History of India

This article is about the history of the Indian subconti- the 11th century.[5][6] The early medieval period Indian
nent with India in focus prior to the partition of India mathematics inuenced the development of mathematics
in 1947. For the modern Republic of India(post 1947), and astronomy in the Arab world and the Hindu numerals
see History of the Republic of India. For Pakistan and were introduced.[7]
Bangladesh in focus, see History of Pakistan and History
Muslim rule started in some parts of north India in the
of Bangladesh. 13th century when the Delhi Sultanate was established
Indian history redirects here. For other uses, see in 1206 CE.[8] The Delhi Sultanate ruled the major part
Native American history. of northern India in the early 14th century, but declined
in the late 14th century, which saw the emergence of
The history of the Indian subcontinent begins with several powerful Hindu states like the Vijayanagara Em-
evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens, as long pire, Gajapati Kingdom, Ahom Kingdom and Mewar dy-
as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including nasty. In the 16th century Mughals came from Central
Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago.[1] Asia and covered most of India gradually. The Mughal
The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and our- Empire suered a gradual decline in the early 18th cen-
ished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent tury, which provided opportunities for the Maratha Em-
from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and pire, Sikh Empire and Mysore Kingdom to exercise con-
northwest India, was the rst major civilization in South trol over large areas in the subcontinent.[9][10]
Asia.[2] A sophisticated and technologically advanced ur- Beginning in the late 18th century and over the next cen-
ban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, tury, large areas of India were annexed by the British
from 2600 to 1900 BCE.[3] This civilization collapsed at East India Company. Dissatisfaction with Company rule
the start of the second millennium BCE and was later fol- led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, after which the
lowed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilization, which extended British provinces of India were directly administered by
over much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and which witness the British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid
the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. In development of infrastructure and economic stagnation.
one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama During the rst half of the 20th century, a nationwide
Buddha were born in the 6th or 5th century BCE and struggle for independence was launched with the leading
propagated their Shramanic philosophies. party involved being the Indian National Congress which
Most of the subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya was later joined by Muslim League as well.
Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. Various The subcontinent gained independence from the United
parts of India were ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms Kingdom in 1947, after the British provinces were
for the next 1,500 years, among which the Gupta Em- partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan and
pire stands out. This period, witnessing a Hindu reli- the princely states all acceded to one of the new states.
gious and intellectual resurgence, is known as the classical
or extquotedblGolden Age of India extquotedbl. During
this period, aspects of Indian civilization, administration,
culture, and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to
much of Asia, while kingdoms in southern India had mar-
itime business links with the Roman Empire from around
1 Periodisation of Indian history
77 CE. During this period Indian cultural inuence spread
over many parts of Southeast Asia which led to the estab- James Mill (17731836), in his The History of British In-
lishment of Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia.[4] dia (1817), distinguished three phases in the history of In-
7th-11th centuries saw the Tripartite struggle between the dia, namely Hindu, Muslim and British civilisations. This
Pala Empire, Rashtrakuta Empire, and Gurjara Pratihara periodisation has been criticised, for the misconceptions
Empire centered around Kannauj. Southern India saw the it has given rise to. Another periodisation is the division
rule of the Chalukya Empire, Chola Empire, Pallava Em- into ancient, classical, medieval and modern periods.
pire, Pandyan Empire, and Western Chalukya Empire. Smart and Michaels seem to follow Mills periodisation,
The Chola dynasty conquered southern India and success- while Flood and Muesse follow the ancient, classical,
fully invaded parts of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka in mediaeval and modern periods periodisation. However,
both the periodizations are also criticized.[11]

1
2 2 PREHISTORIC ERA

2 Prehistoric era The rst conrmed semipermanent settlements appeared

2.1 Stone Age
Main article: South Asian Stone Age
Further information: Peopling of India, Mehrgarh,
Bhimbetka rock shelters and Edakkal Cave
Isolated remains of Homo erectus in Hathnora in the merged in the Gulf of Khambat in India, radiocarbon
9,000 years ago in the Bhimbetka rock shelters in modern
Madhya Pradesh, India. Early Neolithic culture in South
Asia is represented by the Bhirrana ndings (7500 BCE)
in Haryana, India & Mehrgarh ndings (7000 BCE on-
wards) in Balochistan, Pakistan.[21][22]
Traces of a Neolithic culture have been alleged to be sub-
dated to 7500 BCE.[23] However, the one dredged piece
of wood in question was found in an area of strong
ocean currents. Neolithic agriculture cultures sprang up
in the Indus Valley region around 5000 BCE, in the lower
Gangetic valley around 3000 BCE, and in later South
India, spreading southwards and also northwards into
Malwa around 1800 BCE. The rst urban civilisation of
the region began with the Indus Valley Civilisation.[24]

2.2 Bronze Age

Main article: Indus Valley Civilisation

Bhimbetka rock painting, Madhya Pradesh, India (c. 30,000 The Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent began around
years old)

Stone age (5000 BCE) writings of Edakkal Caves in Kerala, In-

dia.

Narmada Valley in central India indicate that India might

have been inhabited since at least the Middle Pleistocene
era, somewhere between 500,000 and 200,000 years
ago.[12][13] Tools crafted by proto-humans that have been
dated back two million years have been discovered in the
northwestern part of the subcontinent.[14][15] The ancient
history of the region includes some of South Asias oldest
settlements[16] and some of its major civilisations.[17][18]
The earliest archaeological site in the subcontinent is the
palaeolithic hominid site in the Soan River valley.[19] Soa-
nian sites are found in the Sivalik region across what are
now India, Pakistan, and Nepal.[20]
The Mesolithic period in the Indian subcontinent was
followed by the Neolithic period, when more extensive
settlement of the subcontinent occurred after the end
of the last Ice Age approximately 12,000 years ago.
Priest King of Indus Valley Civilisation
3300 BCE with the early Indus Valley Civilisation. It
was centred on the Indus River and its tributaries which
extended into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley,[17] the
Ganges-Yamuna Doab,[25] Gujarat,[26] and southeastern
Afghanistan.[27]
The civilisation is primarily located in modern-day In-
dia (Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan provinces)
and Pakistan (Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan provinces).
Historically part of Ancient India, it is one of the worlds
3.1 Vedic society 3

earliest urban civilisations, along with Mesopotamia and

Ancient Egypt.[28] Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river
valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in met-
allurgy and handicraft (carneol products, seal carving),
and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin.
The Mature Indus civilisation ourished from about
2600 to 1900 BCE, marking the beginning of urban
civilisation on the subcontinent. The civilisation in-
cluded urban centres such as Dholavira, Kalibangan,
Ropar, Rakhigarhi, and Lothal in modern-day India, and
Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day
Pakistan. The civilisation is noted for its cities built of
brick, roadside drainage system, and multistoried houses.
During the late period of this civilisation, signs of a
gradual decline began to emerge, and by around 1700
BCE, most of the cities were abandoned. However,
the Indus Valley Civilisation did not disappear suddenly, Archaeological cultures associated with Indo-Iranian migrations
and some elements of the Indus Civilization may have (after EIEC).[note 2]
survived, especially in the smaller villages and isolated
farms. The Indian Copper Hoard Culture is attributed to
this time, associated in the Doab region with the Ochre
Coloured Pottery.

3 Vedic period (1750 BCE - 500

BCE)

A map of North India in the late Vedic period.

Chalcolithic to the Iron Age in this period.[32]

