History of India: Difference between revisions

{{Use Indian English|date=September 2023}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}

[[Anatomically modern humans]] first arrived on the [[Indian subcontinent]] between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago.<ref name="PetragliaAllchin">{{cite book |author1=Michael D. Petraglia |author2=Bridget Allchin |author-link2=Bridget Allchin |title=The Evolution and History of Human Populations in South Asia: Inter-disciplinary Studies in Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistics and Genetics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qm9GfjNlnRwC&pg=PA10 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |page=6 |date=22 May 2007|isbn=978-1-4020-5562-1}} Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka."</ref> The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. [[Sedentism|Sedentariness]] began in South Asia around 7000 BCE;<ref name="Wright2009-p=44" /> by 4500 BCE, settled life had increasingly spread,<ref name="Wright2009-p=44" /> and gradually evolved into the [[Indus Valley civilisation]], which flourished between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE in present-day Pakistan and north-western India.<ref name="Wright2009-p=115">{{cite book|last=Wright|first=Rita P.|author-link=Rita P. Wright|title=The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy, and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fwgFPQAACAAJ&pg=PA115|date=26 October 2009|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-57652-9|pages=115–125}}</ref> Early in the second millennium BCE, [[4.2 kiloyear event|persistent drought]] caused the population of the Indus Valley to scatter from large urban centres to villages. [[Rigvedic tribes|Indo-Aryan tribes]] moved into the [[Punjab]] from [[Central Asia]] in several [[Indo-Aryan migration theory|waves of migration]]. The [[Vedic Period]] (1500–500 BCE) was marked by the composition of their large collections of hymns ([[Vedas]]). Their [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna system]] evolved into the [[Caste system in India|caste system]]. The pastoral and nomadic Indo-Aryans spread from the Punjab into the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Gangetic plain]]. Around 600 BCE, a new, interregional culture arose; then, small chieftaincies ([[janapada]]s) were consolidated into larger states ([[mahajanapadas]]). A second urbanisation took place, which came with the rise of new [[Śramaṇa|ascetic]] movements and religious concepts,<ref>Flood, Gavin. Olivelle, Patrick. 2003. ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism''. Malden: Blackwell. pp. 273–274</ref> including the rise of [[Jainism]] and [[Buddhism]]. The latter [[Hindu synthesis|was synthesised]] with the preexisting religious cultures of the subcontinent, giving rise to [[Hinduism]].

[[File:Timeline of Indian history.jpg|thumb|Timeline of Indian history]]

[[Chandragupta Maurya]] overthrew the [[Nanda Empire]] and established the first great empire in ancient India, the [[Maurya Empire]]. The Maurya Empire would collapse in 185 BCE, on the assassination of the then-emperor [[Brihadratha Maurya|Brihadratha]] by his general [[Pushyamitra Shunga]]. Shunga would go on to form the [[Shunga Empire]] in the north and northeast of the subcontinent, while the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] would claim the northwest and found the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]. Various parts of India were ruled by numerous dynasties, including the [[Gupta Empire]], in the 4th to 6th centuries CE. This period, witnessing a [[Hindu]] religious and intellectual resurgence, is known as the [[Classical India|Classical]] or [[Golden Age of India]]. Aspects of Indian civilisation, administration, culture, and religion spread to much of Asia, which led to the establishment of Indianised kingdoms in the region, forming [[Greater India]].<ref>''The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia: From Early Times to c. 1800'', Band 1 by [[Nicholas Tarling]], p. 281</ref><ref name="Flood, Gavin 2003. pg. 273-4">Flood, Gavin. Olivelle, Patrick. 2003. ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism''. Malden: Blackwell. pp. 273–274.</ref> The most significant event between the 7th and 11th century was the [[Tripartite struggle]] centred on [[Kannauj]]. [[History of South India|Southern India]] saw the rise of multiple imperial powers from the middle of the fifth century. The [[Chola dynasty]] conquered southern India in the 11th century.<ref>''Societies, Networks, and Transitions'', Volume B: From 600 to 1750 by Craig Lockard p. 333</ref><ref>''Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium'' by Ronald Findlay, Kevin H. O'Rourke p. 67</ref> In the early medieval period [[Indian mathematics]], including [[hindu numeral system|Hindu numerals]], influenced the development of mathematics and astronomy in the [[Arab world]], including the creation of the [[Hindu-Arabic numeral system]].<ref>''Essays on Ancient India'' by Raj Kumar p. 199</ref>

The [[Delhi Sultanate]] was founded in 1206&nbsp;CE by Central Asian [[Turkic people|Turks]] who ruled a major part of the northern Indian subcontinent in the early 14th century, but declined in the late 14th century,<ref>''The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought'': p. 340</ref> and saw the advent of the [[Deccan sultanates]].<ref name=Sohoni2018>{{cite book |last=Sohoni |first=Pushkar |title=The Architecture of a Deccan Sultanate: Courtly Practice and Royal Authority in Late Medieval India |year=2018 |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |location=London |isbn=978-1-78453-794-4}}</ref> The wealthy [[Bengal Sultanate]] also emerged as a major power, lasting over three centuries.<ref name="Eaton1996">{{cite book|last=Eaton|first=Richard M.|author-link=Richard M. Eaton|title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC&pg=PA64|date=31 July 1996|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|isbn=978-0-520-20507-9|pages=64–}}</ref> This period also saw the emergence of several powerful Hindu states, notably the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] and [[List of Rajput dynasties and states|Rajput states]]. The 15th century saw the advent of [[History of Sikhism|Sikhism]].  

The early modern period began in the 16th century, when the [[Mughal Empire]] conquered most of the Indian subcontinent,<ref name="exeter" /> signaling the [[proto-industrialization]], becoming the biggest global economy and manufacturing power.<ref name="Parthasarathi38">{{cite book |title=Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not: Global Economic Divergence, 1600–1850 |given=Prasannan |surname=Parthasarathi |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=11 August 2011 |isbn=978-1-139-49889-0 |pages=39–45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_YEcvo-jqcC&pg=PA38}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Maddison|first=Angus|author-link=Angus Maddison|title=Development Centre Studies The World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHJGz3HiJbcC&pg=PA259|date=25 September 2003|publisher=[[OECD Publishing]]|isbn=9264104143|pages=259–261}}</ref><ref name="harrison">{{cite book|title=Developing cultures: case studies|last1=Harrison|first1=Lawrence E.|author-link1=Lawrence Harrison (academic)|last2=Berger|first2=Peter L.|author-link2=Peter L. Berger|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2006|page=158|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RB0oAQAAIAAJ|isbn=978-0-415-95279-8}}</ref> The Mughals suffered a gradual decline in the early 18th century, which provided opportunities for the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], [[Sikh Empire|Sikhs]], [[Mysore Kingdom|Mysoreans]], [[Nizams]], and [[Nawabs of Bengal]] to control large regions of the Indian subcontinent.<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of State and Religion in India|author1=Ian Copland|author2=Ian Mabbett|author3= Asim Roy|author4=Kate Brittlebank|author5=Adam Bowles|page=161|display-authors=3|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2012}}</ref><ref>''History of Mysore Under Hyder Ali and Tippoo Sultan'' by Joseph Michaud p. 143</ref> From the mid-18th to the mid-19th century, large regions of India were gradually annexed by the [[East India Company]], acting as a sovereign power on behalf of the British government. Dissatisfaction with [[company rule in India]] led to the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. India was afterwards ruled directly by the [[The Crown|British Crown]], in the [[British Raj]]. After [[World War I]], a nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the [[Indian National Congress]], led by [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. Later, the [[All-India Muslim League]] would advocate for a separate Muslim-majority [[nation state]]. The British Indian Empire was partitioned in August 1947 into the [[Dominion of India]] and [[Dominion of Pakistan]], each gaining its independence.

{{Main|South Asian Stone Age}}[[Hominini|Hominin]] expansion from Africa is estimated to have reached the [[Indian subcontinent]] approximately two million years ago, and possibly as early as 2.2 million years ago.{{sfn|Chauhan|2010|p=147}}{{sfn|Petraglia|Allchin|2007|p=5}}{{sfn|Petraglia|2010|pp=167–170}} This dating is based on the known presence of ''[[Homo erectus]]'' in [[Indonesia]] by 1.8 million years ago and in East Asia by 1.36 million years ago, as well as the discovery of stone tools at [[Riwat]] in [[Pakistan]].{{sfn|Petraglia|Allchin|2007|p=5}}<ref name="murray">{{cite book |last=Mishra |first=Sheila |editor-last=Murray |editor-first=Tim |editor-link=Tim Murray (archaeologist) |year=1999 |chapter=Developing an Indian stone age chronology |title=Time and Archaeology |url=https://archive.org/details/timearchaeology00murr |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=84 |isbn=978-0-415-11762-3}}</ref> Although some older discoveries have been claimed, the suggested dates, based on the dating of [[Fluvial processes|fluvial sediments]], have not been independently verified.{{sfn|Petraglia|2010|pp=167–170}}{{sfn|Chauhan|2010|pp=147–160}}

The oldest hominin fossil remains in the Indian subcontinent are those of ''Homo erectus'' or ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'', from the [[Narmada River|Narmada Valley]] in central India, and are dated to approximately half a million years ago.{{sfn|Petraglia|Allchin|2007|p=5}}{{sfn|Chauhan|2010|pp=147–160}} Older fossil finds have been claimed, but are considered unreliable.{{sfn|Chauhan|2010|pp=147–160}} Reviews of archaeological evidence have suggested that occupation of the Indian subcontinent by hominins was sporadic until approximately 700,000 years ago, and was geographically widespread by approximately 250,000 years ago.{{sfn|Chauhan|2010|pp=147–160}}{{sfn|Petraglia|2010|pp=167–170}}

Historian of South Asia, [[Michael H. Fisher]], states: <blockquote>Scholars estimate that the first successful expansion of the Homo sapiens range beyond Africa and across the Arabian Peninsula occurred from as early as 80,000 years ago to as late as 40,000 years ago, although there may have been prior unsuccessful emigrations. Some of their descendants extended the human range ever further in each generation, spreading into each habitable land they encountered. One human channel was along the warm and productive coastal lands of the Persian Gulf and northern Indian Ocean. Eventually, various bands entered India between 75,000 years ago and 35,000 years ago.<ref name="Fisher2018-23">{{cite book|last=Fisher|first=Michael H.|author-link=Michael H. Fisher|title=An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|date=18 October 2018|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-1-107-11162-2|page=23}}</ref></blockquote>

Archaeological evidence has been interpreted to suggest the presence of [[anatomically modern humans]] in the Indian subcontinent 78,000–74,000 years ago,<ref name="TunizGillespie2016">{{cite book|author-last1=Tuniz|author-first1=Claudio|author-last2=Gillespie|author-first2=Richard|author-last3=Jones|author-first3=Cheryl|title=The Bone Readers: Science and Politics in Human Origins Research|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WrJmDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA163|date=16 June 2016|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-315-41888-9|pages=163–}}</ref> although this interpretation is disputed.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Michael D.|last1=Petraglia|first2=Michael|last2=Haslam|first3=Dorian Q.|last3=Fuller|first4=Nicole|last4=Boivin|first5=Chris|last5=Clarkson |s2cid=6421383|date=25 March 2010 |title=Out of Africa: new hypotheses and evidence for the dispersal of Homo sapiens along the Indian Ocean rim |journal=[[Annals of Human Biology]] |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=288–311 |doi=10.3109/03014461003639249|pmid=20334598|url=http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:205007/HCA15UQ205007.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=Paul |last1=Mellars |first2=Kevin C. |last2=Gori |first3=Martin |last3=Carr |first4=Pedro A. |last4=Soares |first5=Martin B. |last5=Richards|date=25 June 2013 |title=Genetic and archaeological perspectives on the initial modern human colonization of southern Asia |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=110 |issue=26 |pages=10699–10704 |bibcode=2013PNAS..11010699M |doi=10.1073/pnas.1306043110 |pmid=23754394|pmc=3696785 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The occupation of South Asia by modern humans, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has turned it into a highly diverse one, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity.<ref name="Dyson2018-28a">{{cite book|last=Dyson|first=Tim|author-link=Tim Dyson|title=A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28|year=2018|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-882905-8|page=28}}</ref>

[[Neolithic|Settled life]] emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the [[Indus River]] alluvium approximately 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] of the third millennium BCE.<ref name="Wright2009-p=44">{{cite book|last=Wright|first=Rita P.|author-link=Rita P. Wright|title=The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fwgFPQAACAAJ&pg=PA44|date=26 October 2009|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-57652-9|pages=44, 51}}</ref><ref name="Dyson2018-4-5">{{cite book|last=Dyson|first=Tim|author-link=Tim Dyson|title=A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|year=2018|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-882905-8|pages=4–5}}</ref> According to Tim Dyson: "By 7,000 years ago agriculture was firmly established in Baluchistan... [and] slowly spread eastwards into the Indus valley." Michael Fisher adds:<ref name="Fisher2018-33">{{cite book|last=Fisher|first=Michael H.|title=An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZVuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|date=18 October 2018|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-1-107-11162-2|page=33}}</ref> <blockquote>The earliest discovered instance ... of well-established, settled agricultural society is at Mehrgarh in the hills between the Bolan Pass and the Indus plain (today in Pakistan) (see Map 3.1). From as early as 7000 BCE, communities there started investing increased labor in preparing the land and selecting, planting, tending, and harvesting particular grain-producing plants. They also domesticated animals, including sheep, goats, pigs, and oxen (both humped zebu [''Bos indicus''] and unhumped [''Bos taurus'']). Castrating oxen, for instance, turned them from mainly meat sources into domesticated draft-animals as well.<ref name="Fisher2018-33" /></blockquote>

{{Main|Indus Valley Civilisation|Meluhha}}

The [[Bronze Age India|Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent]] began around 3300&nbsp;BCE. The Indus Valley region was one of three early [[Cradle of civilization|cradles of civilization]] of the [[Old World]]; the Indus Valley civilisation was the most expansive,<ref>{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Rita P. |author-link=Rita P. Wright |date=13 May 2010 |title=The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy, and Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fwgFPQAACAAJ |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=1 |isbn=978-0-521-57652-9}}</ref> and at its peak, may have had a population of over five million.<ref>{{cite book |last=McIntosh |first=Jane |author-link=Jane McIntosh |title=The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AJO2A-CbccC |publisher=[[ABC-Clio]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-57607-907-2 |page=387}}</ref>

The civilisation was primarily centered in modern-day Pakistan, in the Indus river basin, and secondarily in the [[Ghaggar-Hakra River]] basin. The mature Indus civilisation flourished from about 2600 to 1900&nbsp;BCE, marking the beginning of urban civilisation on the Indian subcontinent. It included cities such as [[Harappa]], [[Ganweriwal]], and [[Mohenjo-daro]] in modern-day Pakistan, and [[Dholavira]], [[Kalibangan]], [[Rakhigarhi]], and [[Lothal]] in modern-day India.

Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft, and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The civilisation is noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multi-storeyed houses and is thought to have had some kind of municipal organisation. Civilization also developed a [[Indus script]], which is presently undeciphered.<ref>''Early India: A Concise History'', D.N. Jha, 2004, p. 31</ref> This is the reason why [[Harappan language]] is not directly attested, and its affiliation uncertain.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Menon |first1=Sunil |last2=Mishra |first2=Siddhartha |date=13 August 2018 |title=We Are All Harappans |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/we-are-all-harappans/300463 |magazine=Outlook |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803073245/https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/we-are-all-harappans/300463 |archive-date=2018-08-03}}</ref>

After the collapse of Indus Valley civilisation, the inhabitants migrated from the river valleys of Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra, towards the Himalayan foothills of Ganga-Yamuna basin.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sarkar |first1=Anindya |last2=Mukherjee |first2=Arati Deshpande |last3=Bera |first3=M. K. |last4=Das |first4=B. |last5=Juyal |first5=Navin |last6=Morthekai |first6=P. |last7=Deshpande |first7=R. D. |last8=Shinde |first8=V. S. |last9=Rao |first9=L. S. |title=Oxygen isotope in archaeological bioapatites from India: Implications to climate change and decline of Bronze Age Harappan civilization |journal=Scientific Reports |date=May 2016 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=26555 |doi=10.1038/srep26555 |pmid=27222033 |pmc=4879637 |bibcode=2016NatSR...626555S |doi-access=free}}</ref>

During 2nd millennium BCE, [[Ochre Coloured Pottery culture]] was in Ganga Yamuna Doab region. These were rural settlement with agriculture and hunting. They were using copper tools such as axes, spears, arrows, and swords, and had domesticated animals.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA220|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|first=Upinder|last=Singh|author-link=Upinder Singh|year=2008|publisher=[[Pearson Education India]]|isbn=9788131711200|access-date=8 September 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Starting ca. 1900 BCE, [[Rigvedic tribes|Indo-Aryan tribes]] moved into the [[Punjab]] from [[Central Asia]] in several [[Indo-Aryan migration theory|waves of migration]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Stein|first=Burton|author-link=Burton Stein|editor-last=Arnold|editor-first=David|year=2010|title=A History of India|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]]|place=Oxford|isbn=978-1-4051-9509-6|page=47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC}}</ref>{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p=31}} The [[Vedic period]] is the period when the Vedas were composed, the liturgical hymns from the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] people. The Vedic culture was located in part of north-west India, while other parts of India had a distinct cultural identity. Many regions of the Indian subcontinent transitioned from the [[Chalcolithic]] to the [[Iron Age]] in this period.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|p=255}}

The [[Kuru Kingdom]] (c. 1200–450 BCE) was the first state-level society of the Vedic period, corresponding to the beginning of the Iron Age in northwestern India, around 1200–800&nbsp;BCE,<ref>{{cite book|title=Marvels and Mysteries of the Mahabharata|last=Basu|first=Abhijit|publisher=[[Leadstart publishing]]|year=2013|page=153|isbn=978-93-84027-47-6}}</ref> as well as with the composition of the [[Atharvaveda]].<ref name="Witzel 1995">{{cite journal |last=Witzel |first=Michael  |author-link=Michael Witzel |year=1995 |title=Early Sanskritization. Origins and Development of the Kuru State |url=https://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/view/823/913 |journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=1–26 |doi=10.11588/ejvs.1995.4.823}}</ref> The Kuru state organised the Vedic hymns into collections, and developed the [[srauta]] ritual to uphold the social order.<ref name="Witzel 1995" /> Two key figures of the Kuru state were king [[Parikshit]] and his successor [[Janamejaya II|Janamejaya]], transforming this realm into the dominant political, social, and cultural power of northern India.<ref name="Witzel 1995" /> When the Kuru kingdom declined, the centre of Vedic culture shifted to their eastern neighbours, the Panchala kingdom.<ref name="Witzel 1995" /> The archaeological [[Painted Grey Ware culture|PGW]] (Painted Grey Ware) culture, which flourished in the [[Haryana]] and western [[Uttar Pradesh]] regions of northern India from about 1100 to 600&nbsp;BCE,{{sfn|Reddy|2003|p=A11}} is believed to correspond to the [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]] and Panchala kingdoms.<ref name="Witzel 1995" />{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=45–51}}

During the Late Vedic Period, the kingdom of [[Videha]] emerged as a new centre of Vedic culture, situated even farther to the East (in what is today Nepal and [[Bihar]] state);<ref name=Witzel1989 /> reaching its prominence under the king [[Janaka]], whose court provided patronage for [[Brahmin]] sages and [[Indian philosophy|philosophers]] such as [[Yajnavalkya]], [[Aruni]], and [[Gārgī Vāchaknavī]].<ref>H.C. Raychaudhuri (1950), ''Political History of Ancient India and Nepal'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta, p. 58</ref> The later part of this period corresponds with a consolidation of increasingly large states and kingdoms, called ''[[Mahajanapadas]]'', across Northern India.

The period between 800 and 200&nbsp;BCE saw the formation of the ''[[Śramaṇa]]'' movement, from which [[Jainism]] and [[Buddhism]] originated. The first [[Upanishads]] were written during this period. After 500&nbsp;BCE, the so-called "second urbanisation"{{refn|group=note|The "First urbanisation" was the Indus Valley Civilisation.{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}}} started, with new urban settlements arising at the Ganges plain.{{sfn|Samuel|2010}} The foundations for the "second urbanisation" were laid prior to 600 BCE, in the [[Painted Grey Ware culture]] of the [[Ghaggar-Hakra River|Ghaggar-Hakra]] and Upper Ganges Plain; although most PGW sites were small farming villages, "several dozen" PGW sites eventually emerged as relatively large settlements that can be characterized as towns, the largest of which were fortified by ditches or moats and embankments made of piled earth with wooden palisades.<ref>{{cite book |last=Heitzman |first=James |date=31 March 2008|title=The City in South Asia |publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-134-28963-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/cityinsouthasia0000heit |url-access=registration |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cityinsouthasia0000heit/page/12 12]–13}}</ref>

The Central Ganges Plain, where [[Magadha]] gained prominence, forming the base of the [[Maurya Empire]], was a distinct cultural area,{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=48–51}} with new states arising after 500&nbsp;BCE.<ref name="EB-Beginning historical period">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/285248/India/46844/The-beginning-of-the-historical-period-c-500-150-bce |title=The beginning of the historical period, c. 500–150 BCE |year=2015 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=42–48}} It was influenced by the Vedic culture,{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=61}} but differed markedly from the Kuru-Panchala region.{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=48–51}} It "was the area of the earliest known cultivation of rice in South Asia and by 1800 BCE was the location of an advanced Neolithic population associated with the sites of Chirand and Chechar".{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=49}} In this region, the Śramaṇic movements flourished, and Jainism and Buddhism originated.{{sfn|Samuel|2010}}

The time between 800&nbsp;BCE and 400&nbsp;BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest [[Upanishads]],<ref name="Flood 1996 82">{{cite book |last=Flood|first=Gavin Dennis|author-link=Gavin Flood|title=An Introduction to Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpIWhKnYmF0C&pg=PA82|date=13 July 1996|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-43878-0|page=82}}</ref><ref name="Mascaró1965">{{cite book|last=Mascaró|first=Juan|author-link=Juan Mascaró|title=The Upanishads|url=https://archive.org/details/upanishads00masc|url-access=registration|date=30 November 1965|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|isbn=978-0-14-044163-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/upanishads00masc/page/7 7]–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Olivelle|first=Patrick|author-link=Patrick Olivelle|title=Upaniṣads|year=2008|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-954025-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/upanisads00oliv/page/ xxiv–xxix]|url=https://archive.org/details/upanisads00oliv/page/}}</ref> which form the theoretical basis of [[Hinduism|classical Hinduism]], and are also known as [[Vedanta]] (conclusion of the [[Vedas]]).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Melton|first1=J. Gordon|author-link=J. Gordon Melton|last2=Baumann|first2=Martin|title=Religions of the World, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&pg=PA1324|date=21 September 2010|publisher=[[ABC-Clio]]|isbn=978-1-59884-204-3|page=1324}}</ref>

The Sanskrit epics ''[[Ramayana]]'' and ''[[Mahabharata]]'' were composed during this period.<ref>{{cite book | author=Valmiki | author-link=Valmiki | editor-last1=Goldman | editor-first1=Robert P. | editor-link1=Robert P. Goldman | editor-last2=Pollock | editor-first2=Sheldon | editor-link2=Sheldon Pollock | title=The Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume 1: Balakanda | series=Ramayana of Valmiki | date=10 April 1990 | publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] | location=Princeton, New Jersey | isbn=978-0-691-01485-2 | page=[https://archive.org/details/ramayanaofva01valm/page/23 23] | url=https://archive.org/details/ramayanaofva01valm/page/23 }}</ref> The ''Mahabharata'' remains the longest single poem in the world.<ref>Romila Thapar, ''A History of India Part 1'', p. 31.</ref> Historians formerly postulated an "epic age" as the milieu of these two epic poems, but now recognize that the texts went through multiple stages of development over centuries.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|pp=18–21}} The existing texts of these epics are believed to belong to the post-Vedic age, between c. 400&nbsp;BCE and 400&nbsp;CE.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|pp=18–21}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HR-_LK5kl18C&pg=PA26 |title= The Sanskrit epics, Part 2| volume = 12|first= J. L. |last= Brockington|page = 21|publisher = Brill| year=1998|isbn=978-90-04-10260-6}}</ref>

This period corresponds in an archaeological context to the [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] culture. Especially focused in the Central Ganges plain but also spreading across vast areas of the northern and central Indian subcontinent, this culture is characterized by the emergence of large cities with massive fortifications, significant population growth, increased social stratification, wide-ranging trade networks, construction of public architecture and water channels, specialized craft industries, a system of weights, [[punch-marked coins]], and the introduction of writing in the form of [[Brahmi script|Brahmi]] and [[Kharosthi]] scripts.<ref>J.M. Kenoyer (2006), "Cultures and Societies of the Indus Tradition. In ''Historical Roots" in the Making of 'the Aryan'', R. Thapar (ed.), pp. 21–49. New Delhi, National Book Trust.</ref><ref>Shaffer, Jim. 1993, "Reurbanization: The eastern Punjab and beyond". In ''Urban Form and Meaning in South Asia: The Shaping of Cities from Prehistoric to Precolonial Times'', ed. H. Spodek and D.M. Srinivasan.</ref> The language of the gentry at that time was [[Sanskrit]], while the languages of the general population of northern India are referred to as [[Prakrit]]s.

Many of the sixteen kingdoms had coalesced into four major ones by 500/400&nbsp;BCE, by the time of [[Gautama Buddha]]. These four were Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala, and Magadha.{{sfn|Reddy|2003|p=A107}}

Early sources, from the Buddhist [[Pāli Canon]], the [[Jain Agamas (Śvētāmbara)|Jain Agamas]] and the Hindu [[Puranas]], mention Magadha being ruled by the [[Pradyota dynasty]] and [[Haryanka dynasty]] (c. 544–413 BCE) for some 200 years, c. 600–413&nbsp;BCE. King [[Bimbisara]] of the [[Haryanka dynasty]] led an active and expansive policy, conquering Anga in what is now eastern Bihar and [[West Bengal]]. King Bimbisara was overthrown and killed by his son, Prince [[Ajatashatru]], who continued the expansionist policy of Magadha. During this period, [[Gautama Buddha]], the founder of Buddhism, lived much of his life in the Magadha kingdom. He attained enlightenment in [[Bodh Gaya]], gave his first sermon in [[Sarnath]] and the [[Buddhist councils|first Buddhist council]] was held in Rajgriha.<ref name="lumbinitrust">{{cite web|url=http://www.lumbinitrust.org/articles/view/214 |publisher=lumbinitrust.org |title=Lumbini Development Trust: Restoring the Lumbini Garden |access-date=6 January 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306041858/http://www.lumbinitrust.org/articles/view/214 |archive-date=6 March 2014  }}</ref> The Haryanka dynasty was overthrown by the [[Shaishunaga dynasty]] (c. 413–345 BCE). The last Shishunaga ruler, [[Kalasoka]], was assassinated by [[Mahapadma Nanda]] in 345&nbsp;BCE, the first of the so-called Nine Nandas (Mahapadma and his eight sons).

