PLEASE NOTE: THE LINKS HERE ARE PURELY FOR YOUR INFORMATION AND ENJOYMENT, AND DO NOT CONSTITUTE A PART OF THE REQUIRED READING FOR THIS COURSE
Chronology and Important Developments
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION c. 2500 B.C.E.
Advanced Urban Civilization. MOHENJODARO and HARAPPA were
two important cities.
Harappa Site [external] Link
VEDIC AGE c. 1500-600 B.C.E.
Sanskrit speaking "Aryas" conquer indigenous people
Link
to selections from the RIG VEDA
Emergence of "caste" based on VARNA or JATI
High philosophy of the Upanishads
Pastoral nomads to settled lifestyles
Emergence of early forms of the STATE
EARLY EMPIRES AND HETERODOXIES c. 600-232 B.C.E.
From states to Empires: particularly significant was the MAURYAN
empire. The empire reached zenith under ASHOKA.
Emergence of "heterodox" ideas with BUDDHA, MAHAVIRA and other sects.
AGE OF EMPIRES c. 200 B.C.E. to c. 700 C.E. [A.D.]
Empires of the KUSHANAS (from Central Asia/ China) SHAKAS
etc.
The GUPTA Empire: Classical Age?
External Link
to Page on the Gupta Empire
Decline of Political Centralization
Efflorescence of literary and religious texts.
RISE OF REGIONAL POWERS c. 600 to c. 1200 C.E. [A.D.]
Rise of Regional powers all over the subcontinent. RAJPUTS become
prominent.
CHOLA Empire flourishes in the South and overseas in S.E. Asia.
External Link
to Information on Cholas
New ideas about worship:
SHANKARA and the emergence of VEDANTA ideas
Growth of temples and of BHAKTI (devotional) forms
DELHI SULTANATES c. 1200 to 1526
External
Link to Site on the Delhi Sultanate
Earliest Muslim-rules kingdom in SIND c. 700 C.E.
Muslim RAIDERS like Mahmud of Ghazni, c. 900-1000 C.E.
Delhi SULTANATE (Muslim rulers BASED in the subcontinent) 1206
Various ruling dynasties in the Sultanate. Last of them defeated
by BABUR in 1526. Religion: The Importance
of SUFIS in the spread of the message of Islam and their close proximity
to BHAKTI ideas.
THE MUGHALS 1526-1857 (effective power ends early 1700s.)
Link
to [ucla] page on Mughals
Link to [external site] page on Mughals (parts still under construction)
BABUR established, AKBAR and successors
till AURANGZEB consolidate.
Period of Indo-Islamic synthesis in
music, art, language, literature, and architecture.
Amongst others much of what the west
knows of "India"-- e.g. the TAJ MAHAL, Indian food, or even much of the
music, comes from this era.
Other Useful Sites
Library of Congress -- Area Studies Handbooks -- India
My "Pre-Modern
India Links" Page An Ongoing Project!