Historical Study of India

The past couple weeks I have begun my first proper Indian culture phase. The interest has been there for quite some time and I actually have written about Indian history before. This was back in the fall of 2020 when I played the game Assassin's Creed Chronicles set in the British Raj of India. I was inspired by the historical setting of the game which depicts the fall of the Sikh Empire and the establishment of British colonialization. This period lasted for over 100 years from 1858-1947, also known as the British Raj. I have already written and studied this period (see Colonial Age of India) so will not focus on it here. In this post I want to focus on the ancient settlement of India, thru it's middle age of empires and dynasties leading up to this modern period. 

I'll later have a more full study of Indian culture which I know to be rich of religion, cuisine, architecture, and so much more that is new and interesting to me. It's often mixed with the identities of the Middle East or the Asian Orientals, but is in it's own right a very significant and independent civilization. I have know many Indian people in my lifetime, as far back as my elementary days at St. John's New Haven. Our priest, Fr. Derrick, was Indian and one of the most friendly role-models I knew as a youth. I'll later have more on him and other Indian people I have met throughout my lifetime. But first I believe that a study of history should precede a study of culture. 

As most my cultural phases I have embarked on a full submersion of the mediums. Beginning with their cuisine (I have cooked my favorite dish Tikki Masala), the music, the Bollywood films, and reading the classic book A Passage to India by E.M. Foster (I'll later have a full book review on this). But I've only just begun to appease this cultural fascination and as usual believe that in order to better understand it, I must begin with it's historical roots. And I believe that the best way to understand a topic is thru writing. While the experience and reading are vital components, it's the writing of the topic that puts a final stamp on it all. And that's what I intend to do here in this historical study. I will begin with the ancient settlements of India up until the establishment of the British Raj. 

Early Age Kingdoms

The region of India is surrounded by an ocean to it's southern shore with many rivers flowing thru such as the mighty Ganges and Indus Rivers. The climate offers mostly warm temperatures with rich and green cultivation. It is for this reason that the location was very desirable to African migrants as far back as two million years ago. These pre-historic settlements eventually established it's first major civilization in the Indus Valley. From 3300 to 1900 BC, the Indus Valley Civilization was the prominent society in present day India. This was mostly located on the eastern borders of India, along the Indus River, and into the desert lands of present day Pakistan and Afghanistan. This was one of the three major civilizations of the Middle East alongside Mesopotamia (in present day Iraq) and ancient Egypt. 

Following the collapse of this civilization many Indo tribes begin to settle further northwest into the Pujab region along the Yamuni river and the Himalayan mountains. This period in Indian History is known as the Vedic period and brought upon a new birth of cultural and spiritual identity. From 1500-600 BC the Vedic society thrived in the Punjab region and are best known for establishing scriptures and philosophy in their Vedas text. This ancient book established the guidelines of Hinduism, on par with the Bible of Christianity. While many consider Hinduism to be the oldest religion in the world it's practice began during the Vedic period. Hinduism is a cultural staple of India and is the world's third largest religion (at 1.3 billion followers) behind Christianity and Islam. 

The Vedic Age

During this Vedic Age India became distributed by realms and kingdoms known as Janapadas. Some of the most notable of these kingdoms were the Kuru Kingdom (in modern day Delhi), Panchala kingdom (modern day Prayagraj), the Kosala kingdom (modern day Ayodhya), and the Videha kingdom (in modern day Janakpur, Nepal). By around 800 BC a new religious movement known as Srmana arose in which new philosophical and religious ideals emerged. This included the Upanishad texts of Hinduism and the birth of two more religions; Jainism and Buddhism. This movement brought upon new ideals of ascetism and spiritual enlightenment. Jainism was founded by the 24 spiritual teachers "known as tirthankaras" the best known being Mahavira. Buddhism was founded by Gautama Buddha who established the ascetic lifestyle of achieving Nirvana (inner-peace and enlightenment). Buddhism is the world's 4th largest religion at 500 million followers. 

By around 600 to 300 BC there were 16 major kingdoms throughout India know as the Mahajanapadas. These kingdoms flourished with their new religious texts and a boom of urbanization. The strongest of these kingdoms was the Magadha which eventually expanded and swallowed up most of the other kingdoms. It was in this region that Gautama Buddha "The Buddha" lived most of his life and achieved enlightenment under the tree of Bodh Gaya. The Magadha kingdom was later overthrown and replaced by the Nanda Empire in 345 BC well known for their wealth and massive army. 

