The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo
sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo
erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilisation, which
spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from
c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, was the first
major civilisation in South Asia.A sophisticated and technologically advanced
urban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.
This Bronze Age civilisation collapsed before the end of the second millennium
BCE and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilisation, which extended over
much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and which witnessed the rise of major polities
known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and
Gautama Buddha were born in the 6th or 5th century BCE and propagated their
Shramanic philosophies.
Most of the subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the
4th and 3rd centuries BCE. It became fragmented, with various parts ruled by
numerous Middle kingdoms for the next 1,500 years. This is known as the
classical period of Indian history, during which time India has sometimes been
estimated to have had the largest economy of the ancient and mediaeval world,
with its huge population generating between one fourth and one third of the
world's income up to the 18th century. Much of northern and central India was
united in the 4th century CE, and remained so for two centuries, under the
Gupta Empire. This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual
resurgence, is known as the "Golden Age of India". From this time,
and for several centuries afterwards, southern India, under the rule of the
Chalukyas, Cholas, Pallavas, and Pandyas, experienced its own golden age.
During this period, aspects of Indian civilisation, administration, culture,
and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to much of Asia.
Kingdoms in southern India had maritime business links with the Roman
Empire from around 77 CE. Muslim rule in the subcontinent began in 8th century
CE when the Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh and Multan in
southern Punjab in modern day Pakistan,setting the stage for several successive
invasions from Central Asia between the 10th and 15th centuries CE, leading to
the formation of Muslim empires in the Indian subcontinent such as the Delhi
Sultanate and the Mughal Empire. Mughal rule came from Central Asia to cover
most of the northern parts of the subcontinent. Mughal rulers introduced
Central Asian art and architecture to India. In addition to the Mughals and
various Rajput kingdoms, several independent Hindu states, such as the
Vijayanagara Empire, the Maratha Empire, Eastern Ganga Empire and the Ahom
Kingdom, flourished contemporaneously in southern, western, eastern and
northeastern India respectively. The Mughal Empire suffered a gradual decline
in the early 18th century, which provided opportunities for the Afghans,
Balochis, Sikhs, and Marathas to exercise control over large areas in the
northwest of the subcontinent until the British East India Company gained
ascendancy over South Asia.
Beginning in the mid-18th century and over the next century, large areas
of India were annexed by the British East India Company. Dissatisfaction with
Company rule led to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, after which the British
provinces of India were directly administered by the British Crown and
witnessed a period of both rapid development of infrastructure and economic
decline. During the first half of the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for
independence was launched by the Indian National Congress and later joined by
the Muslim League. The subcontinent gained independence from the United Kingdom
in 1947, after the British provinces were partitioned into the dominions of
India and Pakistan and the princely states all acceded to one of the new states
Contents
1
Prehistoric era
1.1 Stone Age
1.2 Bronze Age
2 Early historic period
2.1 Vedic period (2000–500 BCE)
2.2 Mahajanapadas (600-300 BCE)
2.3 Persian and Greek conquests
2.4 Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE)
3 Early Middle Kingdoms — The Golden Age
(230 BCE-700 CE)
3.1 Northwestern hybrid cultures
3.2 Kushan Empire
3.3 Roman trade with India
3.4 Gupta rule
4 Late Middle Kingdoms — The Late-Classical
Age (700-1200 CE)
4.1 Northern India
5 The Islamic Sultanates
5.1 Delhi Sultanate
6 Early modern period
6.1 Mughal Empire
6.2 Post-Mughal period
6.2.1 Maratha Empire
6.2.2 Sikh Empire (North-west)
6.2.3 Other kingdoms
7 Colonial era
7.1 Company rule in India
7.2 The rebellion of 1857 and its
consequences
8 British Raj
8.1 Reforms
8.2 Famines
8.3 The Indian independence movement
9 Independence and partition
10 Historiography
11 See also
12 Gallery
13 References
14 Sources
15 Further reading
15.1 Historiography
16 Online sources
17 External links
Prehistoric eraStone AgeMain article: South
Asian Stone Age
Further information: Mehrgarh, Bhimbetka
rock shelters, and Edakkal Caves
Bhimbetka rock painting, Madhya Pradesh,
India (c. 30,000 years old)
Stone age (5000 BCE) writings of Edakkal
Caves in Kerala, India.
Isolated remains of Homo erectus in
Hathnora in the Narmada Valley in central India indicate that India might have
been inhabited since at least the Middle Pleistocene era, somewhere between
500,000 and 200,000 years ago.Tools crafted by proto-humans that have been
dated back two million years have been discovered in the northwestern part of
the subcontinent.[8][9] The ancient history of the region includes some of
South Asia's oldest settlements[10] and some of its major civilisations.The
earliest archaeological site in the subcontinent is the palaeolithic hominid
site in the Soan River valley.Soanian sites are found in the Sivalik region
across what are now India, Pakistan, and Nepal.
The Mesolithic period in the Indian
subcontinent was followed by the Neolithic period, when more extensive
settlement of the subcontinent occurred after the end of the last Ice Age
approximately 12,000 years ago. The first confirmed semipermanent settlements
appeared 9,000 years ago in the Bhimbetka rock shelters in modern Madhya
Pradesh, India. Early Neolithic culture in South Asia is represented by the
Bhirrana findings (7500 BCE)in Haryana, India & Mehrgarh findings (7000 BCE
onwards) in Balochistan, Pakistan.
Traces of a Neolithic culture have been
alleged to be submerged in the Gulf of Khambat in India, radiocarbon dated to
7500 BCE.However, the one dredged piece of wood in question was found in an
area of strong ocean currents. Neolithic agriculture cultures sprang up in the
Indus Valley region around 5000 BCE, in the lower Gangetic valley around 3000
BCE, and in later South India, spreading southwards and also northwards into
Malwa around 1800 BCE. The first urban civilisation of the region began with
the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Bronze Age
Main article: Indus Valley Civilisation
"Priest King" of Indus Valley
Civilisation
The Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent
began around 3300 BCE with the early Indus Valley Civilisation. It was centred
on the Indus River and its tributaries which extended into the Ghaggar-Hakra
River valley, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab,Gujarat,and southeastern Afghanistan.
The civilisation is primarily located in
modern-day India (Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan provinces) and
Pakistan (Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan provinces). Historically part of
Ancient India, it is one of the world's earliest urban civilisations, along
with Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt.Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river
valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft
(carneol products, seal carving), and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin.
