31st Century BC to 4th Century BC
South Asia
According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. However, the earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Settled life, which involves the transition from foraging to farming and pastoralism, began in South Asia around 7,000 BCE.
The Nandas built on the successes of their Haryanka and Shaishunaga predecessors and instituted a more centralized administration. Ancient sources credit them with amassing great wealth, which was probably a result of the introduction of a new currency and taxation system.
In South India, the Neolithic began by 3000 BCE and lasted until around 1400 BCE. South Indian Neolithic is characterized by Ashmounds since 2500 BCE in the Andhra-Karnataka region that expanded later into Tamil Nadu.
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, are also classified as Eastern religions.
The history of Hinduism covers a wide variety of related religious traditions native to the Indian subcontinent. Its history overlaps or coincides with the development of religion in the Indian subcontinent since the Iron Age.
The Mature Indus civilization flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, marking the beginning of urban civilization on the Indian subcontinent. The civilization included cities such as Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan, and Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, and Lothal in modern-day India.
The civilization was primarily centered in modern-day Pakistan, in the Indus river basin, and secondarily in the Ghaggar-Hakra river basin in eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. The Mature Indus civilization flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, marking the beginning of urban civilization on the Indian subcontinent.
This civilization flourished between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE in what today is Pakistan and north-western India and was noted for its urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage, and water supply.
Early Vedic society is described in the Rigveda, the oldest Vedic text, believed to have been compiled during the 2nd millennium BCE, in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent.
Iron using and ironworking were prevalent in the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas from the early second millennium BCE.
Early Vedic society is described in the Rigveda, the oldest Vedic text, believed to have been compiled during the 2nd millennium BCE.
Indo-Aryan peoples refer to both the pastoralist Indo-European people migrating from Central Asia into South Asia in the second millennium BCE.
During the 2nd millennium BCE, Ochre Coloured Pottery culture was in the Ganga Yamuna Doab region.
In the 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 Punjab from Central Asia in several waves of migration.
It "was the area of the earliest known cultivation of rice in South Asia and by 1800 BCE was the location of an advanced Neolithic population associated with the sites of Chirand and Chechar". In this region, the Śramaṇic movements flourished, and Jainism and Buddhism originated.
Indo-Aryan population movements into the region from Central Asia are considered to have started after 2000 BCE, as a slow diffusion during the Late Harappan period, which led to a language shift in the northern Indian subcontinent. Around the same time, the Iranian languages were brought into the Iranian plateau by the Iranians, who were closely related to the Indo-Aryans.
The Vedic period, lasting from about 1500 to 500 BCE, contributed to the foundations of several cultural aspects of the Indian subcontinent. In terms of culture, many regions of the Indian subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age in this period.
The Vedic period is the period when the Vedas were composed, the liturgical hymns from the Indo-Aryan people. The Vedic culture was located in the part of northwest India, while other parts of India had a distinct cultural identity during this period. The Vedic culture was located in the part of northwest India, while other parts of India had a distinct cultural identity during this period. The Vedic culture is described in the texts of Vedas, still sacred to Hindus, which were orally composed and transmitted in Vedic Sanskrit. The Vedas are some of the oldest extant texts in India.
The Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent from about 1200 BCE to the 6th century BCE is defined by the rise of Janapadas, which are realms, republics, and kingdoms—notably the Iron Age Kingdoms of Kuru, Panchala, Kosala, Videha.
The Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW) is an Iron Age Indian culture of the western Gangetic plain and the Ghaggar-Hakra valley in the Indian subcontinent, conventionally dated c.1200 to 600–500 BCE.
The Kuru kingdom was the first state-level society of the Vedic period, corresponding to the beginning of the Iron Age in northwestern India, around 1200–800 BCE.
The Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent from about 1200 BCE to the 6th century BCE is defined by the rise of Janapadas, which are realms, republics, and kingdoms—notably the Iron Age Kingdoms of Kuru, Panchala, Kosala, Videha.
The archaeological PGW culture, which flourished in the Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh regions of northern India from about 1100 to 600 BCE, is believed to correspond to the Kuru and Panchala kingdoms.