3.1 Vedic society

Scheme of Indo-European migrations from ca. 4000 to 1000
BCE according to the Kurgan hypothesis.[note 1]
Main articles: Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryan migration,
Vedic period, Vedic Civilisation and Historical Vedic
religion
See also: Proto-Indo-Europeans, Proto-Indo-European
religion, Indo-Iranians and Proto-Indo-Iranian religion
The Vedic period is characterised by Indo-Aryan cul-
ture associated with the texts of Vedas, sacred to Hin-
dus, which were orally composed in Vedic Sanskrit. The
Vedas are some of the oldest extant texts in India.[29] The
Vedic period, lasting from about 1750 to 500 BCE,[30][31]
contributed the foundations of Hinduism and other cul-
tural aspects of Indian subcontinent. In terms of culture,
many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the
Historians have analysed the Vedas to posit a Vedic cul-
ture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain.[32]
Most historians also consider this period to have encom-
passed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the
subcontinent from the north-west.[33][34] Vedic people be-
lieved in the transmigration of the soul, and the peepal
tree and cow were sanctied by the time of the Atharva
Veda.[35] Many of the concepts of Indian philosophy es-
poused later like Dharma, Karma etc. trace their root to
the Vedas.[36]
Early Vedic society is described in the Rigveda, the
oldest Vedic text, believed to have been composed c.
15001200 BCE in the northwestern region of the Indian
subcontinent.[37] At this time, Aryan society consisted
of largely tribal and pastoral groups, distinct from the
Harappan urbanisation which had been abandoned.[38]
The early Indo-Aryan presence probably corresponds, in
4 4 SECOND URBANISATION (800-200 BCE)
The swastika is a major element of Hindu iconography.
part, to the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture in archaeo-
logical contexts.[39][40]
At the end of the Rigvedic period, the Aryan society
began to expand from the northwestern region of the
Indian subcontinent, into the western Ganges plain. It be-
came increasingly agricultural and was socially organised
around the hierarchy of the four varnas, or social classes.
This social structure was characterized both by syncretis-
ing with the native cultures of northern India,[41] but also
eventually by the excluding of indigenous peoples by la-
belling their occupations impure.[42] During this period,
many of the previous small tribal units and chiefdoms be-
gan to coalesce into monarchical, state-level polities.[43]
3.2 Sanskritization
Main article: Sanskritization
Since Vedic times, people from many strata of soci-
ety throughout the subcontinent tended to adapt their re-
ligious and social life to Brahmanic norms, a process
sometimes called Sanskritization.[44] It is reected in the
tendency to identify local deities with the gods of the San-
skrit texts.[44]
The Kuru kingdom was the rst state-level society of the
Vedic period, corresponding to the beginning of the Iron
Age in northwestern India, around 1000 BCE, as well
as with the composition of the Atharvaveda (the rst In-
dian text to mention iron, as yma ayas, literally black by the Vedic culture,[56] but diered markedly from the
metal).[45] The Kuru state organized the Vedic hymns
into collections, and developed the orthodox srauta ritual
to uphold the social order.[46] When the Kuru kingdom
declined, the center of Vedic culture shifted to their east-
ern neighbours, the Panchala kingdom.[46] The archaeo-
logical Painted Grey Ware culture, which ourished in
the Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh regions of north-
ern India from about 1100 to 600 BCE,[39] is believed to
correspond to the Kuru and Panchala kingdoms.[46][47]
During the Late Vedic Period, the kingdom of Videha
emerged as a new center of Vedic culture, situated even
farther to the East (in what is today Nepal and Bihar state
in India).[48] The later part of this period corresponds with
a consolidation of increasingly large states and kingdoms,
called mahajanapadas, all across Northern India.
3.3 Sanskrit Epics
Main articles: Mahabharata and Ramayana
In addition to the Vedas, the principal texts of Hinduism,
the core themes of the Sanskrit epics Ramayana and
Mahabharata are said to have their ultimate origins dur-
ing this period.[49] The Mahabharata remains, today, the
longest single poem in the world.[50] Historians formerly
postulated an epic age as the milieu of these two epic
poems, but now recognize that the texts (which are both
familiar with each other) went through multiple stages
of development over centuries. For instance, the Ma-
habharata may have been based on a small-scale conict
(possibly about 1000 BCE) which was eventually trans-
formed into a gigantic epic war by bards and poets.[51]
The existing texts of these epics are believed to belong
to the post-Vedic age, between c. 400 BCE and 400
CE.[51][52] There is no conclusive proof from archaeol-
ogy as to whether the specic events described therein
have any historical basis.[51]
4 Second urbanisation (800-200
BCE)
During the time between 800 and 200 BCE the
Shramana-movement formed, from which originated
Jainism and Buddhism. In the same period the rst
Upanishads were written. After 500 BCE, the so-called
Second urbanisation started, with new urban settle-
ments arising at the Ganges plain, especially the Cen-
tral Ganges plain.[53] The Central Ganges Plain, where
Magadha gained prominence, forming the base of the
Mauryan Empire, was a distinct cultural area,[54] with
new states arising after 500 BCE[web 1] during the so-
called Second urbanisation.[55][note 3] It was inuenced
Kuru-Panchala region.[54] It was the area of the earli-
est known cultivation of rice in South Asia and by 1800
BCE was the location of an advanced neolithic popula-
tion associated with the sites of Chirand and Chechar.[57]
In this region the Shramanic movements ourished, and
Jainism and Buddhism originated.[53]
4.2 Upanishads and Shramana movements 5

4.1 Mahajanapadas (600-300 B.C.E)

Nalanda is considered one of the rst great universities in

recorded history. It was the centre of Buddhist learning and re-
search in the world from 450 to 1193 CE.

4.2 Upanishads and Shramana move-

The Mahajanapadas were the sixteen most powerful kingdoms ments
and republics of the era, located mainly across the fertile Indo-
Gangetic plains, there were a number of smaller kingdoms Main articles: History of Hinduism, History of Bud-
stretching the length and breadth of Ancient India.
dhism and History of Jainism
See also: Gautama Buddha and Mahavira
Further information: Upanishads, Indian Religions,
Indian philosophy and Ancient universities of India
Main articles: Mahajanapadas and Haryanka dynasty
The 7th and 6th centuries BCE witnessed the composi-
In the later Vedic Age, a number of small kingdoms or tion of the earliest Upanishads.[59][60] Upanishads form
city states had covered the subcontinent, many mentioned the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism and are known
in Vedic, early Buddhist and Jaina literature as far back as Vedanta (conclusion of the Vedas).[61] The older Up-
as 500 BCE. sixteen monarchies and republics known anishads launched attacks of increasing intensity on the
as the MahajanapadasKashi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, ritual. Anyone who worships a divinity other than the
Vajji (or Vriji), Malla, Chedi, Vatsa (or Vamsa), Kuru, Self is called a domestic animal of the gods in the Bri-
Panchala, Matsya (or Machcha), Shurasena, Assaka, hadaranyaka Upanishad. The Mundaka launches the
Avanti, Gandhara, and Kambojastretched across the most scathing attack on the ritual by comparing those who
Indo-Gangetic Plain from modern-day Afghanistan to value sacrice with an unsafe boat that is endlessly over-
Bengal and Maharastra. This period saw the second ma- taken by old age and death.[62]
jor rise of urbanism in India after the Indus Valley Civil- Increasing urbanisation of India in 7th and 6th centuries
isation.[58]
BCE led to the rise of new ascetic or shramana move-
Many smaller clans mentioned within early literature ments which challenged the orthodoxy of rituals.[59] Ma-
seem to have been present across the rest of the subcon- havira (c. 549477 BCE), proponent of Jainism, and
tinent. Some of these kings were hereditary; other states Buddha (c. 563-483), founder of Buddhism were the
elected their rulers. Early republics such as the Vajji most prominent icons of this movement. Shramana gave
(or Vriji) confederation centered in the city of Vaishali, rise to the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the con-
existed as early as the 6th century BCE and persisted cept of samsara, and the concept of liberation.[63] Bud-
in some areas until the 4th century CE. The educated dha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme
speech at that time was Sanskrit, while the languages asceticism found in the Sramana religions.[64]
of the general population of northern India are referredAround the same time, Mahavira (the 24th Tirthankara
to as Prakrits. Many of the sixteen kingdoms had coa- in Jainism) propagated a theology that was to later be-
lesced to four major ones by 500/400 BCE, by the time come Jainism.[65] However, Jain orthodoxy believes the
of Gautama Buddha. These four were Vatsa, Avanti, teachings of the Tirthankaras predates all known time
Kosala, and Magadha.The Life of Gautam Budhha was and scholars believe Parshva, accorded status as the 23rd
mainly associated with these four kingdoms.[58] Tirthankara, was a historical gure. The Vedas are be-
This period corresponds in an archaeological context to lieved to have documented a few Tirthankaras and an as-
the Northern Black Polished Ware culture. cetic order similar to the shramana movement.[66]
6 4 SECOND URBANISATION (800-200 BCE)

4.3 Magadha Empire Pakistan).[69] By 520 BCE, during the reign of Darius I of
Persia, much of the northwestern subcontinent (present-
Main article: Magadha day eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan) came under the
rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The area re-
[70]
Magadha (Sanskrit: ) formed one of the six- mained under Persian control for two centuries. Dur-
teen Mah-Janapadas (Sanskrit: Great Countries) or ing this time India supplied [69] mercenaries to the Persian
kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom army then ghting in Greece.
was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges; its rst Under Persian rule the famous city of Takshashila be-
capital was Rajagriha (modern Rajgir) then Pataliputra came a centre where both Vedic and Iranian learning were
(modern Patna). Magadha expanded to include most mingled.[71] The impact of Persian ideas was felt in many
of Bihar and Bengal with the conquest of Licchavi and areas of Indian life. Persian coinage and rock inscriptions
Anga respectively,[67] followed by much of eastern Ut- were adopted by India. However, Persian ascendency in
tar Pradesh and Orissa. The ancient kingdom of Ma- northern India ended with Alexander the Great's conquest
gadha is heavily mentioned in Jain and Buddhist texts. of Persia in 327 BCE.[72]
It is also mentioned in the Ramayana, Mahabharata,
By 326 BCE, Alexander the Great had conquered Asia
Puranas.[68] A state of Magadha, possibly a tribal king-
Minor and the Achaemenid Empire and had reached the
dom, is recorded in Vedic texts much earlier in time than
northwest frontiers of the Indian subcontinent. There he
600BCE.
defeated King Porus in the Battle of the Hydaspes (near
The earliest reference to the Magadha people occurs modern-day Jhelum, Pakistan) and conquered much of
in the Atharva-Veda where they are found listed along the Punjab.[73] Alexanders march east put him in con-
with the Angas, Gandharis, and Mujavats. Magadha frontation with the Nanda Empire of Magadha and the
played an important role in the development of Jainism Gangaridai of Bengal. His army, exhausted and fright-
and Buddhism, and two of Indias greatest empires, the ened by the prospect of facing larger Indian armies at the
Maurya Empire and Gupta Empire, originated from Mag- Ganges River, mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern Beas
adha. These empires saw advancements in ancient Indias River) and refused to march further East. Alexander,
science, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and philoso- after the meeting with his ocer, Coenus, and learning
phy and were considered the Indian extquotedblGolden about the might of Nanda Empire, was convinced that it
Age extquotedbl. The Magadha kingdom included re- was better to return.
publican communities such as the community of Rajaku-
The Persian and Greek invasions had important reper-
mara. Villages had their own assemblies under their lo-
cussions on Indian civilisation. The political systems of
cal chiefs called Gramakas. Their administrations were
the Persians were to inuence future forms of governance
divided into executive, judicial, and military functions.
on the subcontinent, including the administration of the
Mauryan dynasty. In addition, the region of Gandhara,
4.4 Persian and Greek conquests or present-day eastern Afghanistan and northwest Pak-
istan, became a melting pot of Indian, Persian, Central
See also: Achaemenid Empire, Greco-Buddhism, Indo- Asian, and Greek cultures and gave rise to a hybrid cul-
Greek Kingdom, Alexander the Great, Nanda Empire ture, Greco-Buddhism, which lasted until the 5th century
and Gangaridai CE and inuenced the artistic development of Mahayana
In 530 BCE Cyrus the Great, King of the Persian Buddhism.