The [[Nanda Empire]] (c. 345–322 BCE), at its greatest extent, extended from Bengal in the east, to the [[Punjab region]] in the west and as far south as the [[Vindhya Range]].{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=28–33}} The Nanda dynasty was famed for their great wealth. The [[Nanda dynasty]] built on the foundations laid by their [[Haryanka dynasty|Haryanka]] and [[Shishunaga dynasty|Shishunaga]] predecessors to create the first great empire of [[north India]].{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|p=273}} To achieve this objective they built a vast army, consisting of 200,000 [[infantry]], 20,000 [[cavalry]], 2,000 war [[chariot]]s and 3,000 [[war elephant]]s (at the lowest estimates).{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=34}}<ref name="Sastri1988p16">{{cite book |editor-last=Sastri |editor-first=K. A. Nilakanta |editor-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |year=1988 |orig-year=First published 1952 |title=Age of the Nandas and Mauryas |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |page=16 |isbn=978-81-208-0465-4}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Gabriel |first=Richard A. |author-link=Richard A. Gabriel |title=The Great Armies of Antiquity |year=2002 |publisher=Praeger |location=Westport, Conn. [u.a.] |isbn=978-0-275-97809-9 |page=218 |edition=1.udg. |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&linkCode=qs&keywords=9780275978099 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105032930/http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books |archive-date=5 January 2014  }}</ref><ref name="Sastri1988p16" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Raychaudhuri |first1=Hem Chandra |author1-link=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri |last2=Mukherjee |first2=Bratindra Nath |author2-link=B. N. Mukherjee |year=1996 |orig-year=First published 1923 |title=Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty |edition=8th |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=204–210 |isbn=978-0-19-563789-2}}</ref>

Chandragupta rapidly expanded his power westwards across central and western India, and by 317&nbsp;BCE the empire had fully occupied Northwestern India. The Mauryan Empire defeated [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus I]], founder of the [[Seleucid Empire]], during the [[Seleucid–Mauryan war]], thus gained additional territory west of the [[Indus River]]. Chandragupta's son [[Bindusara]] succeeded to the throne around 297&nbsp;BCE. By the time he died in c. 272&nbsp;BCE, a large part of the Indian subcontinent was under Mauryan suzerainty. However, the region of [[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga]] (around modern day [[Odisha]]) remained outside Mauryan control, perhaps interfering with trade with the south.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|pp=178–180}}

Bindusara was succeeded by [[Ashoka]], whose reign lasted until his death in about 232&nbsp;BCE.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|pp=204–206}} His campaign against the Kalingans in about 260&nbsp;BCE, though successful, led to immense loss of life and misery. This led Ashoka to shun violence, and subsequently to embrace Buddhism.{{sfn|Thapar|2003|pp=178–180}} The empire began to decline after his death and the last Mauryan ruler, [[Brihadratha Maurya|Brihadratha]], was assassinated by [[Pushyamitra Shunga]] to establish the [[Shunga Empire]].{{sfn|Thapar|2003|pp=204–206}}

Under Chandragupta Maurya and his successors, internal and external trade, agriculture, and economic activities all thrived and expanded across India thanks to the creation of a single efficient system of finance, administration, and security. The Mauryans built the [[Grand Trunk Road]], one of [[Asia]]'s oldest and longest major roads connecting the Indian subcontinent with Central Asia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2016/dinner-on-the-grand-trunk-road/|title=Dinner on the Grand Trunk Road|last=Bhandari|first=Shirin|date=5 January 2016|website=Roads & Kingdoms|language=en-US|access-date=19 July 2016}}</ref> After the [[Kalinga War]], the Empire experienced nearly half a century of peace and security under Ashoka. Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of scientific knowledge. Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of [[Jainism]] increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism has been said to have been the foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non-violence across India. Ashoka sponsored Buddhist missions into [[Sri Lanka]], [[Buddhism in Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]], [[West Asia]], [[North Africa]], and [[Southern Europe|Mediterranean Europe]].{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p=67}}

The ''[[Arthashastra]]'' written by [[Chanakya]] and the [[Edicts of Ashoka]] are the primary written records of the Mauryan times. Archaeologically, this period falls in the era of [[Northern Black Polished Ware]]. The Mauryan Empire was based on a modern and efficient economy and society. However, the sale of merchandise was closely regulated by the government.<ref>{{cite book | title=A History of India: Volume 1 | author=Romila Thapar | page=78}}</ref> Although there was no banking in the Mauryan society, [[usury]] was customary. A significant amount of written records on slavery are found, suggesting a prevalence thereof.{{sfn|Antonova|Bongard-Levin|Kotovsky|1979|p=91}} During this period, a high-quality steel called [[Wootz steel]] was developed in south India and was later exported to China and Arabia.<ref name="Menon R.V.G p.15">''Technology and Society'' by Menon, R.V.G. p. 15</ref>

During the Sangam period [[Tamil language|Tamil]] literature flourished from the 3rd century BCE to the 4th century CE. Three Tamil dynasties, collectively known as the [[Three Crowned Kings]] of [[Tamilakam]]: [[Chera dynasty]], [[Chola dynasty]], and the [[Pandya dynasty]] ruled parts of southern India.{{sfn|Sen|1999|pp=204–205}}

The Sangam literature deals with the history, politics, wars, and culture of the Tamil people of this period.<ref>''Essays on Indian Renaissance'' by Raj Kumar p. 260</ref> Unlike Sanskrit writers who were mostly Brahmins, Sangam writers came from diverse classes and social backgrounds and were mostly non-Brahmins.<ref name="The First Spring p.655">''The First Spring: The Golden Age of India'' by [[Abraham Eraly]] p. 655</ref>

Around c. 300 BCE – c. 200 CE, [[Pathupattu]], an anthology of ten mid-length book collections, which is considered part of [[Sangam Literature]], were composed; the composition of eight anthologies of poetic works [[Ettuthogai]] as well as the composition of eighteen minor poetic works [[Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku]]; while [[Tolkāppiyam]], the earliest grammarian work in the [[Tamil language]] was developed.<ref>* Zvelebil, Kamil. 1973. The smile of Murugan on Tamil literature of South India. Leiden: Brill. Zvelebil dates the ''Ur-Tholkappiyam'' to the 1st or 2nd century BCE</ref> Also, during Sangam period, two of [[the Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature]] were composed. [[Ilango Adigal]] composed ''[[Silappatikaram]]'', which is a non-religious work, that revolves around [[Kannagi (Tamil mythology)|Kannagi]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tamilnadu.com/arts/literature-silappathikaram.html|title=Silappathikaram Tamil Literature|publisher=Tamilnadu.com|date=22 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411214545/http://tamilnadu.com/arts/literature-silappathikaram.html|archive-date=11 April 2013}}</ref> and ''[[Manimekalai]]'', composed by [[Chithalai Chathanar]], is a [[sequel]] to ''Silappatikaram'', and tells the story of the daughter of [[Kovalan]] and [[Madhavi (Silappatikaram)|Madhavi]], who became a [[Buddhist]] Bikkuni.<ref name="Muk1">Mukherjee 1999, p. 277</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/4_drav/tamil/pm/pm141__u.htm|title=Cittalaiccattanar (c. 500): Manimekalai|website=gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de}}</ref>

The time between the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BCE and the end of the [[Gupta Empire]] in the 6th century CE is referred to as the "Classical" period of India.<ref name="stein">{{citation|last=Stein|first=B.|author-link=Burton Stein|editor-last=Arnold|editor-first=D.|date=27 April 2010|title=A History of India|edition=2nd|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|place=Oxford|isbn=978-1-4051-9509-6|page=105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4zdTDwMAQC&pg=PA105}}</ref> The [[Gupta Empire]] (4th–6th century) is regarded as the "Golden Age" of Hinduism, although a host of kingdoms ruled over India in these centuries. Also, the [[Sangam literature]] flourished from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE in southern India.<ref name="ReferenceB">''A Social History of Early India'' by Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya p. 259</ref> During this period, [[Economic history of India|India's economy]] is estimated to have been the largest in the world, having between one-third and one-quarter of the world's wealth, from 1 CE to 1000 CE.<ref name="Maddisson World GDP">{{cite web|title=The World Economy (GDP) : Historical Statistics by Professor Angus Maddison|url=http://www.theworldeconomy.org/MaddisonTables/MaddisontableB-18.pdf|publisher=World Economy|access-date=21 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Maddison|first=Angus|title=The World Economy – Volume 1: A Millennial Perspective and Volume 2: Historical Statistics|year=2006|publisher=OECD Publishing by [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]]|isbn=978-92-64-02262-1|page=656|url=http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?K=5L9ZBQKL5RLW&lang=EN&sort=sort_date%2Fd&stem=true&sf1=Title&st1=world+economy&sf3=SubjectCode&sp1=not&st4=E4+or+E5+or+P5&sf4=SubVersionCode&ds=world+economy%3B+All+Subjects%3B+&m=3&dc=26&plang=en}}</ref>

The Shungas originated from [[Magadha]], and controlled large areas of the central and eastern Indian subcontinent from around 187 to 78&nbsp;BCE. The dynasty was established by [[Pushyamitra Shunga]], who overthrew the last [[Maurya Empire|Maurya emperor]]. Its capital was [[Pataliputra]], but later emperors, such as [[Bhagabhadra]], also held court at [[Vidisha]], modern [[Besnagar]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stadtner |first=Donald |year=1975 |title=A Śuṅga Capital from Vidiśā |journal=Artibus Asiae |volume=37| issue =1/2 |pages=101–104 |issn=0004-3648 |jstor=3250214|doi=10.2307/3250214 }}</ref>

Pushyamitra Shunga ruled for 36 years and was succeeded by his son [[Agnimitra]]. There were ten Shunga rulers. However, after the death of Agnimitra, the empire rapidly disintegrated;<ref>K. A. Nilkantha Shastri (1970), [https://books.google.com/books?id=E3tDAAAAYAAJ ''A Comprehensive History of India: Volume 2''], p. 108: "Soon after Agnimitra there was no 'Sunga empire'".</ref> inscriptions and coins indicate that much of northern and central India consisted of small kingdoms and city-states that were independent of any Shunga hegemony.<ref>Bhandare, Shailendra. "Numismatics and History: The Maurya-Gupta Interlude in the Gangetic Plain" in [https://books.google.com/books?id=efaOR_-YsIcC ''Between the Empires: Society in India, 300 to 400''] ed. Patrick Olivelle (2006), p. 96</ref> The empire is noted for its numerous wars with both foreign and indigenous powers. They fought with the [[Mahameghavahana dynasty]] of [[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga]], [[Satavahana dynasty]] of [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]], the [[Indo-Greeks]], and possibly the [[Panchala]]s and [[Mitra dynasty (Mathura)|Mitras of Mathura]].

Art, education, philosophy, and other forms of learning flowered during this period including architectural monuments such as the Stupa at [[Bharhut]] and the renowned Great Stupa at [[Sanchi]]. The Shunga rulers helped to establish the tradition of royal sponsorship of learning and art. The script used by the empire was a variant of [[Brahmi]] and was used to write the [[Sanskrit language]]. The Shunga Empire played an imperative role in patronising [[Indian culture]] at a time when some of the most important developments in Hindu thought were taking place.

The Sātavāhanas are known for their patronage of Hinduism and Buddhism, which resulted in Buddhist monuments from [[Ellora Caves|Ellora]] (a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]) to [[Amaravathi village, Guntur district|Amaravati]]. They were one of the first Indian states to issue coins with their rulers embossed. They formed a cultural bridge and played a vital role in trade as well as the transfer of ideas and culture to and from the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]] to the southern tip of India.

They had to compete with the [[Shunga Empire]] and then the [[Kanva dynasty]] of [[Magadha]] to establish their rule. Later, they played a crucial role to protect large part of India against foreign invaders like the [[Sakas]], [[Yavanas]] and [[Pahlavas]]. In particular, their struggles with the [[Western Kshatrapas]] went on for a long time. The notable rulers of the Satavahana Dynasty [[Gautamiputra Satakarni]] and [[Sri Yajna Sātakarni]] were able to defeat the foreign invaders like the [[Western Kshatrapas]] and to stop their expansion. In the 3rd century CE the empire was split into smaller states.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1JYwP5tVQUC&pg=PA113|title = Studies in Indian Coins|isbn = 9788120829732|last1 = Sircar|first1 = D. C.|year = 2008| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishe }}</ref>

The [[spice trade]] in [[Kerala]] attracted traders from all over the Old World to India. India's Southwest coastal port [[Muziris]] had established itself as a major spice trade centre from as early as 3,000&nbsp;BCE, according to [[Sumer|Sumerian records]]. [[Jewish]] traders arrived in [[Kochi]], [[Kerala, India]] as early as 562 BCE.<ref name="TheShengold">{{cite book |last=Schreiber |first=Mordecai |title=The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia |year=2003 |publisher=Schreiber Publishing |location=Rockville, MD |isbn=978-1-887563-77-2 |page=125}}</ref> The [[Greco-Roman world]] followed by trading along the [[incense route]] and the [[Indo-Roman trade relations|Roman-India routes]].{{sfn|Law|1978|p=164}} During the 2nd century BCE Greek and Indian ships met to trade at [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabian]] ports such as [[Aden]].<ref>[http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/alex5.htm ''Greatest emporium in the world''], CSI, UNESCO.</ref> During the first millennium, the sea routes to India were controlled by the Indians and [[Ethiopian]]s that became the maritime trading power of the [[Red Sea]]. Indian merchants involved in spice trade took [[Indian cuisine]] to Southeast Asia, where spice mixtures and [[curry|curries]] became popular with the native inhabitants.{{sfn|Collingham|2006|p=245}}

Buddhism entered China through the [[Silk Road transmission of Buddhism|Silk Road]] in the 1st or 2nd century CE.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLFXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA506|title=The Medical Times and Gazette, Volume 1|year=1867|publisher=John Churchill|location=London|page=506}}(Original from the University of Michigan)</ref> Hindu and Buddhist religious establishments of Southeast Asia came to be associated with the economic activity and commerce as patrons entrust large funds which would later be used to benefit the local economy by estate management, craftsmanship, promotion of trading activities. Buddhism in particular, travelled alongside the maritime trade, promoting coinage, art, and literacy.{{sfn|Donkin|2003|p=67}}

The [[Kushan Empire]] expanded out of what is now Afghanistan into the northwest of the Indian subcontinent under the leadership of their first emperor, [[Kujula Kadphises]], about the middle of the 1st century CE. The Kushans were possibly a [[Tocharian languages|Tocharian speaking]] tribe,<ref name="TCHAC">{{cite book |last1=Loewe |first1=Michael |last2=Shaughnessy |first2=Edward L. |author-link1=Michael Loewe |author-link2=Edward L. Shaughnessy |title=The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHA7Ey0-pbEC |year=1999 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-47030-8 |access-date=1 November 2013 |pages=87–88}}</ref> one of five branches of the [[Yuezhi]] confederation.<ref>{{cite book | last=Runion | first=Meredith L. | title=The history of Afghanistan | url=https://archive.org/details/historyafghanist00runi_653 | url-access=limited | year=2007 | publisher=Greenwood Press | location=Westport | isbn=978-0-313-33798-7 | page=[https://archive.org/details/historyafghanist00runi_653/page/n66 46] | quote=The Yuezhi people conquered Bactria in the second century BCE. and divided the country into five chiefdoms, one of which would become the Kushan Empire. Recognizing the importance of unification, these five tribes combined under the one dominate Kushan tribe, and the primary rulers descended from the Yuezhi.}}</ref><ref name=liu156>{{cite book | last=Liu | first=Xinrui | title=Agricultural and pastoral societies in ancient and classical history | year=2001 | publisher=Temple University Press | location=Philadelphia | isbn=978-1-56639-832-9 | page=156 | editor=Adas, Michael}}</ref> By the time of his grandson, [[Kanishka the Great]], the empire spread to encompass much of [[Afghanistan]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120307154447/http://www.kushan.org/general/other/part1.htm ''Buddhist Records of the Western World''] Si-Yu-Ki, (Tr. Samuel Beal: Travels of Fa-Hian, The Mission of Sung-Yun and Hwei-Sing, Books 1–5), Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd. London. 1906 and Hill (2009), pp. 29, 318–350</ref> and then the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.<ref>which began about 127 CE. "Falk 2001, pp. 121–136", Falk (2001), pp. 121–136, Falk, Harry (2004), pp. 167–176 and Hill (2009), pp. 29, 33, 368–371.</ref>

Emperor Kanishka was a great patron of Buddhism; however, as Kushans expanded southward, the deities of their later coinage came to reflect its new [[Hindu]] majority.<ref>{{cite book |author=Grégoire Frumkin |title=Archaeology in Soviet Central Asia |url=https://archive.org/details/archaeologyinsov0000frum |url-access=registration |year=1970 |publisher=Brill Archive |pages=[https://archive.org/details/archaeologyinsov0000frum/page/51 51]– |id=GGKEY:4NPLATFACBB}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Rafi U. Samad |title=The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNUwBYGYgxsC&pg=PA93 |year=2011 |publisher=Algora Publishing |isbn=978-0-87586-859-2 |pages=93–}}</ref> Historian [[Vincent Arthur Smith|Vincent Smith]] said about Kanishka:

The Gupta period was noted for cultural creativity, especially in literature, architecture, sculpture, and painting.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/285248/1960/The-Gupta-empire-at-the-end-of-the-4th-century |title=Gupta dynasty: empire in 4th century |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=16 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330103811/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/285248/1960/The-Gupta-empire-at-the-end-of-the-4th-century |archive-date=30 March 2010 }}</ref> The Gupta period produced scholars such as [[Kalidasa]], [[Aryabhata]], [[Varahamihira]], [[Vishnu Sharma]], and [[Vatsyayana]]. The Gupta period marked a watershed of Indian culture: the Guptas performed Vedic sacrifices to legitimise their rule, but they also patronised Buddhism, an alternative to Brahmanical orthodoxy. The military exploits of the first three rulers – [[Chandragupta I]], [[Samudragupta]], and [[Chandragupta II]] – brought much of India under their leadership.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/gallery/photos/8.html |title=The Story of India&nbsp;– Photo Gallery |publisher=PBS |access-date=16 May 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref>Coedes, G. (1968) ''The Indianized States of Southeast Asia'' Edited by Walter F. Vella. Translated by Susan Brown Cowing. Canberra: Australian National University Press. Introduction... ''The geographic area here called ''Farther India'' consists of Indonesia, or island Southeast Asia....''</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Bernard Philippe Groslier|title=The art of Indochina: including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia|url=https://archive.org/details/artofindochinain00gros|url-access=registration|year=1962|publisher=Crown Publishers}}</ref> The period of peace under Gupta rule is known as ''[[Pax Gupta]]''.