The Mature Indus civilisation flourished
from about 2600 to 1900 BCE, marking the beginning of urban civilisation on the
subcontinent. The civilisation included urban centres such as Dholavira,
Kalibangan, Rupar, Rakhigarhi, and Lothal in modern-day India, and Harappa,
Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan. The civilisation is noted
for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multistoried
houses.
Early historic period
Vedic period (2000–500 BCE)
Main article: Vedic Civilisation
See also: Vedas and Indo-Aryans
A
map of North India in the late Vedic period.
The Vedic period is characterised by
Indo-Aryan culture associated with the texts of Vedas, sacred to Hindus, which
were orally composed in Vedic Sanskrit. The Vedas are some of the oldest extant
texts in Indiaand next to some writings in Egypt and Mesopotamia are the oldest
in the world. The Vedic period lasted from about 1500 to 500 BCE,laying the
foundations of Hinduism and other cultural aspects of early Indian society. In
terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the
Chalcolithic to the Iron Age in this period.
Historians have analysed the Vedas to posit
a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain. Most
historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of
Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent from the north-west. Vedic people
believed in the transmigration of the soul, and the peepul tree and cow were
sanctified by the time of the Atharva Veda. Many of the concepts of Indian
philosophy espoused later like Dharma, Karma etc. trace their root to the
Vedas.
The
swastika is a major element of Hindu iconography.
Early Vedic society consisted of largely
pastoral groups, with late Harappan urbanisation having been abandoned.After
the time of the Rigveda, Aryan society became increasingly agricultural and was
socially organised around the four varnas, or social classes. In addition to
the Vedas, the principal texts of Hinduism, the core themes of the Sanskrit
epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are said to have their ultimate origins during
this period.The Mahabharata remains, today, the longest single poem in the
world. The events described in the Ramayana are from a later period of history
than the events of the Mahabharata.The early Indo-Aryan presence probably
corresponds, in part, to the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture in archaeological
contexts.
The Kuru kingdomcorresponds to the Black
and Red Ware and Painted Grey Ware cultures and to the beginning of the Iron
Age in northwestern India, around 1000 BCE, as well as with the composition of
the Atharvaveda, the first Indian text to mention iron, as śyāma ayas, literally
"black metal." The Painted Grey Ware culture spanned much of northern
India from about 1100 to 600 BCE.The Vedic Period also established republics
such as Vaishali, which existed as early as the 6th century BCE and persisted
in some areas until the 4th century CE. The later part of this period
corresponds with an increasing movement away from the previous tribal system
towards the establishment of kingdoms, called mahajanapadas.
Mahajanapadas (600-300 BCE)
The
Mahajanapadas were the sixteen most powerful kingdoms and republics of the era,
located mainly across the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains, there were a number of
smaller kingdoms stretching the length and breadth of Ancient India.
Nalanda is considered one of the first
great universities in recorded history. It was the centre of Buddhist learning
and research in the world from 450 to 1193 CE.
Main articles: Mahajanapadas and Haryanka
dynasty
Main articles: History of Hinduism, History
of Buddhism, and History of Jainism
See also: Adi Shankara, Gautama Buddha, and
Mahavira
Further information: Upanishads, Indian
Religions, Indian philosophy, and Ancient universities of India
In the later Vedic Age, a number of small
kingdoms or city states had covered the subcontinent, many mentioned in Vedic,
early Buddhist and Jaina literature as far back as 1000 BCE. By 500 BCE,
sixteen monarchies and "republics" known as the Mahajanapadas—Kasi,
Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji (or Vriji), Malla, Chedi, Vatsa (or Vamsa), Kuru,
Panchala, Matsya (or Machcha), Surasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara, and
Kamboja—stretched across the Indo-Gangetic Plain from modern-day Afghanistan to
Bengal and Maharastra. This period saw the second major rise of urbanism in
India after the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Many smaller clans mentioned within early
literature seem to have been present across the rest of the subcontinent. Some
of these kings were hereditary; other states elected their rulers. The educated
speech at that time was Sanskrit, while the languages of the general population
of northern India are referred to as Prakrits. Many of the sixteen kingdoms had
coalesced to four major ones by 500/400 BCE, by the time of Gautama Buddha.
These four were Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala, and Magadha.
The 9th and 8th centuries BCE witnessed the
composition of the earliest Upanishads.:183 Upanishads form the theoretical
basis of classical Hinduism and are known as Vedanta (conclusion of the
Vedas).The older Upanishads launched attacks of increasing intensity on the
ritual. Anyone who worships a divinity other than the Self is called a domestic
animal of the gods in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The Mundaka launches the
most scathing attack on the ritual by comparing those who value sacrifice with
an unsafe boat that is endlessly overtaken by old age and death.[39]
Increasing urbanisation of India in 7th and
6th centuries BCE led to the rise of new ascetic or shramana movements which
challenged the orthodoxy of rituals. Mahavira (c. 549–477 BCE), proponent of
Jainism, and Buddha (c. 563-483), founder of Buddhism were the most prominent
icons of this movement. Shramana gave rise to the concept of the cycle of birth
and death, the concept of samsara, and the concept of liberation. Buddha found
a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Sramana
religions.
Around the same time, Mahavira (the 24th
Tirthankara in Jainism) propagated a theology that was to later become Jainism.
However, Jain orthodoxy believes the teachings of the Tirthankaras predates all
known time and scholars believe Parshva, accorded status as the 23rd
Tirthankara, was a historical figure. The Vedas are believed to have documented
a few Tirthankaras and an ascetic order similar to the shramana movement.
Persian and Greek conquests[edit]
See also: Achaemenid Empire,
Greco-Buddhism, Indo-Greek Kingdom, Alexander the Great, Nanda Empire, and
Gangaridai
Asia
in 323 BCE, the Nanda Empire and Gangaridai Empire in relation to Alexander's
Empire and neighbors.
In 530 BCE Cyrus, King of the Persian
Achaemenid Empire crossed the Hindu-Kush mountains to seek tribute from the
tribes of Kamboja, Gandhara and the trans-India region.[45] By 520 BCE, during
the reign of Darius I of Persia, much of the northwestern subcontinent
(present-day eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan) came under the rule of the
Persian Achaemenid Empire. The area remained under Persian control for two
centuries. During this time India supplied mercenaries to the Persian army then
fighting in Greece.
