The Indian Tale

Disclaimer: This page does not intend to prove or establish any past events that occurred in Indian history. It is simply a narration of information that has been passed from generation to generation. Actual happenings may or may not vary from the narration here.

India is a country in the Asian continent and is currently the most populated country in the world. That being said, India is also a country that is culturally one of the richest countries in the world. In mythology, there are great wars fought, lands conquered, greatest stories, struggles as well as prosperity under various rulers, and so much more. Let us dive into the tale of how present-day India came into being.

To understand Indian history better, let us divide it into three phases or time periods - Ancient India, Medieval India, and Modern India.

The Ancient India

In Indian mythology, there are said to be four cycles of life - Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga. As per the mythology, we are currently in the Kali Yuga. Kali Yuga is said to last for 4,320,000 years or 12,000 years of Demigods. One Demigod year is equivalent to 360 human years.
However, the oldest Indian literature available dates to 1500 - 500 BC. They are called the Vedas - Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. The Rig Veda mainly consists of prayers and the other three contain prayers, rituals, magic, and mythological stories. Similar texts called Upanishads contain philosophical discussion on Atma and Pramatma (Soul and Creator) . The upanishads are also called Vedanta.

Religious Literature

The two epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, were finished compiling around AD400.

Mahabharata is attributed to sage Vyasa. It was originally called Jaya Gita or a song of victory. It consisted of 8800 verses, which was later expanded to 24,000 verses called Bharata referring to the descendants of earlier Vedic tribes called Bharata. A further expanded version of 1,00,000 verses was called Mahabharata.

Similarly, Ramayana by Valmiki originally consisted of 6000 verses which was ultimately expanded to 24,000 verses.

In post Vedic period, after 600BC large number of ritual literature on moral values were created called Sutras. Grand public sacrifices by rulers were recorded in Shrautasutra, while domestic rituals consisting of birth, naming, marriage funeral, etc. were recorded in Grihyasutras.

The earliest Buddhist texts were written in Pali, called Tripitakas (three baskets) viz. Suttapittaka, Vinayapitaka, and Abhidhammapitaka.

Non Religious Literature

One of the most important pieces of literature of ancient India was the Dharmashastras or the law books which mention the service responsibilities of different social groups of the society. They set out punishments for persons guilty of theft, murder, adultery, etc. The earliest law book is Manu Smriti. It was the first book translated by the British during their rule over India. The earliest work on grammar was Ashtadhyayi written by Panini, 700BC. During the Gupta Period, Kalidasa wrote Poems and Dramas. His literary contributions provide a glimpse of the social and cultural life of the Guptas. For the history of Kashmir, we have an important book called Rajatarangini written by Kalhana in 12th AD. The earliest South Indian literature is called Sangam literature. It was written in Tamil. Sangam meant Assemblies. The Sangam literature is one of the major sources of study of South Indian society, economy, and polity from 300BC to 300AD. 

Non Literary Sources 

Inscriptions

Inscriptions are permanent markings engraved on hard surfaces such as stone, metal, or terracotta. The study of Inscriptions is called epigraphy. The earliest inscriptions were written on stone. They usually record the achievements, activities, and ideas of those who got them inscribed. So, there are inscriptions of praises for the exploits of kings, glorification of the work of men, etc. Inscriptions that are composed by poets in praise of kings are called Prashastis. Some inscriptions carry dates. Others are dated on the basis of paleography or style of writing, with a fair amount of precision. The earliest inscriptions were written in Prakrit language. Later, Tamil and sanskrit were also used in inscriptions. The Mauryan king Ashoka was the first person to issue inscriptions, which were mostly in Prakrit language, written in Brahmi and Kharoshti script. The Brahmi script was first deciphered in 1837 by James Princep, who was a civil servant during British rule. 

Coins

Numismatics - study of coins. In ancient times, coins were made of metals such as copper, gold, silver and lead. They contained symbols, scripts, and images. The first gold coins were issued by Kushanas in first century BC. The first coins to bear the names and images of rulers were issued by Indo-Greeks. They were earlier used as mark of rulers and associations.  Later they were used as a medium of exchange which later took the form of currency.

