History of India
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:''This article is about the history of South Asia prior to the [[Partition of British India]] in 1947. For the history of the modern [[Republic of India]], see [[History of the Republic of India]]. For the histories of Pakistan and Bangladesh see [[History of Pakistan]] and [[History of Bangladesh]].''
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
The '''history of India''' begins with the [[Indus Valley Civilization]], which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the [[Indian subcontinent]], from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its Mature Harappan period lasted from 2600-1900 BCE. This [[Bronze Age India|Bronze Age]] civilization collapsed at the beginning of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the [[Iron Age India|Iron Age]] [[Vedic Period|Vedic period]], which extended over much of the [[Indo-Gangetic plains]] and which witnessed the rise of major kingdoms known as the [[Mahajanapadas]]. In two of these, in the [[6th century BCE]], [[Mahavira]] and [[Gautama Buddha]] were born, who propagated their [[Shraman]]ic philosophies among the masses.
Later, successive empires and kingdoms ruled the region and enriched its culture - from the [[Achaemenid]] Persian empire<ref name="achaemenid">{{cite web| url=http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/achaemenians/achaemenians.html| title=Achaemenians| publisher=Jona Lendering, Livius.org| accessdate=2008-01-09}}</ref> around 543 BCE, to [[Alexander the Great]]<ref name="plutarch60">{{cite book| last=Plutarchus| first=Mestrius| authorlink=Plutarch| coauthors=Bernadotte Perrin (trans.)| title=Plutarch's Lives| publisher=William Heinemann| date=1919| location=London| pages=Ch. LX| url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Caes.+60.1| isbn=0674991109| accessdate=2008-01-09}}</ref> in 326 BCE. The [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]], founded by [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius of Bactria]], included [[Gandhara]] and [[Punjab region|Punjab]] from 184 BCE; it reached its greatest extent under [[Menander I|Menander]], establishing the [[Greco-Buddhism|Greco-Buddhist]] period with advances in trade and culture.
The subcontinent was united under the [[Maurya Empire]] during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. It subsequently became fragmented, with various parts ruled by numerous [[Middle kingdoms of India|Middle kingdoms]] for the next ten centuries. Its northern regions were united once again in the 4th century CE, and remained so for two centuries thereafter, under the [[Gupta Empire]]. This period, of [[Hindu]] religious and intellectual resurgence, is known among its admirers as the "[[Golden Age of India]]." During the same time, and for several centuries afterwards, Southern [[India]], under the rule of the [[Chalukyas]], [[Cholas]], [[Pallavas]] and [[Pandyas]], experienced its own golden age, during which Indian civilization, administration, culture, and religion ([[Hinduism]] and [[Buddhism]]) spread to much of [[south-east Asia]].
Islam arrived on the subcontinent in 712 [[Common Era|CE]], when the Arab general [[Muhammad bin Qasim]] conquered [[Sindh]] and [[Multan]] in southern [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab]],<ref name="infopak">{{cite web| url=http://www.infopak.gov.pk/History.aspx| title=History in Chronological Order| publisher=Government of Pakistan| accessdate=2008-01-09}}</ref> setting the stage for several successive Islamic invasions between the 10th and 15th centuries CE from Central Asia, leading to the formation of Muslim empires in the [[Indian subcontinent]], including the [[Ghaznavid Empire|Ghaznavid]], the [[Muhammad of Ghor|Ghorid]], the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and the [[Mughal Empire]]. Mughal rule came to cover most of the northern parts of the subcontinent. Mughal rulers introduced middle-eastern art and architecture to India. In addition to the Mughals, several independent [[Hindu]] kingdoms, such as the [[Maratha Empire]], the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] and various [[Rajput]] kingdoms, flourished contemporaneously, in Western and Southern India respectively. The Mughal Empire suffered a gradual decline in the early eighteenth century, which provided opportunities for the [[Durrani Empire|Afghans]], [[Balochis]] and [[Sikhs]] to exercise control over large areas in the northwest of the subcontinent until the [[British East India Company]]<ref name="east_india">{{cite web| url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pktoc.html| title=Pakistan| publisher=Library of Congress| accessdate=2008-01-09}}</ref> gained ascendancy over South Asia.
Beginning in the mid-18th century and over the next century, India was gradually annexed by the [[British East India Company]]. Dissatisfaction with Company rule led to the [[First War of Indian Independence]], after which India was directly administered by the [[British Raj|British Crown]] and witnessed a period of both rapid development of [[infrastructure]] and [[Economic history of India|economic decline]].
During the first half of the 20th century, a nationwide [[Indian independence movement|struggle for independence]] was launched by the [[Indian National Congress]], and later joined by the [[Muslim League]]. The subcontinent gained independence from [[Great Britain]] in 1947, after being [[Partition of India|partitioned]] into the [[dominion]]s of [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. Pakistan's [[East Pakistan|eastern wing]] became the nation of [[Bangladesh]] in 1971.
==Pre-Historic era==
===Stone Age===
{{main|South Asian Stone Age}}
{{main|Mehrgarh}}
[[Image:Bhimbetka rock paintng1.jpg|thumb|[[Bhimbetka]] rock painting]]
Isolated remains of ''[[Homo erectus]]'' in Hathnora in the [[Narmada Valley]] in [[Central India]] indicate that India might have been inhabited since at least the [[Middle Pleistocene]] era, somewhere between 200,000 to 500,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite news |first=G.S |last= Mudur |title=Still a mystery |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050321/asp/knowhow/story_4481256.asp |work=KnowHow|publisher=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]] |date=[[March 21]], [[2005]] |accessdate=2007-05-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gsi.gov.in/homonag.htm |title=The Hathnora Skull Fossil from Madhya Pradesh, India |accessdate=2007-05-07 |date=[[20 September]] [[2005]] |work= Multi Disciplinary Geoscientific Studies|publisher=[[Geological Survey of India]] }}</ref> The [[Mesolithic]] period in the Indian subcontinent covered a timespan of around 25,000 years, starting around 30,000 years ago. Modern humans seem to have settled the subcontinent towards the end of the last [[ice age|Ice Age]], or approximately 12,000 years ago. The first confirmed permanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago in the [[Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka]] in modern [[Madhya Pradesh]]. Early [[Neolithic]] culture in South Asia is represented by the [[Mehrgarh]] findings ([[7000 BCE]] onwards) in present day [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]], Pakistan. Traces of a [[Neolithic]] culture have been found submerged in the [[Gulf of Khambat]], [[radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dated]] to [[7500 BCE]].<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Gaur | first = A. S. | coauthors = K. H. Vora | date = [[July 10]], [[1999]] | title = Ancient shorelines of Gujarat, India, during the Indus civilization (Late Mid-Holocene): A study based on archaeological evidences | journal = [[Current Science]] | volume = 77 | issue = 1 | pages = 180–185
| issn = 0011-3891 | url = http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jul10/articles29.htm | accessdate = 2007-05-06 }}</ref> Late Neolithic cultures sprang up in the Indus Valley region between 6000 and 2000 BCE and in southern India between 2800 and 1200 BCE.