Under Persian rule the famous city of
Takshashila became a centre where both Vedic and Iranian learning were mingled.
The impact of Persian ideas was felt in many areas of Indian life. Persian
coinage and rock inscriptions were copied by India. However, Persian ascendency
in northern India ended with Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia in 327
BCE.
By 326 BCE, Alexander the Great had
conquered Asia Minor and the Achaemenid Empire and had reached the northwest
frontiers of the Indian subcontinent. There he defeated King Porus in the
Battle of the Hydaspes (near modern-day Jhelum, Pakistan) and conquered much of
the Punjab.[49] Alexander's march east put him in confrontation with the Nanda
Empire of Magadha and the Gangaridai Empire of Bengal. His army, exhausted and
frightened by the prospect of facing larger Indian armies at the Ganges River,
mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern Beas River) and refused to march further East.
Alexander, after the meeting with his officer, Coenus, and learning about the
might of Nanda Empire, was convinced that it was better to return.
The Persian and Greek invasions had
important repercussions on Indian civilisation. The political systems of the
Persians were to influence future forms of governance on the subcontinent,
including the administration of the Mauryan dynasty. In addition, the region of
Gandhara, or present-day eastern Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan, became a
melting pot of Indian, Persian, Central Asian, and Greek cultures and gave rise
to a hybrid culture, Greco-Buddhism, which lasted until the 5th century CE and
influenced the artistic development of Mahayana Buddhism.
Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE)Main article:
Maurya Empire
Further information: Chandragupta Maurya,
Bindusara, and Ashoka the Great
The
Maurya Empire under Ashoka the Great.
Ashokan pillar at Vaishali, 3rd century
BCE.
The Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), ruled by
the Mauryan dynasty, was a geographically extensive and powerful political and
military empire in ancient India. The empire was established by Chandragupta
Maurya in Magadha what is now Bihar. The empire flourished under the reign of
Ashoka the Great.
At its greatest extent, it stretched to the
north to the natural boundaries of the Himalayas and to the east into what is
now Assam. To the west, it reached beyond modern Pakistan, annexing Balochistan
and much of what is now Afghanistan, including the modern Herat and Kandahar
provinces. The empire was expanded into India's central and southern regions by
the emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara, but it excluded extensive unexplored
tribal and forested regions near Kalinga which were subsequently taken by
Ashoka.
Ashoka ruled the Maurya Empire for 37 years
from 268 BCE until he died in 232 BCE.[52] During that time, Ashoka pursued an
active foreign policy aimed at setting up a unified state. However, Ashoka
became involved in a war with the state of Kalinga which is located on the
western shore of the Bay of Bengal. This war forced Ashoka to abandon his
attempt at a foreign policy which would unify the Maurya Empire
During the Mauryan Empire slavery developed
rapidly and significant amount of written records on slavery are found.The
Mauryan Empire was based on a modern and efficient economy and society.
However, the sale of merchandise was closely regulated by the government.[57]
Although there was no banking in the Mauryan society, usury was customary with
loans made at the recognized interest rate of 15% per annum.
Ashoka's reign propagated Buddhism. In this
regard Ashoka established many Buddhist monuments. Indeed, Ashoka put a strain
on the economy and the government by his strong support of Buddhism. towards
the end of his reign he "bled the state coffers white with his generous
gifts to promote the promulation of Buddha's teaching. As might be expected,
this policy caused considerable opposition within the government. This
opposition rallied around Sampadi, Ashoka's grandson and heir to the
throne.Religious opposition to Ashoka also arose among the orthodox Brahmanists
and the adherents of Jainism.
Chandragupta's minister Chanakya wrote the
Arthashastra, one of the greatest treatises on economics, politics, foreign
affairs, administration, military arts, war, and religion produced in Asia.
Archaeologically, the period of Mauryan rule in South Asia falls into the era
of Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW). The Arthashastra and the Edicts of
Ashoka are primary written records of the Mauryan times. The Lion Capital of
Asoka at Sarnath, is the national emblem of India.
Early Middle Kingdoms — The Golden Age (230
BCE-700 CE)[edit]
Main article: Middle Kingdoms of India
Ancient India during the rise of theSunga
and Satavahana empires.
The Kharavela Empire, now in Odisha.
Kushan Empire and Western Satraps of
Ancient India in the north along with Pandyans and Early Cholas in southern
India.
Gupta Empire
The middle period was a time of cultural
development. The Satavahana dynasty, also known as the Andhras, ruled in
southern and central India after around 230 BCE. Satakarni, the sixth ruler of
the Satvahana dynasty, defeated the Sunga Empire of north India. Afterwards,
Kharavela, the warrior king of Kalinga,ruled a vast empire and was responsible
for the propagation of Jainism in the Indian subcontinent.
The Kharavelan Jain empire included a
maritime empire with trading routes linking it to Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand,
Vietnam, Cambodia, Borneo, Bali, Sumatra, and Java. Colonists from Kalinga
settled in Sri Lanka, Burma, as well as the Maldives and Maritime Southeast
Asia. The Kuninda Kingdom was a small Himalayan state that survived from around
the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE.
The Kushanas migrated from Central Asia
into northwestern India in the middle of the 1st century CE and founded an
empire that stretched from Tajikistan to the middle Ganges. The Western Satraps
(35-405 CE) were Saka rulers of the western and central part of India. They
were the successors of the Indo-Scythians and contemporaries of the Kushans who
ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and the Satavahana (Andhra)
who ruled in central and southern India.
Different dynasties such as the Pandyans,
Cholas, Cheras, Kadambas, Western Gangas, Pallavas, and Chalukyas, dominated
the southern part of the Indian peninsula at different periods of time. Several
southern kingdoms formed overseas empires that stretched into Southeast Asia.
The kingdoms warred with each other and the Deccan states for domination of the
south. The Kalabras, a Buddhist dynasty, briefly interrupted the usual
domination of the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas in the south.
Northwestern hybrid cultures[edit]
The
founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, Demetrius I "the Invincible"
(205–171 BCE).
See also: Indo-Greek kingdom,
Indo-Scythians, Indo-Parthian Kingdom, and Indo-Sassanids
The northwestern hybrid cultures of the
subcontinent included the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Scythians, the Indo-Parthians,
and the Indo-Sassinids. The first of these, the Indo-Greek Kingdom, was founded
when the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius invaded the region in 180 BCE, extending
his rule over various parts of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lasting
for almost two centuries, the kingdom was ruled by a succession of more than 30
Greek kings, who were often in conflict with each other.