The latter Guptas successfully resisted the northwestern kingdoms until the arrival of the [[Alchon Huns]], who established themselves in Afghanistan by the first half of the 5th century CE, with their capital at [[Bamyan, Afghanistan|Bamiyan]].<ref>Iaroslav Lebedynsky, ''Les Nomades'', p. 172.</ref> However, much of the southern India including [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] were largely unaffected by these events.<ref>''Early History of India'', p. 339, Dr V.A. Smith; See also ''Early Empire of Central Asia'' (1939), W.M. McGovern.</ref><ref>''Ancient India'', 2003, p. 650, Dr V.D. Mahajan; ''History and Culture of Indian People, The Age of Imperial Kanauj'', p. 50, Dr [[R.C. Majumdar]], Dr A.D. Pusalkar.</ref>

The Vakatakas are noted for having been patrons of the arts, architecture and literature. The rock-cut Buddhist viharas and chaityas of [[Ajanta Caves]] (a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]) were built under the patronage of Vakataka emperor, [[Harishena]].<ref name=Madan>{{cite book|title=India through the ages|url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada|last=Gopal|first=Madan|year= 1990| page=[https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/173 173]|editor=K.S. Gautam|publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India}}</ref><ref>The precise number varies according to whether or not some barely started excavations, such as cave 15A, are counted. [http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_ajanta.asp The ASI say] "In all, total 30 excavations were hewn out of rock which also include an unfinished one", UNESCO and Spink "about 30". The controversies over the end date of excavation is covered below.</ref>

Ruled by three dynasties [[Varman dynasty|Varmanas]] (c. 350–650&nbsp;CE), [[Mlechchha dynasty]] (c. 655–900&nbsp;CE) and [[Pala dynasty (Kamarupa)|Kamarupa-Palas]] (c. 900–1100&nbsp;CE), from their capitals in present-day [[Guwahati]] ([[Pragjyotishpura]]), Tezpur ([[Haruppeswara]]) and [[North Gauhati]] ([[Durjaya]]) respectively. All three dynasties claimed their descent from [[Narakasura]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Swami|first=Parmeshwaranand|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the Puranas|year=2001|publisher=Sarup and Sons|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7625-226-3|page=941}}</ref> In the reign of the Varman king, [[Bhaskar Varman]] (c. 600–650&nbsp;CE), the Chinese traveller [[Xuanzang]] visited the [[Kamrup region|region]] and recorded his travels. Later, after weakening and disintegration (after the Kamarupa-Palas), the Kamarupa tradition was somewhat extended until c. 1255&nbsp;CE by the Lunar I (c. 1120–1185&nbsp;CE) and Lunar II (c. 1155–1255&nbsp;CE) dynasties.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Barpujari |editor-first = H.K. |date=1990 |title=The Comprehensive History of Assam |edition=1st |location=Guwahati, India |publisher=Assam Publication Board |oclc=499315420}}</ref> The Kamarupa kingdom came to an end in the middle of the 13th century when the [[Khen dynasty]] under [[Sandhya (ruler of Kamarupa)|Sandhya]] of Kamarupanagara (North Guwahati), moved his capital to Kamatapur (North Bengal) after the invasion of Muslim Turks, and established the [[Kamata kingdom]].<ref>Sarkar, J.N. (1992), "Chapter II The Turko-Afghan Invasions", in Barpujari, H.K., ''The Comprehensive History of Assam'', 2, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board, pp. 35–48</ref>

{{Main|Pallava Empire}}[[File:Shore temple, mahabalipuram.jpg|thumb|The [[Shore Temple]] (a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]) at [[Mahabalipuram]] built by [[Narasimhavarman II]].|alt=]]The [[Pallava]]s, during the 4th to 9th centuries were, alongside the [[Gupta]]s of the [[North India|North]], great patronisers of Sanskrit development in the [[South India|South]] of the Indian subcontinent. The Pallava reign saw the first Sanskrit inscriptions in a script called [[Grantha script|Grantha]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://skyknowledge.com/pallava.htm|title=Pallava script|date=30 December 2010|publisher=SkyKnowledge.com}}</ref> Early Pallavas had different connexions to [[Southeast Asia]]n countries. The Pallavas used Dravidian architecture to build some very important Hindu temples and academies in [[Mamallapuram]], [[Kanchipuram]] and other places; their rule saw the rise of great poets. The practice of dedicating temples to different deities came into vogue followed by fine artistic [[Hindu temple architecture|temple architecture]] and sculpture style of [[Vastu Shastra]].<ref>Nilakanta Sastri, pp. 412–413</ref>

Pallavas reached the height of power during the reign of [[Mahendravarman I]] (571–630 CE) and [[Narasimhavarman I]] (630–668 CE) and dominated the [[Telugu people|Telugu]] and northern parts of the [[Ancient Tamil country|Tamil]] region until the end of the 9th century.<ref name="histoworldwhitney">{{cite book|title=History of the World: Earliest Times to the Present Day|publisher=World Publications Group|others=John Grayson Kirk|year=2005|isbn=978-1-57215-421-6|editor1-last=Hall|editor1-first=John Whitney|location=North Dighton, MA|page=246|chapter=India|orig-year=1988}}</ref>

Kadambas originated from [[Karnataka]], was founded by [[Mayurasharma]] in 345&nbsp;CE which at later times showed the potential of developing into imperial proportions. King Mayurasharma defeated the armies of [[Pallavas of Kanchi]] possibly with help of some native tribes. The Kadamba fame reached its peak during the rule of [[Kakusthavarma]], a notable ruler with whom the kings of [[Gupta Dynasty]] of northern India cultivated marital alliances. The Kadambas were contemporaries of the [[Western Ganga Dynasty]] and together they formed the earliest native kingdoms to rule the land with absolute autonomy. The dynasty later continued to rule as a feudatory of larger Kannada empires, the [[Chalukya]] and the [[Rashtrakuta]] empires, for over five hundred years during which time they branched into minor dynasties ([[Kadambas of Goa]], [[Kadambas of Halasi]] and [[Kadambas of Hangal]]).

After the downfall of the prior [[Gupta Empire]] in the middle of the 6th century, [[North India]] reverted to smaller republics and monarchical states. The power vacuum resulted in the rise of the Vardhanas of Thanesar, who began uniting the republics and monarchies from the Punjab to central India. After the death of Harsha's father and brother, representatives of the empire crowned Harsha emperor in April 606 CE, giving him the title of Maharaja.<ref name="RN Kundra & SS Bawa">RN Kundra & SS Bawa, History of Ancient and Medieval India</ref> At the height of his power, his Empire covered much of North and Northwestern India, extended East until [[Kamarupa]], and South until [[Narmada River]]; and eventually made [[Kannauj]] (in present [[Uttar Pradesh]]) his capital, and ruled until 647 CE.<ref name="Historic Places p.507">International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania by Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda p. 507</ref>

The peace and prosperity that prevailed made his court a centre of cosmopolitanism, attracting scholars, artists and religious visitors.<ref name="Historic Places p.507" /> During this time, Harsha converted to Buddhism from [[Surya]] worship.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/256065/Harsha |title=Harsha |year=2015 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> The Chinese traveller [[Xuanzang]] visited the court of Harsha and wrote a very favourable account of him, praising his justice and generosity.<ref name="Historic Places p.507" /> His biography ''[[Harshacharita]]'' ("Deeds of Harsha") written by Sanskrit poet [[Banabhatta]], describes his association with Thanesar and the palace with a two-storied ''Dhavalagriha'' (White Mansion).<ref name=encystan>{{cite encyclopedia | title = Sthanvishvara (historical region, India) |encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Britannica | url = https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/566090/Sthanvishvara | access-date = 9 August 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title = Harsha (Indian emperor)|encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Britannica|url = https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/256065/Harsha | access-date = 9 August 2014 }}</ref>

In the 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 in India]].<ref>Sheridan, Daniel P. "Kumarila Bhatta", in ''Great Thinkers of the Eastern World'', ed. Ian McGready, New York: HarperCollins, 1995, pp. 198–201. {{ISBN|0-06-270085-5}}.</ref> In the 8th century, [[Adi Shankara]] travelled across the Indian subcontinent to propagate and spread the doctrine of [[Advaita Vedanta]], which he consolidated; and is credited with unifying the main characteristics of the current thoughts in Hinduism.<ref>Johannes de Kruijf and Ajaya Sahoo (2014), ''Indian Transnationalism Online: New Perspectives on Diaspora'', {{ISBN|978-1-4724-1913-2}}, p. 105, Quote: "In other words, according to Adi Shankara's argument, the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta stood over and above all other forms of Hinduism and encapsulated them. This then united Hinduism; [...] Another of Adi Shankara's important undertakings which contributed to the unification of Hinduism was his founding of a number of monastic centers."</ref><ref>"Shankara", ''Student's Encyclopædia Britannica – India'' (2000), Volume 4, Encyclopædia Britannica (UK) Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0-85229-760-5}}, p. 379, Quote: "Shankaracharya, philosopher and theologian, most renowned exponent of the Advaita Vedanta school of philosophy, from whose doctrines the main currents of modern Indian thought are derived.";<br />David Crystal (2004), The Penguin Encyclopedia, Penguin Books, p. 1353, Quote: "[Shankara] is the most famous exponent of Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy and the source of the main currents of modern Hindu thought."</ref><ref>Christophe Jaffrelot (1998), ''The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India'', Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-231-10335-0}}, p. 2, Quote: "The main current of Hinduism – if not the only one – which became formalized in a way that approximates to an ecclesiastical structure was that of Shankara".</ref> He was a critic of both Buddhism and Minamsa school of Hinduism;<ref name=SKChattopadhyaya>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IPasbJW-1PwC Shyama Kumar Chattopadhyaya (2000) ''The Philosophy of Sankar's Advaita Vedanta''], Sarup & Sons, New Delhi {{ISBN|81-7625-222-0|978-81-7625-222-5}}</ref><ref name=eroer1>Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=3}} to ''Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad'' at pp. 3–4; Quote – "[...] Lokayatikas and Bauddhas who assert that the soul does not exist. There are four sects among the followers of Buddha: 1. Madhyamicas who maintain all is void; 2. Yogacharas, who assert except sensation and intelligence all else is void; 3. Sautranticas, who affirm actual existence of external objects no less than of internal sensations; 4. Vaibhashikas, who agree with later (Sautranticas) except that they contend for immediate apprehension of exterior objects through images or forms represented to the intellect."</ref><ref name=eroer2>Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=3}} to ''Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad'' at p. 3, {{oclc|19373677}}</ref><ref>KN Jayatilleke (2010), ''Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge'', {{ISBN|978-81-208-0619-1}}, pp. 246–249, from note 385 onwards;<br />Steven Collins (1994), Religion and Practical Reason (Editors: Frank Reynolds, David Tracy), State Univ of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-2217-5}}, p. 64; Quote: "Central to Buddhist soteriology is the doctrine of not-self (Pali: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of [[Ātman (Hinduism)|ātman]] is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence.";<br />Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|pages=2–4}}<br />Katie Javanaud (2013), [https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Is_The_Buddhist_No-Self_Doctrine_Compatible_With_Pursuing_Nirvana Is The Buddhist 'No-Self' Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?], Philosophy Now;<br />John C. Plott et al. (2000), ''Global History of Philosophy: The Axial Age'', Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0158-5}}, p. 63, Quote: "The Buddhist schools reject any Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism".</ref> and founded [[mathas]] (monasteries) for the spread and development of Advaita Vedanta.<ref name="DeepakChopraBookLink">[https://books.google.com/books?id=lsJbVICEOTcC&dq=Adi+Shankara&pg=PA13 The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Yoga], Deepak Chopra, John Wiley & Sons, 2006, {{ISBN|81-265-0696-2|978-81-265-0696-5}}</ref> [[Muhammad bin Qasim]]'s invasion of [[Sindh]] (modern Pakistan) in 711&nbsp;CE witnessed further decline of Buddhism.<ref>Schimmel, Annemarie Schimmel, ''Religionen&nbsp;– Islam in the Indian Subcontinent'', Brill Academic Publishers, 1980, {{ISBN|978-90-04-06117-0}}, p. 4</ref>

The [[Chalukya dynasty|Chalukya Empire]] ruled large parts of southern and [[central India]] between the 6th and the 12th centuries, as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known as the "Badami Chalukyas", ruled from Vatapi (modern [[Badami]]) from the middle of the 6th century. The Badami Chalukyas began to assert their independence at the decline of the [[Kadamba Dynasty|Kadamba]] kingdom of [[Banavasi]] and rapidly rose to prominence during the reign of [[Pulakeshin&nbsp;II]]. The rule of the Chalukyas marks an important milestone in the history of South India and a golden age in the history of [[Karnataka]]. The political atmosphere in South India shifted from smaller kingdoms to large empires with the ascendancy of Badami Chalukyas. A Southern India-based kingdom took control and consolidated the entire region between the [[Kaveri]] and the [[Narmada River|Narmada]] rivers. The rise of this empire saw the birth of efficient administration, overseas trade and commerce and the development of new style of architecture called "Chalukyan architecture". The Chalukya dynasty ruled parts of southern and central India from Badami in Karnataka between 550 and 750, and then again from [[Basavakalyan|Kalyani]] between 970 and 1190.