4.5 Maurya Empire (322185 BCE)

Main article: Maurya Empire

Asia in 323 BCE, the Nanda Empire and the Gangaridai in rela-
tion to Alexander's Empire and neighbors.
Achaemenid Empire crossed the Hindu-Kush mountains
to seek tribute from the tribes of Kamboja, Gandhara
and the trans-India region (modern Afghanistan and
Further information: Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara
and Ashoka the Great
The Maurya Empire (322185 BCE), ruled by the Mau-
rya dynasty, was a geographically extensive and powerful
political and military empire in ancient India. It was the
rst empire to unify India into one state, and the largest
on the Indian subcontinent. The empire was established
by Chandragupta Maurya in Magadha (in modern Bihar)
when he overthrew the Nanda Dynasty.[74] He went on to
conquer the northwestern parts of the subcontinent that
had been conquered by Alexander the Great. The empire
ourished under the reign of Chandraguptas grandson,
Ashoka the Great.[75]
 7

Although there was no banking in the Mauryan society,

usury was customary with loans made at the recognized
interest rate of 15% per annum.
Ashokas reign propagated Buddhism. In this regard
Ashoka established many Buddhist monuments. Indeed,
Ashoka put a strain on the economy and the govern-
ment by his strong support of Buddhism. towards the
end of his reign he bled the state coers white with his
generous gifts to promote the promulgation of Buddhas
teaching.[77] As might be expected, this policy caused
considerable opposition within the government. This op-
position rallied around Sampadi, Ashokas grandson and
heir to the throne.[81] Religious opposition to Ashoka also
arose among the orthodox Brahmanists and the adherents
of Jainism.[82]

The Maurya Empire under Ashoka the Great.

Chandraguptas minister Chanakya is traditionally cred-
ited with authorship of the Arthashastra, a treatise on eco-
nomics, politics, foreign aairs, administration, military
arts, war, and religion. Archaeologically, the period of
Mauryan rule in South Asia falls into the era of Northern
Black Polished Ware (NBPW). The Arthashastra and the
Edicts of Ashoka are primary written records of the Mau-
ryan times. The Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, is the
national emblem of India.
During this period the high quality steel called Wootz
steel was developed in south India and was later exported
to China and Arabia.[83]

5 Epic and Early Puranic Period -

Ashokan pillar at Vaishali, 3rd century BCE.
Early Classical Period & Golden
Age (ca. 200 BCE700 CE)
At its greatest extent, it stretched to the north to the natu- Main article: Middle Kingdoms of India
ral boundaries of the Himalayas and to the east into what
is now Assam. To the west, it reached beyond mod-
ern Pakistan, to the Hindu Kush mountains in what is
Ancient India during the rise of the Sunga and
now Afghanistan. The empire was expanded into In-
Satavahana empires.
dias central and southern regions by the emperors Chan-
dragupta and Bindusara, but it excluded extensive un-
The Kharavela Empire, now in Odisha.
explored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga which
were subsequently taken by Ashoka.[76] Kushan Empire and Western Satraps of Ancient
Ashoka ruled the Maurya Empire for 37 years from 268 India in the north along with Pandyans and Early
BCE until he died in 232 BCE.[76] During that time, Cholas in southern India.
Ashoka pursued an active foreign policy aimed at setting
up a unied state.[77] However, Ashoka became involved Gupta Empire
in a war with the state of Kalinga which is located on the
western shore of the Bay of Bengal.[78] This war forced The time between 200 BCE and ca. 1100 CE is the
Ashoka to abandon his attempt at a foreign policy which Classical Age of India. It can be divided in vari-
would unify the Maurya Empire.[77] ous sub-periods, depending on the chosen periodisation.
During the Mauryan Empire slavery developed rapidly The Gupta Empire (4th-6th century) is regarded as the
and a signicant amount of written records on slavery are Golden Age of Hinduism, although a host of kingdoms
found.[79] The Mauryan Empire was based on a modern ruled over India in these centuries.
and ecient economy and society. However, the sale of The Satavahana dynasty, also known as the Andhras,
merchandise was closely regulated by the government.[80] ruled in southern and central India after around 230
85 EPIC AND EARLY PURANIC PERIOD - EARLY CLASSICAL PERIOD & GOLDEN AGE (CA. 200 BCE700 CE)

BCE. Satakarni, the sixth ruler of the Satvahana dy-
nasty, defeated the Sunga Empire of north India. After-
wards, Kharavela, the warrior king of Kalinga,[84] ruled
a vast empire and was responsible for the propagation of
Jainism in the Indian subcontinent.[84]
The Kharavelan Jain empire included a maritime empire
with trading routes linking it to Sri Lanka, Burma, Thai-
land, Vietnam, Cambodia, Borneo, Bali, Sumatra, and
Java. Colonists from Kalinga settled in Sri Lanka, Burma,
as well as the Maldives and Maritime Southeast Asia. The
Kuninda Kingdom was a small Himalayan state that sur-
vived from around the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd cen-
tury CE.
The Kushanas migrated from Central Asia into north-
western India in the middle of the 1st century CE and
founded an empire that stretched from Tajikistan to the
middle Ganges. The Western Satraps (35-405 CE) were
Saka rulers of the western and central part of India. They
were the successors of the Indo-Scythians and contempo-
raries of the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the
Indian subcontinent and the Satavahana (Andhra) who
ruled in central and southern India.
Dierent dynasties such as the Pandyans, Cholas, Cheras,
Kadambas, Western Gangas, Pallavas, and Chalukyas,
dominated the southern part of the Indian peninsula at
dierent periods of time. Several southern kingdoms
formed overseas empires that stretched into Southeast
Asia. The kingdoms warred with each other and the
Deccan states for domination of the south. The Kalabras,
a Buddhist dynasty, briey interrupted the usual domina-
tion of the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas in the south.
Pushyamitra Sunga, after the fall of the Maurya Empire.
Its capital was Pataliputra, but later emperors such as
Bhagabhadra also held court at Besnagar, modern Vidisha
in Eastern Malwa.[85] Pushyamitra Sunga ruled for 36
years and was succeeded by his son Agnimitra. There
were ten Sunga rulers. The empire is noted for its nu-
merous wars with both foreign and indigenous powers.
They fought battles with the Kalingas, Satavahanas, the
Indo-Greeks, and possibly the Panchalas and Mathuras.
Art, education, philosophy, and other forms of learn-
ing owered during this period including small terracotta
images, larger stone sculptures, and architectural monu-
ments such as the Stupa at Bharhut, and the renowned
Great Stupa at Sanchi. The Sunga rulers helped to estab-
lish the tradition of royal sponsorship of learning and art.
The script used by the empire was a variant of Brahmi
and was used to write the Sanskrit language. The Sunga
Empire played an imperative role in patronizing Indian
culture at a time when some of the most important devel-
opments in Hindu thought were taking place.
5.3 Northwestern hybrid cultures

5.1 Southern India

During this period the southern peninsular of India was at

rst ruled by the Satavahana dynasty and by the 3 Tamil
kingdoms the Chola dynasty, Pandyan Dynasty and Chera
dynasty. The Tamil Sangam literature ourished during
this period. After the collapse of the Satavahana Dynasty
in the 3rd century the Vakataka dynasty, the Pallava dy-
nasty, the Western Ganga dynasty and the Kadamba dy- The founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, Demetrius I the Invin-
nasty emerged and dominated the major part of southern cible (205171 BCE).
peninsular of India until the 6th century. In the 6th cen-
tury the famous Chalukya dynasty was established and See also: Indo-Greek kingdom, Indo-Scythians, Indo-
dominated the major part of southern India until the 8th Parthian Kingdom and Indo-Sassanids
century.
The northwestern hybrid cultures of the subcontinent in-
cluded the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Scythians, the Indo-
5.2 Sunga Empire Parthians, and the Indo-Sassinids. The rst of these,
the Indo-Greek Kingdom, was founded when the Greco-
Main article: Sunga Empire Bactrian king Demetrius invaded the region in 180 BCE,
extending his rule over various parts of present-day
The Sunga Empire(Sanskrit: ) or Shunga Em- Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lasting for almost two cen-
pire was an ancient Indian dynasty from Magadha that turies, the kingdom was ruled by a succession of more
controlled vast areas of the Indian Subcontinent from than 30 Greek kings, who were often in conict with each
around 187 to 78 BCE. The dynasty was established by other.
5.6 Roman trade with India 9

The Indo-Scythians were a branch of the Indo-European the leadership of their rst emperor, Kujula Kadphises,
Sakas (Scythians) who migrated from southern Siberia, about the middle of the 1st century CE. By the time of
rst into Bactria, subsequently into Sogdiana, Kashmir, his grandson, Kanishka, (whose era is thought to have be-
Arachosia, and Gandhara, and nally into India. Their gun c. 127 CE), they had conquered most of northern In-
kingdom lasted from the middle of the 2nd century BCE dia, at least as far as Saketa and Pataliputra, in the middle
to the 1st century BCE. Ganges Valley, and probably as far as the Bay of Ben-
[87]
Yet another kingdom, the Indo-Parthians (also known gal.
as the Pahlavas), came to control most of present-day They played an important role in the establishment of
Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, after ghting many Buddhism in India and its spread to Central Asia and
local rulers such as the Kushan ruler Kujula Kadphises, China. By the 3rd century, their empire in India was
in the Gandhara region. The Sassanid empire of Per- disintegrating; their last known great emperor being
sia, who was contemporaneous with the Gupta Empire, Vasudeva I (c. 190-225 CE).
expanded into the region of present-day Balochistan in
Pakistan, where the mingling of Indian culture and the
culture of Iran gave birth to a hybrid culture under the 5.6 Roman trade with India
Indo-Sassanids.
Main article: Roman trade with India
Roman trade with India started around 1 CE, during the
5.4 Satavahana Dynasty

Main article: Satavahana Dynasty

The tavhana Empire (Telugu:

, tavhana Smrjya , Maharashtri: -
?