The Indo-Scythians were a branch of the
Indo-European Sakas (Scythians) who migrated from southern Siberia, first into
Bactria, subsequently into Sogdiana, Kashmir, Arachosia, and Gandhara, and
finally into India. Their kingdom lasted from the middle of the 2nd century BCE
to the 1st century BCE.
Yet another kingdom, the Indo-Parthians
(also known as the Pahlavas), came to control most of present-day Afghanistan
and northern Pakistan, after fighting many local rulers such as the Kushan
ruler Kujula Kadphises, in the Gandhara region. The Sassanid empire of Persia,
who was contemporaneous with the Gupta Empire, expanded into the region of
present-day Balochistan in Pakistan, where the mingling of Indian culture and
the culture of Iran gave birth to a hybrid culture under the Indo-Sassanids.
Kushan EmpireMain article: Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire expanded out of what is
now Afghanistan into the northwest of the subcontinent under the leadership of
their first emperor, Kujula Kadphises, about the middle of the 1st century CE.
By the time of his grandson, Kanishka, (whose era is thought to have begun c.
127 CE), they had conquered most of northern India, at least as far as Saketa
and Pataliputra, in the middle Ganges Valley, and probably as far as the Bay of
Bengal.
They played an important role in the
establishment of Buddhism in India and its spread to Central Asia and China. By
the 3rd century, their empire in India was disintegrating; their last known
great emperor being Vasudeva I (c. 190-225 CE).
Roman trade with India[edit]
Main article: Roman trade with India
Coin
of the Roman emperor Augustus found at the Pudukottai, South India.
Roman trade with India started around 1 CE,
during the reign of Augustus and following his conquest of Egypt, which had
been India's biggest trade partner in the West.
The trade started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in
130 BCE kept increasing, and according to Strabo (II.5.12.[63]), by the time of
Augustus, up to 120 ships set sail every year from Myos Hormos on the Red Sea
to India. So much gold was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the
Kushans for their own coinage, that Pliny the Elder (NH VI.101) complained
about the drain of specie to India:
"India, China and the Arabian
peninsula take one hundred million sesterces from our empire per annum at a
conservative estimate: that is what our luxuries and women cost us. For what
percentage of these imports is intended for sacrifices to the gods or the
spirits of the dead?"
—Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84.[64]
The maritime (but not the overland) trade
routes, harbours, and trade items are described in detail in the 1st century CE
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Gupta ruleMain article: Gupta Empire
See also: Chandra Gupta I, Samudragupta,
Chandra Gupta II, Kumaragupta I, and Skandagupta
Further information: Kalidasa, Aryabhata,
Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma, and Vatsyayana
Further information: Meghadūta, Abhijñānaśākuntala, Kumārasambhava,
Panchatantra, Aryabhatiya, Indian numerals, and Kama Sutra
Queen Kumaradevi and King Chandragupta I,
depicted on a coin of their son Samudragupta, 335–380 CE.
The Classical Age refers to the period when
much of the Indian subcontinent was reunited under the Gupta Empire (c. 320–550
CE).[65][66] This period has been called the Golden Age of India and was marked
by extensive achievements in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic,
literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and philosophy that
crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture.[68] The
decimal numeral system, including the concept of zero, was invented in India during
this period.[69] The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas
enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors in India.[70]
The high points of this cultural creativity
are magnificent architecture, sculpture, and painting.[71] The Gupta period
produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma, and
Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields.[72] Science and
political administration reached new heights during the Gupta era. Strong trade
ties also made the region an important cultural centre and established it as a
base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka,
Maritime Southeast Asia, and Indochina.
The Gupta period marked a watershed of
Indian culture: the Guptas performed Vedic sacrifices to legitimize their rule,
but they also patronized Buddhism, which continued to provide an alternative to
Brahmanical orthodoxy. The military exploits of the first three
rulers—Chandragupta I (c. 319–335), Samudragupta (c. 335–376), and Chandragupta
II (c. 376–415) —brought much of India under their leadership.[73] They
successfully resisted the northwestern kingdoms until the arrival of the Hunas,
who established themselves in Afghanistan by the first half of the 5th century,
with their capital at Bamiyan.[74] However, much of the Deccan and southern
India were largely unaffected by these events in the north.[75][76]
Late Middle Kingdoms — The Late-Classical
Age (700-1200 CE)[edit]
Main articles: Middle Kingdoms of India, Badami
Chalukyas, Rashtrakuta, Eastern Ganga dynasty, Western Chalukyas, Rajput
kingdoms, and Vijayanagara Empire
Pala Empire under Dharmapala Pala Empire under Devapala
Chola Empire under Rajendra Chola c. 1030
C.E.
The
Kanauj Triangle was the focal point of empires - the Rashtrakutas of Deccan,
the Gurjara Pratiharas of Malwa, and the Palas of Bengal.
The "Late-Classical Age"[77] in
India began after the end of the Gupta Empire[77] and the collapse Harsha
Empire in the 7th century CE[77], and ended with the fall of the Vijayanagara
Empire in the south in the 13th century, due to pressure from Islamic
invaders[78] to the north.
This period produced some of India's finest
art, considered the epitome of classical development, and the development of
the main spiritual and philosophical systems which continued to be in Hinduism,
Buddhism and Jainism. King Harsha of Kannauj succeeded in reuniting northern
India during his reign in the 7th century, after the collapse of the Gupta
dynasty. His kingdom collapsed after his death.