Founded by [[Dantidurga]] around 753,{{sfn|Thapar|2003|p=334}} the Rashtrakuta Empire ruled from its capital at [[Manyakheta]] for almost two centuries.<ref name="Chandra">{{cite book|last1=Chandra |first1=Satish |title=History of Medieval India|date=2009|publisher=Orient Blackswan |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-250-3226-7|pages=19–20}}</ref> At its peak, the Rashtrakutas ruled from the [[Ganges-Yamuna Doab]] in the north to [[Cape Comorin]] in the south, a fruitful time of architectural and literary achievements.{{sfn|Kamath|1980|pp=83, 85, 97}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Mathematical Achievements of Pre-modern Indian Mathematicians |last=Puttaswamy|first=T.K.|year=2012 |chapter=Mahavira |pages=231 |publisher=Elsevier Publications |place=London |isbn=978-0-12-397913-1}}</ref>

The early rulers of this dynasty were Hindu, but the later rulers were strongly influenced by Jainism.{{sfn|Sen|1999|p=380}} [[Govinda III]] and [[Amoghavarsha]] were the most famous of the long line of able administrators produced by the dynasty. Amoghavarsha was also an author and wrote [[Kavirajamarga]], the earliest known Kannada work on poetics.<ref name="Chandra" />{{sfn|Sen|1999|pp=380–381}} Architecture reached a milestone in the Dravidian style, the finest example of which is seen in the Kailasanath Temple at Ellora. Other important contributions are the Kashivishvanatha temple and the Jain Narayana temple at [[Pattadakal]] in Karnataka.

The Arab traveller Suleiman described the Rashtrakuta Empire as one of the four great Empires of the world.{{sfn|Daniélou|2003|p=170}} The Rashtrakuta period marked the beginning of the golden age of southern Indian mathematics. The great south Indian mathematician [[Mahāvīra (mathematician)|Mahāvīra]] had a huge impact on medieval south Indian mathematicians.<ref>''The Britannica Guide to Algebra and Trigonometry'' by William L. Hosch p. 105</ref> The Rashtrakuta rulers also patronised men of letters in a variety of languages.<ref name="Chandra" />

The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of the [[Indus River]]. [[Nagabhata I]] defeated the Arab army under Junaid and Tamin during the [[Umayyad campaigns in India]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wink |first=André |author-link=André Wink |year=2002 |orig-year=First published 1990 |title=Al-Hind: The making of the Indo-Islamic World |volume=I |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |isbn=978-0-391-04173-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2m7_R5P2oAC&pg=PA283 |pages=283–284}}</ref> Under [[Nagabhata II]], the Gurjara-Pratiharas became the most powerful dynasty in northern India. He was succeeded by his son [[Ramabhadra]], who ruled briefly before being succeeded by his son, [[Mihira Bhoja]]. Under Bhoja and his successor [[Mahendrapala I]], the Pratihara Empire reached its peak of prosperity and power. By the time of Mahendrapala, its territory stretched from the border of [[Sindh]] in the west to Bihar in the east and from the Himalayas in the north to around the [[Narmada River]] in the south.{{sfn|Avari|2007|p=204}} The expansion triggered a [[Tripartite Struggle|tripartite power struggle]] with the [[Rashtrakuta]] and [[Pala Empire|Pala]] empires for control of the Indian subcontinent.

Gahadavala dynasty ruled parts of the present-day [[Indian states]] of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, during 11th and 12th centuries. Their capital was located at [[Varanasi]].{{sfn|Niyogi|1959|p=38}}

The Khayaravala dynasty, ruled parts of the present-day Indian states of [[Bihar]] and [[Jharkhand]], during 11th and 12th centuries. Their capital was located at Khayaragarh in [[Shahabad district]]. [[Pratapdhavala]] and [[Shri Pratapa]] were king of the dynasty.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CenDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT41|title=Majestic Monuments of India: Ancient Indian Mega Structures|access-date=25 July 2020|last1=Prabhu|first1=T. L.|date=4 August 2019}}</ref>[[File:Rohtasgarh Fort Entrance.jpg|thumb|[[Rohtas Fort, India|Rohtasgarh Fort]] ]]

The [[Pala Empire]] was founded by [[Gopala I]].<ref>''[[Epigraphia Indica]]'', XXIV, p. 43, Dr N.G. Majumdar</ref><ref name="Nitish2011">{{cite book | author=Nitish K. Sengupta | title=Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kVSh_TyJ0YoC&pg=PA40 | date= 2011 | publisher=Penguin Books India | isbn=978-0-14-341678-4 | pages=43–45 }}</ref><ref name="Biplab2005">{{cite book | author=Biplab Dasgupta | title=European Trade and Colonial Conquest | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YRRnRK8lEYEC&pg=PA341 | date=2005 | publisher=Anthem Press | isbn=978-1-84331-029-7 | pages=341–}}</ref> It was ruled by a Buddhist dynasty from Bengal. The Palas reunified Bengal after the fall of [[Shashanka]]'s [[Gauda Kingdom]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Hermann Kulke, Dietmar Rothermund|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V0GEtXp-GsUC&pg=PA104|title=A History of India|isbn=978-0-203-44345-3|year=1998}}</ref>

The Palas were followers of the [[Mahayana]] and [[Tantric Buddhism|Tantric]] schools of Buddhism,<ref>''History of Buddhism in India'', Translation by A Shiefner</ref> they also patronised [[Shaivism]] and [[Vaishnavism]].<ref name="ChandraPala">{{cite book|last1=Chandra|first1=Satish |title=History of Medieval India|date=2009|publisher=Orient Blackswan |location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-250-3226-7|pages=13–15}}</ref> The empire reached its peak under [[Dharmapala (emperor)|Dharmapala]] and [[Devapala (Pala dynasty)|Devapala]]. Dharmapala is believed to have conquered Kanauj and extended his sway up to the farthest limits of India in the northwest.<ref name="ChandraPala" />

The Pala Empire can be considered as the golden era of Bengal.{{sfn|Sen|1999|p=278}} Dharmapala founded the [[Vikramashila]] and revived Nalanda,<ref name="ChandraPala" /> considered one of the first great universities in recorded history. Nalanda reached its height under the patronage of the Pala Empire.{{sfn|Sen|1999|p=278}}<ref name="PNChopra2003">{{cite book | title=A Comprehensive History Of Ancient India (3 Vol. Set) | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gE7udqBkACwC&pg=PA201 | year=2003 |editor1=PN Chopra |editor2=BN Puri |editor3=MN Das |editor4=AC Pradhan | publisher=Sterling | isbn=978-81-207-2503-4 | pages=200–202}}</ref> The Palas also built many [[vihara]]s. They maintained close cultural and commercial ties with countries of Southeast Asia and [[Tibet]]. Sea trade added greatly to the prosperity of the Pala Empire.

Medieval Cholas rose to prominence during the middle of the 9th century CE and established the greatest empire South India had seen.<ref>''History of Ancient India: Earliest Times to 1000 A.D.'' by Radhey Shyam Chaurasia p. 237</ref> They successfully united the South India under their rule and through their naval strength extended their influence in the Southeast Asian countries such as Srivijaya.<ref name="The Dancing Girl p.129" /> Under [[Rajaraja Chola I]] and his successors [[Rajendra Chola I]], [[Rajadhiraja Chola]], [[Virarajendra Chola]] and [[Kulothunga Chola I]] the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in South Asia and South-East Asia.{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p=115}}<ref name=keay215>{{harvnb|Keay|2000|p=215}}: The Cholas were in fact the most successful dynasty since the Guptas ... The classic expansion of Chola power began anew with the accession of Rajaraja I in 985.</ref> Rajendra Chola I's navies occupied the sea coasts from Burma to Vietnam,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.en.articlesgratuits.com/the-last-years-of-cholas-the-decline-and-fall-of-a-dynasty-id1804.php |title=The Last Years of Cholas: The decline and fall of a dynasty |publisher=En.articlesgratuits.com |date=22 August 2007 |access-date=23 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120085302/http://www.en.articlesgratuits.com/the-last-years-of-cholas-the-decline-and-fall-of-a-dynasty-id1804.php |archive-date=20 January 2010  }}</ref> the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]], the [[Lakshadweep]] (Laccadive) islands, [[Sumatra]], and the [[Malay Peninsula]]. The power of the new empire was proclaimed to the eastern world by the expedition to the [[Ganges]] which Rajendra Chola I undertook and by the occupation of cities of the maritime empire of [[Srivijaya]] in Southeast Asia, as well as by the repeated embassies to China.<ref name="sastri158">[[K. A. Nilakanta Sastri]], ''A History of South India'', p. 158</ref>

 

 

The Delhi Sultanate was a series of successive [[Islamic state]]s based in Delhi, ruled by several dynasties of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]], Turko-Indian<ref name=whunter>William Hunter (1903), {{Google books|5IQqAAAAYAAJ|A Brief History of the Indian Peoples|page=124}}, 23rd Edition, pp. 124–127</ref> and [[Pashtun]] origins.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Modern Review|volume=109|author=Ramananda Chatterjee|publisher=[[Indiana University]]|year=1961|page=84|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FgPSAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> It ruled large parts of the Indian subcontinent from the 13th to the early 16th century.<ref name="delhi">[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/156530/Delhi-sultanate Delhi Sultanate], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''</ref> In the 12th and 13th centuries, Central Asian Turks invaded parts of northern India and established the Delhi Sultanate in the former Hindu holdings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Battuta's_Trip_Seven.html |title=Battuta's Travels: Delhi, capital of Muslim India |last=Bartel |first=Nick |year=1999 |website=The Travels of Ibn Battuta – A Virtual Tour with the 14th Century Traveler |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612001214/http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Battuta%27s_Trip_Seven.html |archive-date=12 June 2010 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> The subsequent [[Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)|Mamluk dynasty]] of [[Delhi]] managed to conquer large areas of northern India, while the [[Khalji dynasty]] conquered most of central India while forcing the principal Hindu kingdoms of South India to become [[vassal state]]s.<ref name="delhi" />

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]] was born during the Delhi Sultanate period. The Delhi Sultanate is the only Indo-Islamic empire to enthrone one of the few female rulers in India, [[Razia Sultana]] (1236–1240).

While initially disruptive due to the passing of power from native Indian elites to Turkic Muslim elites, the Delhi Sultanate was responsible for integrating the Indian subcontinent into a growing world system, drawing India into a wider international network, which had a significant impact on Indian culture and society.{{sfn|Asher|Talbot|2008|pp=50–52}} However, the Delhi Sultanate also caused large-scale destruction and desecration of temples in the Indian subcontinent.<ref name=re2000>Richard Eaton (2000), [https://web.archive.org/web/20150406011408/http://jis.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/3/283.extract Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States], Journal of Islamic Studies, 11(3), pp. 283–319</ref>

The [[Mongol invasions of India]] were successfully repelled by the Delhi Sultanate during the rule of [[Alauddin Khalji]]. A major factor in their success was their Turkic [[Mamluk]] slave army, who were highly skilled in the same style of nomadic cavalry warfare as the [[Mongols]]. It is possible that the Mongol Empire may have expanded into India were it not for the Delhi Sultanate's role in repelling them.{{sfn|Asher|Talbot|2008|pp=50–51}} By repeatedly repulsing the Mongol raiders, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of [[Human migration|migration]] of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into the subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north.{{sfn|Ludden|2002|p = 67}}{{sfn|Asher|Talbot|2008|pp = 50–51}}

[[Harihara II]], the second son of Bukka Raya I, further consolidated the kingdom beyond the [[Krishna River]] and brought the whole of South India under the Vijayanagara umbrella.<ref name="umbrella">The success was probably also due to the peaceful nature of Muhammad II Bahmani, according to {{harvnb|Sastri|1955|p=242}}</ref> The next ruler, [[Deva Raya I]], emerged successful against the [[Gajapatis]] of Odisha and undertook important works of fortification and irrigation.<ref name="aqueduct">From the notes of Portuguese Nuniz. Robert Sewell notes that a big dam across was built the Tungabhadra and an aqueduct {{convert|15|mi|km|0}} long was cut out of rock ({{harvnb|Sastri|1955|p=243}}).</ref> Italian traveler Niccolo de Conti wrote of him as the most powerful ruler of India.<ref>''Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture'', John Stewart Bowman p. 271, (2013), Columbia University Press, New York, {{ISBN|0-231-11004-9}}</ref> [[Deva Raya II]] succeeded to the throne in 1424 and was possibly the most capable of the Sangama Dynasty rulers.{{sfn|Sastri|1955|p=244}} He quelled rebelling feudal lords as well as the [[Zamorin]] of [[History of Kozhikode|Calicut]] and [[Quilon]] in the south. He invaded the island of Sri Lanka and became overlord of the kings of [[Myanmar|Burma]] at [[Pegu]] and [[Tanintharyi Division|Tanasserim]].<ref>From the notes of Persian Abdur Razzak. Writings of Nuniz confirms that the kings of Burma paid tributes to Vijayanagara empire. ({{harvnb|Sastri|1955|p=245}})</ref>{{sfn|Kamath|1980|p=173}}<ref>From the notes of Abdur Razzak about Vijayanagara: ''a city like this had not been seen by the pupil of the eye nor had an ear heard of anything equal to it in the world'' (''Hampi, A Travel Guide'' 2003, p. 11)</ref>