, livhana[86] ) was a royal Indian dynasty based

from Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh as well as Junnar
(Pune) and Prathisthan (Paithan) in Maharashtra. The
territory of the empire covered much of India from
230 BCE onward. Stavhanas started out as feudato-
ries to the Mauryan dynasty, but declared independence
with its decline. They are known for their patronage
of Hinduism and Buddhism which resulted in Buddhist
monuments from Ellora (a UNESCO World Heritage
Site) to Amaravati. The Stavhanas were one of the rst
Indian states to issue coins struck with their rulers em-
bossed. They formed a cultural bridge and played a vital
role in trade as well as the transfer of ideas and culture to
and from the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the southern tip of Coin of the Roman emperor Augustus found at the Pudukottai,
India. They had to compete with the Sunga Empire and South India.
then the Kanva dynasty of Magadha to establish their rule.
Later, they played a crucial role to protect a huge part of reign of Augustus and following his conquest of Egypt,
India against foreign invaders like the Sakas, Yavanas and which had been Indias biggest trade partner in the West.
Pahlavas. In particular their struggles with the Western The trade started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BCE kept
Kshatrapas went on for a long time. The great rulers of increasing, and according to Strabo (II.5.12.[88] ), by the
the Satavahana Dynasty Gautamiputra Satakarni and Sri time of Augustus, up to 120 ships set sail every year from
Yajna Stakarni were able to defeat the foreign invaders Myos Hormos on the Red Sea to India. So much gold
like the Western Kshatrapas and to stop their expansion. was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the
In the 3rd century CE the empire was split into smaller Kushans for their own coinage, that Pliny the Elder (NH
states. VI.101) complained about the drain of specie to India:

India, China and the Arabian peninsula

5.5 Kushan Empire take one hundred million sesterces from our
empire per annum at a conservative estimate:
Main article: Kushan Empire that is what our luxuries and women cost
us. For what percentage of these imports is
The Kushan Empire expanded out of what is now intended for sacrices to the gods or the spirits
Afghanistan into the northwest of the subcontinent under of the dead? extquotedbl
105 EPIC AND EARLY PURANIC PERIOD - EARLY CLASSICAL PERIOD & GOLDEN AGE (CA. 200 BCE700 CE)

Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84.[89]
The maritime (but not the overland) trade routes, har- Science and political administration reached new heights
bours, and trade items are described in detail in the 1st during the Gupta era. Strong trade ties also made the
century CE Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
5.7 Gupta rule - Golden Age
Main article: Gupta Empire
See also: Chandra Gupta I, Samudragupta, Chandra
Gupta II, Kumaragupta I and Skandagupta
Further information: Kalidasa, Aryabhata,
Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma and Vatsyayana
Further information: Meghadta, Abhijnakuntala,
Kumrasambhava, Panchatantra, Aryabhatiya, Indian
numerals and Kama Sutra
Classical India refers to the period when much of the
period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata,
Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma, and Vatsyayana who
made great advancements in many academic elds.[97]
region an important cultural centre and established it as
a base that would inuence nearby kingdoms and re-
gions in Burma, Sri Lanka, Maritime Southeast Asia, and
Indochina.
The Gupta period marked a watershed of Indian cul-
ture: the Guptas performed Vedic sacrices to legitimize
their rule, but they also patronized Buddhism, which con-
tinued to provide an alternative to Brahmanical ortho-
doxy. The military exploits of the rst three rulers
Chandragupta I (c. 319335), Samudragupta (c. 335
376), and Chandragupta II (c. 376415) brought much
of India under their leadership.[98] They successfully re-
sisted the northwestern kingdoms until the arrival of the
Hunas, who established themselves in Afghanistan by
the rst half of the 5th century, with their capital at
Bamiyan.[99] However, much of the Deccan and south-
ern India were largely unaected by these events in the
north.[100][101]

5.8 Vakataka Dynasty

Main article: Vakataka Dynasty

The Vkaka Empire(Marathi: ) was a royal In-

dian dynasty that originated from the Deccan in the mid-
third century CE. Their state is believed to have extended
from the southern edges of Malwa and Gujarat in the
north to the Tungabhadra River in the south as well as
from the Arabian Sea in the western to the edges of
Chhattisgarh in the east. They were the most important
successors of the Satavahanas in the Deccan and contem-
poraneous with the Guptas in northern India.
Queen Kumaradevi and King Chandragupta I, depicted on a coin
of their son Samudragupta, 335380 CE.
5.9 Empire of Harsha
Indian subcontinent was reunited under the Gupta Em-
Main article: Empire of Harsha
pire (c. 320550 CE).[90][91] This period has been called
the Golden Age of India[92] and was marked by extensive
achievements in science, technology, engineering, art, Harsha Vardhana (Sanskrit: ) (c. 590647),
dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, commonly called Harsha, was an Indian emperor who
religion, and philosophy that crystallized the elements ruled northern India from 606 to 647 from his capital
of what is generally known as Hindu culture.[93] The Kannauj. He was the son of Prabhakara Vardhana and the
Hindu-Arabic numerals, a positional numeral system, younger brother of Rajya Vardhana, a king of Thanesar,
originated in India and was later transmitted to the West Haryana. At the height of his power his kingdom spanned
through the Arabs. Early Hindu numerals had only nine the Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bengal, Odisha and the
symbols, until 600 to 800 CE, when a symbol for zero entire Indo-Gangetic plain north of the Narmada River.
was developed for the numeral system.[94] The peace and After the downfall of the prior Gupta Empire in the mid-
prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled dle of the 6th century, North India reverted to small
the pursuit of scientic and artistic endeavors in India.[95]
republics and small monarchical states ruled by Gupta
The high points of this cultural creativity are magni- rulers. Harsha was a convert to Buddhism.[102] He united
cent architecture, sculpture, and painting.[96] The Gupta the small republics from Punjab to central India, and their
 11

representatives crowned Harsha king at an assembly in Vangadesam

(Pala)
April 606 giving him the title of Maharaja when he was Odda Pagan
Kalyani
merely 16 years old. Harsha belonged to Kanojia.[103] (Basavakalyan)
Kalinga
Burmese

He brought all of northern India under his control.[104] Western

Chalukyas Vengl
Pegu

The peace and prosperity that prevailed made his court Chenla
Champa
Sambor Prei Kuk
Kanchipuram (Khmer) (Siem Reap)

a center of cosmopolitanism, attracting scholars, artists Gangaikonda Cholapuram

Nagapattinam
Thanjavur
and religious visitors from far and wide.[104] The Chinese Cahaya
(Chaiya)

traveler Xuan Zang visited the court of Harsha and wrote Lanka Kadaram
(Kedah)

a very favorable account of him, praising his justice and

Trade Routes Panai
generosity.[104] Chola Territory
Chola Inuence
Srivijaya
(Palembang)

5.10 Chalukya Empire

Chola Empire under Rajendra Chola c. 1030 C.E.
Main article: Chalukya dynasty
68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96

The Chalukya Empire (Kannada: [taukj]) The Kannauj Triangle

36

c750 - 900
SHAHIS
was an Indian royal dynasty that ruled large parts of KASHMIR Ind

J he
us

lum
us
Ind Empire:

southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th
Che
na
b Rashtrakutas
32
Palas
Ravi
Gurjara - Pratiharas

centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related

s
Modern International Boundary

Bea
Sutlej

Mi 100 200 300

Km 100 200 300 400

yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known

Multan

28

as the Badami Chalukyas, ruled from Vatapi (modern

Ga
NEPAL
Sa
rd
a
SIND

ng
ARABS

a
GURJARA - na
Ya
mu
Kanauj utra

Badami) from the middle of the 6th century. The Badami Luni bal Gh Br
ahmap

Gan
am aghr
Ch
PRATIHARAS Gwalior a

Ba
Go

da

gh
Mansurah MAGADHA

k
m
Banas

ma
Kos

at
a

ti
i

tw

i
ra

Be
KAMARUPA
Chalukyas began to assert their independence at the de-
ip
CHANDELAS Nalanda

Sh
24 Barak

23.5
PALAS Mount Abu Son
ti
rma

MALWA Damodar Paharpur

bati
Saba

li Sindh
Riha

Hugh
Ujjain
cline of the Kadamba kingdom of Banavasi and rapidly Par
nd
Gulf of Kutch
a
ah
i
Dhar Narmad
Ka Suba
VANGA

Ka

li
GUJARAT M rn

sa
PARAMARAS
are
hadar

i
kh
B a
nu
r

Tapi
et

ay
aj

rose to prominence during the reign of Pulakesi II. The

Sh

Brah
Gulf

man
Baitar
Mouths of the Ganges

ainganga
of
Mah
UTKALA
20

i
Wa
Khambhat Pen
an

an
ga
adi
rd

i
ng
ha

a
Ellora ORISSA
rule of the Chalukyas marks an important milestone in God
avari

Manjra
BERAR Pra

a
n
ith Indravati
Va
m
sa
dh
ar
a
Puri
Chilika Lake

st

the history of South India and a golden age in the his- RASHTRAKUTAS Bh ri lC
oa
Saba
im
a de
an
EASTERN
G m
Manyakheta od
av Co
ra
16 Krish Krishn ri a
na CHALUKYAS
a

tory of Karnataka. The political atmosphere in South In- Arabian Pattadakal

Konk

Badami
Tungabhadra
an

Bay
Co

Sea Tunga

dia shifted from smaller kingdoms to large empires with

ast

Pen

CHALUKYAS
nar
Bhadra

of PALLAVAS
Pulicat Lake

the ascendancy of Badami Chalukyas. A Southern India 12

Bengal GANGAS Ponnaiyar

Palar
Kanchipuram
Mal

based kingdom took control and consolidated the entire CHOLAS

e
abar

an
av
i

Beypor
Ka
Bh

Andaman
am
ve ri Kol
lid
Co

Tanjore
ast

Sea CHERAS
Peri
ya Vaig
r
ai

region between the Kaveri and the Narmada rivers. The

Palk
Vembanad Lake Ten Degree Channel
Bay
Ta
PANDYAS
mirap
ar
8 ani
Gulf

rise of this empire saw the birth of ecient administra-

of
Mannar

Indian Ocean
tion, overseas trade and commerce and the development Great Channel

of new style of architecture called Chalukyan architec-

ture. The Kanauj Triangle was the focal point of empires - the
Rashtrakutas of Deccan, the Gurjara Pratiharas of Malwa, and
the Palas of Bengal.