Central Asian and North Western Indian
Buddhism weakened in the 6th century after the White Hun invasion, who followed
their own religions such as Tengri, and Manichaeism. Muhammad bin Qasim's
invasion of Sindh in 711 CE witnessed further decline of Buddhism. The Chach
Nama records many instances of conversion of stupas to mosques such as at
Nerun[79]
In 7th century CE, Kumārila Bhaṭṭa formulated his
school of Mimamsa philosophy and defended the position on Vedic rituals against
Buddhist attacks. Scholars note Bhaṭṭa's contribution to
the decline of Buddhism.[80] His dialectical success against the Buddhists is
confirmed by Buddhist historian Tathagata, who reports that Kumārila defeated
disciples of Buddhapalkita, Bhavya, Dharmadasa, Dignaga and others.[81]
Ronald Inden writes that by 8th century BCE
symbols of Hindu gods "replaced the Buddha at the imperial centre and
pinnacle of the cosmo-political system, the image or symbol of the Hindu god
comes to be housed in a monumental temple and given increasingly elaborate
imperial-style puja worship".[82] Although Buddhism did not disappear from
India for several centuries after the eighth, royal proclivities for the cults
of Vishnu and Shiva weakened Buddhism's position within the sociopolitical
context and helped make possible its decline.[83]
Northern India[edit]
From the 7th to the 9th century, three
dynasties contested for control of northern India: the Gurjara Pratiharas of
Malwa,the Eastern Ganga dynasty of Odisha, the Palas of Bengal, and the
Rashtrakutas of the Deccan. The Sena dynasty would later assume control of the
Pala Empire, and the Gurjara Pratiharas fragmented into various states. These
were the first of the Rajput states, a series of kingdoms which managed to
survive in some form for almost a millennium, until Indian independence from
the British. The first recorded Rajput kingdoms emerged in Rajasthan in the 6th
century, and small Rajput dynasties later ruled much of northern India. One
Gurjar[84][85] Rajput of the Chauhan clan, Prithvi Raj Chauhan, was known for
bloody conflicts against the advancing Islamic sultanates. The Shahi dynasty
ruled portions of eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and Kashmir from the
mid-7th century to the early 11th century.
The Chalukya dynasty ruled parts of
southern and central India from Badami in Karnataka between 550 and 750, and
then again from Kalyani between 970 and 1190. The Pallavas of Kanchipuram were
their contemporaries further to the south. With the decline of the Chalukya
empire, their feudatories, the Hoysalas of Halebidu, Kakatiyas of Warangal,
Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri, and a southern branch of the Kalachuri, divided the
vast Chalukya empire amongst themselves around the middle of 12th century.
The Chola Empire at its peak covered much
of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Rajaraja Chola I conquered all
of peninsular south India and parts of Sri Lanka. Rajendra Chola I's navies
went even further, occupying coasts from Burma to Vietnam,[86] the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, the Lakshadweep (Laccadive) islands, Sumatra, and the Malay
Peninsula in Southeast Asia and the Pegu islands. Later during the middle
period, the Pandyan Empire emerged in Tamil Nadu, as well as the Chera Kingdom
in parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. By 1343, last of these dynasties had ceased
to exist, giving rise to the Vijayanagar empire.
The ports of south India were engaged in
the Indian Ocean trade, chiefly involving spices, with the Roman Empire to the
west and Southeast Asia to the east.[87][88] Literature in local vernaculars
and spectacular architecture flourished until about the beginning of the 14th
century, when southern expeditions of the sultan of Delhi took their toll on
these kingdoms. The Hindu Vijayanagar Empire came into conflict with the
Islamic Bahmani Sultanate, and the clashing of the two systems caused a
mingling of the indigenous and foreign cultures that left lasting cultural
influences on each other.
The Islamic Sultanates[edit]
Main articles: Muslim conquest of India,
Islamic Empires in India, Bahmani Sultanate, and Deccan Sultanates
See also: Rajput resistance to Muslim
conquests and Growth of Muslim Population in Mediaeval India
Gol Gumbaz at Bijapur, has the second
largest pre-modern dome in the world after the Byzantine Hagia Sophia.
After conquering Persia, the Arab Umayyad
Caliphate incorporated parts of what is now Pakistan around 720. The Muslim
rulers were keen to invade India,[89] a rich region with a flourishing
international trade and the only known diamond mines in the world.[90] In 712,
Arab Muslim general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered most of the Indus region in
modern day Pakistan for the Umayyad empire, incorporating it as the
"As-Sindh" province with its capital at Al-Mansurah, 72 km (45 mi)
north of modern Hyderabad in Sindh, Pakistan. After several wars, the Hindu
Rajput clans defeated the Arabs at the Battle of Rajasthan, halting their
expansion and containing them at Sindh in Pakistan.[91] Many short-lived Islamic
kingdoms (sultanates) under foreign rulers were established across the north
western subcontinent over a period of a few centuries. Additionally, Muslim
trading communities flourished throughout coastal south India, particularly on
the western coast where Muslim traders arrived in small numbers, mainly from
the Arabian peninsula. This marked the introduction of a third Abrahamic Middle
Eastern religion, following Judaism and Christianity, often in puritanical
form. Later, the Bahmani Sultanate and Deccan sultanates, founded by Turkic
rulers, flourished in the south.
The Vijayanagara Empire rose to prominence
by the end of the 13th century as a culmination of attempts by the southern
powers to ward off Islamic invasions. The empire dominated all of Southern
India and fought off invasions from the five established Deccan Sultanates.[92]
The empire reached its peak during the rule of Krishnadevaraya when
Vijayanagara armies were consistently victorious.[93] The empire annexed areas
formerly under the Sultanates in the northern Deccan and the territories in the
eastern Deccan, including Kalinga, while simultaneously maintaining control
over all its subordinates in the south.[94] It lasted until 1646, though its
power declined after a major military defeat in 1565 by the Deccan sultanates.
As a result, much of the territory of the former Vijaynagar Empire were
captured by Deccan Sultanates, and the remainder was divided into many states
ruled by Hindu rulers.
Delhi Sultanate[edit]
Qutub Minar is the world's tallest brick
minaret, commenced by Qutb-ud-din Aybak of the Slave dynasty.
Main article: Delhi Sultanate
In the 12th and 13th centuries, Turks and
Afghans invaded parts of northern India and established the Delhi Sultanate in
the former Rajput holdings.[95] The subsequent Slave dynasty of Delhi managed
to conquer large areas of northern India, approximately equal in extent to the
ancient Gupta Empire, while the Khilji dynasty conquered most of central India
but were ultimately unsuccessful in conquering and uniting the subcontinent.
The Sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance. The resulting
"Indo-Muslim" fusion of cultures left lasting syncretic monuments in
architecture, music, literature, religion, and clothing. It is surmised that
the language of Urdu (literally meaning "horde" or "camp"
in various Turkic dialects) was born during the Delhi Sultanate period as a
result of the intermingling of the local speakers of Sanskritic Prakrits with
immigrants speaking Persian, Turkic, and Arabic under the Muslim rulers. The
Delhi Sultanate is the only Indo-Islamic empire to enthrone one of the few
female rulers in India, Razia Sultana (1236–1240).
