India tourism home >> History of India

History of India

Nearly five thousand years back prospered India's first major civilization along the Indus River valley. The twin cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa now in Pakistan were feint by priests and held the rudiments of Hinduism. These civilizations are known to own a sophisticated lifestyle, a highly urbanized sense of aesthetics, an amazing knowledge of town planning and an undecipherable script language. The Indus civilization at one point of time comprehensive nearly a million square kilometers across the Indus river valley. It existed at the same time as the very old civilizations of Egypt and Sumer but far outlasted them. Surviving for nearly a thousand years the Indus valley civilization fell to tectonic turmoil in about 1700 BC, which caused a series of floods.

The coming of the Aryans around 1500 BC, gave the last blow to the collapsing Indus Valley civilization. At the dawn of Vedic ages the Aryans came in from the North and spread through large parts of India bringing with them their culture and spiritual beliefs. The Four Vedas or the significant books of Hinduism were compiled in this period.

In 567 B.C. the initiator of the Buddhist Religion Gautama Buddha was born. Mahavira who found the Jain Religion lived during this time only. The Indian subcontinent is full of caves and monuments dedicated to these religions and are worth a visit.

Two hundred years later, in the 4th century B.C., Emperor Ashoka, one of the supreme King of Indian histories, led the Mauryan Empire to take over approximately all of what is now modern India. Ashoka the great embraced Buddhism and built the group of monuments at Sanchi (a UNESCO world heritage site). The Asoka pillar at Sarnath has been adopted by India as its national emblem and the Dharma Chakra on the Asoka Pillar decorates the National Flag.

They were followed by the Guptas in the north, as in the south part of India some different Hindu empires, the Cholas, the Pandyas and the Cheras spread and grew, trading with Europe and also with other parts of Asia till the end of the 1100s.

Meanwhile Christianity also entered India at the same time from Europe. Legend has it that St. Thomas the Apostle came in India in 52 A.D. Even earlier than that people of the Jewish religion came on India's shores.

In about the 7th century A.D. a group of Zoroastrians, or Parsees, landed in Gujarat and became a part of the big mix of religions in India today, each of which adds its important and distinctive flavors.

Guru Nanak laid the foundation of the Sikh religion in Punjab during the 15th century.

In 1192, Mohammed Ghori, a ruler from Afghanistan, had come into India and captured many places in the north as well as Delhi. When Mohammed Ghori went home he left one of his generals in charge who became the first Sultan of Delhi. During this time Islam, was introduced into a chief part of Northern India. It may be mentioned that even prior to that, just after the period of the prophet, Islam was brought to the western coast of India by Arab traders and thrived in what is now Kerala.

The Delhi Sultanate slowly took control of more and more of North India over the next 200 years, till Timur, who was called "Timur the Lame" or "Tamberlane" came from Turkey in 1398 to assault India. He and his army stole all the loot that they can carry and left again, and after that the Delhi. Sultanate was not at all so strong again. Soon the Mughals, who were from Iran, came in and took, manage of the north.

In the interim south, in 1336, the Hindu Vijayanagar Empire was set up and became very strong.

The Europeans - Portuguese, French, Dutch, Danish and British - started incoming in the early 1600s. All of them held territories in India and made friends and enemies among India's rulers as they got more and more concerned, with the Indian politics, but it was the British who ultimately controlled most of India and lastly made it one of their colonies.

India got its independence from Britain in 1947 after a long resist led typically by Mahatma Gandhi. In the procedure of becoming independent, India became two countries instead of one. In the years since independence India has made enormous progress and coped with great problems, and has developed its industry and its agriculture, and has maintained a system of government which makes it the biggest democracy in the world.