Ancient India

About ancient India.

History of ancient India started some 4500 years ago ( and probably much earlier) with the civilisations of the Indus River Valley. The two most important of these civilisations were situated in the cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa. It is in this period that Hinduism started evolving into the religion it is now. Important gods in ancient India were Kali and Shiva.

Another very important period in ancient India started with the invasions of the Aryan peoples between 1500 and 200 BC. The original inhabitants, the Dravidians, were pushed south by these invaders. Around 500 BC Buddhism and Jainism arose. These two religions influenced Indian society profoundly, although, today, numerically there are relatively few Buddhists and Jains in the country.

After Alexander the Great had left, Chandragupta Maurya established an important empire in 321 BC, with Patna as its capital. One of the most important figures of ancient India was Emperor Ashoka who conquered a large part of the subcontinent. In 319 AD the Gupta Empire was founded. In the south there were a number of empires: the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Cheras, the Chalukyas and the Pallavas.

Home l India l Taj Mahal l Bombay l Delhi l Calcutta l Goa l Map of India l Alphabetical List l Links