Archaeology 

Archaeology is the study of past cultures, through recovery and analysis of materials. To find the age of the recovered materials, the technique used is known as Radiometric dating. Archaeology plays a very important role in the study of prehistory, the period before the invention of writing. Writing was known to be present since 2500 BC from the time of Indus culture, although its script has not been deciphered yet. Thus, though the Harappans knew how to write, the historians have not been able to read it. The first script to be deciphered was Brahmi which was used in Ashokan inscriptions during the third century BC.

Excavations have brought to light that the tools of early humans in India goes back to seven lakh years. The excavated sites belonging to the Harappan period show the layout of the settlements and the form of the houses in which people lived, the type of pottery, tools, and implements they used and the kind of cereals they consumed. In South India, some people were buried along with their tools, pottery, weapons and other belongings and were placed under heavy stones. These graves are known as Megaliths. By digging them we learn about the people who lived in the Deccan and south India before the third century BC.

The history of climate and vegetation is known through an examination of plant residues, especially through pollen analysis. On this basis, it is found that agriculture was practiced in Kashmir and Rajasthan around 6000-7000 BC. The nature and components of metal artifacts can also be analyzed scientifically, and consequently, the mines from which the metals were obtained are located, and stages in the development of metal technology are identified. 

Ancient Indian Geography and Pre-Historic Cultures

The history of India is greatly conditioned by the geography and environmental conditions of the region in which they live. These conditions include soil types, water resources, and other topographical features. These determine settlement patterns, population spread, food products, human behavior, and dietary habits of a region. The Indian subcontinent in ancient times consisted of present-day India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan. On the basis of geographical diversities, the Indian subcontinent can be divided into three main regions -
1. The Himalayas
2. The River Plains of North India
3. The Peninsular India

The Himalayas

These are the world's largest and the highest mountain ranges. Approximately 2400 km long. These ranges block the cold winds from the north as well as stop the monsoon winds from the seas which help in rainfall. Strategically these mountain ranges stop foreign invasions due to their hostile terrain. However, there were few passes that enabled foreign invasions as well as trade with neighboring countries, sharing their goods and culture, such as Central Asia, China, and Tibet in ancient times. In the north-western direction, the broken Himalayan ranges contain the major routes linking the Indian Plains with Iran and Central Asia through Afghanistan. These pass through the Gomal, Bolan, and Khyber passes. The Greeks, Shakas, Kushanas, Hunas and Other foreign tribes reached India through these routes. Likewise, Buddhism and other Indian elements were carried outside.

The River Plains of North India

The Himalayas also provide India with three river systems namely The Indus, The Ganges, and The Brahmaputra. The Indus plains include the regions of Punjab and Sind. Due to the river, the neighboring areas became fertile, a very important region for Wheat cultivation. The strategic location and richness of the land attracted foreign invaders in the ancient past. The Indus Plains witnessed the development of an urbanized culture called Harappa, for the first time in the subcontinent. The Gangetic Basin receives more rainfall than the Indus Plains and is more humid.

The Gangetic Plains is divided into three sub-regions : Upper, Middle and Lower. The Upper plains of the River Ganges constitute the western and southern parts of Uttar Pradesh. This was inhabited by the Aryans in the later Vedic period, during which they practised agriculture. The middle Gangetic Plains is more fertile and receives more rainfall. It is the region where Mahajanpadas (Territorial States) like Kosala, Kasi and Magadha were established in the 6th Century BC. The Lower Gangetic Plains constitute the Bengal region. Its northen part is irrigated by the Brahmaputra. The coastal areas served as important channels of communication with other regions of the sub-continent and also with the South-east Asian countries. Tamralipti or Tamluk was an important seaport of this region. The Eastern India normally refers to the coastal plains formed by river Mahanadi and other streams. The fertile coastal plains of this region helped in development of agriculture, society and culture. This came into contact with the Gangetic cultures from the time of Nandas and the Mauryas (4th Century BC). Around AD 1000, Orissa began to develop her distinct linguistic and cultural identity. The Western India refers to the regions of the modern states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. It is known for its black soil which is good for cotton cultivation. The Thar desert of Rajasthan, surrounded by the semi-arid regions, was not as fertile as the Gangetic Plains. As a result, this region was not much favorable for cultivation. However, later in the 8th century AD, with the growth of irrigation mechanism in the form of Persian wheel (rehat), many settlements emerged here. Rajasthan is also home of the Rajput clans. In Gujarat, the fertile plains of the rivers Sabarmati, Mahi, Narmada and Tapti brought prosperity. A very long coastal line too helped Gujarat to develop contacts with other countries through its ports. The most important sea port of this region has been Brigukaccha or Bharuch (Broach).