The region of the subcontinent that is now the country of Pakistan has been inhabited continuously for at least two million years.<ref name="shef">{{ cite web | url = http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/research/pakistan | title = Palaeolithic and Pleistocene of Pakistan| publisher=Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield| accessdate = 2007-12-01 }}</ref><ref name="murray">{{cite book| last = Murray | first = Tim | authorlink = Tim Murray| title = Time and archaeology | publisher = Routledge| date = 1999 | location = London; New York | pages=84| url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=k3z9iXo_Uq8C&oi=fnd&pg=PP3&dq=%22Time+and+Archaeology%22&ots=vvWqvaJHik&sig=17HcKQWGCxkHycTaYqfJb_ZzGAo| isbn=0415117623}}</ref> The ancient history of the region includes some of [[South Asia]]'s oldest settlements<ref name="coppa">{{ cite journal | last = Coppa| first=A.| coauthors=L. Bondioli, A. Cucina, D. W. Frayer, C. Jarrige, J. F. Jarrige, G. Quivron, M. Rossi, M. Vidale, R. Macchiarelli| title=Palaeontology: Early Neolithic tradition of dentistry| journal=Nature| volume=440| pages=755–756| date = [[6 April]] [[2006]] | url = http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7085/pdf/440755a.pdf| doi = 10.1038/440755a | accessdate = 2007-11-22 }}</ref> and some of its major civilizations.<ref name="possehl">{{cite journal| last =Possehl| first=G. L.| authorlink = Gregory Possehl| year=1990| month=October| title=Revolution in the Urban Revolution: The Emergence of Indus Urbanization| journal = Annual Review of Anthropology| volume=19| pages=261–282| issn=0084-6570| doi=10.1146/annurev.an.19.100190.001401| url = http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/toc/anthro/19/1?cookieSet=1| accessdate=2007-05-06}}</ref><ref name="asaw">{{ cite book| last=Kenoyer| first=Jonathan Mark| coauthors=Kimberley Heuston| title=The Ancient South Asian World| publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]| date = May 2005 | isbn = 0195174224 | url = http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryWorld/Ancient/Other/~~/dmlldz11c2EmY2k9OTc4MDE5NTE3NDIyOQ== }}</ref>
The earliest archaeological site in Pakistan is the [[palaeolithic]] [[hominid]] site in the [[Soan Culture|Soan River valley]].<ref name="ppisv">{{cite book| last=Rendell| first=H. R.| coauthors=Dennell, R. W. and Halim, M.| title=Pleistocene and Palaeolithic Investigations in the Soan Valley, Northern Pakistan| date=1989| pages=364| series=British Archaeological Reports International Series| publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}</ref> Village life began with the [[Neolithic]] site of [[Mehrgarh]],<ref name="mfr">{{cite book| last=Jarrige| first=C.| coauthors=J.-F. Jarrige, R. H. Meadow and G. Quivron| title=Mehrgarh Field Reports 1975 to 1985 - From the Neolithic to the Indus Civilization| publisher=Dept. of Culture and Tourism, Govt. of Sindh, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France| date=1995}}</ref> while the first urban civilization of the region was the [[Indus Valley Civilization]],<ref name="feuerstein">{{cite book| last=Feuerstein| first=Georg| coauthors=Subhash Kak; David Frawley| title=In search of the cradle of civilization: new light on ancient India| publisher=Quest Books| location=Wheaton, Illinois| date=1995| pages=pp. 147| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=kbx7q0gxyTcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=In+Search+of+the+Cradle+of+Civilization&sig=ie6cTRBBjV2enHRPO6cBXNbd0qE| isbn=0835607208}}</ref> with major sites at [[Mohenjo Daro]] and [[Harappa]].<ref name="acivc">{{cite book| last=Kenoyer| first=J. Mark| title=The Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization| publisher=Oxford University Press| date=1998| isbn=0195779401}}</ref>
===Bronze Age===
{{main|Indus Valley Civilization}}
{{History of Pakistan rotation|neolithicbronze}}
[[Image:Historic pakistan rel96b.JPG|thumb|A relief map of Pakistan showing historic sites.]]
The Bronze Age on the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BCE with the beginning of the Indus Valley Civilization. Inhabitants of the ancient [[Indus river]] valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin.
The Indus Valley Civilization which flourished from about 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE marked the beginning of the urban civilization on the subcontinent. The ancient civilization included urban centers such as [[Harappa]] and [[Mohenjo-daro]] (in modern day [[Pakistan]]), [[Dholavira]] and [[Lothal]] (in modern day [[India]]). It was centred on the Indus River and its tributaries, and extended into the [[Ghaggar-Hakra River]] valley,<ref name=possehl>{{cite journal
| last = Possehl | first = G. L. | authorlink=Gregory Possehl | year = 1990 | month = October
| title = Revolution in the Urban Revolution: The Emergence of Indus Urbanization | journal = Annual Review of Anthropology | volume = 19 | pages = 261–282 | issn = 0084-6570 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.an.19.100190.001401 | url = http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/toc/anthro/19/1?cookieSet=1 | accessdate = 2007-05-06
}}See map on page 263 </ref> the [[Doab|Ganges-Yamuna Doab]],<ref>''Indian Archaeology, A Review.'' 1958-1959. Excavations at Alamgirpur. Delhi: Archaeol. Surv. India, pp. 51–52.</ref> [[Gujarat]],<ref name="Leshnik">{{cite journal
| last = Leshnik | first = Lawrence S. | year = 1968 | month = October | title = The Harappan "Port" at Lothal: Another View | journal = American Anthropologist, New Series, | volume = 70 | issue = 5
| pages = 911–922 | issn = 1548-1433 | doi = 10.1525/aa.1968.70.5.02a00070
| url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-7294(196810)2%3A70%3A5%3C911%3ATH%22ALA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2
| accessdate = 2007-05-06 }}</ref> and northern [[Afghanistan]].<ref>{{cite book
| last = Kenoyer | first = Jonathan | authorlink = Jonathan Mark Kenoyer
| title = Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization | date = [[15 September]] [[1998]]
| publisher = Oxford University Press | location = USA | isbn = 0195779401 | pages = p96 }}</ref>
The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, road-side drainage system and multi-storied houses. Among the settlements were the major urban centres of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as [[Dholavira]], [[Ganweriwala]], [[Lothal]], [[Kalibanga]]n and [[Rakhigarhi]]. It is thought by some that geological disturbances and climate change, leading to a gradual deforestation may ultimately have contributed to the civilization's downfall. The decline of the Indus Valley Civilization also included a break down of urban society and of the use of distinctively urban traits such as the use of writing and seals.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-46836/India The Post-Urban Period in northwestern India]. Retrieved on [[May 12]], [[2007]].</ref>
===Iron Age===
{{main|Iron Age India}}
====Vedic period====
{{main|Vedic period}}