The Janapadas were the realms, republics, and kingdoms of the Vedic period on the Indian subcontinent.
The earliest Iron Age sites in South India are Hallur, Karnataka, and Adichanallur, Tamil Nadu at around 1000 BCE.
Jainism is a religion founded in ancient India. Jains trace their history through twenty-four tirthankara and revere Rishabhanatha as the first tirthankara.
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).
Parshvanatha was the 23rd of 24 Tirthankaras of Jainism. He is the only Tirthankara who gained the title of Kalīkālkalpataru. He is one of the earliest Tirthankaras who are acknowledged as historical figures. He was the earliest exponent of Karma philosophy in recorded history. The Jain sources place him between the 9th and 8th centuries BC whereas historians consider that he lived in the 8th or 7th century BC.
Around 800 BCE to 400 BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads. Upanishads form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism and are known as Vedanta (Conclusion of the Vedas).
During the time between 800 and 200 BCE, the Śramaṇa movement formed, from which originated Jainism and Buddhism. In the same period, the first Upanishads were written.
The Sakas are attested in historical and archaeological records dating to around the 8th century BC.
The Mahābhārata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa.
During the time between 800 and 200 BCE, the Śramaṇa movement formed, from which originated Jainism and Buddhism.
The increasing urbanization of India in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE led to the rise of new ascetic or Śramaṇa movements which challenged the orthodoxy of rituals.
In the prehistory of the Indian subcontinent, an "Iron Age" is recognized as succeeding the Late Harappan culture.
The most significant event between the 7th and 11th centuries was the Tripartite struggle centered on Kannauj that lasted for more than two centuries between the Pala Empire, Rashtrakuta Empire, and Gurjara-Pratihara Empire.
Gautama Buddha, popularly known as the Buddha, was an ascetic, a religious leader, and a teacher who lived in ancient India (c. 6th to 5th century BCE or c. 5th to 4th century BCE).
Early sources, from the Buddhist Pāli Canon, the Jain Agamas, and the Hindu Puranas, mention Magadha being ruled by the Haryanka dynasty for some 200 years, c. 600–413 BCE.
These Mahajanapadas evolved and flourished in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the northwest to Bengal in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent and included parts of the trans-Vindhyan region. This period saw the second major rise of urbanism in India after the Indus Valley Civilisation.
The period from c. 600 BCE to c. 300 BCE witnessed the rise of the Mahajanapadas, sixteen powerful and vast kingdoms, and oligarchic republics.
The Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley refers to the Achaemenid military conquest and governance of the territories of the North-western regions of the Indian subcontinent, from the 6th to 4th centuries BC.
The Sangam period is the period of the history of ancient Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and parts of Sri Lanka (then known as Tamilakam) spanning from c. 6th century BCE to c. 3rd century CE.
After conquering the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, the Macedonian king Alexander launched a campaign in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, part of which formed the easternmost territories of the Achaemenid Empire following the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley (late 6th century BC).
Early sources, from the Buddhist Pāli Canon, the Jain Agamas, and the Hindu Puranas, mention Magadha being ruled by the Haryanka dynasty for some 200 years, c. 600–413 BCE.
Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahā-Janapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges; its first capital was Rajagriha (modern Rajgir) then Pataliputra (modern Patna).
Early "republics" or Gaṇa sangha, such as Shakyas, Koliyas, Mallas, and Licchavis had republican governments. Gaṇa sanghas, such as Mallas, centered in the city of Kusinagara, and the Vajjian Confederacy, centered in the city of Vaishali, existed as early as the 6th century BCE and persisted in some areas until the 4th century CE.
Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas, 'Great Kingdoms' of the Second Urbanization in what is now south Bihar at the eastern Ganges Plain.
The Mahājanapadas were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in Northern ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE during the second urbanization period.
The history of Buddhism spans from the 6th century BCE to the present. Buddhism arose in Ancient India, in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha, and is based on the teachings of the ascetic Siddhārtha Gautama.
The pastoral and nomadic Indo-Aryans spread from Punjab into the Gangetic plain, large swaths of which they deforested for agriculture usage. The composition of Vedic texts ended around 600 BCE when a new, interregional culture arose.
