It is understood that the spirit of India has always succeeded in captivating the whole world with its unique air of mystery. India is a subcontinent which conserves a history 5000 years old. People all around the world know India as a country where history repeats itself and every stone and dust particle.
History of India
The first chief civilization was the Indus Valley Civilization. It prospered around 2500 BC in the Indus river valley and still exists in bits and pieces. This civilization is commonly known as the Harappan culture. The invasions in India had begun to destroy India from 1500 BC onwards. The Aryan ethnic groups from Afghanistan and Central Asia had begun to sift in the north western part of India. The advancement was slow but despite of this they were successful in controlling the Northern part of India. As a result, the Dravidians were shoved back to the Southern part of India. These Aryan tribes multiplied across the Ganges plain. Later they were grouped into sixteen chief kingdoms. Gradually, these kingdoms were merged into four new larger states. In about 364 BC, when North India was ruled by the Nanda dynasty, there were two more attacks from the west. The first was by Darius, the Persian King and the other by Alexander.
The first ones to rule the Northern India along with some parts of the Southern India were the Mauryas. Chandragupta Maurya became the founder with the proficient supervision of Kautilya. It was because of him that a consolidated organizational setup could be created. Only after Ashoka could the empire flourish. He left many iron pillars and rock cut edicts in places like Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.
Following the collapse of the Mauryas, the Guptas came into picture. Although this empire was not larger than the Mauryas but it was responsible for keeping the northern part of India united politically. And this happened from the 335 AD to 455 AD.
There were many other commanding empires after the Mauryan Empire. Satavahanas, Kalingas and Vakatakas were amongst those arisen in the southern and central India. The Cholas, Cheras, Chalukyas, Pandyas and Pallavas were the grand dynasties in the Southern India.
The Muslim invasions took place after the Guptas had done their part. This happened at the early half of the 11th century. The raids affected the Northern part of India by Mahmud of Ghazni for seventeen times and resulted in the shattered power of the Northern part. Later Mahmud of Ghauri invaded India and successfully established a foreign empire.
The Mughal Era is still known to be the vivacious period. Some of the most outstanding rulers of the Mughal dynasty were Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. This dynasty’s size is not only prominent but the Mughals had a great taste of art and architecture. This can be seen in the magnificent Taj Mahal made by Shah Jahan at Agra. Also, the various forts, palaces, buildings, mosques, gardens etc display the brilliant architecture of the Mughals. The most fascinating thing to note is their revenue system. It still forms the basis of the Indian revenue system till date. After the Mughals came the Marathas in the Western part of the country.
The trading posts were set up in India by the British, Portuguese, Danes and Dutch. The French had to set themselves up in Pondicherry. The East India Company stood for the British and developed their business control over huge areas. However, their rule was made official by the straight conquest of the British Crown.