6 Medieval and Late Puranic Pe-

riod - Late-Classical Age (500
1500 CE)
Main articles: Middle Kingdoms of India, Badami
Chalukyas, Rashtrakuta, Eastern Ganga dynasty, Western
Chalukyas, Rajput kingdoms and Vijayanagara Empire
The Late-Classical Age[105] in India began after the
end of the Gupta Empire[105] and the collapse of the
Harsha Empire in the 7th century CE,[105] and ended with
the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in the south in the
16th century, due to pressure from Islamic invaders[106]
to the north.
This period produced some of Indias nest art, consid-
ered the epitome of classical development, and the de-
velopment of the main spiritual and philosophical sys-
tems which continued to be in Hinduism, Buddhism and
Jainism. King Harsha of Kannauj succeeded in reuniting
northern India during his reign in the 7th century, after
the collapse of the Gupta dynasty. His kingdom collapsed
after his death.
North Western Indian Buddhism weakened in the 6th
century after the White Hun invasion, who followed
their own religions such as Tengri, and Manichaeism.
Muhammad bin Qasim's invasion of Sindh(modern Pak-
istan) in 711 CE witnessed further decline of Buddhism.
The Chach Nama records many instances of conversion
of stupas to mosques such as at Nerun[107]
In 7th century CE, Kumrila Bhaa formulated his school
of Mimamsa philosophy and defended the position on
Vedic rituals against Buddhist attacks. Scholars note
Bhaas contribution to the decline of Buddhism.[108]
His dialectical success against the Buddhists is con-
rmed by Buddhist historian Tathagata, who reports that
12 6 MEDIEVAL AND LATE PURANIC PERIOD - LATE-CLASSICAL AGE (5001500 CE)

Kumrila defeated disciples of Buddhapalkita, Bhavya, 6.2 Southern India

Dharmadasa, Dignaga and others.[109]
Ronald Inden writes that by 8th century CE symbols of The Chalukya dynasty ruled parts of southern and cen-
Hindu gods replaced the Buddha at the imperial centre tral India from Badami in Karnataka between 550 and
and pinnacle of the cosmo-political system, the image or 750, and then again from Kalyani between 970 and
symbol of the Hindu god comes to be housed in a monu- 1190. The Pallavas of Kanchipuram were their con-
mental temple and given increasingly elaborate imperial- temporaries further to the south. With the decline of
style puja worship.[110] Although Buddhism did not dis- the Chalukya empire, their feudatories, the Hoysalas of
appear from India for several centuries after the eighth, Halebidu, Kakatiyas of Warangal, Seuna Yadavas of De-
royal proclivities for the cults of Vishnu and Shiva weak- vagiri, and a southern branch of the Kalachuri, divided
ened Buddhisms position within the sociopolitical con- the vast Chalukya empire amongst themselves around the
text and helped make possible its decline.[111] middle of 12th century.
The Chola Empire at its peak covered much of the Indian
subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Rajaraja Chola I con-
quered all of peninsular south India and parts of Sri Lanka
6.1 Northern India in the 11th century. Rajendra Chola I's navies went even
further, occupying coasts from Burma to Vietnam,[118]
the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Lakshadweep
From the 8th to the 10th century, three dynasties con- (Laccadive) islands, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula
tested for control of northern India: the Gurjara Pratiha- in Southeast Asia and the Pegu islands. Later during the
ras of Malwa, the Palas of Bengal, and the Rashtrakutas middle period, the Pandyan Empire emerged in Tamil
of the Deccan. During this period, Indian rulers in spite Nadu, as well as the Chera Kingdom in parts of Kerala
for internal struggle, were able to avert the Islamic con- and Tamil Nadu. By 1343, last of these dynasties had
quest of India, for example: In Battle of Rajasthan, al- ceased to exist, giving rise to the Vijayanagar empire.
liance of Gurjar Emperor Nagabhata I of the Pratihara
Dynasty with the south Indian Emperor Vikramaditya II The ports of south India were engaged in the Indian
of the Chalukya dynasty and many small kingdoms de- Ocean trade, chiey involving spices, with the Roman
feated armies of Umayyad Caliphate, thus maintaining Empire to the west and Southeast Asia to the east.[119][120]
kingdom of Hindu rulers till the end of millennium in In- Literature in local vernaculars and spectacular architec-
dia ture ourished until about the beginning of the 14th cen-
tury, when southern expeditions of the sultan of Delhi
The Sena dynasty would later assume control of the Pala took their toll on these kingdoms. The Hindu Vijayanagar
Empire, and the Gurjara Pratiharas fragmented into var- Empire came into conict with the Islamic Bahmani Sul-
ious states. These were the rst of the Rajput states, a tanate, and the clashing of the two systems caused a min-
series of kingdoms which managed to survive in some gling of the indigenous and foreign cultures that left last-
form for almost a millennium, until Indian independence ing cultural inuences on each other.
from the British. The rst recorded Rajput kingdoms
emerged in Rajasthan in the 6th century, and small Ra-
jput dynasties later ruled much of northern India. One 6.3 Rashtrakuta Empire (8th-10th cen-
Gurjar[112][113] Rajput of the Chauhan clan, Prithvi Raj
Chauhan, was known for bloody conicts against the ad-
tury)
vancing Islamic sultanates. Lalitaditya Muktapida (r. 724
CE760 CE) was an emperor of the Kashmiri Karkoa Main article: Rashtrakuta dynasty
dynasty, which exercised inuence in northwestern India
from 625 CE until 1003, and was followed by Lohara dy- At its peak the Rashtrakuta Empire ruled from the
nasty. He is known primarily for his successful battles Ganges River and Yamuna River doab in the north to
against the Muslim and Tibetan advances into Kashmiri- Cape Comorin in the south, a fruitful time of politi-
dominated regions. Kalhana in his Rajatarangini cred- cal expansion, architectural achievements and famous lit-
its king Lalitaditya with leading an aggressive military erary contributions.[121] The early kings of this dynasty
campaign in Northern India and Central Asia. He broke were Hindu but the later kings were strongly inuenced
into the Uttarapatha and defeated the rebellious tribes by Jainism.[122] During their rule, Jain mathematicians
of the Kambojas, Tukharas (Turks in Turkmenistan and scholars contributed important works in Kannada
and Tocharians in Badakhshan), Bhautas (Tibetans in and Sanskrit.[123] Amoghavarsha was the most famous
Baltistan and Tibet) and Daradas (Dards). His campaign king of this dynasty and wrote Kavirajamarga, a land-
then led him to subjugate the kingdoms of Pragjyotisha, mark literary work in the Kannada language.[123] Archi-
Strirajya and the Uttarakurus.[114][115][116][117] The Shahi tecture reached a milestone in the Dravidian style, the
dynasty ruled portions of eastern Afghanistan, northern nest example of which is seen in the Kailasanath Tem-
Pakistan, and Kashmir from the mid-7th century to the ple at Ellora. Other important contributions are the sculp-
early 11th century. tures of Elephanta Caves in modern Maharashtra as well
6.6 Western Chalukya Empire 13

as the Kashivishvanatha temple and the Jain Narayana
temple at Pattadakal in modern Karnataka, all of which
are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Arab traveler
Suleiman described the Rashtrakuta Empire as one of the
four great Empires of the world.[124] The Rashtrakuta pe-
riod marked the beginning of the golden age of southern
Indian mathematics. The great south Indian mathemati-
cian Mahvra (mathematician) lived in the Rashtrakuta
Empire and his text had a huge impact on the medieval
south Indian mathematicians who lived after him.[125]
6.4 Pala Empire (8th-12th century)
Main article: Pala Empire
fairs of Lanka for over two centuries through repeated in-
vasions and occupation. They also had continuing trade
contacts with the Arabs in the west and with the Chinese
empire in the east.[137] Rajaraja Chola I and his equally
distinguished son Rajendra Chola I gave political unity
to the whole of Southern India and established the Chola
Empire as a respected sea power.[138] Under the Cholas,
the South India reached new heights of excellence in art,
religion and literature. In all of these spheres, the Chola
period marked the culmination of movements that had
begun in an earlier age under the Pallavas. Monumental
architecture in the form of majestic temples and sculp-
ture in stone and bronze reached a nesse never before
achieved in India.[139]

The Pala Empire (Bengali: Pal Samrajy) 6.6 Western Chalukya Empire
was an Indian imperial power, during the Classical period
of India, that existed from 7501174 CE. It was ruled by Main article: Western Chalukya Empire
a Buddhist dynasty from Bengal in the eastern region of
the Indian subcontinent, all the rulers bearing names end- The Western Chalukya Empire (Kannada:
ing with the sux Pala (Modern Bengali: pl), which pachima chlukya smrjya) ruled most
means protector. The Palas were often described by op- of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th
ponents as the Lords of Gauda. The Palas were followers and 12th centuries.[140] Vast areas between the Narmada
of the Mahayana and Tantric schools of Buddhism.[126] River in the north and Kaveri River in the south came
Gopala was the rst ruler from the dynasty.[127][128][129] under Chalukya control.[140] During this period the other
The empire reached its peak under Dharmapala and De- major ruling families of the Deccan, the Hoysalas, the
vapala. Dharmapala extended the empire into the north- Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri, the Kakatiya dynasty and
ern parts of the Indian Subcontinent. The Pala Empire the Southern Kalachuri, were subordinates of the West-
can be considered as the golden era of Bengal. Never ern Chalukyas and gained their independence only when
had the Bengali people reached such height of power and the power of the Chalukya waned during the later half
glory to that extent.[130] The rulers of the Pala Empire of the 12th century.[141] The Western Chalukyas devel-
supported the Universities of Vikramashila and Nalanda oped an architectural style known today as a transitional
which became the premier seats of learning in Asia. The style, an architectural link between the style of the early
Nalanda University which is considered one of the rst Chalukya dynasty and that of the later Hoysala empire.
great universities in recorded history, reached its height Most of its monuments are in the districts bordering the
under the patronage of the Pala Empire.[130][131] Tungabhadra River in central Karnataka. Well known ex-
amples are the Kasivisvesvara Temple at Lakkundi, the
Mallikarjuna Temple at Kuruvatti, the Kallesvara Tem-
6.5 Chola Empire (9th-13th century)
ple at Bagali and the Mahadeva Temple at Itagi.[142] This
was an important period in the development of ne arts
Main article: Chola dynasty
in Southern India, especially in literature as the West-
ern Chalukya kings encouraged writers in the native lan-
Medieval Cholas rose to prominence during the middle guage of Kannada, and Sanskrit like the philosopher and
of the 9th century C.E. and established the greatest em- statesman Basava and the great mathematician Bhskara
pire South India had seen.[132] They successfully united II.[143][144]
the South India under their rule and through their naval
strength extended their inuence in the Southeast Asian
countries such as Srivijaya.[133] Under Rajaraja Chola I 6.7 The Islamic Sultanates
and his successors Rajendra Chola I, Rajadhiraja Chola,
Virarajendra Chola and Kulothunga Chola I the dynasty Main articles: Muslim conquests on the Indian subconti-
became a military, economic and cultural power in South nent, Islamic rulers in the Indian subcontinent, Bahmani
Asia and South-East Asia.[134][135] The power of the new Sultanate and Deccan Sultanates
empire was proclaimed to the eastern world by the expe- See also: Rajput resistance to Muslim conquests and
dition to the Ganges which Rajendra Chola I undertook Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India
and by the occupation of cities of the maritime empire After conquering Persia, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate
of Srivijaya in Southeast Asia, as well as by the repeated incorporated parts of what is now Afghanistan and Pak-
embassies to China.[136] They dominated the political af- istan around 720. The Muslim rulers were keen to in-
14 6 MEDIEVAL AND LATE PURANIC PERIOD - LATE-CLASSICAL AGE (5001500 CE)