A Turco-Mongol conqueror in Central Asia,
Timur (Tamerlane), attacked the reigning Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud of the
Tughlaq Dynasty in the north Indian city of Delhi.[96] The Sultan's army was
defeated on 17 December 1398. Timur entered Delhi and the city was sacked,
destroyed, and left in ruins, after Timur's army had killed and plundered for
three days and nights. He ordered the whole city to be sacked except for the
sayyids, scholars, and the other Muslims; 100,000 war prisoners were put to
death in one day.[97]
Early modern period[edit]
Extent of the Mughal Empire in 1700.
Taj Mahal, built by the Mughals
Mughal Empire[edit]
Main article: Mughal Empire
In 1526, Babur, a Timurid descendant of
Timur and Genghis Khan from Fergana Valley (modern day Uzbekistan), swept
across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal Empire, covering modern day
Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.[98] However, his son Humayun was
defeated by the Afghan warrior Sher Shah Suri in the year 1540, and Humayun was
forced to retreat to Kabul. After Sher Shah's death, his son Islam Shah Suri
and the Hindu king Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, who had won 22 battles
against Afghan rebels and forces of Akbar, from Punjab to Bengal and had
established a secular Hindu rule in North India from Delhi till 1556. Akbar's
forces defeated and killed Hemu in the Second Battle of Panipat on 6 November
1556.
The Mughal dynasty ruled most of the Indian
subcontinent by 1600; it went into a slow decline after 1707. The Mughals
suffered sever blow due to invasions from Marathas and Afghans due to which the
Mughal dynasty were reduced to puppet rulers by 1757. The remnants of the
Mughal dynasty were finally defeated during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, also
called the 1857 War of Independence. This period marked vast social change in
the subcontinent as the Hindu majority were ruled over by the Mughal emperors,
most of whom showed religious tolerance, liberally patronising Hindu culture.
The famous emperor Akbar, who was the grandson of Babar, tried to establish a
good relationship with the Hindus. However, later emperors such as Aurangazeb
tried to establish complete Muslim dominance, and as a result several
historical temples were destroyed during this period and taxes imposed on
non-Muslims. During the decline of the Mughal Empire, several smaller states
rose to fill the power vacuum and themselves were contributing factors to the
decline. In 1739, Nader Shah, emperor of Iran, defeated the Mughal army at the
huge Battle of Karnal. After this victory, Nader captured and sacked Delhi,
carrying away many treasures, including the Peacock Throne.[99]
The Mughals were perhaps the richest single
dynasty to have ever existed. During the Mughal era, the dominant political
forces consisted of the Mughal Empire and its tributaries and, later on, the
rising successor states - including the Maratha Empire - which fought an
increasingly weak Mughal dynasty. The Mughals, while often employing brutal
tactics to subjugate their empire, had a policy of integration with Indian
culture, which is what made them successful where the short-lived Sultanates of
Delhi had failed. Akbar the Great was particularly famed for this. Akbar
declared "Amari" or non-killing of animals in the holy days of
Jainism. He rolled back the jizya tax for non-Muslims. The Mughal emperors
married local royalty, allied themselves with local maharajas, and attempted to
fuse their Turko-Persian culture with ancient Indian styles, creating a unique
Indo-Saracenic architecture. It was the erosion of this tradition coupled with
increased brutality and centralization that played a large part in the dynasty's
downfall after Aurangzeb, who unlike previous emperors, imposed relatively
non-pluralistic policies on the general population, which often inflamed the
majority Hindu population.
Post-Mughal period[edit]
Main articles: Maratha Empire, Kingdom of Mysore,
Hyderabad State, Nawab of Bengal, Sikh Empire, Rajputs, and Durrani Empire
Further information: Shivaji, Tipu Sultan,
Nizam, Nawab of Oudh, Ranjit Singh, and Ahmad Shah Abdali
Political map of Indian subcontinent in 1758.
The Maratha Empire (orange) was the last Hindu empire of India.
Maratha Empire[edit]
Main article: Maratha Empire
The post-Mughal era was dominated by the
rise of the Maratha suzerainty as other small regional states (mostly late
Mughal tributary states) emerged, and also by the increasing activities of
European powers (see colonial era below). There is no doubt that the single
most important power to emerge in the long twilight of the Mughal dynasty was
the Maratha Empire.[100] The Maratha kingdom was founded and consolidated by Shivaji,
a Maratha aristocrat of the Bhonsle clan who was determined to establish
Hindavi Swarajya (self-rule of Hindu people). By the 18th century, it had
transformed itself into the Maratha Empire under the rule of the Peshwas (prime
ministers). Gordon explains how the Maratha systematically took control over
the Malwa plateau in 1720-1760. They started with annual raids, collecting
ransom from villages and towns while the declining Mughal Empire retained
nominal control. However in 1737, the Marathas defeated a Mughal army in their
capital, Delhi inteslf, and as a result, the Mughal emperor ceded Malwa to
them. The Marathas continued their military campaigns against Mughals, Nizam,
Nawab of Bengal and Durrani Empire to further extend their boundaries. They
built an efficient system of public administration known for its attention to
detail. It succeeded in raising revenue in districts that recovered from years
of raids, up to levels previously enjoyed by the Mughals. The cornerstone of
the Maratha rule in Malwa rested on the 60 or so local tax collectors
(kamavisdars) who advanced the Maratha ruler '(Peshwa)' a portion of their
district revenues at interest.[101] By 1760, the domain of the Marathas
stretched across practically the entire subcontinent.[102] The defeat of
Marathas by British in three Anglo-Maratha Wars brought end to the empire by
1820. The last peshwa, Baji Rao II, was defeated by the British in the Third
Anglo-Maratha War.
Sikh Empire (North-west)[edit]
Harmandir Sahib or The Golden Temple is
culturally the most significant place of worship for the Sikhs.
Main article: Sikh Empire
See also: History of Sikhism
The Punjabi kingdom, ruled by members of
the Sikh religion, was a political entity that governed the region of
modern-day Punjab. The empire, based around the Punjab region, existed from
1799 to 1849. It was forged, on the foundations of the Khalsa, under the
leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780–1839) from an array of autonomous
Punjabi Misls. He consolidated many parts of northern India into a kingdom. He
primarily used his highly disciplined Sikh army that he trained and equipped to
be the equal of a European force. Ranjit Singh proved himself to be a master
strategist and selected well qualified generals for his army. In stages, he
added the central Punjab, the provinces of Multan and Kashmir, the Peshawar
Valley, and the Derajat to his kingdom. His came in the face of the powerful
British East India Company.[103][104] At its peak, in the 19th century, the
empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the west, to Kashmir in the north, to
Sindh in the south, and Himachal in the east. This was among the last areas of
the subcontinent to be conquered by the British. The first and second
Anglo-Sikh war marked the downfall of the Sikh Empire.