The Vijayanagara Emperors were tolerant of all religions and sects, as writings by foreign visitors show.<ref name="democracy">From the notes of Duarte Barbosa. ({{harvnb|Kamath|1980|p=189}})</ref> The kings used titles such as ''Gobrahamana Pratipalanacharya'' (''literally'', "protector of cows and Brahmins") and ''Hindurayasuratrana'' (''lit'', "upholder of Hindu faith") that testified to their intention of protecting Hinduism and yet were at the same time staunchly Islamicate in their court ceremonials and dress.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sultan among Hindu Kings: Dress, Titles, and the Islamicization of Hindu Culture at Vijayanagara|first=Phillip B.|last=Wagoner|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|date=November 1996|volume=55|issue=4|pages=851–880|doi=10.2307/2646526|jstor=2646526|s2cid=163090404 }}</ref> The empire's founders, Harihara I and Bukka Raya I, were devout [[Shaiva]]s (worshippers of [[Shiva]]), but made grants to the [[Vaishnava]] order of [[Sringeri]] with [[Vidyaranya]] as their patron saint, and designated ''[[Varaha]]'' (an [[avatar]] of Vishnu) as their emblem.{{sfn|Kamath|1980|pp=188-189}} Nobles from Central Asia's Timurid kingdoms also came to Vijayanagara.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fritz |first1=John M. |last2=Michell |first2=George |year=2015 |orig-year=First published 2011 |title=Hampi Vijayanagara |publisher=Jaico Publishing House |page=50 |isbn=978-8 1-8495-602-3}}</ref> The later [[Saluva]] and [[Tuluva]] kings were Vaishnava by faith, but worshipped at the feet of Lord Virupaksha (Shiva) at Hampi as well as Lord [[Venkateshwara]] (Vishnu) at [[Tirumala Venkateswara Temple|Tirupati]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fritz |first1=John M. |last2=Michell |first2=George |year=2015 |orig-year=First published 2011 |title=Hampi Vijayanagara |publisher=Jaico Publishing House |pages=41, 43 |isbn=978-8 1-8495-602-3}}</ref> A Sanskrit work, ''Jambavati Kalyanam'' by King Krishnadevaraya, called Lord Virupaksha ''Karnata Rajya Raksha Mani'' ("protective jewel of Karnata Empire").<ref>{{cite book |last=Wagoner |first=Phillip B. |editor1-last=Fritz |editor1-first=John. M. |editor2-last=Michell |editor2-first=George |year=2001 |chapter=Architecture and Royal Authority under the Early Sangamas |title=New Light on Hampi: Recent Research at Vijayanagara |publisher=Marg Publications |page=14 |isbn=81-85026-53-X}}</ref> The kings patronised the saints of the [[dvaita]] order (philosophy of dualism) of [[Madhvacharya]] at [[Udupi]].{{sfn|Kamath|1980|p=189}}

The empire's legacy includes many monuments spread over South India, the best known of which is the group at Hampi. The previous temple building traditions in South India came together in the Vijayanagara Architecture style. The mingling of all faiths and vernaculars inspired architectural innovation of Hindu temple construction. South Indian mathematics flourished under the protection of the Vijayanagara Empire in Kerala. The south Indian mathematician [[Madhava of Sangamagrama]] founded the famous [[Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics]] in the 14th century which produced a lot of great south Indian mathematicians like [[Parameshvara]], [[Nilakantha Somayaji]] and [[Jyeṣṭhadeva]].<ref>''History of Science and Philosophy of Science'' by Pradip Kumar Sengupta p. 91</ref> Efficient administration and vigorous overseas trade brought new technologies such as water management systems for irrigation.<ref>''Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526)'' by Satish Chandra pp. 188–189</ref> The empire's patronage enabled fine arts and literature to reach new heights in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit, while Carnatic music evolved into its current form.<ref>''Art History'', Volume II: 1400–present by Boundless p. 243</ref>

For two and a half centuries from the mid-13th century, politics in Northern India was dominated by the [[Delhi Sultanate]], and in Southern India by the [[Vijayanagar Empire]]. However, there were other regional powers present as well. After fall of [[Pala Empire]], the [[Chero dynasty]] ruled much of Eastern [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Bihar]] and [[Jharkhand]] from 12th CE to 18th CE.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=399UDwAAQBAJ&q=chero+dynasty&pg=PT71|title=Bihar General Knowledge Digest|isbn=9789352667697|last1=Singh|first1=Pradyuman|date=19 January 2021|publisher=Prabhat Prakashan }}</ref><ref name="Gopal2017">{{cite book|author=Surendra Gopal|title=Mapping Bihar: From Medieval to Modern Times|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mCZFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT289|date= 2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-03416-6|pages=289–295}}</ref><ref name="SinghGaur2008">{{cite book|author1=Surinder Singh|author2=I. D. Gaur|title=Popular Literature and Pre-modern Societies in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVA0JAzQJkYC&pg=PA77|year=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-1358-7|pages=77–}}</ref> The [[Reddy dynasty]] successfully defeated the Delhi Sultanate and extended their rule from [[Cuttack]] in the north to [[Kanchi]] in the south, eventually being absorbed into the expanding Vijayanagara Empire.<ref name="Mackenzie1990">{{cite book|author=Gordon Mackenzie|title=A manual of the Kistna district in the presidency of Madras|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=430nAMZz8LwC&pg=PA10|year=1990|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0544-2|pages=9–10, 224–}}</ref>

In the north, the [[Rajput kingdoms]] remained the dominant force in Western and Central India. The [[Mewar dynasty]] under [[Maharana Hammir]] defeated and captured [[Muhammad Tughlaq]] with the Bargujars as his main allies. Tughlaq had to pay a huge ransom and relinquish all of Mewar's lands. After this event, the Delhi Sultanate did not attack Chittor for a few hundred years. The Rajputs re-established their independence, and Rajput states were established as far east as Bengal and north into the [[Punjab region|Punjab]]. The [[Tomaras of Gwalior|Tomaras]] established themselves at [[Gwalior]], and [[Man Singh Tomar]] reconstructed the [[Gwalior Fort]].<ref name="sen2">{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-93-80607-34-4 |pages=116–117}}</ref> During this period, Mewar emerged as the leading Rajput state; and [[Rana Kumbha]] expanded his kingdom at the expense of the [[Sultan]]ates of [[Malwa Sultanate|Malwa]] and [[Sultanate of Gujarat|Gujarat]].<ref name="sen2" /><ref>''Lectures on Rajput history and culture'' by Dr. [[Dasharatha Sharma]]. Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi 1970. {{ISBN|0-8426-0262-3}}.</ref> The next great Rajput ruler, [[Rana Sanga]] of Mewar, became the principal player in [[Northern India]]. His objectives grew in scope – he planned to conquer Delhi. But, his defeat in the [[Battle of Khanwa]] consolidated the new [[Mughal dynasty]] in India.<ref name="sen2" /> The Mewar dynasty under Maharana [[Udai Singh II]] faced further defeat by Mughal emperor [[Akbar]], with their capital Chittor being captured. Due to this event, Udai Singh II founded [[Udaipur]], which became the new capital of the [[Udaipur State|Mewar kingdom]]. His son, [[Maharana Pratap]] of Mewar, firmly resisted the Mughals. Akbar sent many missions against him. He survived to ultimately gain control of all of Mewar, excluding the [[Chittor Fort]].<ref name="Ap">John Merci, Kim Smith; James Leuck (1922). "Muslim conquest and the Rajputs". The Medieval History of India pg 67–115</ref>

In the south, the [[Bahmani Sultanate]] was the chief rival of the Vijayanagara, and frequently created difficulties for the Vijayanagara.<ref>Farooqui Salma Ahmed, A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century, (Dorling Kindersley Pvt. Ltd., 2011)</ref> In the early 16th century [[Krishnadevaraya]] of the Vijayanagar Empire defeated the last remnant of Bahmani Sultanate power,{{sfn|Eaton|2005|p=88}} resulting it being split into five small [[Deccan sultanates]].<ref>''The Five Kingdoms of the Bahmani Sultanate''</ref> In 1490, [[Ahmadnagar Sultanate|Ahmadnagar]] declared independence, followed by [[Bijapur Sultanate|Bijapur]] and Berar in the same year; [[Golconda Sultanate|Golkonda]] became independent in 1518 and [[Bidar Sultanate|Bidar]] in 1528.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Majumdar |editor-first=R. C. |editor-link=R. C. Majumdar |year=1974 |title=The Mughul Empire |url=https://archive.org/details/mughulempire00bhar/page/n6/mode/2up |series=The History and Culture of the Indian People |volume=VII |location=Bombay |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |page=412}}</ref> Although generally rivals, they did ally against the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565, permanently weakening Vijayanagar in the Battle of Talikota.

The [[Sultanate of Bengal]] was the dominant power of the [[Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta]], with a network of mint towns spread across the region. It was a [[Sunni Muslim]] monarchy with [[Indo-Turkic people|Indo-Turkic]], Arab, Abyssinian and [[Bengali Muslim]] elites. The sultanate was known for its religious pluralism where non-Muslim communities co-existed peacefully. The Bengal Sultanate had a circle of [[vassal states]], including [[Odisha]] in the southwest, [[Arakan]] in the southeast, and [[Tripura]] in the east. In the early 16th century, the Bengal Sultanate reached the peak of its territorial growth with control over [[Kamarupa|Kamrup]] and [[Kamata Kingdom|Kamata]] in the northeast and [[Jaunpur district|Jaunpur]] and [[Bihar]] in the west. It was reputed as a thriving trading nation and one of Asia's strongest states. The Bengal Sultanate was described by contemporary European and Chinese visitors as a relatively prosperous kingdom and the "richest country to trade with". The Bengal Sultanate left a strong architectural legacy. Buildings from the period show foreign influences merged into a distinct [[Architecture of Bengal|Bengali style.]] The Bengal Sultanate was also the largest and most prestigious authority among the independent medieval Muslim-ruled states in the [[history of Bengal]]. Its decline began with an [[interregnum]] by the [[Suri Empire]], followed by [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Bengal Subah|conquest]] and disintegration into petty kingdoms.

The [[early modern period]] of Indian history is dated from 1526 CE to 1858 CE, corresponding to the rise and fall of the [[Mughal Empire]], which inherited from the [[Timurid Renaissance]]. During this age India's economy expanded, relative peace was maintained and arts were patronized. This period witnessed the further development of [[Indo-Islamic architecture]];{{sfn|Asher|Talbot|2008|p = 115}}{{sfn|Robb|2001|pp = 90–91}} the growth of [[Mahrattas]] and [[Sikh Empire|Sikhs]] enabled them to rule significant regions of India in the waning days of the Mughal empire.<ref name="exeter">{{cite web|title=India before the British: The Mughal Empire and its Rivals, 1526–1857|website=[[University of Exeter]]|url=http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/modules/hih1407/}}</ref> With the discovery of the [[Cape route]] in the 1500s, the first Europeans to arrive by sea and establish themselves, were the [[Portuguese in Goa and Bombay]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ITxsDwAAQBAJ&q=early+modern+India | title=Unwanted Neighbours: The Mughals, the Portuguese, and Their Frontier Zones | isbn=978-0-19-909368-7 | last1=Flores | first1=Jorge | date=5 June 2018 | publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref>

In 1526, [[Babur]] swept across the [[Khyber Pass]] and established the [[Mughal Empire]], which at its zenith covered much of [[South Asia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/empires/mughals/ |title=The Islamic World to 1600: Rise of the Great Islamic Empires (The Mughal Empire) |website=University of Calgary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927170951/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/empires/mughals/ |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref> However, his son [[Humayun]] was defeated by the Afghan warrior [[Sher Shah Suri]] in 1540, and Humayun was forced to retreat to [[Kabul]]. After Sher Shah's death, his son [[Islam Shah Suri]] and his Hindu general [[Hemu Vikramaditya]] established secular rule in North India from [[Delhi]] until 1556, when [[Akbar]] ({{Reign|1556|1605}}), grandson of Babur, defeated Hemu in the [[Battle of Panipat (1556)|Second Battle of Panipat]] on 6 November 1556 after winning [[Battle of Delhi (1556)|Battle of Delhi]]. Akbar tried to establish a good relationship with the Hindus. 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-Persian culture]] and [[Mughal architecture|Indo-Saracenic architecture]].

Akbar married a [[Rajput]] princess, [[Mariam-uz-Zamani]], and they had a son, [[Jahangir]] ({{Reign|1605|1627}}).<ref>Jeroen Duindam (2015), [https://books.google.com/books?id=5ky2CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 ''Dynasties: A Global History of Power, 1300–1800'', p. 105], Cambridge University Press</ref> Jahangir followed his father's policy. The Mughal dynasty ruled most of the Indian subcontinent by 1600. The reign of [[Shah Jahan]] ({{Reign|1628|1658}}) was the golden age of Mughal architecture. He erected several large monuments, the most famous of which is the [[Taj Mahal]] at Agra.

It was one of the largest empires to have existed in the Indian subcontinent,<ref name="Turchin223">{{cite journal|last1=Turchin|first1=Peter|author-link=Peter Turchin|last2=Adams|first2=Jonathan M.|last3=Hall|first3=Thomas D|date=December 2006|title=East-West Orientation of Historical Empires|url=https://peterturchin.com/PDF/Turchin_Adams_Hall_2006.pdf|journal=[[Journal of World-Systems Research]]|volume=12|issue=2|page=223|issn=1076-156X|accessdate=2 October 2021}}</ref> and surpassed [[China]] to become the world's largest economic power, controlling 24.4% of the [[world economy]],<ref name="maddison261">[[Angus Maddison|Maddison, Angus]] (2003): ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=rHJGz3HiJbcC&pg=PA261 Development Centre Studies The World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics]'', [[OECD Publishing]], {{ISBN|92-64-10414-3}}, p. 261</ref> and the world leader in manufacturing,<ref name="Parthasarathi">{{Citation |title=Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not: Global Economic Divergence, 1600–1850 |given=Prasannan |surname=Parthasarathi |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-139-49889-0 |page=2}}</ref> producing 25% of global industrial output.<ref name="williamson">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tcd.ie/Economics/staff/orourkek/Istanbul/JGWGEHNIndianDeind.pdf|title=India's Deindustrialization in the 18th and 19th Centuries|author=[[Jeffrey G. Williamson]], David Clingingsmith|publisher=[[Harvard University]]|date=August 2005|access-date=18 May 2017}}</ref> The economic and demographic upsurge was stimulated by Mughal [[agrarian reform]]s that intensified agricultural production,<ref name="richards">[[John F. Richards]] (1995), [https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC&pg=PA190 ''The Mughal Empire'', p. 190], [[Cambridge University Press]]</ref> and a relatively high degree of [[urbanisation]].<ref name="eraly">{{cite book |author=[[Abraham Eraly]] |year=2007 |title=The Mughal World: Life in India's Last Golden Age |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zpa8gyGW_twC&pg=PA5 |publisher=Penguin Books |page=5 |isbn=978-0-14-310262-5}}</ref>

