Lecture 2

20.1.22 Discovery of Ancient India

Course Code: 313

BTech Final year
Course Instructor: Dr. A. Suneetha Rajesham
 Discovery of Ancient India
 The name India is derived from the Greek Indica, which itself
borrows from the Persian word Hindu, which had nothing to
do with the Hindu religion, but rather, it referred to a
geographical entity.
 The Persians used the word Hindu while referring to the River
Indus, which was known to the Vedic inhabitants of the time
as Sindhu; since the Persians had trouble pronouncing the
word Sindhu, they corrupted the word to Hindu
 Thus, the term India, and later many similar terms, such as the
Persian Hindustan (land of the Hindus), the Arabic Hind, were
meant to refer to the land around the Indus river.
 This was essentially called the Indo-Aryan or Indo-Gangetic
civilization. It is the very root of what India is
 Discovery of Ancient India
 India and China have the oldest cultural traditions in the
world.
 India has enjoyed over 4,000 years of civilization, and every
period of its history has contributed something to present-
day life.
 In 2016, they had successfully uncovered evidence that the
civilization was 8,000 years old, as opposed to the earlier
belief that it was 5,500 years old
 The most significant characteristic of Indian civilization, as
it evolved through the ages, is its unity in diversity
 Discovery of Ancient India
 Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent
from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago
 Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western
margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago,
evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of
the third millennium (3000) BCE
 The History of India begins with the birth of the Indus
Valley Civilization
 It flourished around 2,500 BC, in the western part of
South Asia, what today is Pakistan and Western India
 Discovery of Ancient India
 Nothing was known about this civilization till
1920s when the Archaeological Department of
India carried out excavations in the Indus valley
wherein the ruins of the two old cities, viz.
Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were unearthed
 The ruins of buildings and other things like
household articles, weapons of war, gold and
silver ornaments, seals, toys, pottery wares, etc.,
show that some four to five thousand years ago a
highly developed Civilization flourished in this
region.
 Discovery of Ancient India
 Starting from ancient history of India to modern Indian history, the
timeline starts from 3300 BCE of ancient Indus Valley Civilization
to the end of British rule in 1947 AD
 In early second millennium BCE persistent drought caused the
population of the Indus Valley to scatter from large urban centers to
villages
 Around the same time, Indo-Aryan tribes moved into the Punjab
from Central Asia in several waves of migration
 Their Vedic period (1500-500 BCE) was marked by the
composition of the Vedas, large collections of hymns of these tribes
 By 1200 BCE, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European
language, had diffused into India from the northwest, unfolding as
the language of the Rigveda, and recording the dawning of
Hinduism in India
 Discovery of Ancient India
The European presence in India dates to the 17th century, and it
is in the latter part of this century that the Mughal Empire
began to disintegrate, paving the way for regional states
In the contest for supremacy, the English emerged 'victors',
their rule marked by the conquests at the battlefields of Plassey
and Buxar.
The Rebellion of 1857-58, which sought to restore Indian
supremacy, was crushed; and with the subsequent crowning of
Victoria as Empress of India, the incorporation of India into the
empire was complete.
Successive campaigns had the effect of driving the British out
of India in 1947.
 Discovery of Ancient India
 By 400 BCE, stratification and exclusion by caste had
emerged within Hinduism, and Buddhism and Jainism had
arisen, proclaiming social orders unlinked to heredity.
 Early political consolidations gave rise to the Maurya and
Gupta Empires based in the Ganges Basin.
 Their collective era was suffused with wide-ranging
creativity, but also marked by the declining status of
women, and the incorporation of untouchability into an
organized system of belief
 In South India, the Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian-
languages scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms
of Southeast Asia
Discovery of Ancient India
The Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in
the northern and western regions
Islam first came to India in the seventh century, and by
the 11th century had firmly established itself in India as
a political force
The North Indian dynasties of the Lodhis, Tughlaqs, and
numerous others, together called the Delhi Sultanate
ruled from 1206 to 1526
They were finally succeeded by the Mughal Empire,
under which India once again achieved a large measure
of political unity.
 Discovery of Ancient India
The European presence in India dates to the 17th century, and it
is in the latter part of this century that the Mughal Empire
began to disintegrate, paving the way for regional states
In the contest for supremacy, the English emerged 'victors',
their rule marked by the conquests at the battlefields of Plassey
and Buxar.
The Rebellion of 1857-58, which sought to restore Indian
supremacy, was crushed; and with the subsequent crowning of
Victoria as Empress of India, the incorporation of India into the
empire was complete.
Successive campaigns had the effect of driving the British out
of India in 1947.
 326 BCE 1556-1857
Alexander’s Invasion Mughal Empire

1500-1000BCE
The Vedic Period 606-647 1858
3300BCE 1947
Indus Valley Civilisation Harsha Vardhana British Rule
CE

BCE AD

2000-1500 BCE 220-411 1206-1526

563-483
Aryan Invasion Delhi Sultanate
Buddha’s Era Gupta Empire

322-298 712
Mauryan Empire Arab Invasion
BCE – Before Common Era
AD - Anno Domini
  

THANK YOU

Dr. A. Suneetha Rajesham. PhD.(Psy),

MPhil(Psy); PGDPsyclCoun; PGDNut&Dietetics, Reiki IIIA

Phone: 8008464885
email: suneetha.rajesham@gmail.com