Archaeological evidence of anatomically modern humans in the Indian subcontinent

is estimated to be as old as 73,000–55,000 years[7]with some evidence of early

hominids dating back to about 500,000 years ago.[8][9] Considered a cradle of
civilisation,[10] the Indus Valley Civilisation, which spread and flourished in the north-
western part of the Indian subcontinent from 3300 to 1300 BCE, was the first major
civilisation in South Asia.[11] A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban
culture developed in the Mature Harappanperiod, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.[12] This
civilisation collapsed at the start of the second millennium BCE and was later
followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilisation. The era saw the composition of
the Vedas, the seminal texts of Hinduism, coalesce into Janapadas (monarchical,
state-level polities), and social stratification based on caste. The Later Vedic
Civilisation extended over the Indo-Gangetic plain and much of the Indian
subcontinent, as well as witnessed the rise of major polities known as
the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Gautama
Buddha and Mahavira propagated their Śramaṇic philosophies during the fifth and
sixth centuries BCE