ANCIENT INDIA-1

ANCIENT INDIA(PREHISTORIC-700AD) 

"India is the cradle of human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of tradition"

Indus Valley Civilisation(3300BC - 1300BC)

The signs of human activity in India can be traced back to somewhere between 4,00,000 BC to 2,00,000 BC. Looking for the evidence of human activities that long ago is not possible with the technology we have today. The first known civilisation of India is the Indus valley civilisation, which materialised somewhere around 3300 BC. The empire extended from modern day northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. The civilisation ended in 1300 BCE. Some experts believe that the drying of Saraswati river led to climate change and hence, the civilisation collapsed.  

REASON FOR COLLAPSE -  •Climate change 

                                                     •Drying of saraswati river

The Vedic Period(Prehistoric-500BC)

The period between the late copper age and the early iron age of India is termed as Vedic period.

Around 1500 BC, the aryans inhabited the north western land of India. But they gradually moved towards the north eastern and southern part of India. The early vedic period(1500 BC- 1200BC) saw the rise of small cities called janapada. In the later Vedic period (1100BC- 500BC), the discovery of iron tools led to the development of these janapadas into larger states called mahajanapadas, each having their own specific boundary. Assuredly, Magadha turned out to be the most powerful Mahajanapada due to the presence of fertile alluvial land and river Ganga and Son. Thus, Magadha gradually annexed all the other Mahajanapadas.

The Mauryan Empire

In 3rd century BC, Chandragupta Maurya confronted against the Nanda dynasty of Magadha and won the battle. Then, he established the imperial Mauryan empire. In the northwest, the empire extended till Kandahar, in the northeast, it included the entire Bengal province, covering entire central India and in the south, it stretched till Siddhaputra. This empire was no doubt the largest empire ever over the Indian subcontinent. During the reign of Ashoka, the empire was at the pinnacle of its power. After Ashoka's death, various weak rulers assessed the throne and the over expanded empire was losing its territory. Finally, the empire collapsed as the ruler Brihadratha was murdered by his commander in chief.

REASON FOR COLLAPSE - •Annexation by weak rulers.

                                                    •War with satavahana dynasty