The Vedic culture is the [[Indo-Aryans|Indo-Aryan]] culture associated with the [[Hindu]] sacred texts of [[Veda]]s, which were orally composed in [[Vedic Sanskrit]]. [[Vedas]] are some of the oldest extant texts. This period lasted from about 1500 BCE to 500 BCE, and during which time the definitions of much of latter Indian language, culture and most importantly, religion were laid down. However, the timing of this period is disputed by some nationalist Indian historians who posit the earlier date of [[3000 BCE]].<ref>See [http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/ancient/aryan/aryan_agrawal.html Demise of the Aryan Invasion Theory] by Dr. Dinesh Agarwal </ref> Properly speaking, the first 500 years (1500 - 1000 BCE) of the Vedic Age correspond to [[Bronze Age India]] and the next 500 years (1000 - 500 BCE) to [[Iron Age India]]. Many scholars today postulate an [[Indo-Aryan migration]] into India, proposing that early Indo-Aryan speaking tribes migrated into the north-west regions of the Indian subcontinent in the early 2nd millennium BCE. Some scholars postulate these Indo-Aryan tribes as originating in Central Asia and Afghanistan from where they migrated east into India, and west into Mesopotamia and finally assimilating with them whilst spreading their language and culture.<ref> {{cite book
| last = Mallory | first = J.P. | authorlink = J.P. Mallory | title = In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archeology and Myth | edition = Reprint edition (April 1991) | year = 1989
| publisher = [[Thames & Hudson]] | location = London | isbn = 0500276161 | pages = p 43
| quote = The great majority of scholars insist that the Indo-Aryans were intrusive into northwest India }}</ref> This has been opposed by the proponents of [[Out of India]] theory, who claim Aryans were indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. It is to be noted that Aryan Invasion theory has been abandoned by scholars. Aryan Immigration theory is presently that is being researched.<ref>http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/19th-century-paradigms-2.html</ref>
Early Vedic society consisted of largely pastoral groups, with late Harappan urbanization being abandoned for unknown reasons.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-46838/India India: Reemergence of Urbanization]. Retrieved on [[May 12]], [[2007]].</ref> After the [[Rigveda]], Aryan society became increasingly agricultural, and was socially organized around the four [[Varnas]]. In addition to the principal texts of Hinduism (the Vedas), the epics (the [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]]) are said to have their ultimate origins during this period.<ref> {{cite book
| author=Valmiki | editor = Goldman, Robert P | title = The Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume 1: Balakanda | series = Ramayana of Valmiki | date = March 1990 | publisher = [[Princeton University Press]] | location = [[Princeton, New Jersey]] | isbn = 069101485X | pages = p. 23 }}</ref> Early Indo-Aryan presence probably corresponds, in part, to the presence of [[Ochre Coloured Pottery]] in archaeological findings.<ref name = "tqlgsv"> {{cite book | author= Krishna Reddy | title = Indian History | date = 2003 | publisher = Tata McGraw Hill | location = New Delhi | isbn = 0070483698 | pages = p. A11 }}</ref> The kingdom of the [[Kuru (India)|Kurus]]<ref>M. WItzel, Early Sanskritization. Origins and development of the Kuru State. B. Kölver (ed.), Recht, Staat und Verwaltung im klassischen Indien. The state, the Law, and Administration in Classical India. München : R. Oldenbourg 1997, 27-52 = Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, vol. 1,4, December 1995, [http://ejvs.laurasianacademy.com] </ref>
corresponds to the [[Black and Red Ware]] and [[Painted Gray Ware]] culture and the beginning of the Iron Age in Northwestern India, around [[1000 BC]] (roughly contemporaneous with the composition of the [[Atharvaveda]], the first Indian text to mention Iron, as {{IAST|śyāma ayas}}, literally "black metal"). The [[Painted Grey Ware]] culture spanning much of Northern India were prevalent from about 1100 to 600 BCE.<ref name = "tqlgsv"/> This later period also corresponds with a change in outlook towards the prevalent tribal system of living leading to establishment of kingdoms called ''Mahajanapadas''.
====The Mahajanapadas====
{{main|Mahajanapadas|History of Jainism|History of Buddhism}}
[[Image:Ancient india.png|thumb|The Mahajanapadas were the sixteen most powerful kingdoms and republics of the era, located mainly across the fertile [[Indo-Gangetic plains]], however there were a number of smaller kingdoms stretching the length and breadth of India]]
In the later Vedic Age, a number of small kingdoms or city states had covered the subcontinent, many mentioned during Vedic, early Buddhist and Jaina literature as far back as 1000 BCE. By 500 BCE, sixteen monarchies and 'republics' known as the ''[[Mahajanapadas]]'' — [[Kasi]], [[Kosala]], [[Anga]], [[Magadha]], [[Vajji]] (or Vriji), [[Malla]], [[Chedi Kingdom|Chedi]], [[Vatsa]] (or Vamsa), [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kuru]], [[Panchala]], [[Machcha]] (or Matsya), [[Surasena]], [[Assaka]], [[Avanti]], [[Gandhara]], [[Kamboja]] — stretched across the [[Indo-Gangetic plains]] from modern-day Afghanistan to Bengal and Maharastra. This period was that of the second major urbanisation in India after the Indus Valley Civilization. Many smaller clans mentioned within early literature seem to have been present across the rest of the subcontinent. Some of these kings were hereditary; other states elected their rulers. The educated speech at that time was [[Sanskrit]], while the dialects of the general population of northern India are referred to as [[Prakrit]]s. Many of the sixteen kingdoms had coalesced to four major ones by 500/400 BCE, that is by the time of [[Siddhartha Gautama]]. These four were Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala and Magadha.<ref>{{cite book | author= Krishna Reddy | title = Indian History | date = 2003 | publisher = Tata McGraw Hill | location = New Delhi | isbn = 0070483698 | pages = p. A107 }}</ref>
Hindu rituals at that time were complicated and conducted by the priestly class. It is thought that the [[Upanishads]], late Vedic texts dealing mainly with incipient philosophy, were composed in the later Vedic Age and early in this period of the ''Mahajanapadas'' (from about 600 - 400 BCE). [[Upanishad]]s had a substantial effect on [[Indian philosophy]], and were contemporary to the development of Buddhism and [[Jainism]], indicating a golden age of thought in this period. It is believed that in 537 BCE, that Siddhartha Gautama attained the state of "enlightenment", and became known as the 'Buddha' - the awakened one. Around the same time, [[Mahavira]] (the 24th Jain [[Tirthankara]] according to Jains) propagated a similar theology, that was to later become [[Jainism]].<ref> Mary Pat Fisher (1997) In: Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths I.B.Tauris : London ISBN 1860641482 - '' Jainism's major teacher is the Mahavira, a contemporary of the Buddha, and who died approximately 526 BCE. Page 114 ''</ref> However, Jain orthodoxy believes it predates all known time. The [[Vedas]] are believed to have documented a few Jain Tirthankars, and an ascetic order similar to the sramana movement.<ref>Mary Pat Fisher (1997) In: Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths I.B.Tauris : London ISBN 1860641482 - '' “The extreme antiquity of Jainism as a non-vedic, indigenous Indian religion is well documented. Ancient Hindu and Buddhist scriptures refer to Jainism as an existing tradition which began long before Mahavira.” Page 115 ''</ref> The Buddha's teachings and Jainism had doctrines inclined toward asceticism, and were preached in [[Prakrit]], which helped them gain acceptance amongst the masses. They have profoundly influenced practices that Hinduism and Indian spiritual orders are associated with namely, vegetarianism, prohibition of animal slaughter and ahimsa (non-violence).
While the geographic impact of Jainism was limited to India, Buddhist nuns and monks eventually spread the teachings of Buddha to [[Central Asia]], [[East Asia]], [[Tibet]], [[Sri Lanka]] and South East Asia.
