BC No written records. Indo-Aryan migrations.
• c. 1500 – c. 500 BC Gandhara grave culture
• c. 1200 – c. 800 BC Mentioned in Rigveda and Atharvaveda.
• c. 520 – c. 326 BC Persian Empire.
• c. 326 – c. 305 BC Occupied by Alexander the Great
• c. 305 – c. 180 BC Controlled by the Maurya dynasty
• c. 185 – c. 97 BC Under control of the Indo-Greek Kingdom
• c. 97 BC – c. 7 AD Saka (Indo-Scythian) Rule
• c. 7 – c. 75 Parthian invasion and Indo-Parthian Kingdom
• c. 75 – c. 440 Kushan Empire
• c. 450 – c. 565 White Huns (Hephthalites)
• c. 565 – c. 644 Nezak kingdom, ruled from Kapisa and Udabhandapura
• c. 650 – c. 870 Kabul Shahi, ruled from Kabul
• c. 870 – 1021 Hindu Shahi, ruled from Udabhandapura
• c. 1032 – 1350 Conquered and controlled by the Muslim Empire.
 Gandhara Civilisation
• Gandhara civilization in what is now northern
Pakistan and Afghanistan from the mid 1st
millenium BCE to the beginning of the 2nd
millenium CE
• It consisted of multiple dynasties which ruled the
area but adopted Buddhism
• Indo-Greek artistic tradition were hallmark of its
cultural identity
• They excelled in education and established a
remarkable Kingdom
 Brief History
• Gandhara region extending from Peshawar to Jalalabad existed since
the time of the Rigveda (c. 1500 – c. 1200 BC)
• Gandhara was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th
century BC and by Alexander the Great in 327 BC, it subsequently
became part of the Maurya Empire and then the Indo-Greek Kingdom
• It was also a central location for the spread of Buddhism to Central Asia
and East Asia. It was also a center of Bactrian Zoroastrianism and
Hinduism
• Local tradition of Gandhara (Greco-Buddhist) Art, Gandhara attained its
height from the 1st century to the 5th century under the Kushan
Empire.
• Gandhara "flourished at the crossroads of Asia," connecting trade
routes and absorbing cultural influences from diverse civilizations;
Buddhism thrived until 8th or 9th centuries, when Islam first began to
gain sway in the region