HISTORY HISTORY OF INDIA Names of India Through The Ages v The name India is derived from the name of the Sindhu (Indus River), the name of the great river in the North-west, the zone where developed the first contacts of the country with the external world. It has been in use in Greek since Herodotus (4th century BC). The term appeared in Old English as early the 9th century and reemerged in Modern English in the 17th century. v According to the Manusmriti, North India (India north of the Vindhyas) is also known as Aryavarta (abode of the Aryans). v The Manu Smriti gives the name Aryavarta to the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea). v The ancient name of Bharata came from emperor Bharata. The designation Bharata appears in the official Sanskrit name of the country, Bharata Ga?arajya. The Puranas refer to India as Bharatavarsha after the King Bharata. This has been mentioned in Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana, Linga Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Agni Purana, Skanda Purana, Khanda and Markandaya Purana, all using the designation Bharata Varsha. According to the Bhagavata Purana, before India was called Bharatavarsha, it was known as Nabhivarsha. v The Bharatas were an Vedic tribe mentioned in the Rig Veda, notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings. The realm of Bharata is known as Bharatavar?a in the Mahabharata (the core portion of which is itself known as Bharata) and later texts. v The name Hind is derived from the Iranian equivalent of Indo-Aryan Sindh. v The 11th century work Tarikh Al-Hind mentions India as Hind. v In course of time the country came to be known as India in Greek, and Hind in Persian and Arabic languages. The idea that India constituted one single geographical unit persisted since ancient times. v In the 3rd century B.C, Prakrit served as the lingua franca of the country. The early realization of the natural geographical unity of India is reflected in the concept of universal emperor (Chakravartin). The ceremonial of the installation of Chakravartin is detailed in the Aitareya Brahmana. Kautilya defines Chakravartikshetra as including the whole of India from the Himalayas to the seas and a thousand yojanas. Religion reinforced the sense of geographical unity by fixing the centres of pilgrimage at the extremities in form of Char Dham (literally: the four abodes/seats ). v Char Dham comprises Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram. Indian Eras v The earliest method of reckoning time in India was mentioned in Vedanga Jyotisa, astronomy ancillary to the Vedas. There is not sufficient evidence that until the 1st century B.C., any definite ear was employed in India to record the date of an event. The Buddha era dates from 544 B.C, according to Ceylonese reckoning. The Mahavira era starts from 527 B.C., according to Ceylonese reckoning. Vikram Era v The Vikram era, or Vikram Samvat is an Indian calendar starting in 57 BC. The Vikram Samvat calendar starts half a century before the Gregorian calendar and works on an Indian calendar cycle. The beginning of the era marks the day when the King Vikramaditya beat the Sakas, who had invaded Ujjain. v In the Hindi version of the Preamble of the Constitution of India, the date of adoption of the constitution, 26 November 1949, is presented in Vikram Samvat. Saka Era v The Saka ear began in 78 A.D. v The Saka era is believed to have been started when Kanishka succeeded to the throne of Kushana Empire in 78 A.D. The Western Satraps, the Saka (Indo-Scythian) rulers of Ujjain, from the reign of Rudrasimha I (178 197) recorded the date of minting of their coins in the Saka era, usually written on the obverse behind the king s head in Brahmi numerals [ 1 ]
v The Saka era was adopted as the era of the Indian national calendar in 1957. The Saka era also remains in use in Java and Bali, Indonesia. v In the Indian National Calendar, the Sanskrit Months and their corresponding dates in Gregorian Calendar is as follows: Chaitra : 22 March Vaishakha : 21 April Jyestha : 22 May Ashadha : 22 June Shravana : 23 July Bhaadra : 23 August Ashwin : 23 September Kartika : 23 October Agrahayana : 22 November Pausha : 22 December Magha : 21 January Phalguna : 20 February Kalachuri Era The Kalachuri Era was a Hindu system of year numbering started by the Abhira King Isvarasena. In this era, the year numbering started at some time from 248-250 A.D. It was first used in Gujarat and Maharashtra, from where it spread to Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh where it was used until the 13th century A.D. Gupta Era v It was started in 319-320 A.D by Chandragupta I of the Gupta dynasty. It was continued by the Maitrakas of Valabhi (Gujarat) for some centuries after the fall of the Guptas in the 6th century A.D. Harsha Era It was founded by Harshavardhan of Kannauj in 606 A.D, the year of his accession. Periodisation of Indian History For the purpose of study and to bring out more clearly the forces, trends and institutions that have shaped history at any given point and time, the History of India has been divided into the Ancient, Medieval and Modem periods. The Ancient period starts from the earliest time to mid-8th century AD. The 7th-8th