== Persian and Greek invasions ==
{{See also|Achaemenid Empire|Greco-Buddhism|Alexander the Great}}
[[Image:MacedonEmpire.jpg|thumb|Alexander's conquests reached the northernmost edge of India, around the [[Indus river]] in modern day Pakistan, which was slightly further than the [[Achaemenid Empire]]]]
{{History of Pakistan rotation|persiangreek1}}
{{History of Pakistan rotation|persiangreek2}}
Much of the northwestern Indian Subcontinent (present day Eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan) came under the rule of the Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]] in c. 520 BCE during the reign of [[Darius I|Darius the Great]], and remained so for two centuries thereafter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/acha/hd_acha.htm |title=The Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 B.C.E) |accessdate=2007-05-19 |author=Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art |date=October 2004 |work=Timeline of Art History |publisher= New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref> In 334 BCE, [[Alexander the Great]] conquered Asia Minor and the Achaemenid Empire, reaching the north-west frontiers of the Indian subcontinent. There, he defeated King [[Porus|Puru]] in the [[Battle of the Hydaspes]] (near modern-day Jhelum, Pakistan) and conquered much of the Punjab;<ref>{{cite book |last=Fuller |first=J.F.C.|authorlink=J. F. C. Fuller |title= The Generalship of Alexander the Great|edition=Reprint|date=[[February 3]], [[2004]]|publisher=Da Capo Press |location=New York|isbn=0306813300 |pages= 188–199|chapter=Alexander's Great Battles}}</ref> however, Alexander's troops refused to go beyond the Hyphases ([[Beas]]) River near modern day [[Jalandhar]], [[Punjab region|Punjab]]. Alexander left many Macedonian veterans in the conquered regions{{Fact|date=August 2007}}; he himself turned back and marched his army southwest.
The Persian and Greek invasions had important repercussions on Indian civilization. The political systems of the Persians was to influence future forms of governance on the subcontinent, including the administration of the Mauryan dynasty. In addition, the region of Gandhara, or present-day eastern Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan, became a melting pot of Indian, Persian, Central Asian and Greek cultures and gave rise to a hybrid culture, [[Greco-Buddhism]], which lasted until the 5th century AD and influenced the artistic development of [[Mahayana Buddhism]].
==The Magadha Empire==
{{main|Magadha Empire}}
Amongst the sixteen Mahajanapadas, the kingdom of Magadha rose to prominence under a number of dynasties. According to tradition, the [[Haryanka dynasty]] founded the Magadha Empire in 684 BC whose capital was Rajagriha, later [[Pataliputra]], near the present day [[Patna]]. This dynasty was succeeded by the [[Shishunaga dynasty]] which, in turn, was overthrown by the [[Nanda dynasty]] in 424 BCE. The Nandas were followed by the [[Maurya dynasty]].
===Maurya dynasty===
{{main|Maurya Dynasty}}
{{seealso|Chandragupta Maurya|Ashoka the Great}}
[[Image:Mauryan Empire Map.gif|thumb|Map depicting the largest extent of the Mauryan Empire in dark blue, and allied or friendly areas in light blue]]
In 321 BCE, exiled general [[Chandragupta Maurya]], under direct patronage of the genius of [[Chanakya]], founded the Maurya dynasty after overthrowing the reigning king [[Dhana Nanda]]. Most of the subcontinent was united under a single government for the first time under the Maurya rule. Mauryan empire under Chandragupta would not only conquer most of the Indian subcontinent, but also push its boundaries into Persia and [[Central Asia]], conquering the Gandhara region. Chandragupta Maurya is credited for the spread of Jainism in southern Indian region.
Chandragupta was succeeded by his son [[Bindusara]], who expanded the kingdom over most of present day India, barring [[Kalinga]], and the extreme south and east, which may have held tributary status.
Bindusara's kingdom was inherited by his son [[Ashoka the Great]] who initially sought to expand his kingdom. In the aftermath of the carnage caused in the invasion of [[Kalinga (India)|Kalinga]], he renounced bloodshed and pursued a policy of [[non-violence]] or ahimsa after converting to Buddhism. The [[Edicts of Ashoka]] are the oldest preserved historical documents of India, and from Ashoka's time, approximate dating of dynasties becomes possible. The Mauryan dynasty under [[Ashoka]] was responsible for the proliferation of [[Buddhism|Buddhist ideals]] across the whole of [[East Asia]] and South-East Asia, fundamentally altering the history and development of Asia as a whole. Ashoka's grandson [[Samprati]] adopted Jainism and helped spread [[Jainism]].
===Post Mauryan Magadha dynasties===
The [[Sunga Dynasty]] was established in 185 BCE, about fifty years after Ashoka's death, when the king [[Brihadratha]], the last of the Mauryan rulers, was murdered by the then commander-in-chief of the Mauryan armed forces, Pusyamitra Sunga. The [[Kanva dynasty]] replaced the Sunga dynasty, and ruled in the eastern part of India from 71 BCE to 26 BCE. In 30 BCE, the southern power swept away both the Kanvas and Sungas. Following the collapse of the Kanva dynasty, the [[Satavahana]] dynasty of the [[Andhra dynasty|Andhra kingdom]] replaced the Magadha kingdom as the most powerful Indian state.
==Early middle kingdoms — the golden age==
{{main|Middle kingdoms of India}}
{{seealso|Satavahana|Kuninda Kingdom|Kushan Empire|Western Satraps|Pandyan Kingdom|Early Cholas|Chera dynasty|Kadamba Dynasty|Western Ganga Dynasty|Pallava|Chalukya dynasty}}
[[Image:badami-chalukya-empire-map.svg|thumb|right|Badami Chalukya territories]]
The middle period was a time of notable cultural development. The [[Satavahanas]], also known as the Andhras, were a dynasty which ruled in Southern and Central India starting from around 230 BCE. [[Satakarni]], the sixth ruler of the Satvahana dynasty, defeated the Sunga dynasty of [[North India]]. [[Gautamiputra Satakarni]] was another notable ruler of the dynasty. [[Kuninda Kingdom]] was a small Himalayan state that survived from around the 2nd century BC to roughly the 3rd century CE. The [[Kushan Empire|Kushanas]] invaded north-western India about the middle of the 1st century CE, from Central Asia, and founded an empire that eventually stretched from [[Peshawar]] to the middle [[Ganges]] and, perhaps, as far as the [[Bay of Bengal]]. It also included ancient Bactria (in the north of modern Afghanistan) and southern [[Tajikistan]]. The [[Western Satraps]] (35-405 CE) were [[Saka]] rulers of the western and central part of India. They were the successors of the Indo-Scythians (see below) and contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and the Satavahana (Andhra) who ruled in Central India.
Different empires such as the [[Pandyan Kingdom]], [[Early Cholas]], [[Chera dynasty]], [[Kadamba Dynasty]], [[Western Ganga Dynasty]], [[Pallava]]s and [[Chalukya dynasty]] dominated the southern part of the Indian peninsula, at different periods of time. Several southern kingdoms formed overseas empires that stretched across South East Asia. The kingdoms warred with each other and Deccan states, for domination of the south. [[Kalabhras]], a Buddhist kingdom, briefly interrupted the usual domination of the Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in the South.
===Northwestern hybrid cultures===
{{see also|Indo-Greek kingdom|Indo-Scythians|Indo-Parthian Kingdom|Indo-Sassanids}}
[[Image:Demetrius I of Bactria.jpg|right|thumb|The founder of the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]], [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius I "the Invincible"]] (205–171 BCE), wearing the scalp of an elephant, symbol of his conquests in India.]]
