History of our India
Located in the continent of Asia, India has
2,973,193 square kilometers of land and 314,070 square kilometers of water,
making it the 7th largest country in the world with a total area of 3,287,263
square kilometers. India is surrounded by Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh to the
northeast, China to the north, Pakistan to the northwest and Sri Lanka off the
southeast coast.
India is a country of ancient civilizations. India's social, economic and cultural configurations are the products of a long process of regional expansion. Indian history begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization and the arrival of the Aryans. These two stages are usually described as pre-Vedic and Vedic ages. Hinduism emerged during the Vedic period.
The fifth century saw the unification of India under
Ashoka, which converted to Buddhism, and it is during his reign that Buddhism
spread to many parts of Asia. In the eighth century, Islam came to India for
the first time and by the eleventh century was firmly established in India as a
political force. This resulted in the formation of the Delhi Sultanate, which
was eventually succeeded by the Mughal Empire, under which India once again
achieved a greater measure of political unity.
It was the people of Europe who came to India in the
17th century. This paved the way for regional states, with the disintegration
of the Mughal Empire. In the battle for supremacy, the English emerged as
'conquerors'. The Revolt of 1857–58, which sought to restore Indian domination,
was crushed; And with the subsequent crowning of Victoria as the Queen of
India, India's incorporation into the empire was complete. This was followed by
India's struggle for independence, which we got in the year 1947. Here is a
brief time about the history of India.
History of ancient India
The history of India begins with the arrival of the
Indus Valley Civilization and the Aryans. These two stages are usually
described as pre-Vedic and Vedic periods. The first literary source to shed
light on India's past is the Rigveda. It is difficult to date this work with
any accuracy based on the tradition and obscure astronomical information
contained in the hymns. The Indus Valley Civilization, which flourished between
2800 BCE and 1800 BCE, was an advanced and prosperous economic system. The
people of the Indus Valley made tools and weapons from agriculture,
domesticated animals, copper and bronze and tin and even traded with some
Middle East countries.
Indus Valley Civilization
A long time ago, in the Eastern world, some civilizations
emerged. The main reason for the rise of these urban civilizations was access
to rivers, which fulfilled various human functions. With the civilization of
Mesopotamia and the civilization of Egypt, the Indus Valley Civilization
expanded into Northwest India and modern Pakistan. The largest of the three
civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization flourished around 2600 BC, at
which time agriculture flourished in India. The fertile Indus Valley carried
forward agriculture in a big way. The most famous cities of the Indus Valley to
date are Mohenjo Daro and Harappa. Upon seeing these two towns, excavators
showed a glimpse of the richness of the Indus Valley civilization, spread
across the ruins and household items, weapons of war, gold and silver jewelry
- and similar things. The people of the Indus Valley civilization lived in
well-planned towns and houses made of baked bricks. In an era of growth and
prosperity, civilization, unfortunately, ended by around 1300 BCE, mainly due
to natural disasters
Vedic civilization
The next era that India saw was of the Vedic
civilization, which was flourishing along the Saraswati River in the name of
the Vedas, which portrays the early literature of the Hindus. The two greatest
epics of this period were the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which are still
kept with great reverence by the followers of Hinduism.
Buddhist period
Then came the Buddhist era, during the 7th and 6th
centuries BCE at the time of the Mahajanapadas which were the sixteen great
powers. The major powers at that time were the Shakya of Kapilavastu and the
Licchavi of Vaishali. Buddha, whose original name was Siddhartha Gautama, was
born in Lumbini near Kapilavastu and was the founder of Buddhism - a religion
based on spirituality. He died at the age of 80 in 480 BC but his teachings
spread throughout southern and eastern Asia and are followed worldwide today.
Alexander's Invasion
When Alexander invaded India in 326 BC, he crossed
the Indus River and defeated the Indian rulers in battle. Despite the efforts
of the Indians in the war, the use of elephants was something the Macedonians
had never seen before. Alexander then took over the lands of the defeated
kings.