It was during this time in 327 BC that Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army first marched into the far eastern lands of India. Following years of conquest over the Persian Empire, Alexander was eager to continue his eastward expansion. Traveling thru the Hindu-Kush mountains, he achieved early victories in the Sindh and Punjab regions of northeast India and Pakistan. Establishing new Alexandria cities in the conquered territory. This brought about a new fusion of European and Asian customs. At the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC, Alexander defeated the Pauravas kingdom in one of the bloodiest battles in his campaign. This marked a turning point in his conquest where much of his Macedonian army refused to go any further. Thus the Macedonian Army never came into conflict with the powerful Nanda Empire. 

The Mighty Maurya Empire

By 320 BC a new power in India emerged from the Magadha region led by the warrior king Chandragupta Maurya. He reclaimed the territories conquered by Alexander in the Hindu Kush and later defeated the Nanda Empire to establish the Maurya Empire. This eventually became the largest ever empire within the land of India. From the east it stretched from the Hindu Kush of Pakistan, the Himyalan mountains to it's north, and the Brahmaputra River bordering Bangladesh on it's west. This region reached it's peak during the reign of Ashoka the Great (268-232 BC), who was the grandson of Chandragupta. 

After years of war, particularly the Kalinga War of 261 BC, Ashoka discovered Buddhism and turned his empire into one of non-violence. He brought about a new wave of infrastructure, art, and architecture encouraging the practice of Buddhism thru new shrines and missionaries. It was thanks to Ashoka that Buddhism spread beyond India and into Europe and eastern Asia. However after his reign he was followed by less effective kings and the Maurya Empire quickly began to decline. Soon there was religious division amongst the Buddhists and the Hindus and the civil conflict gave way to renewed occupation from Greece in 180 BC. The Maurya Empire collapsed and the region of India was once again divided by many smaller kingdoms. 

The Shunga, Satavahana, and the Kushan Empire

In 187 BC the Maurya emperor Bridaratha was killed by his general Pushyamitra Shunga which thus overthrew the Maurya Empire and established the Shunga Empire. Based in the eastern region of Pataliputra, the 1st emperor Pushymaitra sought to restore the old Vedic customs of Hinduism and persecuted those that followed Buddhism. While Pushymaitra held power for some 36 years he was unable to reach the heights that the previous Maurya Empire had. The Shunga Empire made some contributions to society but were constantly at war with the neighboring Indian kingdoms. 

Another significant power during this time was the Satavahana Empire which covered most of the mainland center of India. While the kingdom was also always at war with it's neighbors, it also made great contributions to the development of art, trade, and religion. It was here that the Great Stupa of Sanchi was built to commemorate Buddha. The Satavahana dynasty also played a big part in establishing trade with it's foreign neighbors in Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

By around 30 BC, the Kushan Empire was established in the western regions of Hindu Kush (present day Afghanistan) and stretched along the Ganges River as far west as Patna. The kingdom was established by Kujula Kadphises and his grandson Kanishka the Great led the kingdom to it's fullest extent from 127-150 AD. A devout Buddhist, Kanishka encouraged the spiritual practice and played a vital role to develop the Silk Road. This route into China and Europe was not only vital for trade, but for Kanisha was a necessary tool to spread Buddhism. 

The Golden Age of the Gupta Empire

By around the late 3rd century a new power arose in the eastern region of Bengal led by the king Gupta. He established the Gupta dynasty that would eventually span most of mainland India and usher in a golden age for the culture. The Gupta Empire began to expand under the leadership of Chandragupta who reigned from 319 to 350 AD. His son Samudragupta furthered the empire's military conquest that spanned from parts of Bangladesh into the north west of Punjab. During his reign from 335-375 AD, India entered a Golden Age of arts, mathematics, literature, science, astronomy, and philosophy. 

The renaissance continued after his son Chandragupta II succeeded him from 375-415 AD. Chandragupta continued his father's military conquest by expanding the empire even further west to the Indus River. He later became known as the legendary King Vikramaditya (a folktale perhaps on par with the British legend of King Arthur). The Gupta empire reached it's zenith during his reign conquering nearly 20 other Indian kingdoms. The empire flourished with a boom of architecture, art, literature, and trade. India's greatest poet Kalidasa lived during this time writing epic poems based off the Hindu Vedic texts. Also during this time lived the great mathematician Arybhata who made great contributions to astronomy, physics, and establishing the mathematical concept of zero. 

Following the death of Chandagupta II the empire lost some of it's stature and was opposed by new threats. In 455 AD, Skandagupta was able to defeat various foreign invaders as well as crushing a rebellion to restore the empire to it's former strength. For this he is considered the last of the great Gupta leaders, but his reign was short lived. Following his death in 467 AD the Gupta Empire slowly began losing it's massive territory to other Indian kingdoms, most notably the Huns in the northwest. The Huns were eventually driven out by 528 however it came at a great cost to the Guptan Empire, notably damaging it's trade with Europe and Asia. By around 550 AD the empire had collapsed into various other Indian kingdoms once again.  