The Mughal Empire reached the zenith of its territorial expanse during the reign of [[Aurangzeb]] ({{Reign|1658|1707}}), under whose reign the [[proto-industrialization]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Modern World System and Indian Proto-industrialization: Bengal 1650–1800, (Volume 1)|author=Abhay Kumar Singh|publisher=Northern Book Centre|year=2006|isbn=9788172112011}}</ref> led to India surpassing Qing China as the world's largest economy.<ref>[[Angus Maddison|Maddison, Angus]] (2003): ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=rHJGz3HiJbcC&pg=PA259 Development Centre Studies The World Economy Historical Statistics: Historical Statistics]'', [[OECD Publishing]], {{ISBN|9264104143}}, pages 259–261</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=How India Clothed the World: The World of South Asian Textiles, 1500–1850|author=Giorgio Riello, Tirthankar Roy|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|year=2009|page=174|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=niuwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|isbn=9789047429975}}</ref> Aurangzeb was less tolerant than his predecessors, reintroducing the ''jizya'' tax and destroying several historical temples, while at the same time building more Hindu temples than he destroyed,<ref name="Copland2013">{{cite book|author1=Ian Copland|author2=Ian Mabbett|author3=Asim Roy|author4=Kate Brittlebank|author5=Adam Bowles|title=A History of State and Religion in India| year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-45950-4|page=119|display-authors=3}}</ref> employing significantly more Hindus in his imperial bureaucracy than his predecessors, and advancing administrators based on ability rather than religion.<ref name="TruschkePT50">{{cite book|title=Aurangzeb: The Life and Legacy of India's Most Controversial King|author=Audrey Truschke|author-link=Audrey Truschke|publisher=[[Stanford University Press]]|year=2017|pages=56, 58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oUUkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT50|isbn=978-1-5036-0259-5}}</ref> However, he is often blamed for the erosion of the tolerant syncretic tradition of his predecessors, as well as increasing religious controversy and centralisation. The [[English East India Company]] suffered a defeat in the [[Anglo-Mughal War (1686–1690)|Anglo-Mughal War]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Conflict and Cooperation in Anglo-Mughal Trade Relations during the Reign of Aurangzeb|first=Farhat|last=Hasan|journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient|volume=34|issue=4|year=1991|pages=351–360|doi=10.1163/156852091X00058|jstor=3632456}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=John Company Armed: The English East India Company, the Anglo-Mughal War and Absolutist Imperialism, c. 1675–1690|first=James|last=Vaugn|journal=Britain and the World|volume=11|issue=1|date=September 2017}}</ref>

[[File:1751 map of India from "Historical Atlas of India", by Charles Joppen.jpg|thumb|150px|18th-century political formation in India]]

The Mughals suffered several blows due to invasions from [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]], [[Rajput]]s, [[Bharatpur State|Jats]] and [[Durrani Empire|Afghans]]. In 1737, the Maratha general [[Bajirao]] of the Maratha Empire invaded and plundered Delhi. Under the general Amir Khan Umrao Al Udat, the Mughal Emperor sent 8,000 troops to drive away the 5,000 Maratha cavalry soldiers. Baji Rao easily routed the novice Mughal general. In 1737, in the final defeat of Mughal Empire, the commander-in-chief of the Mughal Army, Nizam-ul-mulk, was routed at Bhopal by the Maratha army. This essentially brought an end to the Mughal Empire. While [[Bharatpur State]] under [[Jat people|Jat]] ruler [[Suraj Mal]], overran the Mughal garrison at Agra and plundered the city.<ref name="Grewal2007">{{cite book|author=Royina Grewal|title=In the Shadow of the Taj: A Portrait of Agra|year=2007|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-310265-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATpFImGZdVEC&pg=PA220|pages=220–}}</ref> In 1739, [[Nader Shah]], emperor of Iran, defeated the Mughal army at the [[Battle of Karnal]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Dupuy, R. Ernest |name-list-style=and |author2=Trevor N. Dupuy |title=The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History |edition=4th |publisher=Harper Collins Publishers |year=1993 |page=711}}</ref> After this victory, Nader captured and sacked Delhi, carrying away treasures including the [[Peacock Throne]].<ref>{{cite web |website=avalanchepress.com |title=Iran in the Age of the Raj |url=http://www.avalanchepress.com/Soldier_Shah.php |access-date=6 January 2017}}</ref> Mughal rule was further weakened by constant native Indian resistance; [[Banda Singh Bahadur]] led the [[Sikh]] [[Khalsa]] against Mughal religious oppression; Hindu [[Raja]]s of Bengal, [[Pratapaditya]] and [[Raja Sitaram Ray]] revolted; and [[Maharaja]] [[Chhatrasal]], of [[Bundela]] Rajputs, fought the Mughals and established the [[Panna State]].<ref name="AsherTalbot2006">{{cite book | author1=Catherine Ella Blanshard Asher | author2=Cynthia Talbot | title=India before Europe | year= 2006 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-80904-7 | page=265}}</ref> The [[Mughal emperors|Mughal dynasty]] was reduced to puppet rulers by 1757. [[Vadda Ghalughara]] took place under the Muslim provincial government based at [[Lahore]] to wipe out the [[Sikh]]s, with 30,000 Sikhs being killed, an offensive that had begun with the Mughals, with the [[Chhota Ghallughara]],<ref>''A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism: Sikh Religion and Philosophy'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=vcSRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA86 p. 86], Routledge, W. Owen Cole, Piara Singh Sambhi, 2005</ref> and lasted several decades under its Muslim successor states.<ref>[[Khushwant Singh]], ''A History of the Sikhs'', Volume I: 1469–1839, Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1978, pp. 127–129</ref>

The Maratha kingdom was founded and consolidated by [[Chatrapati Shivaji]].<ref>''Shivaji and his Times'' (1919) – J.N. Sarkar</ref> However, the credit for making the Marathas formidable power nationally goes to ''[[Peshwa]]'' (chief minister) [[Bajirao I]]. Historian K.K. Datta wrote that Bajirao I "may very well be regarded as the second founder of the Maratha Empire".<ref>''[[An Advanced History of India]]'', Dr. K.K. Datta, p. 546</ref>

Under Madhavrao I, the strongest knights were granted semi-autonomy, creating a confederacy of United Maratha states under the [[Gaekwad]]s of [[Baroda State|Baroda]], the [[Holkar]]s of [[Indore State|Indore]] and [[Malwa]], the [[Scindia]]s of [[Gwalior State|Gwalior]] and [[Ujjain]], the [[Bhonsale]]s of [[Nagpur kingdom|Nagpur]] and the [[Paramara dynasty|Puars]] of [[Dhar State|Dhar]] and [[Dewas State (Maratha Confederacy)|Dewas]]. In 1775, the East India Company intervened in a Peshwa family succession struggle in [[Pune]], which led to the [[First Anglo-Maratha War]], resulting in a Maratha victory.<ref name=Naravane2>{{Cite book |last=Naravane |first=M.S. |title=Battles of the Honorourable East India Company |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |year=2014 |isbn=978-81-313-0034-3 |pages=63}}</ref> The Marathas remained a major power in India until their defeat in the [[Second Anglo-Maratha War|Second]] and [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]]s (1805–1818).

The [[Sikh Empire]] was a political entity that governed the Northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent, based around the [[Punjab region]], from 1799 to 1849. It was forged, on the foundations of the [[Khalsa]], under the leadership of [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]] (1780–1839).{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Maharaja Ranjit Singh consolidated much of northern India into an empire using his [[Sikh Khalsa Army]], trained in European military techniques and equipped with modern military technologies. Ranjit Singh proved himself to be a master strategist and selected well-qualified generals for his army. He successfully ended the [[Afghan-Sikh Wars]]. In stages, he added central Punjab, the provinces of Multan and Kashmir, and the Peshawar Valley to his empire.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Singh |first=Gulcharan |date=July 1981 |title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Principles of War |journal=USI Journal |volume=111 |issue=465 |pages=184–192}}</ref><ref name="Grewal">{{cite book |last=Grewal |first=J.S. |author-link=J. S. Grewal |year=1990 |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |publisher=Cambridge University Press |series=The New Cambridge History of India |volume=II.3 |pages=101, 103–104 |isbn=978-0-521-26884-4 |quote=Aggrandisement which made him the master of an empire ... the British recognized Ranjit Singh as the sole sovereign ruler of the Punjab and left him free to ... oust the Afghans from Multan and Kashmir ... Peshawar was taken over ... The real strength of Ranjit Singh's army lay in its infantry and artillery ... these new wings played an increasingly decisive role ... possessed 200 guns. Horse artillery was added in the 1820s ... nearly half of his army in terms of numbers consisted of men and officers trained on European lines ... In the expansion of Ranjit Singh's dominions ... vassalage proved to be nearly as important as the westernized wings of his army.}}</ref>

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, running along Sutlej river to [[Himachal Pradesh|Himachal]] in the east. After the death of Ranjit Singh, the empire weakened, leading to conflict with the British East India Company. The [[First Anglo-Sikh War]] and [[Second Anglo-Sikh War]] marked the downfall of the Sikh Empire, making it among the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to be conquered by the British.

The [[Kingdom of Mysore]] in southern India expanded to its greatest extent under [[Hyder Ali]] and his son [[Tipu Sultan]] in the later half of the 18th century. Under their rule, Mysore fought series of wars against the Marathas and British or their combined forces. The [[Maratha–Mysore War]] ended in April 1787, following the finalizing of ''treaty of Gajendragad'', in which Tipu Sultan was obligated to pay tribute to the Marathas. Concurrently, the [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]] took place, where the Mysoreans used the [[Mysorean rockets]]. The [[Fourth Anglo-Mysore War]] (1798–1799) saw the death of Tipu. Mysore's alliance with the French was seen as a threat to the British East India Company, and Mysore was attacked from all four sides. The Nizam of Hyderabad and the Marathas launched an invasion from the north. The British won a decisive victory at the [[Siege of Seringapatam (1799)]].

The [[Nawab of Bengal|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 out [[Expeditions in Bengal|six expeditions in Bengal]] from 1741 to 1748, as a result of which Bengal became a tributary state of Marathas. On 23 June 1757, [[Siraj ud-Daulah]], the last independent Nawab of Bengal was betrayed in the [[Battle of Plassey]] by [[Mir Jafar]]. He lost to the British, who took over the charge of Bengal in 1757, installed Mir Jafar on the ''Masnad'' (throne) and established itself to a political power in Bengal.<ref name="sirajbanglaped2">{{cite book |last1=Chaudhury |first1=Sushil |last2=Mohsin |first2=KM |year=2012 |chapter=Sirajuddaula |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sirajuddaula |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614191817/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sirajuddaula |archive-date=14 June 2015  |access-date=15 August 2018 }}</ref> In 1765 the system of Dual Government was established, in which the Nawabs ruled on behalf of the British and were mere puppets to the British. In 1772 the system was abolished and Bengal was brought under the direct control of the British. In 1793, when the ''Nizamat'' (governorship) of the Nawab was also taken away, they remained as mere pensioners of the [[British East India Company]].<ref name="british2">{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Vipul |date=2009 |title=Longman History & Civics (Dual Government in Bengal)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75avUTXB11AC&pg=PA29 |publisher=Pearson Education India |pages=29–|isbn=978-8131728888 }}</ref><ref name="dualgovernment2">{{cite book |date=2009 |title=Madhya Pradesh National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship Exam (Warren Hasting's system of Dual Government) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnyaLNskRfEC&pg=PA11 |publisher=Upkar Prakashan |pages=11– |isbn=978-81-7482-744-9}}</ref>

After the fall of the [[Maratha Empire]], many [[List of Maratha dynasties and states|Maratha dynasties and states]] became vassals in a subsidiary alliance with the British. With the decline of the [[Sikh Empire]], after the [[First Anglo-Sikh War]] in 1846, under the terms of the [[Treaty of Amritsar, 1846|Treaty of Amritsar]], the British government sold Kashmir to Maharaja [[Gulab Singh]] and the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the second-largest princely state in British India, was created by the [[Dogra dynasty]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kashmir-issue.com/images3/treatyOfamritsar.pdf |title=Treaty of Amritsar |access-date=25 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826235201/http://www.kashmir-issue.com/images3/treatyOfamritsar.pdf |archive-date=26 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rai |first=Mridu |title=Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2004|pages=27, 133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x5azvT2hjW0C |isbn=978-0-691-11688-4}}</ref> While in Eastern and Northeastern India, the Hindu and Buddhist states of [[Cooch Behar Kingdom]], [[Twipra Kingdom]] and [[Kingdom of Sikkim]] were annexed by the British and made vassal princely state.

In 1498, a Portuguese fleet under [[Vasco da Gama]] discovered a new sea route from Europe to India, which paved the way for direct Indo-European commerce. The Portuguese soon set up trading posts in [[Velha Goa]], [[Damaon]], [[Dio island]], and [[Bombay]]. The Portuguese instituted the [[Goa Inquisition]], where new Indian converts were punished for suspected heresy against Christianity and non-Christians were condemned.<ref name="Elbl2012p12">{{cite book|author=Glenn Ames|editor=Ivana Elbl|title=Portugal and its Empire, 1250–1800 (Collected Essays in Memory of Glenn J. Ames).: Portuguese Studies Review, Vol. 17, No. 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hld-AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12|year=2012|publisher=Trent University Press|pages=12–15 with footnotes, context: 11–32}}</ref> Goa remained the main Portuguese territory until it was [[Indian annexation of Goa|annexed by India in 1961]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Praval |first=K. C. |year=2009 |orig-year=First published 1987 |title=Indian Army after Independence |location=New Delhi |publisher=Lancer |page=214 |isbn=978-1-935501-10-7}}</ref>

The [[East India Company|English East India Company]] was founded in 1600. It gained a foothold in India with the establishment of a [[Factory (trading post)|factory]] in [[Masulipatnam]] on the Eastern coast of India in 1611 and a grant of rights by the Mughal emperor Jahangir to establish a factory in [[Surat]] in 1612. In 1640, after receiving similar permission from the [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagara ruler]] farther south, a second factory was established in [[Madras]] on the southeastern coast. The [[islet]] of ''[[Bom Bahia]]'' in present-day Mumbai (Bombay), was a Portuguese [[outpost (military)|outpost]] not far from Surat, it was presented to [[Charles II of England]] as [[dowry]], in his marriage to [[Catherine of Braganza]]; Charles in turn leased Bombay to the Company in 1668. Two decades later, the company established a [[trade post]] in the [[River Ganges]] delta. During this time other companies established by the [[Portuguese East India Company|Portuguese]], [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]], [[French East India Company|French]], and [[Danish East India Company|Danish]] were similarly expanding in the subcontinent.