Gupta Dynasty
The Gupta period has been called the golden age of
Indian history. When Chandragupta received the gift of Pataliputra in dowry,
when he married the daughter of the chief of the 'Lichchhavis', he began to lay
the foundations of his empire, which extended from the Ganges River or the
Ganges River to the city of Allahabad. He ruled for 15 years and was also
called the 'King of Kings' for his strategic victory and the thriving kingdom
of India.
One who increases Joy
The last of the ancient kings in India was
Harshavardhana, who ascended the throne at Thaneshwar and Kannauj after the
death of his brother. While succeeding in some of his conquests, he eventually
lost to the Chalukya kingdom of Deccan India. Harshavardhana was also known for
establishing relations with the Chinese and for high religious tolerance and strong
administrative abilities.
Medieval indian history
The medieval history of India is famous for deriving
its character from Islamic states. Spanning approximately three generations,
medieval India consisted of several states and dynasties:
- Chalukyas
- Pallavas
- Pandya
- Rashtrakuta
- Chola
The Cholas were the most important rulers of this
time, 9th century AD. His kingdom covered a large part of South India, which
included Sri Lanka and the Maldives. While the rulers ruled bravely and
destroyed many territories in India, the empire came to an end in the 14th
century AD with the invasion of a man named Kafur Malik. The monuments of the
Chola dynasty are still intact and are known for their rustic charm.
The next major empire was that of the Mughals, which
preceded the rise of Islamic rulers. The invasion of Timur was an important
point in Indian history before a Hindu revival movement called the Bhakti
movement. Finally, in the 16th century, the Mughal Empire emerged. One of the
greatest empires of India, the Mughal Empire was a prosperous and magnificent,
the whole of India united and ruled by an emperor. The Mughal kings were Babur,
Humayun, Sher Shah Suri (not the Mughal King), Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and
Aurangzeb. He was responsible for establishing efficient public administration,
laying out infrastructure and promoting the arts. A large number of monuments
in India exist since the Mughal period. The death of the last Mughal king
Aurangzeb sowed the seeds of disintegration within India. Influenced by Islamic
architecture in India, Mughal kings are still visible in amazement.
Akbar
Emperor Akbar, also known as Akbar the Great or
Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, was the third emperor of the Mughal Empire after
Babur and Humayun. He was the son of Nasiruddin Humayun and he attained
succession as emperor in the year 1556 when he was only 13 years old.
Shah Jahan
Shah Jahan, also known as Shahabuddin Mohammad Shah
Jahan, was a Mughal emperor who ruled the Indian subcontinent from 1628 to
1658. He was the fifth Mughal ruler after Babur, Humayun, Akbar and Jahangir.
Shah Jahan attained the throne after rebelling against his father Jahangir.
Chhatrapati Shivaji
Modern Indian History
In the late 16th and 17th centuries, European
trading companies in India competed with each other. By the last quarter of the
18th century, the British overtook all others and established themselves as the
dominant power in India. The British administered India for almost two
centuries and brought revolutionary changes in the social, political and
economic life of the country.
However, the peak of colonization was achieved when
the British arrived as traders in the 1600s. To capitalize on the
disintegration that existed in India after Mughal rule, the British actively
used the 'divide-and-rule' strategy to rule India for over 2 centuries. While
the British came first, they followed the Battle of Plassey in 1757 AD. I
gained political power only.
He took a keen interest in the resources that India
had to offer and was seen as a plunder of the wealth of India's resources -
such as cotton, spices, silk, and tea, along with many other resources. While
they excluded a large part of India's infrastructure, it was rarely seen as an
equal relationship by bringing steam engines to Indians. The British Raj were
divisive and pit Indians against each other on the basis of religion; and also
mistreated the workers. Indians were essentially slaves of British rule and
were working hard on their work without any reward. This, naturally, led to
several mutants; and prominent freedom fighters came to the forefront.
Different ideologies of thought believed that there were different ways to
achieve independence; however, they all had one common goal - freedom.
The British queen claimed that the British intended
to help India progress - however, many problems arose without consulting Indian
leaders. An important example of this was when in World War I, Britain launched
an attack on Germany from India, even though India did not wish it to happen; and millions of Indian soldiers were at the forefront of the British Indian
Army during both world wars - further intensifying Indian resistance. More than
one lakh Indian soldiers were killed in both world wars.
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