I. THE CLASSICAL PATTERN
 

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION c. 2500B.C.E.

Advanced Urban Civilization.  MOHENJODARO and HARAPPA were two important cities.

VEDIC AGEc. 1500-600B.C.E.

Sanskrit speaking "Aryas" conquer indigenous people

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 HETERODOXIESc. 600-232 B.C.E.

From states to Empires: MAURYAN empire, zenith under ASHOKA. 
 

Emergence of "heterodoxies": BUDDHA, MAHAVIRA and other sects.

 

AGE OF EMPIRESc. 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?

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. 

New ideas about worship: BHAKTI and VEDANTA

II. MAKING OF AN INDO-ISLAMIC WORLD
 

            ISLAM AND THE DELHI SULTANATES c. 1200 to 1526
Earliest Muslim-rules kingdom in SIND c. 700 C.E. 
 

Muslim RAIDERSlike Mahmud of Ghazni, c. 900-1000 C.E. 

Delhi SULTANATE (Muslim rulers BASED in the subcontinent) 1206

Various ruling dynasties in the Sultanate. Last, defeated by BABUR in 1526. 
 

Religion: Importance of SUFIS in spread of Islam and proximity to BHAKTI ideas.

THE MUGHALS1526-1857 (effective power ends early 1700s.)
BABUR established, AKBAR and successors till AURANGZEB consolidate. 

Period of Indo-Islamic synthesis in music, art, language, literature, and architecture. 

Much of what the we know of "India"-- e.g. the TAJ MAHAL, Indian food, or music, comes from this era. 
 

III. THE EUROPEANS 
 

Sixteenth Century: Portuguese dominance in coastal areas. Mughals ignore navy, coastal powers did not use force as that would keep trading ships away. 
 

Seventeenth Century: North European Powers (Britain, France and the Dutch, gain at the expense of the Portuguese in South Asia.

English EAST INDIA COMPANY establishes first warehouse in SURAT in 1619. 
 

English establish other coastal centers like MADRAS, BOMBAY, and CALCUTTA through the century. 
 

Eighteenth Century: Beginning of British political dominance, especially after the battle of Buxar, and victories over the French in 1760. DIWANI or the Right to collect revenue from Bengal is a great source of profit.