The north-western hybrid cultures of the subcontinent included the ''Indo-Greeks'', the ''Indo-Scythians'', the ''Indo-Parthians'', and the ''Indo-Sassinids''. The first of these, the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]], founded when the [[Greco-Bactrian]] king [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius]] invaded the region in 180 BCE, extended over various parts of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lasting for almost two centuries, it was ruled by a succession of more than 30 Greek kings, who were often in conflict with each other. The [[Indo-Scythians]] were a branch of the Indo-European [[Sakas]] ([[Scythians]]), who migrated from southern [[Siberia]] first into [[Bactria]], subsequently into [[Sogdiana]], [[Kashmir]], [[Arachosia]], [[Gandhara]] and finally into India; their kingdom lasted from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE. Yet another kingdom, the [[Indo-Parthian Kingdom|Indo-Parthians]] (also known as [[Pahlava]]s) came to control most of present-day Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, after fighting many local rulers such as the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] ruler [[Kujula Kadphises]], in the Gandhara region. The [[Sassanid]] empire of Persia, who were contemporaries of the Guptas, expanded into the region of present-day Pakistan, where the mingling of Indian and [[Persian culture]]s gave birth to the [[Indo-Sassanid]] culture.
===Roman trade with India===
{{main|Roman trade with India}}
[[Image:AugustusCoinPudukottaiHoardIndia.jpg|thumb|Coin of the Roman emperor [[Augustus]] found at the [[Pudukottai]] hoard. [[British Museum]].]]
Roman trade with India started around 1 CE following the reign of [[Augustus]] and [[Ægyptus|his conquest]] of [[Ptolemaic Egypt|Egypt]], theretofore [[Middle kingdoms of India|India]]'s biggest trade partner in the West.
The trade started by [[Eudoxus of Cyzicus]] in 130 BCE kept increasing, and according to [[Strabo]] (II.5.12.<ref>"At any rate, when [[Cornelius Gallus|Gallus]] was prefect of Egypt, I accompanied him and ascended the [[Nile]] as far as [[Aswan|Syene]] and the frontiers of [[Kingdom of Aksum|Ethiopia]], and I learned that as many as one hundred and twenty vessels were sailing from [[Myos Hormos]] to India, whereas formerly, under the [[Ptolemaic Egypt|Ptolemies]], only a very few ventured to undertake the voyage and to carry on traffic in Indian merchandise." Strabo II.5.12. [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/2E1*.html Source]</ref>), by the time of [[Augustus]] up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from [[Myos Hormos]] to India. So much gold was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the [[Kushan Empire|Kushans]] for their own coinage, that [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] (NH VI.101) complained about the drain of specie to India:
{{quote|"India, China and the Arabian peninsula take one hundred million [[sesterce]]s from our empire per annum at a conservative estimate: that is what our luxuries and women cost us. For what percentage of these imports is intended for sacrifices to the gods or the spirits of the dead?"|Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84.<ref>"minimaque computatione miliens centena milia sestertium annis omnibus India et Seres et paeninsula illa imperio nostro adimunt: tanti nobis deliciae et feminae constant. quota enim portio ex illis ad deos, quaeso, iam vel ad inferos pertinet?" Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84.</ref>}}
These trade routes and harbour are described in detail in the 1st century AD [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]].
===Gupta dynasty===
{{main|Gupta Empire}}
[[Image:Indischer Maler des 6. Jahrhunderts 001.jpg|thumb|Famous ancient fresco from the [[Ajanta Caves]], made during the Gupta period]]
In the 4th and 5th centuries, the [[Gupta Dynasty]] unified northern India. During this period, known as India's [[Golden Age of India|Golden Age]] of Hindu [[renaissance]], Hindu culture, science and political administration reached new heights. [[Chandragupta I]], [[Samudragupta]], and [[Chandragupta II]] were the most notable rulers of the Gupta dynasty. The Vedic [[Puranas]] are also thought to have been written around this period. The empire came to an end with the attack of the [[Huns]] from central Asia. After the collapse of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century, India was again ruled by numerous regional kingdoms. A minor line of the Gupta clan continued to rule Magadha after the disintegration of the empire. These Guptas were ultimately ousted by the Vardhana king [[Harsha]], who established an empire in the first half of the seventh century.
The White [[Huns]], who seem to have been part of the [[Hephthalites|Hephthalite]] group, established themselves in Afghanistan by the first half of the fifth century, with their capital at [[Bamyan City|Bamiyan]]. They were responsible for the downfall of the Gupta dynasty, and thus brought an end to what historians consider a golden age in northern India. Nevertheless, much of the [[Deccan]] and southern India were largely unaffected by this state of flux in the north.
==Late middle kingdoms — the classical age==
{{main|Middle kingdoms of India}}
{{seealso|Harsha|Western Chalukya Empire|Pallavas|Pratihara|Pala Empire|Rashtrakuta|Rajputs|Hoysala Empire|Kalachuri|Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri|Kakatiya dynasty|Shahi|Vijayanagara Empire}}
[[Image:Thanjavur temple.jpg|thumb|Chola architecture, [[Thanjavur]] temple]]
[[Image:Belur4.jpg|thumb|right|[[Hoysala Empire]] architecture in [[Belur]]]]
The classical age in India began with the resurgence of the north during [[Harsha]]'s conquests around the 7th century, and ended with the fall of the [[Vijayanagar Empire]] in the South, due to pressure from the invaders to the north in the 13th century. This period produced some of India's finest art, considered the epitome of classical development, and the development of the main spiritual and philosophical systems which continued to be in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
King Harsha of [[Kannauj]] succeeded in reuniting northern India during his reign in the 7th century, after the collapse of the Gupta dynasty. His kingdom collapsed after his death. From the 7th to the 9th century, three dynasties contested for control of northern India: the [[Pratihara]]s of [[Malwa]] and later Kannauj; the [[Pala dynasty|Palas]] of [[Bengal]], and the [[Rashtrakuta]]s of the Deccan. The [[Sena dynasty]] would later assume control of the Pala kingdom, and the Pratiharas fragmented into various states. These were the first of the [[Rajputs]], a series of kingdoms which managed to survive in some form for almost a millennium until Indian independence from the British. The first recorded Rajput kingdoms emerged in [[Rajasthan]] in the 6th century, and small Rajput dynasties later ruled much of northern India. One Rajput of the [[Chauhan]] dynasty, [[Prithviraj Chauhan]], was known for bloody conflicts against the encroaching Islamic Sultanates. The [[Shahi]] dynasty ruled portions of eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and Kashmir from the mid-seventh century to the early eleventh century. Whilst the northern concept of a pan-Indian empire had collapsed at the end of Harsha's empire, the ideal instead shifted to the south.
The [[Chalukya]] Empire ruled parts of southern and central India from 550 to 750 from [[Badami]], [[Karnataka]] and again from 970 to 1190 from [[Basavakalyan|Kalyani]], Karnataka. The [[Pallavas]] of Kanchi were their contemporaries further to the south. With the decline of the Chalukya empire, their feudatories, [[Hoysalas]] of [[Halebid]]u, [[Kakatiya]] of Warangal, [[Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri]] and a southern branch of the [[Kalachuri]] divided the vast Chalukya empire amongst themselves around the middle of 12th century. Later during the middle period, the [[Chola dynasty|Chola]] kingdom emerged in northern [[Tamil Nadu]], and the [[Chera dynasty|Chera]] kingdom in [[Kerala]]. By 1343 A.D., all these kingdoms had ceased to exist giving rise to the [[Vijayanagar empire]]. Southern Indian kingdoms of the time expanded their influence as far as [[Indonesia]], controlling vast overseas empires in Southeast Asia. The ports of southern India were involved in the [[Indian Ocean]] trade, chiefly involving spices, with the [[Roman Empire]] to the west and Southeast Asia to the east.<ref>Miller, J. Innes. (1969). The Spice Trade of The Roman Empire: 29 B.C. to A.D. 641. Oxford University Press. Special edition for Sandpiper Books. 1998. ISBN 0-19-814264-1.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4970452.stm Search for India's ancient city]. [[BBC News]]. Retrieved on [[June 22]], [[2007]].</ref> Literature in local vernaculars and spectacular architecture flourished till about the beginning of the 14th century when southern expeditions of the sultan of Delhi took their toll on these kingdoms. The Hindu Vijayanagar dynasty[Karnata Rajya] came into conflict with Islamic rule (the [[Bahmani]] Kingdom) and the clashing of the two systems, caused a mingling of the indigenous and foreign culture that left lasting cultural influences on each other. The Vijaynagar Empire eventually declined due to pressure from the first Delhi Sultanates who had managed to establish themselves in the north, centered around the city of Delhi by that time.