ordinates in the south.[151] It lasted until 1646, though its

power declined after a major military defeat in 1565 by
the Deccan sultanates. As a result, much of the territory
of the former Vijaynagar Empire were captured by Dec-
can Sultanates, and the remainder was divided into many
states ruled by Hindu rulers.

6.8 Delhi Sultanate

Gol Gumbaz at Bijapur, has the second largest pre-modern dome

in the world after the Byzantine Hagia Sophia.

vade India,[145] a rich region with a ourishing interna-

tional trade and the only known diamond mines in the
world.[146] In 712, Arab Muslim general Muhammad bin
Qasim conquered most of the Indus region in modern day
Pakistan for the Umayyad empire, incorporating it as the
As-Sindh province with its capital at Al-Mansurah, 72
km (45 mi) north of modern Hyderabad in Sindh, Pak-
istan. After several wars, the Hindu Rajas defeated the
Arabs at the Battle of Rajasthan, halting their expan-
sion and containing them at Sindh in Pakistan.[147] The
north Indian Emperor Nagabhata of the Pratihara Dy-
nasty and the south Indian Emperor Vikramaditya II of
the Chalukya dynasty defeated the Arab invaders in the
early 8th century and protected whole India. Many short-
lived Islamic kingdoms (sultanates) under foreign rulers
were established across the north western subcontinent
(Afghanistan and Pakistan) over a period of a few cen-
turies. Additionally, Muslim trading communities our- Qutub Minar is the worlds tallest brick minaret, commenced by
ished throughout coastal south India, particularly on the Qutb-ud-din Aybak of the Slave dynasty.
western coast where Muslim traders arrived in small num-
bers, mainly from the Arabian peninsula. This marked Main article: Delhi Sultanate
the introduction of a third Abrahamic Middle Eastern re-
ligion, following Judaism and Christianity, often in pu- In the 12th and 13th centuries, Turks and Afghans in-
ritanical form. Mahmud of Ghazni of Afghanistan in vaded parts of northern India and established the Delhi
the early 11th century raided mainly the north-western Sultanate in the former Hindu holdings.[152] The subse-
parts of the Indian sub-continent 17 times, but he did quent Slave dynasty of Delhi managed to conquer large
not seek to establish permanent dominion in those areas of northern India, approximately equal in extent to
areas.[148] Later, the Bahmani Sultanate and Deccan sul- the ancient Gupta Empire, while the Khilji dynasty con-
tanates, founded by Turkic rulers, ourished in the south. quered most of central India but were ultimately unsuc-
The Vijayanagara Empire rose to prominence by the cessful in conquering and uniting the subcontinent. The
end of the 13th century as a culmination of attempts Sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renais-
by the southern powers to ward o Islamic invasions. sance. The resulting Indo-Muslim fusion of cultures
The empire dominated all of Southern India and fought left lasting syncretic monuments in architecture, music,
o invasions from the ve established Deccan Sul- literature, religion, and clothing. It is surmised that the
tanates.[149] The empire reached its peak during the rule language of Urdu (literally meaning horde or camp
of Krishnadevaraya when Vijayanagara armies were con- in various Turkic dialects) was born during the Delhi Sul-
sistently victorious.[150] The empire annexed areas for- tanate period as a result of the intermingling of the local
merly under the Sultanates in the northern Deccan and speakers of Sanskritic Prakrits with immigrants speak-
the territories in the eastern Deccan, including Kalinga, ing Persian, Turkic, and Arabic under the Muslim rulers.
while simultaneously maintaining control over all its sub- The Delhi Sultanate is the only Indo-Islamic empire to
 15

enthrone one of the few female rulers in India, Razia Sul- round present day Hampi, now a World Heritage Site in
tana (12361240). Karnataka, India.[157] The empires legacy includes many
monuments spread over South India, the best known
of which is the group at Hampi. The previous tem-
ple building traditions in South India came together in
the Vijayanagara Architecture style. The mingling of
all faiths and vernaculars inspired architectural innova-
tion of Hindu temple construction, rst in the Deccan
and later in the Dravidian idioms using the local granite.
South Indian mathematics ourished under the protection
of the Vijayanagara Empire in Kerala. The south Indian
mathematician Madhava of Sangamagrama founded the
famous Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics in
the 14th century which produced a lot of great south In-
dian mathematicians like Parameshvara, Nilakantha So-
mayaji and Jyehadeva in medieval south India.[158] E-
cient administration and vigorous overseas trade brought
new technologies such as water management systems for
irrigation.[159] The empires patronage enabled ne arts
and literature to reach new heights in Kannada, Telugu,
Tamil and Sanskrit, while Carnatic music evolved into its
current form.[160] The Vijayanagara Empire created an
epoch in South Indian history that transcended region-
alism by promoting Hinduism as a unifying factor. The
empire reached its peak during the rule of Sri Krishnade-
varaya when Vijayanagara armies were consistently vic-
torious. The empire annexed areas formerly under the
Sultanates in the northern Deccan and the territories in
the eastern Deccan, including Kalinga, while simultane-
ously maintaining control over all its subordinates in the
south.[161] Many important monuments were either com-
pleted or commissioned during the time of Krishna Deva
Raya.
Timur defeats the Sultan of Delhi, Nasir Al-Din Mahmum Tugh-
luq, in the winter of 1397-1398

A Turco-Mongol conqueror in Central Asia, Timur

(Tamerlane), attacked the reigning Sultan Nasir-u Din
Mehmud of the Tughlaq Dynasty in the north Indian city
of Delhi.[153] The Sultans army was defeated on 17 De-
cember 1398. Timur entered Delhi and the city was
sacked, destroyed, and left in ruins, after Timurs army
had killed and plundered for three days and nights. He or-
dered the whole city to be sacked except for the sayyids,
scholars, and the other Muslims; 100,000 war prisoners
were put to death in one day.[154]