Mahavira, also known as Vardhamana, was the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6th century BCE into a royal Jain family in Bihar, India. His mother's name was Trishala and his father's name was Siddhartha.
Mahavira was a proponent of Jainism, and Gautama Buddha was the founder of Buddhism, were the most prominent icons of this movement. Śramaṇa gave rise to the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of samsara, and the concept of liberation.
Bimbisāra was a King of Magadha and belonged to the Haryanka dynasty. he was the son of Bhattiya. His expansion of the kingdom, especially his annexation of the kingdom of Anga to the east, is considered to have laid the foundations for the later expansion of the Mauryan Empire.
The Haryanka dynasty was the third ruling dynasty of Magadha, an empire of ancient India, which succeeded the Pradyota dynasty and Barhadratha dynasty. Initially, the capital was Rajagriha.
The conquest occurred in two phases. The first invasion was conducted around 535 BCE by Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire.
The Saka were regarded by the Babylonians as synonymous with the Gimirrai; both names are used on the trilingual Behistun Inscription, carved in 515 BCE on the order of Darius the Great, These people were reported to be mainly interested in settling in the kingdom of Urartu, later part of Armenia, and Shacusen in Utik derived its name from them.
During the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley circa 515 BCE, the Achaemenid army was not uniquely Persian, and the Sakas probably participated in the invasion of northwestern India.
After 500 BCE, the so-called "second urbanization" started, with new urban settlements arising at the Ganges plain, especially the Central Ganges plain. The foundations for the "second urbanization" were laid prior to 600 BCE, in the Painted Grey Ware culture of the Ghaggar-Hakra and Upper Ganges Plain.
There are literary, archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic sources of ancient Tamil history. The foremost among these sources is the Sangam literature, generally dated to 5th century BCE to 3rd century CE.
After 500 BCE, the so-called "second urbanization" started, with new urban settlements arising at the Ganges plain, especially the Central Ganges plain.
The Shaishunaga dynasty is believed to have been the second ruling dynasty of Magadha, an empire of ancient India. According to the Hindu Puranas, this dynasty was the second ruling dynasty of Magadha, succeeding Nagadashaka of the Haryanka dynasty.
The Puranas name the dynasty's founder as Mahapadma, and claim that he was the son of the Shaishunaga king Mahanandin. However, even these texts hint at the low birth of the Nandas, when they state that Mahapadma's mother belonged to the Shudra class, the lowest of the varnas.
The Nanda Empire, at its greatest extent, extended from Bengal in the east, to the Punjab region in the west and as far south as the Vindhya Range. The Nanda dynasty was famed for its great wealth. The Nanda dynasty ruled in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent during the 4th century BCE, and possibly during the 5th century BCE.
Most of the Indian subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE.
The indo-Scythian rule in the northwestern Indian subcontinent ceased when the last Western Satrap Rudrasimha III was defeated by the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II in 395 CE.
The last Shishunaga ruler, Kalasoka, was assassinated by Mahapadma Nanda in 345 BCE, the first of the so-called Nine Nandas, which were Mahapadma and his eight sons.
The Nanda dynasty ruled in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent during the 4th century BCE, and possibly during the 5th century BCE.
Dhana Nanda was the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty of ancient India. He was the youngest of the eight brothers of the dynasty's founder Ugrasena (also known as Mahapadma Nanda).
Alexander's march east put him in confrontation with the Nanda Empire of Magadha. According to Greek sources, the Nanda army was supposedly five times larger than the Macedonian army.
The Indos campaign of Alexander the Great began in 327 BC.
The Battle of the Hydaspes was fought between Alexander the Great and King Porus. The Battle of the Hydaspes River was fought by Alexander in July 326 BC against King Porus on the Hydaspes River in Punjab, near Bhera. The Hydaspes was the last major battle fought by Alexander.
The empire was established by Chandragupta Maurya assisted by Chanakya (Kautilya) in Magadha (in modern Bihar) when he overthrew the Nanda dynasty.
The Maurya Empire unified most of the Indian subcontinent into one state and was the largest empire ever to exist on the Indian subcontinent.