==The Islamic sultanates==
[[Image:Qutab.jpg|thumb|[[Qutub Minar]] in Delhi, commenced by [[Qutb-ud-din Aybak]] of [[Slave dynasty]].]]
{{main|Islamic empires in India}}
{{see also|Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent|Bahmani Sultanate|Deccan sultanates}}
After the [[Islamic conquest of Persia|Arab-Turkic invasion]] of India's ancient western neighbour [[Iran|Persia]], expanding forces in that area were keen to invade India, which was the richest classical civilization, with a flourishing international trade and the only known diamond mines in the world. After resistance for a few centuries by various north Indian kingdoms, short lived Islamic empires ([[Sultanates]]) got established and spread across the northern subcontinent over a period of a few centuries. But, prior to Turkic [[invasions]], Muslim trading communities had flourished throughout coastal South India, particularly in Kerala, where they arrived in small numbers, mainly from the Arabian peninsula, through trade links via the Indian Ocean. However, this had marked the introduction of an [[Abraham]]ic [[Middle East]]ern religion in Southern India's pre-existing [[dharma|dharmic]] Hindu culture, often in puritanical form. Later, the [[Bahmani Sultanate]] and [[Deccan sultanates]] flourished in the south.
===Delhi sultanate===
{{main|Delhi Sultanate}}
In the 12th and 13th centuries, [[Arabs]],<ref>See P. Hardy's review of Srivastava, A. L. "The Sultanate of Delhi (Including the Arab Invasion of Sindh), A. D. 711-1526", appearing in ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', University of London, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1952), pp. 185-187.</ref> [[Turkic people|Turks]] and [[Demographics of Afghanistan|Afghans]] invaded parts of northern India and established the [[Delhi Sultanate]] at the beginning of the 13th century, in the former Rajput holdings.<ref>[http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Battuta's_Trip_Seven.html Battuta's Travels: Delhi, capital of Muslim India]</ref> The subsequent [[Slave dynasty]] of Delhi managed to conquer large areas of [[northern India]], approximate to the ancient extent of the Guptas, while the [[Khilji dynasty|Khilji Empire]] was also able to conquer most of [[central India]], but were ultimately unsuccessful in conquering and uniting most of the subcontinent. The Sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance. The resulting "Indo-Muslim" fusion of cultures left lasting syncretic monuments in architecture, music, literature, religion, and clothing. It is surmised that the language of [[Urdu]] (literally meaning "horde" or "camp" in various Turkic dialects) was born during the Delhi Sultanate period as a result of the inter-mingling of the local speakers of Sanskritic prakrits with the Persian, Turkish and Arabic speaking immigrants under the Muslim rulers. The Delhi Sultanate is the only Indo-Islamic empire to stake a claim to enthroning one of the few female rulers in India, [[Razia Sultan]] (1236-1240).
Informed about [[civil war]] in [[India]], a [[Turco-Mongol]] conqueror [[Timur]] began a trek starting in 1398 to invade the reigning [[Sultan]] Nasir-u Din Mehmud of the [[Tughlaq]] Dynasty in the north Indian city of [[Delhi]].<ref>[http://www.gardenvisit.com/travel/clavijo/timurconquestofindia.htm Timur - conquest of India]</ref> The Sultan's army was defeated on [[December 17]], [[1398]]. Timur entered Delhi and the city was sacked, destroyed, and left in ruins.<ref>[http://www.indiasite.com/delhi/history/invasion.html Timur’s Invasion]</ref>
==The Mughal era== <!-- This section is linked from [[February 24]] -->
[[Image:Mughals.gif|thumb|Approximate extent of the Mughal dynasty in the 17th century]]
[[Image:Taj1.jpg|thumb|[[Taj Mahal]], built by the Mughals]]
{{main|Mughal era|Mughal Empire}}
{{seealso|Babur|Humayun|Akbar|Jahangir|Shah Jahan|Aurangzeb}}
In 1526, [[Babur]], a [[Timurid Dynasty|Timurid]] ([[Turco-Persian]]) descendant of [[Timur]] and [[Descent from Genghis Khan|Genghis Khan]], swept across the [[Khyber Pass]] and established the [[Mughal Empire]], which lasted for over 200 years.<ref>[http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/empires/mughals/ The Islamic World to 1600: Rise of the Great Islamic Empires (The Mughal Empire)]</ref> The [[Mughal Dynasty]] ruled most of the Indian subcontinent by 1600; it went into a slow decline after 1707 and was finally defeated during the ''1857 war of independence'' also called the [[Indian rebellion of 1857]]. This period marked vast social change in the subcontinent as the Hindu majority were ruled over by the [[Mughal]] emperors, some of whom showed religious tolerance, liberally patronising Hindu culture, and some of whom destroyed historical temples and imposed taxes on non-Muslims. During the decline of the [[Mughal Empire]], which at its peak occupied an area slightly larger than the ancient [[Maurya Empire]], several smaller empires rose to fill the power vacuum or themselves were contributing factors to the decline. The Mughals were perhaps the richest single dynasty to have ever existed. In 1739, [[Nader Shah]] defeated the Mughal army at the huge [[Battle of Karnal]]. After this victory, Nader captured and sacked Delhi, carrying away many treasures, including the [[Peacock Throne]].<ref>[http://www.avalanchepress.com/Soldier_Shah.php Iran in the Age of the Raj]</ref>
During the Mughal era, the dominant political forces consisted of the Mughal Empire and its tributaries and, later on, the rising successor states - including the Maratha confederacy - who fought an increasingly weak and disfavoured Mughal dynasty. The Mughals, while often employing brutal tactics to subjugate their empire, had a policy of integration with Indian culture, which is what made them successful where the short-lived Sultanates of Delhi had failed. [[Akbar|Akbar the Great]] was particularly famed for this. Akbar declared "Amari" or non-killing of animals in the holy days of Jainism. He rolled back the ''Jazia Tax'' for non-Muslims. The Mughal Emperors married local royalty, allied themselves with local Maharajas, and attempted to fuse their Turko-Persian culture with ancient Indian styles, creating unique [[Indo-Saracenic]] architecture. It was the erosion of this tradition coupled with increased brutality and centralisation that played a large part in their downfall after [[Aurangzeb]], who unlike previous emperors, imposed relatively non-pluralistic policies on the general population, that often inflamed the majority Hindu population.{{Fact|date=August 2007}}
==Post-Mughal regional kingdoms==
{{seealso|Maratha Empire|Kingdom of Mysore|Hyderabad State|Sikh Empire|Durrani Empire}}
[[Image:India1760 1905.jpg|thumb|India in 1760 A.D.<br>]]
The post-Mughal era was dominated by the rise of the Maratha suzerianity as other small regional states (mostly post-Mughal tributary states) emerged, and also by the increasing activities of European powers (see colonial era below). The Maratha Kingdom was founded and consolidated by [[Shivaji]]. By the 18th century, it had transformed itself into the Maratha Empire under the rule of the [[Peshwa]]s. By 1760, the Empire had stretched across practically the entire subcontinent. This expansion was brought to an end by the defeat of the Marathas by an [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] army led by [[Ahmad Shah Abdali]] at the [[Third Battle of Panipat]] (1761). The last Peshwa, Baji Rao II, was defeated by the [[United Kingdom|British]] in the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]].