6.9 Vijayanagara Empire (14th-16th cen-

tury)
Taj Mahal, built by the Mughals
Main articles: Vijayanagara Empire
The Empire was established in 1336 by Harihara I and
his brother Bukka Raya I of Sangama Dynasty.[155] The
empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts 7 Mughal Empire
by the southern powers to ward o Islamic invasions by
the end of the 13th century.[156] The empire is named Main article: Mughal Empire
after its capital city of Vijayanagara, whose ruins sur-
16
In 1526, Babur, a Timurid descendant of Timur and
Genghis Khan from Fergana Valley (modern day Uzbek-
istan), swept across the Khyber Pass and established
the Mughal Empire, covering modern day Afghanistan,
Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.[162] However, his son
Humayun was defeated by the Afghan warrior Sher Shah
Suri in the year 1540, and Humayun was forced to retreat
to Kabul. After Sher Shahs death, his son Islam Shah
Suri and the Hindu king Samrat Hem Chandra Vikrama-
ditya, who had won 22 battles against Afghan rebels and
forces of Akbar, from Punjab to Bengal and had estab-
lished a secular Hindu rule in North India from Delhi till
1556. Akbar's forces defeated and killed Hemu in the
Second Battle of Panipat on 6 November 1556.
The Maharana of Mewar submitting to Prince Khurram, later
known as Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, c. 1615.
The Mughal dynasty ruled most of the Indian subcon-
tinent by 1600; it went into a slow decline after 1707.
The Mughals suered several blows due to invasions from
Marathas and Afghans, causing the Mughal dynasty to be
reduced to puppet rulers by 1757. The remnants of the
Mughal dynasty were nally defeated during the Indian
Rebellion of 1857, also called the 1857 War of Indepen-
dence. This period marked vast social change in the sub-
continent as the Hindu majority were ruled over by the
Mughal emperors, most of whom showed religious tol-
erance, liberally patronising Hindu culture. The famous
emperor Akbar, who was the grandson of Babar, tried to
7 MUGHAL EMPIRE
establish a good relationship with the Hindus. However,
later emperors such as Aurangazeb tried to establish com-
plete Muslim dominance, and as a result several historical
temples were destroyed during this period and taxes im-
posed on non-Muslims. During the decline of the Mughal
Empire, several smaller states rose to ll the power vac-
uum and themselves were contributing factors to the
decline. In 1737, the Maratha general Bajirao of the
Maratha Empire invaded and plundered Delhi. Under the
general Amir Khan Umrao Al Udat, the Mughal Emperor
sent 8,000 troops to drive away the 5,000 Maratha cav-
alry soldiers. Baji Rao, however, easily routed the novice
Mughal general and the rest of the imperial Mughal army
ed. In 1737, in the nal defeat of Mughal Empire,
the commander-in-chief of the Mughal Army, Nizam-ul-
mulk, was routed at Bhopal by the Maratha army. This
essentially brought an end to the Mughal Empire. In
1739, Nader Shah, emperor of Iran, defeated the Mughal
army at the huge Battle of Karnal. After this victory,
Nader captured and sacked Delhi, carrying away many
treasures, including the Peacock Throne.[163]
The Mughals were perhaps the richest single dynasty to
have ever existed. During the Mughal era, the dominant
political forces consisted of the Mughal Empire and its
tributaries and, later on, the rising successor states - in-
cluding the Maratha Empire - which fought an increas-
ingly weak Mughal dynasty. The Mughals, while often
employing brutal tactics to subjugate their empire, had a
policy of integration with Indian culture, which is what
made them successful where the short-lived Sultanates of
Delhi had failed. Akbar the Great was particularly famed
for this. Akbar declared Amari or non-killing of ani-
mals in the holy days of Jainism. He rolled back the jizya
tax for non-Muslims. The Mughal emperors married lo-
cal royalty, allied themselves with local maharajas, and
attempted to fuse their Turko-Persian culture with ancient
Indian styles, creating a unique Indo-Saracenic architec-
ture. It was the erosion of this tradition coupled with
increased brutality and centralization that played a large
part in the dynastys downfall after Aurangzeb, who un-
like previous emperors, imposed relatively non-pluralistic
policies on the general population, which often inamed
the majority Hindu population.
7.1 Post-Mughal period
Main articles: Maratha Empire, Kingdom of Mysore,
Hyderabad State, Nawab of Bengal, Sikh Empire,
Rajputs and Durrani Empire
Further information: Shivaji, Tipu Sultan, Nizam, Nawab
of Oudh, Ranjit Singh and Ahmad Shah Abdali
7.1 Post-Mughal period
Political map of Indian subcontinent in 1758. The Maratha Em-
pire (orange) was the last Hindu empire of India.
7.1.1 Maratha Empire
Main article: Maratha Empire
The post-Mughal era was dominated by the rise of the
Maratha suzerainty as other small regional states (mostly
late Mughal tributary states) emerged, and also by the in-
creasing activities of European powers (see colonial era
below). There is no doubt that the single most impor-
tant power to emerge in the long twilight of the Mughal
dynasty was the Maratha confederacy.[164] The Maratha
kingdom was founded and consolidated by Shivaji, a
Maratha aristocrat of the Bhonsle clan who was deter-
mined to establish Hindavi Swarajya (self-rule of Hindu
people). By the 18th century, it had transformed itself
into the Maratha Empire under the rule of the Peshwas
(prime ministers). Gordon explains how the Maratha sys-
tematically took control over the Malwa plateau in 1720-
1760. They started with annual raids, collecting ran-
som from villages and towns while the declining Mughal
Empire retained nominal control. However, in 1737,
the Marathas defeated a Mughal army in their capital,
Delhi itself, and as a result, the Mughal emperor ceded
Malwa to them. The Marathas continued their mili-
tary campaigns against Mughals, Nizam, Nawab of Ben-
gal and Durrani Empire to further extend their bound-
aries. They built an ecient system of public admin-
istration known for its attention to detail. It succeeded
in raising revenue in districts that recovered from years
of raids, up to levels previously enjoyed by the Mughals.
The cornerstone of the Maratha rule in Malwa rested on
the 60 or so local tax collectors (kamavisdars) who ad-
17
vanced the Maratha ruler '(Peshwa)' a portion of their
district revenues at interest.[165] By 1760, the domain
of the Marathas stretched across practically the entire
subcontinent.[166] The north-western expansion of the
Marathas was stopped after the Third Battle of Pani-
pat(1761). However, the Maratha authority in the north
was re-established within a decade under Peshwa Mad-
havrao I.[167] The defeat of Marathas by British in three
Anglo-Maratha Wars brought end to the empire by 1820.
The last peshwa, Baji Rao II, was defeated by the British
in the Third Anglo-Maratha War.
7.1.2 Sikh Empire (North-west)
Harmandir Sahib or The Golden Temple is culturally the most
signicant place of worship for the Sikhs.
Main article: Sikh Empire
See also: History of Sikhism
The Punjabi kingdom, ruled by members of the Sikh
religion, was a political entity that governed the region
of modern-day Punjab. The empire, based around the
Punjab region, existed from 1799 to 1849. It was forged,
on the foundations of the Khalsa, under the leadership
of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (17801839) from an array
of autonomous Punjabi Misls. He consolidated many
parts of northern India into a kingdom. He primarily
used his highly disciplined Sikh army that he trained and
equipped to be the equal of a European force. Ranjit
Singh proved himself to be a master strategist and se-
lected well qualied generals for his army. In stages, he
added the central Punjab, the provinces of Multan and
Kashmir, the Peshawar Valley, and the Derajat to his
kingdom. This came in the face of the powerful British
East India Company.[168][169] At its peak, in the 19th cen-
tury, the empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the
west, to Kashmir in the north, to Sindh in the south, run-
ning along Sutlej river to Himachal in the east. This was
among the last areas of the subcontinent to be conquered
by the British. The rst Anglo-Sikh war and second
Anglo-Sikh war marked the downfall of the Sikh Empire.
18 8 COLONIAL ERA (1500-1947)

7.1.3 Other kingdoms 8.1 Company rule in India

There were several other kingdoms which ruled over parts Main articles: East India Company and Company rule in
of India in the later medieval period prior to the British India
occupation. However, most of them were bound to pay In 1617 the British East India Company was given
regular tribute to the Marathas.[166] The rule of Wodeyar
dynasty which established the Kingdom of Mysore in
southern India in around 1400 CE by was interrupted by
Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan in the later half of 18th
century. Under their rule, Mysore fought a series of wars
sometimes against the combined forces of the British and
Marathas, but mostly against the British, with Mysore re-
ceiving some aid or promise of aid from the French.
The Nawabs of Bengal had become the de facto rulers of
Bengal following the decline of Mughal Empire. How-
ever, their rule was interrupted by Marathas who carried
six expeditions in Bengal from 1741 to 1748 as a result
of which Bengal became a vassal state of Marathas.
Hyderabad was founded by the Qutb Shahi dynasty of
Golconda in 1591. Following a brief Mughal rule, Asif
Jah, a Mughal ocial, seized control of Hyderabad and
declared himself Nizam-al-Mulk of Hyderabad in 1724.
It was ruled by a hereditary Nizam from 1724 until 1948.
Both Kingdom of Mysore and Hyderabad State became
princely states in British India in 1799 and 1798 respec-
tively.
After the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846, under the
terms of the Treaty of Amritsar, the British govern-
ment sold Kashmir to Maharaja Gulab Singh and the
princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the second largest
princely state in British India, was created by the Dogra
dynasty.[170][171]
Around the 18th century, the modern state of Nepal was
formed by Gurkha rulers. Map of India in 1857 at the end of Company rule.

permission by Mughal Emperor Jahangir to trade in

8 Colonial era (1500-1947) India.[176] Gradually their increasing inuence led the de
jure Mughal emperor Farrukh Siyar to grant them das-
Main article: Colonial India taks or permits for duty-free trade in Bengal in 1717.[177]
The Nawab of Bengal Siraj Ud Daulah, the de facto ruler
of the Bengal province, opposed British attempts to use
In 1498, Vasco da Gama successfully discovered a new these permits.
sea route from Europe to India, which paved the way
for direct Indo-European commerce.[174] The Portuguese The First Carnatic War extended from 1746 until 1748
soon set up trading posts in Goa, Daman, Diu and and was the result of colonial competition between
Bombay. The next to arrive were the Dutch, the British France and Britain, two of the countries involved in the
who set up a trading post in the west coast port of War of Austrian Succession. Following the capture of
Surat[175] in 1619and the French. The internal conicts a few French ships by the British eet in India, French
among Indian kingdoms gave opportunities to the Euro- troops attacked and captured the British city of Madras
pean traders to gradually establish political inuence and located on the east coast of India on 21 September 1746.
appropriate lands. Although these continental European Among the prisoners captured at Madras was Robert
powers controlled various coastal regions of southern and Clive himself. The war was eventually ended by the
eastern India during the ensuing century, they eventually Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle which ended the War of Aus-
lost all their territories in India to the British islanders, trian Succession in 1748.
with the exception of the French outposts of Pondichry In 1749, the Second Carnatic War broke out as the re-
and Chandernagore, the Dutch port of Travancore, and sult of a war between a son, Nasir Jung, and a grand-
the Portuguese colonies of Goa, Daman and Diu. son, Muzaer Jung, of the deceased Nizam-ul-Mulk of
8.2 The rebellion of 1857 and its consequences 19