Other kingdoms[edit]
There were several other kingdoms which
ruled over parts of India in the later mediaeval period prior to the British
occupation. However, most of them were bound to pay regular tribute to the
Marathas.[102] The rule of Wodeyar dynasty which established the Kingdom of
Mysore in southern India in around 1400 CE by was interrupted by Hyder Ali and
his son Tipu Sultan in the later half of 18th century. Under their rule, Mysore
fought a series of wars sometimes against the combined forces of the British
and Marathas, but mostly against the British, with Mysore receiving some aid or
promise of aid from the French.
The Nawabs of Bengal had become the de
facto rulers of Bengal following the decline of Mughal Empire. However, their
rule was interrupted by Marathas who carried six expeditions in Bengal from
1741 to 1748 as a result of which Bengal became a vassal state of Marathas.
Hyderabad was founded by the Qutb Shahi
dynasty of Golconda in 1591. Following a brief Mughal rule, Asif Jah, a Mughal
official, seized control of Hyderabad and declared himself Nizam-al-Mulk of
Hyderabad in 1724. It was ruled by a hereditary Nizam from 1724 until 1948.
Both Mysore and Hyderabad became princely states in British India.
Around the 18th century, the modern state
of Nepal was formed by Gurkha rulers.
Colonial era[edit]
Main article: Colonial India
In 1498, Vasco da Gama successfully
discovered a new sea route from Europe to India, which paved the way for direct
Indo-European commerce.[105] The Portuguese soon set up trading posts in Goa,
Daman, Diu and Bombay. The next to arrive were the Dutch, the British—who set
up a trading post in the west coast port of Surat[106] in 1619—and the French.
The internal conflicts among Indian kingdoms gave opportunities to the European
traders to gradually establish political influence and appropriate lands.
Although these continental European powers controlled various coastal regions
of southern and eastern India during the ensuing century, they eventually lost
all their territories in India to the British islanders, with the exception of
the French outposts of Pondichéry and Chandernagore, the Dutch port of
Travancore, and the Portuguese colonies of Goa, Daman and Diu.
Company rule in India[edit]
Main articles: East India Company and
Company rule in India
Map
of India in 1857 at the end of Company rule.
In 1617 the British East India Company was
given permission by Mughal Emperor Jahangir to trade in India.[107] Gradually
their increasing influence led the de jure Mughal emperor Farrukh Siyar to
grant them dastaks or permits for duty free trade in Bengal in 1717.[108] The
Nawab of Bengal Siraj Ud Daulah, the de facto ruler of the Bengal province,
opposed British attempts to use these permits.
The First Carnatic War extended from 1746
until 1748 and was the result of colonial competition between France and
Britain, two of the countries involved in the War of Austrian Succession.
Following the capture of a few French ships by the British fleet in India,
French troops attacked and captured the British city of Madras located on the
east coast of India on 21 September 1746. Among the prisoners captured at
Madras was Robert Clive himself. The war was eventually ended by the Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle which ended the War of Austrian Succession in 1748.
In 1749, the Second Carnatic War broke out
as the result of a war between a son, Nasir Jung, and a grandson, Muzaffer
Jung, of the deceased Nizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad to take over Nizam's throne in
Hyderabad. The French supported Muzaffer Jung in this civil war. Consequently,
the British supported Nasir Jung in this conflict.
Meanwhile, however, the conflict in
Hyderabad provided Chanda Sahib with an opportunity to take power as the new
Nawab of the territory of Arcot. In this conflict, the French supported Chandra
Sahib in his attempt to become the new Nawab of Arcot. The British supported
the son of the deposed incumbent Nawab, Anwaruddin Muhammad Khan, against
Chanda Sahib. In 1751, Robert Clive led a British armed force and captured
Arcot to reinstate the incumbent Nawab. The Second Carnatic War finally came to
an end in 1754 with the Treaty of Pondicherry.
In 1756, the Seven Years War broke out
between the great powers of Europe, and India became a theatre of action, where
it was called the Third Carnatic War. Early in this war, armed forces under the
French East India Company captured the British base of Calcutta in
north-eastern India. However, armed forces under Robert Clive later recaptured
Calcutta and then pressed on to capture the French settlement of Chandannagar
in 1757. This led to the Battle of Plassey on 23 June 1757, in which the Bengal
Army of the East India Company, led by Robert Clive, defeated the
French-supported Nawab's forces. This was the first real political foothold
with territorial implications that the British acquired in India. Clive was
appointed by the company as its first 'Governor of Bengal' in 1757.[109] This
was combined with British victories over the French at Madras, Wandiwash and
Pondichéry that, along with wider British successes during the Seven Years War,
reduced French influence in India. Thus as a result of the three Carnatic Wars,
the British East India Company gained exclusive control over the entire
Carnatic region of India.[110] The British East India Company extended its
control over the whole of Bengal. After the Battle of Buxar in 1764, the
company acquired the rights of administration in Bengal from Mughal Emperor
Shah Alam II; this marked the beginning of its formal rule, which within the
next century engulfed most of India and extinguished the Moghul rule and
dynasty.[111] The East India Company monopolized the trade of Bengal. They
introduced a land taxation system called the Permanent Settlement which
introduced a feudal-like structure in Bengal, often with zamindars set in
place. By the 1850s, the East India Company controlled most of the Indian
sub-continent, which included present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. Their policy
was sometimes summed up as Divide and Rule, taking advantage of the enmity
festering between various princely states and social and religious groups.[112]
The Hindu Ahom Kingdom of North-east India
first fell to Burmese invasion and then to British after Treaty of Yandabo in
1826.
The rebellion of 1857 and its
consequences[edit]
Main article: Indian rebellion of 1857
The Indian rebellion of 1857 was a
large-scale rebellion by soldiers employed by the British East India in
northern and central India against the Company's rule. The rebels were
disorganized, had differing goals, and were poorly equipped, led, and trained,
and had no outside support or funding. They were brutally suppressed and the
British government took control of the Company and eliminated many of the
grievances that caused it. The government also was determined to keep full
control so that no rebellion of such size would ever happen again. It favoured
the princely states (that helped suppress the rebellion), and tended to favour
Muslims (who were less rebellious) against the Hindus who dominated the
rebellion.[113]
In the aftermath, all power was transferred
from the East India Company to the British Crown, which began to administer
most of India as a number of provinces; the John Company's lands were
controlled directly, while it had considerable indirect influence over the rest
of India, which consisted of the Princely states ruled by local royal families.