Mysore was a kingdom of southern India, which was founded around 1400 AD by the [[Wodeyar]] dynasty. The rule of the Wodeyars was interrupted by [[Hyder Ali]] and his son [[Tippu Sultan]]. Under their rule Mysore fought a [[Anglo-Mysore Wars|series of wars]] sometimes against the combined forces of the British and Marathas, but mostly against the British with some aid or promise of aid from the [[France|French]]. Hyderabad was founded by the [[Qutb Shahi dynasty]] of [[Golconda]] in 1591. Following a brief Mughal rule, [[Asif Jah]], a Mughal official, seized control of Hyderabad declaring himself Nizam-al-Mulk of Hyderabad in 1724. It was ruled by a hereditary [[Nizam]] from 1724 until 1948. Both Mysore and Hyderabad became princely states in British India.
The Punjabi kingdom, ruled by members of the [[Sikh]] religion, was a political entity that governed the region of modern day Punjab. This was among the last areas of the subcontinent to be conquered by the British. The [[Anglo-Sikh wars]] marked the downfall of the Sikh Empire. Around the 18th century modern Nepal was formed by Gorkha rulers, and the Shahs and the Ranas very strictly maintained their national identity and integrity.
==Colonial era==
{{main|Colonial India}}
[[Vasco da Gama]]'s maritime success to discover for Europeans a new sea route to India in 1498 paved the way for direct Indo-European commerce.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1497degama.html| title = Vasco da Gama: Round Africa to India, 1497-1498 CE| accessdate = 2007-05-07| date = June 1998 | work = Internet Modern History Sourcebook| publisher = Paul Halsall }} From: Oliver J. Thatcher, ed., The Library of Original Sources (Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co., 1907), Vol. V: 9th to 16th Centuries, pp. 26-40.</ref> The [[Portugal|Portuguese]] soon set up trading-posts in [[Goa]], [[Daman District, India|Daman]], [[Diu]] and [[Bombay]]. The next to arrive were the [[Netherland|Dutch]], the [[British Empire|British]]—who set up a trading-post in the west-coast port of [[Surat]]<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.indianchild.com/history_of_india.htm| title = Indian History - Important events: History of India. An overview| accessdate = 2007-05-07| work = History of India| publisher = Indianchild.com}}</ref> in 1619—and the [[France|French]]. The internal conflicts among Indian Kingdoms gave opportunities to the European traders to gradually establish political influence and appropriate lands. Although these continental European powers were to control various regions of southern and eastern India during the ensuing century, they would eventually lose all their territories in India to the British islanders, with the exception of the French outposts of [[Pondicherry]] and [[Chandernagore]], the Dutch port of [[Travancore]], and the Portuguese colonies of [[Goa]], [[Daman]], and [[Diu]].
===The British Raj===
{{main|British Raj}}
[[Image:British Empire 1921 IndianSubcontinent.png|thumb|The extent of the [[British Empire]], with India and Burma shown in violet]]
The [[British East India Company]] had been given permission by the Mughal emperor Jahangir in 1617 to trade in India.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/india/1617englandindies.html| title = The Great Moghul Jahangir: Letter to James I, King of England, 1617 A.D.| accessdate = 2007-05-07| date = June 1998
| work = Indian History Sourcebook: England, India, and The East Indies, 1617 CE| publisher = Internet Indian History Sourcebook, Paul Halsall}} From: [[James Harvey Robinson]], ed., Readings in European History, 2 Vols. (Boston: Ginn and Co., 1904-1906), Vol. II: From the opening of the Protestant Revolt to the Present Day, pp. 333–335.</ref> Gradually their increasing influence led the ''[[de-jure]]'' Mughal emperor [[Farrukh Siyar]] to grant them ''dastaks'' or permits for duty free trade in [[Bengal]] in 1717.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.calcuttaweb.com/history.shtml| title = KOLKATA (CALCUTTA) : HISTORY | accessdate = 2007-05-07| publisher = Calcuttaweb.com}}</ref> The [[Nawab of Bengal]] [[Siraj Ud Daulah]], the ''[[de facto]]'' ruler of the Bengal province, opposed British attempts to use these permits. This led to the [[Battle of Plassey]] in 1757, in which the 'army' of East India Company, led by [[Robert Clive]], defeated the Nawab's forces. This was the first political foothold with territorial implications that the British acquired in India. Clive was appointed by the Company as its first 'Governor of Bengal' in 1757.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/people_cliveofindia.html| title = Robert Clive, Baron Clive, 'Clive of India', 1725-1774| accessdate = 2007-05-07| last = Rickard| first = J.| date = [[1 November]] [[2000]]| work = Military History Encyclopedia on the Web| publisher = historyofwar.org
}}</ref> After the [[Battle of Buxar]] in 1764, the Company acquired the civil rights of administration in Bengal from the Mughal Emperor [[Shah Alam II]]; it marked the beginning of its formal rule, which was to engulf eventually most of India and extinguish the Moghul rule and dynasty itself in a century.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/economicHistory/GEHN/GEHN%20PDF/Transformation%20from%20a%20Pre-Colonial%20-%20Om%20Prakash.pdf
| title = The Transformation from a Pre-Colonial to a Colonial Order: The Case of India
| accessdate = 2007-05-07| last = Prakash| first = Om| format = PDF| work = Global Economic History Network | publisher = Economic History Department, [[London School of Economics]]| pages = 3–40}}</ref>
The East India Company monopolized the trade of Bengal. They introduced a land taxation system called the [[Permanent Settlement]] which introduced a feudal like structure (See ''[[Zamindar]]'') in Bengal. By the 1850s, the East India Company controlled most of the Indian sub-continent, which included present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. Their policy was sometimes summed up as [[Divide and Rule]], taking advantage of the enmity festering between various princely states and social and religious groups.
The first major movement against the British Company's high handed rule resulted in the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], also known as the "Indian Mutiny" or "Sepoy Mutiny" or the "First War of Independence". After a year of turmoil, and reinforcement of the East India Company's troops with British soldiers, the British overcame the rebellion. The nominal leader of the uprising, the last Mughal emperor [[Bahadur Shah Zafar]], was exiled to Burma, his children were beheaded and the Moghul line abolished. In the aftermath all power was transferred from the East India Company to the [[British Crown]], which began to administer most of India as a colony; the Company's lands were controlled directly and the rest through the rulers of what it called the [[Princely states]].