Hyderabad to take over Nizams throne in Hyderabad. 8.2 The rebellion of 1857 and its conse-
The French supported Muzaer Jung in this civil war. quences
Consequently, the British supported Nasir Jung in this
conict. Main article: Indian rebellion of 1857
Meanwhile, however, the conict in Hyderabad provided The Indian rebellion of 1857 was a large-scale rebellion
Chanda Sahib with an opportunity to take power as the
new Nawab of the territory of Arcot. In this conict, the
French supported Chanda Sahib in his attempt to become
the new Nawab of Arcot. The British supported the son
of the deposed incumbent Nawab, Anwaruddin Muham-
mad Khan, against Chanda Sahib. In 1751, Robert Clive
led a British armed force and captured Arcot to reinstate
the incumbent Nawab. The Second Carnatic War nally
came to an end in 1754 with the Treaty of Pondicherry.
In 1756, the Seven Years War broke out between the
great powers of Europe, and India became a theatre of
action, where it was called the Third Carnatic War. Early
in this war, armed forces under the French East India
Company captured the British base of Calcutta in north- Viceroy Lord Canning meets Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Jammu
eastern India. However, armed forces under Robert Clive and Kashmir, 9 March 1860
later recaptured Calcutta and then pressed on to cap-
ture the French settlement of Chandannagar in 1757. by soldiers employed by the British East India in northern
This led to the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757, in and central India against the Companys rule. The rebels
which the Bengal Army of the East India Company, led were disorganized, had diering goals, and were poorly
by Robert Clive, defeated the French-supported Nawabs equipped, led, and trained, and had no outside support or
forces. This was the rst real political foothold with ter- funding. They were brutally suppressed and the British
ritorial implications that the British acquired in India. government took control of the Company and eliminated
Clive was appointed by the company as its rst 'Gov- many of the grievances that caused it. The government
ernor of Bengal' in 1757.[178] This was combined with also was determined to keep full control so that no rebel-
British victories over the French at Madras, Wandiwash lion of such size would ever happen again.[182]
and Pondichry that, along with wider British successes
In the aftermath, all power was transferred from the
during the Seven Years War, reduced French inuence
East India Company to the British Crown, which began
in India. Thus as a result of the three Carnatic Wars,
to administer most of India as a number of provinces.
the British East India Company gained exclusive control
The Crown controlled the Companys lands directly and
over the entire Carnatic region of India.[179] The British
had considerable indirect inuence over the rest of In-
East India Company extended its control over the whole
dia, which consisted of the Princely states ruled by local
of Bengal. After the Battle of Buxar in 1764, the com-
royal families. There were ocially 565 princely states
pany acquired the rights of administration in Bengal from
in 1947, but only 21 had actual state governments, and
Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II; this marked the begin-
only three were large (Mysore, Hyderabad and Kashmir).
ning of its formal rule, which within the next century en-
They were absorbed into the independent nation in 1947-
gulfed most of India and extinguished the Moghul rule
48.[183]
and dynasty.[180] The East India Company monopolized
the trade of Bengal. They introduced a land taxation sys-
tem called the Permanent Settlement which introduced a 8.3 British Raj (1858-1947)
feudal-like structure in Bengal, often with zamindars set
in place. By the 1850s, the East India Company con- Main article: British Raj
trolled most of the Indian sub-continent, which included
present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. Their policy was
sometimes summed up as Divide and Rule, taking ad-
vantage of the enmity festering between various princely 8.3.1 Reforms
states and social and religious groups.[181]
Lord Curzon (Viceroy 1899-1905) took control of higher
The Hindu Ahom Kingdom of North-east India rst fell education and then split the large province of Bengal
to Burmese invasion and then to British after Treaty of into a largely Hindu western half and Eastern Bengal
Yandabo in 1826. and Assam, a largely Muslim eastern half. The British
goal was ecient administration but the people of Ben-
gal were outraged at the apparent divide and rule strat-
egy. When the Liberal party in Britain came to power in
20
The British Indian Empire at its greatest extent (in a map of
1909). The princely states under British suzerainty are in yel-
low.
1906 he was removed. The new Viceroy Gilbert Minto
and the new Secretary of State for India John Morley
consulted with Congress leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
The Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 provided for Indian
membership of the provincial executive councils as well
as the Viceroys executive council. The Imperial Legisla-
tive Council was enlarged from 25 to 60 members and
separate communal representation for Muslims was es-
tablished in a dramatic step towards representative and re-
sponsible government. Bengal was reunied in 1911.[184]
Meanwhile the Muslims for the rst time began to or-
ganise, setting up the All India Muslim League in 1906.
It was not a mass party but was designed to protect the
interests of the aristocratic Muslims, especially in the
north west. It was internally divided by conicting loy-
alties to Islam, the British, and India, and by distrust of
Hindus.[185]
8.3.2 Famines
During the British Raj, famines in India, often attributed
to failed government policies, were some of the worst
ever recorded, including the Great Famine of 187678
in which 6.1 million to 10.3 million people died[186] and
the Indian famine of 18991900 in which 1.25 to 10 mil-
lion people died.[186] The Third Plague Pandemic in the
mid-19th century killed 10 million people in India.[187]
Despite persistent diseases and famines, the population of
the Indian subcontinent, which stood at about 125 million
in 1750, had reached 389 million by 1941.[188]
8.4 The Indian independence movement
Main articles: Indian independence movement and Main articles: Partition of India, History of the Republic
Pakistan Movement of India, History of Pakistan and History of Bangladesh
See also: Mahatma Gandhi and Indian independence ac-
tivists Along with the desire for independence, tensions be-
9 INDEPENDENCE AND PARTITION (1947-PRESENT)
The numbers of British in India were small, yet they were
Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Bombay, 1944.
able to rule two-thirds of the subcontinent directly and ex-
ercise considerable leverage over the princely states that
accounted for the remaining one-third of the area. There
were 674 of the these states in 1900, with a population of
73 million, or one person in ve. In general, the princely
states were strong supporters of the British regime, and
the Raj left them alone. They were nally closed down in
1947-48.[189]
The rst step toward Indian self-rule was the appointment
of councillors to advise the British viceroy, in 1861; the
rst Indian was appointed in 1909. Provincial Councils
with Indian members were also set up. The councillors
participation was subsequently widened into legislative
councils. The British built a large British Indian Army,
with the senior ocers all British, and many of the troops
from small minority groups such as Gurkhas from Nepal
and Sikhs. The civil service was increasingly lled with
natives at the lower levels, with the British holding the
more senior positions.[190]
From 1920 leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi began
highly popular mass movements to campaign against the
British Raj using largely peaceful methods. Some oth-
ers adopted a militant approach that sought to overthrow
British rule by armed struggle; revolutionary activities
against the British rule took place throughout the Indian
sub-continent. The Gandhi-led independence movement
opposed the British rule using non-violent methods like
non-cooperation, civil disobedience and economic resis-
tance. These movements succeeded in bringing indepen-
dence to the new dominions of India and Pakistan in 15
August 1947.
9 Independence and partition
(1947-present)
 21

tween Hindus and Muslims had also been developing and typically emphasizes caste and downplays class, to
over the years. The Muslims had always been a minor- the annoyance of the Marxist school.[200]
ity within the subcontinent, and the prospect of an exclu-
sively Hindu government made them wary of indepen-
dence; they were as inclined to mistrust Hindu rule as 11 See also
they were to resist the foreign Raj, although Gandhi called
for unity between the two groups in an astonishing dis-
Ancient India
play of leadership. The British, extremely weakened by
the Second World War, promised that they would leave Chronology of Indian history
and participated in the formation of an interim govern-
ment. The British Indian territories gained independence Economic history of India
in 1947, after being partitioned into the Union of In-
dia and Dominion of Pakistan. Following the controver- History of the Republic of India
sial division of pre-partition Punjab and Bengal, rioting Indian maritime history
broke out between Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in these
provinces and spread to several other parts of India, leav- Linguistic history of the Indian subcontinent
ing some 500,000 dead.[191] Also, this period saw one of
the largest mass migrations ever recorded in modern his- Military history of India
tory, with a total of 12 million Hindus, Sikhs and Mus- The Cambridge History of India
lims moving between the newly created nations of India
and Pakistan (which gained independence on 15 and 14
August 1947 respectively).[191] In 1971, Bangladesh, for-
merly East Pakistan and East Bengal, seceded from Pak- 12 Notes
istan.
[1] The magenta area corresponds to the assumed Urheimat
(Samara culture, Sredny Stog culture). The red area cor-
responds to the area which may have been settled by Indo-
10 Historiography European-speaking peoples up to ca. 2500 BCE; the or-
ange area to 1000 BCE.
In recent decades there have been four main schools of
historiography regarding India: Cambridge, National- [2] The Andronovo, BMAC and Yaz cultures have often
been associated with Indo-Iranian migrations. The GGC,
ist, Marxist, and subaltern. The once common Orien-
Cemetery H, Copper Hoard and PGW cultures are candi-
talist approach, with its the image of a sensuous, in- dates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryan movements.
scrutable, and wholly spiritual India, has died out in seri-
ous scholarship.[192] [3] The First urbanisation was the Indus Valley
[193] Civilisation.[53]
The Cambridge School, led by Anil Seal, Gor-
don Johnson,[194] Richard Gordon, and David A.
Washbrook,[195] downplays ideology.[196]
13 References
The Nationalist school has focused on Congress, Gandhi,
Nehru and high level politics. It highlighted the Mutiny
[1] G. Bongard-Levin, A History of India (Progress Publish-
of 1857 as a war of liberation, and Gandhis 'Quit India'
ers: Moscow, 1979) p. 11.
begun in 1942, as dening historical events.
[2] Romila Thapar, A History of India (Penguin Books: New
More recently, Hindu nationalists have created a version
York, 1966) p. 23.
of history for the schools to support their demands for
Hindutva (Hinduness) in Indian society.[197] [3] Romila Thapar, A History of India, p. 24.
The Marxists have focused on studies of economic devel- [4] The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia: From early
opment, landownership, and class conict in precolonial times to c. 1800, Band 1 by Nicholas Tarling p.281
India and of deindustrialization during the colonial pe-
riod. The Marxists portrayed Gandhis movement as a [5] Societies, Networks, and Transitions, Volume B: From
device for the bourgeois elite to harness popular, poten- 600 to 1750 by Craig Lockard p.333
tially revolutionary forces for its own ends.[198]
[6] Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy
The subaltern school, was begun in the 1980s by Ranajit in the Second Millennium by Ronald Findlay,Kevin H.
Guha and Gyan Prakash.[199] It focuses attention away O'Rourke p.67
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15 Further reading --- Dharma Kumar and Meghnad Desai, eds. The
Cambridge Economic History of India: Volume
Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar. From Plassey to Partition: 2, c.1751-c.1970 (2nd ed. 2010), 1114pp of
A History of Modern India (2010) scholarly articles

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Wiki, PIrish, JOHN FRANKLIN, Gomm, Hkelkar, Prester John, DerHexer, JaGa, Drshenoy, Hbent, Gwern, Atulsnischal, Skumarla,
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dras, Topkiller161, LcawteHuggle, EmausBot, John of Reading, WikitanvirBot, Wikisurf1, Tommy2010, K6ka, Skylark2007, Piggy1956,
Hashemi1971, Josve05a, Traxs7, Krishnagopi06, Razdev2003, Mar4d, Drupada, H3llBot, Alveerana, Makecat, Mdmday, Vanished user
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ious, e.g. [1], published in 1914 in Sweden in Les Prix Nobel 1913, p. 60 Original artist: Unknown
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