There were officially 565 princely states in 1947, but only 21 had actual state
governments, and only three were large (Mysore, Hyderabad and Kashmir). They
were absorbed into the independent nation in 1947-48.[114]
British Raj[edit]
Main article: British Raj
The
British Indian Empire at its greatest extent (in a map of 1909). The princely
states under British suzerainty are in yellow.
Reforms[edit]
When the Lord Curzon (Viceroy 1899-1905)
took control of higher education and then split the large province of Bengal
into a largely Hindu western half and "Eastern Bengal and Assam," a
largely Muslim eastern half. The British goal was efficient administration but
Hindus were outraged at the apparent "divide and rule"
strategy." When the Liberal party in Britain came to power in 1906 he was
removed. The new Viceroy Gilbert Minto and the new Secretary of State for India
John Morley consulted with Congress leader Gopal Krishna Gokhale. The Morley-Minto
reforms of 1909 provided for Indian membership of the provincial executive
councils as well as the Viceroy's executive council. The Imperial Legislative
Council was enlarged from 25 to 60 members and separate communal representation
for Muslims was established in a dramatic step towards representative and
responsible government. Bengal was reunified in 1911.[115] Meanwhile the
Muslims for the first time began to organise, setting up the All India Muslim
League in 1906. It was not a mass party but was designed to protect the
interests of the aristocratic Muslims, especially in the north west. It was
internally divided by conflicting loyalties to Islam, the British, and India,
and by distrust of Hindus.[116]
Famines[edit]
During the British Raj, famines in India, often
attributed to failed government policies, were some of the worst ever recorded,
including the Great Famine of 1876–78 in which 6.1 million to 10.3 million
people died[117] and the Indian famine of 1899–1900 in which 1.25 to 10 million
people died.[117] The Third Plague Pandemic started in China in the middle of
the 19th century, spreading plague to all inhabited continents and killing 10
million people in India alone.[118] Despite persistent diseases and famines,
the population of the Indian subcontinent, which stood at about 125 million in
1750, had reached 389 million by 1941.[119]
The Indian independence movement[edit]
Main articles: Indian independence movement
and Pakistan Movement
See also: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and
Indian independence activists
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Muhammad Ali
Jinnah, Bombay, 1944.
The numbers of British in India were small,
yet they were able to rule two-thirds of the subcontinent directly and exercise
considerable leverage over the princely states that accounted for the remaining
one-third of the area. There were 674 of the these states in 1900, with a
population of 73 million, or one person in five. In general, the princely
states were strong supporters of the British regime, and the Raj left them
alone. They were finally closed down in 1947-48.[120]
The first step toward Indian self-rule was
the appointment of councillors to advise the British viceroy, in 1861; the
first Indian was appointed in 1909. Provincial Councils with Indian members
were also set up. The councillors' participation was subsequently widened into
legislative councils. The British built a large British Indian Army, with the
senior officers all British, and many of the troops from small minority groups
such as Gurkhas from Nepal and Sikhs. The civil service was increasingly filled
with natives at the lower levels, with the British holding the more senior
positions.[121]
From 1920 leaders such as Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi began highly popular mass movements to campaign against the
British Raj using largely peaceful methods. Some others adopted a militant
approach that sought to overthrow British rule by armed struggle; revolutionary
activities against the British rule took place throughout the Indian
sub-continent. The Gandhi-led independence movement opposed the British rule
using non-violent methods like non-cooperation, civil disobedience and economic
resistance. These movements succeeded in bringing independence to the new
dominions of India and Pakistan in 1947.
Independence and partition[edit]
Main articles: Partition of India, History
of the Republic of India, History of Pakistan, and History of Bangladesh
Along with the desire for independence,
tensions between Hindus and Muslims had also been developing over the years.
The Muslims had always been a minority within the subcontinent, and the
prospect of an exclusively Hindu government made them wary of independence;
they were as inclined to mistrust Hindu rule as they were to resist the foreign
Raj, although Gandhi called for unity between the two groups in an astonishing
display of leadership. The British, extremely weakened by the Second World War,
promised that they would leave and participated in the formation of an interim
government. The British Indian territories gained independence in 1947, after
being partitioned into the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. Following
the controversial division of pre-partition Punjab and Bengal, rioting broke
out between Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims in these provinces and spread to several
other parts of India, leaving some 500,000 dead.[122] Also, this period saw one
of the largest mass migrations ever recorded in modern history, with a total of
12 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims moving between the newly created nations
of India and Pakistan (which gained independence on 15 and 14 August 1947
respectively).[122] In 1971, Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan and East
Bengal, seceded from Pakistan. jjkjwej
Historiography[edit]
In recent decades there have been four main
schools of historiography regarding India: Cambridge, Nationalist, Marxist, and
subaltern. The once common "Orientalist" approach, with its the image
of a sensuous, inscrutable, and wholly spiritual India, has died out in serious
scholarship.[123]
The "Cambridge School," led by Anil
Seal,[124] Gordon Johnson,[125] Richard Gordon, and David A. Washbrook,[126]
downplays ideology.[127]
The Nationalist school has focused on
Congress, Gandhi, Nehru and high level politics. It highlighted the Mutiny of
1857 as a war of liberation, and Gandhi's 'Quit India' begun in 1942, as
defining historical events. More recently, Hindu nationalists have created a
version of history for the schools to support their demands for
"Hindutva" ("Hinduness") in Indian society.[128]
The Marxists have focused on studies of
economic development, landownership, and class conflict in precolonial India
and of deindustrialization during the colonial period. The Marxists portrayed
Gandhi's movement as a device for the bourgeois elite to harness popular,
potentially revolutionary forces for its own ends.[129]
The "subaltern school," was begun
in the 1980s by Ranajit Guha and Gyan Prakash.[130] It focuses attention away
from the elites and politicians to "history from below," looking at
the peasants using folklore, poetry, riddles, proverbs, songs, oral history and
methods inspired by anthropology. It focuses on the colonial era before 1947
and typically emphasizes caste and downplays class, to the annoyance of the
Marxist school.[131]
See also
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