If we want to make our future better, we need to understand our past first. I have always been intrested in digging into Indian Culture, knowing our positives and negatives. Got some free time and thought of penning down a brief synopsis of 5000 years of the Indian Historical Saga.
The very first footprints found on Indian land are of Harappans (Indus Valley Civilization) dating back to 3000 B.C, located along the Indus river in Pakistan. But the culture annihilated around 1700 B.C. either due to some natural calamnity or an external attack, however the exact reason of their extinction is still unkown.
Then came the era of Indo-Aryans around 1500 B.C. These were tribals from North Eurasia (Europe + Asia) who migrated here in search of fertile lands. The group had superior millitary based skills which helped them in establishing themselves as the dominant class against the local farmers. This span of 1000 years (1500 B.C. – 500 B.C.) is popularly known as “Vedic period“. It was in this period when the oldest Indian manuscripts – “Vedas” (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharavaveda) were composed which are still used as reference for teaching in some parts of India.
The era of 600 B.C. is attributted to Magadha Kindgom, which was established along the river Ganges in Bihar and around the same time, Dravidians (non Indo-Aryans) developed their own culture in the southern part of India. Two of India’s greatest and most popular epics “Ramayana” and “Mahabharta” were written in this period. Another striking development in this period was – Buddhism, a religion based mainly on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama.
Moving ahead, around 325 B.C., the Macedonian king Alexander the Great invaded India and captured the provinces of Gandhara, Taxila, Khamboja and kingdom of Porus, this area spanned from west pakistan to around central India. This was the first time when Indian culture came in contact with the outside world. Chandragupta Maurya, founder of Maurya dynasty kept healthy relations with the west and promoted Hinduism in his empire. The period of 300BC – 900 AD saw rise and fall of many dynasties like Maurya Dynasty, Budhhist Shunga Dynasty, Kanva Dynasty, Kushan Dynasty, Pallava Dynasty, Gupta Dynasty and Chalukya dynasty.
By the turn of 10th century, India was divided into numerous small knigdoms. Muslims, led by Ghajni Mohammad statred capturing Northern India in 11th century AD and by 1206 AD the Sultanate of Delhi was established. The period between 1200-1500 AD saw Khalji dynasty, Tuqluq dynasty, Sayid dynasty and Lodi dynasty capturing most of India. In 1526 Babur established the Mughal Empire after defeating the last sultan of delhi, which was passed on in succession to Akbar the great and followed by Shahjahan and Aurangzeb. Around the same time Vasco de Gama, the first portuguese landed in India, followed by the Dutch, French and British.
In 1615, Jahangir agreed to Britain’s proposol of a commercial treaty to reside and build factories in Surat and other areas. On the same lines, East India Company created three trading posts – Surat, Madras (Chennai) and Calcutta (Kolkata). And an additional Portuguese post of Bombay was ceded to Britain in dowry of Portuguese princess Catherine de Braganza((who was married to the British Prince Charles-II).
With the fall of mughal empire in 18th century, due to Aurangzeb’s orthodox ideas of islamification, French and British started acquiring Indian territories. With French-Indian war, battle of Plassey and Buxar, by early 1800’s the british had secured most part of southern, western and eastern India. The East India company’s rule lasted until 1858, when, after the revolt of 1857 in Merrut and as a consequence of the Government of India Act 1858(passed in UK parliament), the British government took the direct administration of India under the British crown.
Founded in 1885, Indian National Congress became the leader of Indian Independence movement. By 1907, the party was split in two due to their differnet attitudes towards the british government: “Garam Dal” by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and “Naram Dal” by Gopal Krishna Gokhle.
After 1915, Mahatma Gandhi became the heart and soul of Indian Independence Movement. With campaigns like Satyagraha and Quit India Movement, he was able to get international attention on the Indian independence chapter and thus pressurizing the British emprire. The Muslim League, led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah also supported the Independence movement but advocated the two nation theory (Hindus and Muslims are two different nationalities) and demanded a separate state for Muslims which resulted in the Partition of India in 1947.
Post independence, running majorly under Congress Party, India is moving at a fast pace to become a modernized secular nation. Though strong regional differences, local unrest and tense relations with neighbouring countries have changed its history over a period of time.
Nevertheless India has got a great potential and is slowly making a prominent position in the international community.
PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN !!!
Himanshu Prabhakar's Blog 