The Peninsular India

Peninsular India includes the Deccan Plateau and the coastal plains of South India. The plateau is situated to the south of the Vindhya mountains. It is divided into three major regions which largely correspond to the modern states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. The northern Deccan plateau comprises of a part of Maharashtra. A number of Chalcolithik sites inhabited by the people using copper and stone tools have been found in this region. Karnataka includes the Southwestern Deccan. This region with the availability of water and other resources had been more suitable for human settlement than northern part. The Raichur doab for its rice cultivation has been known as the 'rice-bowl' of South India. It has been the bone of contention between different kingdoms. These regions were inhabited right from the prehistoric times.

The plateau region also has hilly terrains in the Western and Eastern Ghats. The Western Ghats rise sharply close to the western coast, tapering eastwards into the plateau. They are cut by a series of passes at Junnar, Kanheri , and Karle. These served as the trade routes connecting the ports along the west coast. At the southern end of Western Ghats is the Palghat Pass which linked the west coast to the Kaveri valley and played an important role in the Indo-Roman trade in ancient period. The Eastern Ghats merge more gradually into the plateau and coastal plain. The coastal plains constitute the states of Tamil Nadu in east and Kerala on west. In Tamil Nadu the rivers are seasonal. As a result, the people of this region have depended more on the tank irrigation since early times. However, Kaveri delta has been the major region of human attraction. It provided opportunity for the cultivation of rice and witnessed the flourishing of the Sangam culture in the early historical period. The ports such as Arikamedu and Kaveripattinam gave impetus to the Indo-Roman Trade in early centuries of Christian Era. The Tamil region evolved a distinct linguistic and cultural identity of its own.

Prehistoric cultures

Prehistoric period is that period of our ancient past for which we do not have written records. Therefore our knowledge of the cultures, which developed in this period, is based only on the materials found in the archaeological excavations. The earliest man living during this period made tools and implements of stone found in his surroundings. These tools helped him to hunt and gather food in order to satisfy his hunger. Since the earliest tools used by humans were made of stones, this phase of human development is known as stone age. In this lesson, we shall trace the evolution of prehistoric man from a hunter and food gatherer to a food producer. This change did not take place all of a sudden and took several hundred thousand years. On the basis of different types of too and techniques, the stages of human development in prehistoric period are described as Palaeolithic or Old Stone stage, the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age, and Neolithic or New Stone Age.

 The Palaeolithic Cultures

The term Palaeolithic is derived from the Greek word 'Palaeo', which means old and 'lithic' meaning stone. Therefore, the term Palaeolithic age refers to the old stone age. The archaeologists have dated this culture to the Pleistocene period about two million years ago, which is the geological period of the age when Earth's surface was covered in ice, and weather was so cold that human or plant life could not survive. But in the tropical region, where ice melted, the earliest species of men could exist. The people lived near hillocks and used only stone tools for hunting and their protection. However, the choice the choice of raw materials used for tool-making varied from region to region and depended upon its availability. The material used was quartzite available in hilly areas of different regions, basalt found in Maharashtra region and limestone in Karnataka region. On the basis of the nature of progress made in tool types and techniques, the paleolithic cultures have been divided into three phases.