The culture and history of India is as old as the Mesopotamians, the Chinese, and the Egyptians. However, very little is known about the India and its history. In the west an in depth analysis of India is rarely done because of the difficulty of the names, and the total unfamiliarity of historical dynasties of India. Also, with little or contact with India except when the British controlled India in the 1700's AD, we have never really been formally introduced to the history of India.

Indus River Valley Civilization

In terms of history, the most identified part of Indian civilization is the very beginning, the Indus River Valley Civilization. The two major cities that are identified with the Indus River Valley civilization is the twin cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. These two cities were built with identical floor plans. Typically, cities of the ancient world are built organically meaning that streets and blocks developed on their own and others streets and blocks would then build off of them. The only exception to the rule was the ancient Romans, they developed their major cities in a systematic pattern.

The two cities both housed a population of 30,000 which was very impressive as one of the cradles of civilization, especially in 2500 BC. Both cities in contact with Mesopotamia at this time. Between these two cultures, the Indians received cotton cloth, wood, ivory, and beads. Their organization was especially seen in the category of trade. The local tradesmen organized their goods with uniform weights and measurements. This was done for tax purposes and also to track their profits. Small clay imprints were used like logos to identify specific vendors, like company logos that are used today.

In terms of politics, the Indus River Valley Civilizations were governed in the form of a theocracy. A theocracy is when the religious leaders lead the community. The Indians believed that the priests could communicate with the gods and understand their will. This is before the development of Hinduism, so their religion was closer to the violent cruel gods found in Mesopotamia. Down the road, they trusted more in the military than priests because of defense.

Cowboys and Indians

Cowboys and Indians Bonus

The Indus River Valley declined for various reasons. There was a change in climate which moved the rain fall of the area. Because of the lack of rainfall agriculture declined and they could not feed their people. The people of the region also fell into a time period of poor political leadership. The combination of lack of leadership, failing crops, trading declining, and also foreign invaders brought the end of the Indus River Valley Civilization.

The Aryans

The Aryans came from Central Asia and through the Hindu Kush mountains. The Aryans mitigated from Central Asia around 2000 BC. The Aryans were not organized or as large as the Indus River Valley Civilizations, however the one characteristic that they had that the Indus River people not is the ability to make war. The Aryans were not a warrior society, but because of their nomadic lifestyle they were more accustomed to fight and struggle for survival. By 1000 BC the Aryans moved across the Punjab and the Ganges plains. They eventually made into the Deccan Plateau. Once the Aryans settled into the these region they pushed away from their nomadic lifestyle. The Aryans have relations to the peoples of Iran and Iraq, and also people of Europe.

The Aryans also help develop a new language, sanskrit. Sanskrit hold many connections to the development of many European languages. Also, in terms of contributions the Aryans were able to use the metals of iron and bronze for farming tools. Also, from the Aryans the value of cattle was first seen on the Indian-subcontinent. Cows were a source of meat, milk, and butter. The cow was used like money and many wealthier men would keep and raise cattle, the more cattle, the wealthier a man was because of his potential purchase power. With the combination of wealth and defense Aryans groups were governed by small tribal chieftains.

At this time not just the region controlled by the Aryans were highly productive and developed, but also other places in India were becoming as developed as the Northwest region of India. The types of crops found in the north were mostly, wheat, barley, and millet. In all the river valleys rice was a key crop.

In the southern part of India, other types of crops were being developed and traded within the Indian sub-continent.

These crops were pepper, ginger, and cinnamon. Eventually all of these crops were used for trade not only in India but they found their way into Mesopotamia and China. Later in their history these products were traded on the Mediterranean Sea and then Europe.

During the end of the Aryan dominance the value of priests were in demand. They did not have the same political value like in the Indus River Valley Civilization, but their religious value was very important. By 1000 BC, Hinduism was the dominant religion of the region. It was the priests that understood and performed the Vedas. At this time period, the Vedas were not written down, all knowledge of the Vedas were passed along through oral tradition. Found within the Vedas were rituals and prayers of the Hindu faith.

Mauryan Dynasty (321 BC-183 BC)

From the end of the Aryans, through the historical gap until the Mauryan Dynasty, India was fragmented into many small tribal kingdoms that eventually morphed into larger kingdoms and then fell apart. Regardless of the region in India, a constant type of leadership role emerged, the raja. A raja is the equivalent of a prince. These rajas developed fierce rivalries with each other and had many small battles amongst themselves for territory, cattle, and also treasure. However at the development of the Mauryan Dynasty there were two events that really made the rajas rethink their position, the first was the invasion of the Persians in the 500's BC. The Persians made it as deep as the Indus River Valley, however, the rajas soon learned that the world is much larger and there was larger more developed civilizations and militaries to content with in the world.

Second Cities

Second Cities Bonus

The second event was the invasion of Alexander the Great in 327 BC. The dominance of Alexander and the ability to defeat the Indians on their own battlefields reminded them again that there are other to be concerned about in the world. Alexander unified many small tribes and kingdoms under his control while he was in India, and this stabilized the region for a while, but once he left their was another power vacuum. The name of the leader that took control of the Ganges River Valley was Chandragupta. As an Indian prince he was able to overthrow many weakened rajas especially the ones that were defeated by Alexander in the north.

The greatest king of the Mauryan Dynasty was the king Asoka (273 BC-232 BC). Sometimes his name is spelled Ashoka. Asoka was the grandson of Chandragupta and when Chandragupta left his throne to follow a life or religion there became another power void. Asoka's biggest enemies were not Indians from other kingdoms, but rather his brothers and other relatives that all wanted to be on the throne. Once Asoka was able to stabilize his kingdom, he was able to control the region.

The turning point that came for Asoka was at the battle of Kalinga. At this battle he won, and when everything was said and done over 100,000 were dead. He had a realization that he was known as a feared and as a warrior king. He did not wish his legacy to be one of blood and death, so he changed his attitude and view of rule by following his religion of Buddhism. He governed his empire by the teaching of Buddha. He became a leader of reform, he rebuilt the road system and commissioned many shrines called stupas to built within his dynasty. His influence on India can still be seen today, on the Indian flag, the dharmachakira (wheel of righteousness) was placed on their because of the contributions of Asoka.

The Gupta Empire (320 AD-550 AD)

After the death of Asoka, local princes went back to fighting each other for the same reasons they did prior to the Mauryan Dynasty. India was again fragmented until a strong leader emerged. His name was Chandragupta II (375-415 AD). He was strong enough and had the personality to combine many small kingdoms into his control. After his death, his son Samudra Gupta expanded the Gupta Empire into the north. In terms of financial success, the Gupta Empire became rich by trading salt, cloth, and iron.