The second form of asserting power involved treaties in which Indian rulers acknowledged the company's [[hegemony]] in return for limited internal [[autonomy]]. Since the company operated under financial constraints, it had to set up ''political'' underpinnings for its rule.<ref name="brown-p67">{{Harvnb|Brown|1994|p=67}}</ref> The most important such support came from the ''[[subsidiary alliance]]s'' with Indian princes.<ref name="brown-p67" /> In the early 19th century, the territories of these princes accounted for two-thirds of India.<ref name="brown-p67" /> When an Indian ruler who was able to secure his territory wanted to enter such an alliance, the company welcomed it as an economical method of indirect rule that did not involve the economic costs of direct administration or the political costs of gaining the support of alien subjects.<ref name="brown-68">{{Harvnb|Brown|1994|p=68}}</ref>

The Indian indenture system was an ongoing system of indenture, a form of debt bondage, by which 3.5&nbsp;million Indians were transported to colonies of European powers to provide labor for the (mainly sugar) plantations. It started from the end of slavery in 1833 and continued until 1920. This resulted in the development of a large [[Indian diaspora]] that spread from the Caribbean to the Pacific Ocean and the growth of large [[Indo-Caribbean]] and [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indo-African]] populations.

After the outbreak of the mutiny in [[Meerut]], the rebels very quickly reached [[Delhi]]. The rebels had also captured large tracts of the [[North-Western Provinces]] and [[Awadh]] (Oudh). Most notably, in Awadh, the rebellion took on the attributes of a patriotic revolt against British presence.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bandyopadhyay|2004|p=177}}, {{Harvnb|Bayly|2000|p=357}}</ref> However, the British East India Company mobilised rapidly with the assistance of friendly [[Princely states]], but it took the British the better part of 1858 to suppress the rebellion. Due to the rebels being poorly equipped and having no outside support or funding, they were brutally subdued.<ref>Christopher Hibbert, ''The Great Mutiny: India 1857'' (1980)</ref>

In the aftermath, all power was transferred from the British East India Company to the [[British Crown]], which began to administer most of India as provinces. The Crown controlled the company's lands directly and 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.<ref>{{Citation |first=Wilhelm von |last=Pochhammer |title=India's road to nationhood: a political history of the subcontinent |publisher=Allied Publishers |year=1981 |isbn=978-81-7764-715-0}}</ref>

After 1857, the colonial government strengthened and expanded its infrastructure via the court system, legal procedures, and statutes. The [[Indian Penal Code]] came into being.<ref>"Law Commission of India&nbsp;– Early Beginnings"</ref> In education, [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Thomas Babington Macaulay]] had made schooling a priority for the Raj in 1835 and succeeded in implementing the use of English for instruction. By 1890 some 60,000 Indians had matriculated.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Suresh Chandra Ghosh |year=1995 |title=Bentinck, Macaulay and the introduction of English education in India |journal=History of Education |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=17–25 |doi=10.1080/0046760950240102}}</ref> The Indian economy grew at about 1% per year from 1880 to 1920, and the population also grew at 1%. However, from 1910s Indian private industry began to grow significantly. India built a modern railway system in the late 19th century which was the fourth largest in the world.<ref>{{cite journal |author=I.D. Derbyshire |year=1987 |title=Economic Change and the Railways in North India, 1860–1914 |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=521–545 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X00009197 |jstor=312641|s2cid=146480332 }}</ref> Historians have been bitterly divided on issues of economic history, with the Nationalist school arguing that India was poorer due to British rule.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Robb |first=Peter |date=November 1981 |title=British Rule and Indian 'Improvement' |journal=Economic History Review |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=507–523 |jstor=2595587|doi=10.2307/2595587 }}</ref>

In 1905, [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon]] [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|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 said to be efficient administration but the people of Bengal were outraged at the apparent "divide and rule" strategy. It also marked the beginning of the organised anti-colonial movement. When the Liberal party in Britain came to power in 1906, he was removed. Bengal was reunified in 1911. The new Viceroy Gilbert Minto and the new Secretary of State for India [[John Morley]] consulted with Congress leaders on political reforms. The [[Indian Councils Act 1909|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.<ref>S.A. Wolpert, ''Morley and India, 1906–1910'', (1967)</ref> Several socio-religious organisations came into being at that time. Muslims set up the [[All India Muslim League]] in 1906 to protect the interests of the aristocratic Muslims. The [[Hindu Mahasabha]] and [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS) sought to represent Hindu interests though the latter always claimed it to be a "cultural" organisation.<ref>''Democracy and Hindu nationalism'', Chetan Bhatt (2013)</ref> Sikhs founded the [[Shiromani Akali Dal]] in 1920.<ref>Harjinder Singh Dilgeer. ''Shiromani Akali Dal (1920–2000)''. Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2001.</ref> However, the largest and oldest political party [[Indian National Congress]], founded in 1885, attempted to keep a distance from the socio-religious movements and identity politics.<ref>''The History of the Indian National Congress'', B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya (1935)</ref>

During this period, Bengal witnessed an [[intellectual]] awakening that is in some way similar to the [[Renaissance]]. This movement questioned existing orthodoxies, particularly with respect to women, marriage, the [[dowry]] system, the [[caste system]], and religion. One of the earliest [[social movement]]s that emerged during this time was the [[Young Bengal]] movement, which espoused [[rationalism]] and [[atheism]] as the common denominators of civil conduct among upper caste educated Hindus.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sharma|first=Mayank|title=Essay on 'Derozio and the Young Bengal Movement'|date=January 2012|url=http://www.preservearticles.com/2012010119327/essay-on-derozio-and-the-young-bengal-movement.html|access-date=9 August 2017|archive-date=14 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114224008/http://www.preservearticles.com/2012010119327/essay-on-derozio-and-the-young-bengal-movement.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> It played an important role in reawakening Indian minds and intellect across the Indian subcontinent.

During [[Company rule in India|British East India Company]] and [[British Raj|British Crown]] rule, India experienced some of deadliest ever recorded [[famines in India|famines]]. These famines, usually resulting from crop failures and often exacerbated by policies of the colonial government,<ref name="davis" /> included the [[Great Famine of 1876–1878]] in which 6.1&nbsp;million to 10.3&nbsp;million people died,<ref>Davis, Mike. ''Late Victorian Holocausts''. 1. Verso, 2000. {{ISBN|1-85984-739-0}} p. 7</ref> the [[Great Bengal famine of 1770]] where between 1 and 10 million people died,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Datta|first=Rajat|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44927255|title=Society, economy, and the market : commercialization in rural Bengal, c. 1760-1800|date=2000|publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors|isbn=81-7304-341-8|location=New Delhi|pages=262, 266|oclc=44927255}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Amartya Sen|title=Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation|url=https://archive.org/details/povertyfamineses0000sena|url-access=registration|year=1981|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-828463-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/povertyfamineses0000sena/page/39 39]}}</ref> the [[Indian famine of 1899–1900]] in which 1.25 to 10&nbsp;million people died,<ref name="davis">Davis, Mike. ''Late Victorian Holocausts''. 1. Verso, 2000. {{ISBN|1-85984-739-0}} p. 173</ref> and the [[Bengal famine of 1943]] where between 2.1 and 3.8 million people died.<ref>{{cite book |last=Greenough |first=Paul Robert |date=1982 |title=Prosperity and Misery in Modern Bengal: The Famine of 1943–1944 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-503082-2}}</ref> The [[Third plague pandemic]] in the mid-19th century killed 10&nbsp;million people in India.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/zoonotic/en/index4.html |title=Plague |access-date=5 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217172854/http://www.who.int/vaccine_research/diseases/zoonotic/en/index4.html |archive-date=17 February 2009  }}. World Health Organisation.</ref> Despite persistent diseases and famines, the population of the Indian subcontinent, which stood at up to 200&nbsp;million in 1750,<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Colin Clark (economist)|Colin Clark]]|title=Population Growth and Land Use|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]]|year=1977|page=64|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0KKvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64|isbn=978-1-349-15775-4}}</ref> had reached 389&nbsp;million by 1941.<ref>[http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/chapters_preview/98/1iie2806.pdf "Reintegrating India with the World Economy"]. Peterson Institute for International Economics.</ref>

During [[World War I]], over 800,000 volunteered for the army, and more than 400,000 volunteered for non-combat roles, compared with the pre-war annual recruitment of about 15,000 men.<ref>Pati, p. 31</ref> The Army saw early action on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] at the [[First Battle of Ypres]]. After a year of front-line duty, sickness and casualties had reduced the Indian Corps to the point where it had to be withdrawn. Nearly 700,000 Indians fought the Turks in the Mesopotamian campaign. Indian formations were also sent to East Africa, Egypt, and Gallipoli.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mgtrust.org/ind1.htm |title=Participants from the Indian subcontinent in the First World War |website=Memorial Gates Trust |access-date=12 September 2009}}</ref>

}}</ref> The British Raj, as part of the [[Allies of World War II|Allied Nations]], sent over two and a half million volunteer soldiers to fight under British command against the [[Axis powers]]. Additionally, several Princely States provided large donations to support the Allied campaign. India also provided the base for American operations in support of China in the [[China Burma India Theater|China Burma India Theatre]].

The [[Indian National Congress]] denounced Nazi Germany but would not fight it or anyone else until India was independent. Congress launched the [[Quit India Movement]] in August 1942, refusing to co-operate in any way with the government until independence was granted. The government immediately arrested over 60,000 national and local Congress leaders. The [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] rejected the Quit India movement and worked closely with the Raj authorities.

[[Subhas Chandra Bose]] (also called ''Netaji'') broke with Congress and tried to form a military alliance with Germany or Japan to gain independence. The Germans assisted Bose in the formation of the [[Indian Legion]];{{sfn|Müller|2009|p=55}} however, it was Japan that helped him revamp the [[Indian National Army]] (INA), after the [[First Indian National Army]] under [[Mohan Singh (general)|Mohan Singh]] was dissolved. The INA fought under Japanese direction, mostly in Burma.<ref name=Fayviiii>{{Harvnb|Fay|1993|p=viii}}</ref> Bose also headed the [[Provisional Government of Free India]] (or [[Azad Hind]]), a government-in-exile based in Singapore.<ref name=Sarkar410>{{Harvnb|Sarkar|1989|p=410}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Bandyopadhyay|2004|p=426}}</ref>

[[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]], an Indian nationalist leader, declared [[Swaraj]] (home rule) as the destiny of the nation. His popular sentence "Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it"<ref name="google6">{{cite book|title=Bal Gangadhar Tilak: Struggle for Swaraj|author1=R, B.S.|author2=Bakshi, S.R.|date=1990|publisher=Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd|isbn=978-81-7041-262-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LOjhv5g629UC|access-date=6 January 2017}}</ref> became the source of inspiration. Tilak was backed by rising public leaders like [[Bipin Chandra Pal]] and [[Lala Lajpat Rai]], who held the same point of view, notably they advocated the [[Swadeshi movement]] involving the boycott of imported items and the use of Indian-made goods;<ref name="Chandra2016p128" /> the triumvirate were popularly known as [[Lal Bal Pal]]. In 1907, the Congress was split into two factions: The radicals, led by Tilak, advocated civil agitation and direct revolution to overthrow the British Empire and the abandonment of all things British. The moderates, led by leaders like [[Dadabhai Naoroji]] and [[Gopal Krishna Gokhale]], on the other hand, wanted reform within the framework of British rule.<ref name="Chandra2016p128">{{cite book |last1=Chandra |first1=Bipan |author1-link=Bipan Chandra |last2=Mukherjee |first2=Mridula |author2-link=Mridula Mukherjee |last3=Mukherjee  |first3=Aditya |last4=Mahajan |first4=Sucheta |last5=Panikkar |first5=K.N. |author5-link=K. N. Panikkar |year=2016 |orig-year=First published 1987 |title=India's Struggle for Independence |edition=Revised and updated |publisher=Penguin Books |page=128 |isbn=978-0-14-010781-4}}</ref>

The British themselves adopted a "carrot and stick" approach in response to renewed nationalist demands. The means of achieving the proposed measure were later enshrined in the [[Government of India Act 1919]], which introduced the principle of a dual mode of administration, or diarchy, in which elected Indian legislators and appointed British officials shared power.<ref>Albert, Sir Courtenay Peregrine. ''The Government of India''. Clarendon Press, 1922. p. 125</ref> In 1919, Colonel [[Reginald Dyer]] ordered his troops to fire their weapons on peaceful protestors, including unarmed women and children, resulting in the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]]; which led to the [[Non-cooperation Movement]] of 1920–1922. The massacre was a decisive episode towards the end of British rule in India.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Bond |first=Brian |date=October 1963 |title=Amritsar 1919 |magazine=History Today |volume=13 |issue=10 |pages=666–676}}</ref>

From 1920 leaders such as [[Mahatma Gandhi]] began highly popular mass movements to campaign against the British Raj using largely peaceful methods. The Gandhi-led independence movement opposed the British rule using non-violent methods like [[Non-cooperation movement|non-co-operation]], [[Dandi March|civil disobedience]] and [[Swadeshi movement|economic resistance]]. However, [[Revolutionary movement for Indian independence|revolutionary activities]] against the British rule took place throughout the Indian subcontinent and some others adopted a militant approach like the [[Hindustan Republican Association]], that sought to overthrow British rule by armed struggle.

In January 1946, several mutinies broke out in the armed services, starting with that of RAF servicemen frustrated with their slow repatriation. The mutinies came to a head with [[Royal Indian Navy mutiny|mutiny of the Royal Indian Navy]] in [[Bombay]] in February 1946, followed by others in [[Calcutta]], [[Madras]], and [[Karachi]]. The mutinies were rapidly suppressed. In early 1946, new elections were called and [[Congress]] candidates won in eight of the eleven provinces.

Along with the desire for independence, tensions between Hindus and Muslims had also been developing over the years. Muslim League leader [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] proclaimed 16 August 1946 as [[Direct Action Day]], with the stated goal of highlighting, peacefully, the demand for a Muslim homeland in British India, which resulted in the outbreak of the cycle of violence that would be later called the "[[Direct Action Day|Great Calcutta Killing of August 1946]]". The communal violence spread to [[1946 Bihar riots|Bihar]], [[Noakhali riots|Noakhali]] in Bengal, [[Garhmukteshwar]] in the [[United Provinces (1937-1950)|United Provinces]], and on to [[Rawalpindi]] in March 1947 in which Sikhs and Hindus were [[1947 Rawalpindi massacres|attacked or driven out]] by Muslims.

* {{citation |last=Brown |first=Judith M. |author-link=Judith M. Brown |year=1994 |title=Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=59677250 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-19-873113-9 }}

* {{cite tech report |last=Devereux |first=Stephen |year=2000 |title=Famine in the twentieth century |series=IDS Working Paper |volume=105 |location=Brighton |publisher=Institute of Development Studies |url=http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/0708/DOC7538.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516151220/http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/0708/DOC7538.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 May 2017 }}