centuries AD is taken by many as the beginning of the Medieval period. v Conventional periodisation identifies the battle of Plassey (1757) as the beginning of the Modern period. v On the basis of tools used, Ancient Indian History is divided into Paleolithic Period : Prehistory-8,000 B.C; It covered the long period from the time the first ancestors of modem human beings started living in the Indian subcontinent. Mesolithic Period: 8,000 B.C-4,000 B.C; It is the intermediate or transitional stage between the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages. The tools of this age are called microliths (very small tools). Neolithic Period: 4,000 B.C-2,500 B.C; It was marked by the use of polished stone tools. Chalcolithic Period (Stone-Copper Age): Generally covered the period from 1800 to 1000 or 800 B.C. This period was marked by the use of copper (the first metal to be used in India) as well as stone. SOURCES OF ANCIENT INDIAN HISTORY So far as the source material of Ancient Indian history is concerned the general practice is to categorise it as follows: Archaeological sources Literary sources Foreigners accounts. Archaeological Sources Archaeological material which can be utilized for the reconstruction of history may be grouped under the following heads: Material derived from excavations and surface explorations of abandoned sites; Inscriptions Coins Standing monuments and sculptures Archaeological Excavations v The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was established in 1861 under the leadership of General Alexander Cunningham. v Cunningham is revered as the Father of Indian Archaeology. In 1856, Cunningham visited Harappa. v In 1872 75 Alexander Cunningham published the first Harappan seal. More Harappan seals were discovered by J. Fleet in 1912. Early stone tools were discovered at Pallavaram (Chingleput) in 1863 by Robert Bruce Foote, an officer of the Geological Survey of India. The ruins of Harappa were first described in 1842 by Charles Masson in his Narrative of Various Journeys in Baluchistan, Afghanistan, and the Punjab. v The Harappan Civilization was discovered by Sir John Hubert Marshall in 1921 22. v Daya Ram Sahni supervised the excavation of the Indus valley site at Harappa in 1921-22. In 1931, Sahni became the first Indian to be appointed Director-General of the Archaeological [ 2 ]
Survey of India (ASI) v Mohenjo-Daro, the principal site of the Harappa culture, was discovered by Rakhal Das Banerjee. Sir Mortimer Wheeler, in the 1940s, introduced the modern stratigraphic method in archaeological excavations in India. Inscriptions v The study of inscriptions is called epigraphy. v The study of old writing is called paleography. Inscriptions are writings carved on seals, stone pillars, rocks, copper plates, temple walls and bricks or images. The vast epigraphic material available in India provides the most reliable data for studying history. The largest number of inscriptions is under the Chief Epigraphist at Mysore. v The earliest inscriptions found were written in Prakrit in the 3rd century B.C. v Sanskrit became an epigraphic medium in the 2nd century A.D. v The earliest inscriptions are found on the seals of Harappa, which, however, remain undeciphered. v The Harappan inscriptions were expressed in the form of pictures (pictographic). v The oldest inscriptions deciphered so far are the Prakrit inscriptions, in Brahmi and in Kharosthi, of Asoka (third century B.C). Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of 33 inscriptions on pillars, as well as boulders and cave walls, made by the Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty during his reign from 272 to 231 B.C. These inscriptions have been found in over 35 locations throughout the areas of modern-day Pakistan and northern India, near towns, trade routes and religious centers. They were deciphered in 1837, by James Princep. In these inscriptions, Ashoka refers to himself as Beloved of the Gods and King Priya-darshi. The Ashoka inscriptions represent the first tangible evidence of Buddhism. The inscriptions proclaim Asoka s beliefs in the Buddhist concept of Dhamma and his efforts to develop Dhamma throughout his kingdom. Asoka s 7 pillar edicts have been found at Topra (Delhi), Meerut, Kausambhi, Rampurva, Champaran, Mehrauli. Minor pillar edicts have been found at Sanchi, Sarnath, Rummindei, Nigalisagar. Rummindei Pillar Inscription: Asoka s visit to Lumbini & exemption of Lumbini from tax. Nigalisagar Pillar Inscription: It was originally located at Kapilvastu. It mentions that Asoka increased the height of stupa of Buddha Konakamana to its double size. Three languages were used in Ashokan edicts viz. Prakrit, Greek and Aramaic. Four scripts were used: Prakrit inscriptions were written in Brahmi and Kharosthi; rest were written in Greek or Aramaic. The Kandahar Rock Inscription is bilingual. The inscriptions found in Pakistan area are in Kharosthi script. v The Hathigumpha inscription (Elephant Cave inscription) from Udayagiri near Bhubaneswar in Orissa was written by Kharvela, the king of Kalinga in India during the second century B.C. The Rabatak inscription, written on a rock in the Bactrian language and Greek script, was found in 1993, at the site of Rabatak, near