Eyewitness History of the World 2.0

INDIA

Indias first great civilization flourished in about 2300 BC 
in the Indus Valley, most of which is now in Pakistan. The great 
cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were built of brick, with 
large houses and many public buildings. Indus farmers grew wheat 
and barley, and raised animals.
THE ARYANS
Aryan nomads migrated to India from central Asia in about 1500 
BC, pushing the original inhabitants south. The Aryans developed 
the Hindu religion and probably the caste system as well. The 
sacred Hindu texts, the Vedas, were written in this period. The 
Aryans spread throughout northern India, and by 500 BC there 
were 16 major kingdoms in the north and east, dominated by the 
state of Magadha. In 326 BC Alexander the Great (365 BC323 BC) 
advanced into northern India, but he was forced to turn back 
by mutiny among his troops.
MAURYAN EMPIRE
In 320 BC Candragupta Maurya (c. 350 BCc. 250 BC) overthrew 
the rulers of Magadha and united the 16 northern states into 
Indias first empire. His grandson Asoka (c. 265 BCc. 232 BC) 
is considered Indias greatest emperor. Asoka converted to Buddhism 
and made it the state religion. He developed a code of conduct 
called the Universal Law, and had it engraved on stone pillars 
throughout India. The Mauryan Empire did not survive long after 
his death.
GUPTA DYNASTY
A number of dynasties rose and fell after the decline of the 
Mauryans. The first to invade were the Indo-Greeks, who extended 
the vast empire built by Alexander the Great. Their kingdoms 
eventually fell to the Sakas, a nomadic people from Persia (now 
Iran), who in turn gave way to the Kushans from Central Asia. 
In AD 320 a local ruling dynasty, the Guptas, overthrew the Kushans 
and gained control of India. Under their rule the arts flourished, 
and advances were made in astronomy, philosophy, and mathematics. 
The Gupta rulers were Hindu, but they tolerated other religions. 
Their reign was brought to an end in about 500 by a series of 
invasions from central Asia. India broke into a number of rival 
kingdoms that vied for power.
HINDU AND MUSLIM INDIA
Hindu dynasties ruled the south of India until the 1300s, the 
most successful of these being the Chola. Their rule reached 
its peak between 900 and 1100 when they extended the kingdom 
to include Sri Lanka and established highly successful trade 
with Southeast Asia and China. In the same period, Muslims who 
had established a kingdom in Afghanistan made regular plundering 
raids on northern India. By 1200 they had succeeded in establishing 
the Delhi Sultanate in northern India. The Sultanate expanded 
and overran the Hindu states in the south, and by the early 1300s 
it ruled almost the whole subcontinent. The Muslim Bahmani dynasty 
in central India resisted rule by the Delhi Sultan, but also 
found itself in conflict with the Hindu Vijayanagar Empire in 
the far south. At the end of the 1300s the Sultanate was weakened 
by repeated Mongol invasions and its power steadily decreased. 
Vijayanagar grew into a powerful and prosperous state, but was 
eventually defeated by Muslim successors to the Bahmani in 1565.
MOGUL EMPIRE
The Mogul Empire was established in 1526 when the Muslim Babur 
(14831530), a descendant of the Mongols, invaded India from 
Afghanistan. The empire flourished under his grandson Akbar (15421605), 
whose reign was marked by religious tolerance. Shah Jahan (15921666) 
expanded Mogul territory to the south. He had a passion for building, 
and constructed the magnificent Taj Mahal. In 1656 Shah Jahan 
was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb (16181707), who expanded 
the empire to its greatest extent. However, his repressive government 
and persecution of Hindus caused turmoil. The Mogul Empire quickly 
lost its power after his death.
EUROPEAN TRADERS
The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (14691525) arrived in 
India in 1498, and for the next century the Portuguese monopolized 
European trade with India. In 1600 the British East India Company 
was formed. It established trading posts at Madras, Bombay, and 
Calcutta. The Dutch and the French also established trading posts, 
and in the 1700s the Europeans fought each other for control 
of European trade with India. The declining Mogul Empire broke 
up into warring factions and by the early 1800s India was effectively 
under British control.
BRITISH INDIA
Under British rule India remained a patchwork of states and kingdoms 
whose Indian rulers paid taxes to the East India Company. During 
the 1800s the British introduced many reforms in education and 
government. They also built canals and railroads. However, Britain 
treated India as a source of cheap raw materials and a market 
for manufactured goods, at the expense of Indias development.
INDIAN MUTINY
Resentment at British interference in Hindu and Muslim traditions 
grew over many years. In 1857 mutiny spread among Indian soldiers 
in the north. This was sparked by the British introduction of 
bullets that were greased with animal fats. Muslims were offended 
because they consider the pig unclean, and Hindus because they 
hold the cow sacred. For a few months British rule in the north 
was threatened, but in 1858 they regained control.
NATIONALISM
After the mutiny nationalism increased in India. The British 
gradually gave Indians more say in local government, and in 1885 
the Indian National Congress was established to press for further 
political reform. In 1919 Mahatma Gandhi (18691948) launched 
a campaign of nonviolent civil resistance to British rule. In 
the same year British troops fired on demonstrators in Amritsar, 
killing almost 400 Indians. Over the next 20 years Gandhi was 
jailed many times, but his popular movement helped convince the 
British to leave India. Britain passed the Government of India 
Act in 1935 which led to free elections for an Indian parliament.
INDEPENDENCE AND PARTITION
The campaign for complete self-rule continued, and after World 
War II (19391945) the new British government agreed to grant 
Indian independence. Indias political leaders grew increasingly 
divided over religious questions. The Muslim minority pressed 
for a separate Muslim state. The British gave in to their demands, 
and when India gained independence in 1947, part of it was carved 
off to form the state of Pakistan. A massive migration followed, 
with millions of Hindus moving from Pakistan to India, while 
millions of Muslims headed the other way. Violence broke out, 
and more than a million people died. Gandhi, who was opposed 
to partition, was killed by a Hindu fanatic in 1948.
CONFLICT WITH PAKISTAN
Indias first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru (18891964) soon 
faced trouble with Pakistan. War broke out in 1948 over Pakistans 
attempt to annex the northern state of Kashmir. There were further 
clashes with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. India fought a border 
war with China in 1962, in which it lost territory.
INDIRA GANDHI
Nehrus daughter Indira Gandhi (19171984) became prime minister 
in 1966. India tested an atomic bomb in 1974, becoming one of 
the worlds few nuclear powers. Following serious unrest in 1975, 
Gandhi declared martial law. During this time, her political 
opponents were arrested and the press strictly controlled. In 
1977 she called an election and was soundly defeated. However, 
she was returned to office in 1980. The decision to use the army 
against Sikh extremists in the Golden Temple in Amritsar led 
to Gandhis assassination by her own Sikh bodyguards. Her son 
Rajiv (19441991) became prime minister the same day. After seven 
years in office, he too was assassinated.
UNREST
In the 1990s Indias economy grew rapidly and industry expanded. 
However political unrest continued as a result of separatist 
movements in the Punjab and Kashmir, and continued religious 
tension between Hindus and Muslims.

Copyright 1995, 1998 Dorling Kindersley