==The Indian Independence movement==
{{main|Indian independence movement}}
[[Image:Nehru Gandhi 1937 touchup.jpg|thumb|[[Gandhi]] and [[Nehru]] in 1937]]
The first step toward Indian independence and western-style democracy was taken with the appointment of Indian councillors to advise the British [[viceroy]],<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/C_0035.htm| title = Canning, (Lord)| accessdate = 2007-05-07| last = Mohsin| first = K.M.| work = [[Banglapedia]]| publisher = Asiatic Society of Bangladesh| quote=Indian Council Act of 1861 by which non-official Indian members were nominated to the Viceroy's Legislative Council.}}</ref> and with the establishment of provincial Councils with Indian members the councillors' participation was subsequently widened in legislative councils.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A119| title = Minto-Morley Reforms
| accessdate = 2007-05-07| date = [[June 1]] 2003| work = storyofpakistan.com| publisher = Jin Technologies}}</ref> From 1920 leaders such as [[Mohandas Gandhi]] began mass movements to campaign against the British Raj. [[Revolutionary movement for Indian independence|Revolutionary activities]] against the British rule also took place throughout the Indian sub-continent, these movements succeeded in bringing Independence to the Indian sub-continent in 1947.
==Independence and Partition==
{{main|Partition of India}}
{{main|History of the Republic of India}}
{{History of India}}
Along with the desire for independence, tensions between Hindus and Muslims had also been developing over the years. The Muslims had always been a minority, and the prospect of an exclusively Hindu government made them wary of independence; they were as inclined to mistrust Hindu rule as they were to resist the Raj. In 1915, [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi]] came onto the scene, calling for unity between the two groups in an astonishing display of leadership that would eventually lead the country to independence.
The profound impact [[Gandhi]] had on India and his ability to gain independence through a totally non-violent mass movement made him one of the most remarkable leaders the world has ever known. He led by example, wearing homespun clothes to weaken the British textile industry and orchestrating a march to the sea, where demonstrators proceeded to make their own salt in protest against the British monopoly. Indians gave him the name Mahatma, or Great Soul, first suggested by the Bengali poet [[Rabindranath Tagore]]. The British promised that they would leave India by 1947.
[[British India]]n territories gained independence in 1947, after being [[Partition of India|partitioned]] into the [[Union of India]] and [[Dominion of Pakistan]]. Following the division of pre-partition Punjab and [[Bengal]] provinces, rioting broke out between Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in several parts of India, including Punjab, Bengal and Delhi, leaving some 500,000 dead.<ref name=symonds>{{cite book
| last = Symonds | first = Richard | title = The Making of Pakistan | year = 1950 | publisher = [[Faber and Faber]] | location = London | oclc = 1462689 | id = ASIN B0000CHMB1 | pages = p 74
| quote = at the lowest estimate, half a million people perished and twelve million became homeless
}}</ref> Also, this period saw one of the largest mass migrations ever recorded in modern history, with a total of 12 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims moving between the newly created nations of India and Pakistan.<ref name=symonds/>
==References==
{{portal|India|Flag of India.svg}}
{{reflist|2}}
==Further reading==
* Allan, J. T. Wolseley Haig, and H. H. Dodwell, ''The Cambridge Shorter History of India'' (1934)
* [[Rajnarayan Chandavarkar|Chandavarkar, Raj.]] ''The Origins of Industrial Capitalism in India: Business Strategies and the Working Class in Bombay 1900-1940'' (1994)
* Cohen, Stephen P. ''India: Emerging Power'' (2002)
* Daniélou, Alain. ''A Brief History of India'' (2003)
* Das, Gurcharan. ''India Unbound: The Social and Economic Revolution from Independence to the Global Information Age'' (2002)
* Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. ''[[The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period]]''; published by London Trubner Company 1867–1877. (Online Copy: [http://persian.packhum.org/persian/index.jsp?serv=pf&file=80201010&ct=0 The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period; by Sir H. M. Elliot; Edited by John Dowson; London Trubner Company 1867–1877] - This online Copy has been posted by: [http://persian.packhum.org/persian/index.jsp The Packard Humanities Institute; Persian Texts in Translation; Also find other historical books: Author List and Title List])
* Keay, John. ''India: A History'' (2001)
* Kishore, Prem and Anuradha Kishore Ganpati. ''India: An Illustrated History'' (2003)
* Kulke, Hermann and Dietmar Rothermund. ''A History of India.'' 3rd ed. (1998)
* Mahajan, Sucheta. ''Independence and partition: the erosion of colonial power in India'', New Delhi [u.a.] : Sage 2000, ISBN 0-7619-9367-3
* [[R.C. Majumdar|Majumdar, R. C.]], H.C. Raychaudhuri, and Kaukinkar Datta. [[An Advanced History of India]] London: Macmillan. 1960. ISBN 0-333-90298-X
* [[R.C. Majumdar|Majumdar, R. C.]] [[The History and Culture of the Indian People]] New York: The Macmillan Co., 1951.
* Mcleod, John. ''The History of India'' (2002)
* Rothermund, Dietmar. ''An Economic History of India: From Pre-Colonial Times to 1991'' (1993)
* Smith, Vincent. ''The Oxford History of India'' (1981)
* Spear, Percival. ''The History of India'' Vol. 2 (1990)
* Thapar, Romila. ''Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300'' (2004)
* von Tunzelmann, Alex. ''Indian Summer'' (2007). Henry Holt and Company, New York. ISBN 0-8050-8073-2
* Wolpert, Stanley. ''A New History of India'' 6th ed. (1999)
==See also==
* [[History of South Asia]]
* [[History of Pakistan]]
* [[History of Bangladesh]]
* [[Contributions of Indian Civilization]]
* [[Economic history of India]]
* [[History of Buddhism]]
* [[History of Hinduism]]
* [[Indian maritime history]]
* [[Kingdoms of Ancient India]]
* [[Military history of India]]
* [[Timeline of Indian history]]
* [[Indian mathematics#Harappan Mathematics (3300 - 1500 BCE)|Harappan mathematics]]
* [[Negationism in India - Concealing the Record of Islam]]
* [[Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent]]
==External links==
* [http://www.indohistory.com/ History of India at www.indohistory.com]
* {{dmoz|Society/History/By_Region/Asia/South_Asia/}}
{{History of Asia}}
[[Category:History of India| ]]
[[Category:National histories|India]]
[[ar:تاريخ الهند]]
[[bn:ভারতের ইতিহাস]]
[[br:Istor India]]
[[cs:Dějiny Indie]]
[[cy:Hanes India]]
[[de:Geschichte Indiens]]
[[es:Historia de la India]]
[[eo:Historio de Barato]]
[[fr:Histoire de l'Inde]]
[[hi:भारतीय इतिहास]]
[[hr:Povijest Indije]]
[[bpy:ভারতর ইতিহাস]]
[[id:Sejarah India]]
[[it:Storia dell'India]]
[[he:היסטוריה של הודו]]
[[kn:ಭಾರತದ ಇತಿಹಾಸ]]
[[la:Historia Indica]]
[[lt:Indijos istorija]]
[[hu:India történelme]]
[[nl:Geschiedenis van het Indisch Subcontinent]]
[[ja:インドの歴史]]
[[pl:Historia Indii]]
[[pt:História da Índia]]
[[ru:История Индии]]
[[sa:भारतस्य इतिहास]]
[[simple:History of India]]
[[fi:Intian historia]]
[[sv:Indiens historia]]
[[te:భారతదేశ చరిత్ర]]
[[vi:Lịch sử Ấn Độ]]
[[uk:Історія Індії]]
[[zh:印度历史]]