Surkh Kotal in Afghanistan. The Rabatak inscription relates to the rule of the Kushana emperor Kanishka and gives remarkable clues to the genealogy of the Kushana dynasty. v The Sanskrit Junagadh inscription (150 A.D) credits Rudradaman I with supporting the cultural arts and Sanskrit literature and repairing the dam built by the Mauryans. The Halmidi inscription (450 A.D) is the oldest known inscription in the Kannada script. It is located near the famous temple town of Belur in the Hassan district of Karnataka. Tamil copper-plate inscriptions are records of grants of villages, plots of cultivable lands or other privileges to private individuals or public institutions by the members of the various South Indian royal dynasties. They important in reconstructing the history of Tamil Nadu. v Epigraphic attestation of Tamil begins with rock inscriptions from the second century B.C., written in Tamil-Brahmi, an adapted form of the Brahmi script. v Heliodorus pillar Inscription: It is a stone column that was erected around 113 BC in Vidisha near modern Besnagar, by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra. Heliodorus pillar Inscription is located near the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi. The pillar was surmounted by a sculpture of Garuda and was dedicated by Heliodorus to the god Vasudeva in front of the temple of Vasudeva. It gives the earliest evidence of Bhagavata religion. v Allahabad Pillar Inscription: It is the main source [ 3 ]
of Samudragupta s history. It is also known as v Aihole inscription: It was written by the Ravikirti, Prayag Prasasti. court poet of Chalukya King, Pulakesin II who It was authored by Harisena, the court poet of reigned from 610 to 642 CE. Samudragupta. The inscription is in the Sanskrit language, It is composed in very simple and refined Sanskrit in Champu kavya style. It mentions the defeat of Harshavardhan by which uses the old Kannada script. Also engraved on the stone are inscriptions by Pulakesin II. the Mughal emperor, Jahangir, from the 17th It also mentions the shifting of the capital from century. Aihole to Badami by Pulakesin. The pillar was moved from its original location v The Eran Inscription of Bhanugupta gives the first and installed within Akbar s Allahabad Fort in inscriptional evidence of sati in India. It describes Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. a famous battle in which Goparaja (a general of Bhanugupta) died and his wife committed sati. Famous Inscription Inscription King Aspect Junagarh Rock Rudradaman (Saka) Sanskrit. Says that a dam on the Sudarshana lake was constructed by Pushyagupta a governor of Chandragupta Maurya Allahabad Pillar Samudragupta Sanskrit, Composed by Harisena Aihole Inscription Pulakeshin II Mentions Harsha defeat by Pulakeshin II. Composed by Ravikriti Vishnuvardan son of King. Gwalior Inscription Bhoja Most famous Pratihara King. Hathigumpha Kharvela Most famous Pratihara King. Boghaz koi (1400 BC) Proves Rig Veda to be more than 1400 BC old. Indra, Varuna, Mitra, two Nasatyas mentioned Nanaghat Inscription Satkarni I (Satvahana king) Achievements of the king Nasik Inscription Gautamiputra Satkarni Achievements of the king. Mehrauli Iron Pillar Chandragupta II Composed by Vatsabhatti. Mandsor Inscription Bhitari Stone Pillar Kumaragupta I Skandgupta Tiruvalangadu Rajendra I (Chola) His conquests (annexed whole of Sri Lanka) Uttaramerur Cholar Period Chola village assemblies Besnagar Inscription Coins v The study of coins is called numismatics. Ancient coins were made of metal copper, silver, gold, or lead. During the Vedic period, while gold (nishka) is mentioned in some hymns, there is no indication of the use of coins. v The first coins in India were minted around the Near Vidisa (MP), Mentions Heliodorus the ambassador of king Antialcidas called himself Bhagvata & erected garudadhvaja in his honour of Vasudev. 6th century BC by the Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and certainly before the invasion of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. v The coins of this period were punch-marked coins called Puranas, Karshapanas or Pana. v The Mauryas issued punch-marked coins of silver. The most common symbols on these coins were the elephant, the tree in railing symbol and the [ 4 ]
mountain. The cast copper coins started around 5th century BC, and were issued by local kingdoms till the 3rd century BC. v The die-struck coins of the Indo-Greeks (2nd - 1st century BC) were generally in silver and very wellmade, bearing the name and portrait of the issuing ruler, with the reverse usually having religious symbols. v It was the Indo-Greeks who introduced the practice of inscribing portrait heads into the Indian coinage system. The Kushanas were the first to issue large quantities of gold coins. They also issued copper coins of low values. v Coin moulds made of burnt clay have been discovered in large numbers from the Kushana period. The use of such moulds in the post-gupta period almost disappeared. We get the largest number of coins in post- Maurya times These were made of lead, potin, copper, bronze, silver and gold. v Most of the Satavahana coins were made of lead. The Satavahanas are the first native Indian rulers to issue their own coins with portraits of their rulers, starting with king Gautamiputra Satakarni. The coins of Yajnashri Satakarni depict ships, some single masted, others double masted. v The Guptas issued the largest number of gold coins. All this indicates that trade and commerce flourished, especially in post-maurya and Gupta times. v The fact that only a few coins belonging to the post-gupta period have been found indicates the decline of trade and commerce at that time. v Gupta emperor Samudragupta is portrayed on his coins as playing lute. Samudragupta had coinage made of gold only. v Coins of Chandragupta II show Goddess Laxmi, seated on a lotus. Some of his other coins show the act of felling a lion with his bow and arrow. v Roman coins of the early first century A.D. were found at Arikamedu. Monuments The discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization established the existence of a civilization preceding the Aryans. The excavations of Taxila have generated a lot of information about the Kushanas and the Gandhara School of Art. The wooden remains found in the excavations of Pataliputra depicts that in the prehistoric period, the use of wood was more popular. Stupas found in Sanchi and Bharhut provide an idea about the contemporary educational and social life. The Copper Statue of Buddha in Nalanda, Bricks Temple in Kanpur district and Rock Temple in Jhansi district are important. v The Angkor-Vat in Cambodia, Borobudur and Shiva temples of Dhinda Pathra in Java are evidences that Indians had founded colonies in these places. A temple and some statues discovered in Malaya confirm that the dwellers of this place were Hindus and worshipped Shiva, Parvati, Ganesh and Nandi. v The temples of Deogadh in Jhansi and Bhitargaon near Kanpur throw light on the artistic activities of the Guptas. The dated icon of God Vishnu found in Borneo and other dated monuments help in verifying the Chronology of Indian history. The Chaityas are Buddhist chapels/temples; where Buddha was worshipped in the symbolic form of Stupa at the end of Chaityas. v Except one at Bairat, the Chaityas were created in the caves; e.g. Chaityas at Bhaje (the earliest of them), Bedasa, Karle. The Viharas are the residential place of Buddhist monks, where a large space is surrounded by rooms along all its three sides. Similar to Chaityas, these were also hewn in rock, e.g. Viharas at Kanheri, Nasik, Junnar etc. The first experiment in separate-temple architecture can be seen in modest temple at Sanchi. It only comprises two parts, garbhagriha (sanctum) and mukhamandapa (frontal space). The temple style of North India was known as Nagara style, while that of South India was known as Dravidian style. Chalukyas experimented in Temple architecture, from rock-cut temples (Badami) to separate temples (Pattadakal and Aihole). v Pallavas, created temples in rock-cut fashion (the Ratha Temples at Mahabalipuram). Sculptures and Paintings The bronze statues of dancer (Harappan civilization) and toys (Diamabad) during Chalcolithic period show artistic merit. The Mauryan sculptures, like, the Yakshi of Didarganj indicate the contemporary affluence and aesthetic sense of people. The statue of Kanishka indicates the foreign origin of the king and costume of foreign style, like, high shoes, overcoats etc. v The Gandhara sculptures have been found in the ruins of Taxila and in various ancient sites in Afghanistan and in West Pakistan. Gandhara Art consist mostly of the images of the Buddha and relief sculptures presenting [ 5 ]
scenes from Buddhist texts. It is also known as Graeco-Buddhist School of art. The forms of Greek art were applied to Buddhist subjects with reasonable amount of success. Images of the Buddha appeared in the likeness of Apollo and Yaksha Kubera in the fashion of Zeus of the Greeks figures. Jalalabad, Hadda, Bamaran, Begram & Taxila were the main centers where art pieces of Gandhara School have been found. Both Shakas and Kushanas were patrons of Stucco was a popular technique in Gandhara art. v Apart from Gandhara sculpture appeared at Sarnath near Benaras. Mathura on the Yamuna and Amravati and in Andhara Pradesh. Mathura art created the Buddha figures in the form of Bodhisattva. Mathura art was based on the locally available sand stone. White Marble was used in the Amaravati art and the themes were Buddha s life and Jatakas tales. v Earliest instances of paintings is found in the rock-shelters of Bhimbetaka (Madhya Pradesh). v The Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state of India are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 A.D. The caves include paintings and sculptures described by the government Archaeological Survey of India as the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting. Ajanta paintings comprise masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales. v Ellora Caves, situated near Aurangabad in Maharashtra, is famous for monumental caves. These were built by the Rashtrakuta dynasty (Brahmanical & Buddhist group of caves ) and Yadav (Jain group of caves). Cave 16, also known as the Kailasa temple, is the unrivaled centerpiece of Ellora. Note : v starred facts relate to questions asked in various exams. To be continued... Address : [ 6 ]