The Delhi Sultanate

Following the fall of the Guptan Empire, India once again was made up of various smaller kingdoms. This included kingdoms such as the Vakataka Empire based at the central region (250-500 AD); Kamarupa Kingdom based in the northeast Bengal region (350-1140 AD); the Pallava Empire based in the southeast Andhra region (275-897 AD); and the Kadamba Empire based in the southwest region of Karnataka (345-540 AD). This was considered the medieval age for India that gave way to the fall of Buddhism and the rise of Islam. This was due to new Muslim conquests from the Middle East. 

At the time the Middle East was made up of powerful empires known as caliphates. The first significant events of these Muslim campaigns began in the 700s when the Umayyad Caliphate conquered the eastern land of Sindh (which is present day Pakistan). The Persians then furthered their conquest of India in the 11th century under the Abbasid Caliphate. Soon the Indian way of life was replaced by the Persian way of life, most notably changing their religion from Hindu and Buddism to Islam. At this point India became made up of various dynasties led by a Sultan who served as vassals to their Persian caliphates. 

By 1206 the conquering Persians established the Delhi Sultanates which spanned most of present day India. This brought upon yet another golden age of culture with the fusion of Muslim and Indian customs. The sultanate once again opened the door to foreign trade and strengthening it's economic network and technological advancements. Perhaps one of it's finest achievements was repelling numerous invasions from the Mongol Empire from 1227-1327. This was thanks to their Turkic Mamluk slave army who was just as skilled in their nomadic warfare. The Delhi Sultanate was one of the few Asian nations able to defeat the Mongolian conquests and helped bring about their collapse. 

However with the fall of the Mongolian Empire, came the rise of a new power in Central Asia under the leadership of Timur (also known as Tamerlane). He was brought up as Mongolian-Turkic warrior and quickly became a revered war commander. He considered himself the heir to Genghis Khan and established the Timurid Empire in 1370 based out of present day Uzbekistan. He achieved many victories over the Persian Caliphates, the Ottoman Empire, and the Delhi Sultanate. Timur sacked the thriving city of Delhi in 1398 bringing forth great massacre and ruin. From this point on the Sultanate was on the decline and by 1526 Timur's grandson Babur overtook it to establish the Mughal Empire. 

The Mughal Empire

By the late 1400s, the Timurid Empire had begun to decline and lose territory to the Persian army of the Aq Qoyunlu Confederation. However the Timurid prince Babur first achieved a significant victory in 1504 by invading and sieging Kabul. He was able to establish a new kingdom at the center of modern day Afghanistan which he used to strengthen his army. Twenty years later he marched for the coveted capital of Delhi that his grandfather once conquered. In 1526 Babur defeated the Lodi Dynasty at the First Battle of Panipat using the latest Turkish firearms. With this victory Babur was able to claim the city of Delhi as his and thus establish the Mughal Empire. However there was still much work to do. 

The Sultanate was still comprised of various kingdoms throughout India, and Babur's rise to power was quickly challenged. The first greatest adversary was the Mewar Kingdom of northern India led by their great king Rana Sagna. However Sagna's army of 100,000 Rajput warriors were no match for Babur's advanced firearms. At the bloody Battle of Khanwa in 1527 Babur was able to defeat Sagna's mighty Mewar Kingdom, much thanks to this new use of gunpowder. This was a decisive victory for Babur's conquest of India and the start of the Mughal Empire.

The empire quickly spanned across the vast region once controlled by the ancient Maurya Empire. Babur introduced new Turkish/Ottoman customs to India and unlike the previous Muslim conquerors who wanted to replace the Indian culture, Babur sought to diversify it. This further advanced India into a more modern state mixed of Indian, Middle-Eastern, Asian, and now Ottoman traits. While Delhi was the Empire's booming metropolis, the outskirt city of Agra soon became it's central capital. Following Babur's death in 1530, the Empire received new challenges from the Sur Empire in it's northern region. However Babur's son Humayun was able to suppress this threat and restore their control by 1555.

Humayun's son Akbar, became one of the greatest rulers of the Mughal Empire (from 1556-1605). He established an administrative system to his empire and made peace with other challenging dynasties thru arranged marriages. While Akbar himself was Muslim, he welcomed religious tolerance and established policies that did not persecute Hindus or Buddhists. During this time when Renaissance was spreading all throughout Europe, the Indian-Persian culture really began to take shape. Akbar was a patron of the arts and encouraged new literature and calligraphy. By the 1580s he established a new religion of Din-i Ilahi which combined the beliefs of Muslim, Indian religions, and even elements of Christianity. Thru his religious tolerance Akbar became admired by both Muslim and native Indian people. 

Akbar's son Jahngir was not quite as popular with the native Indians and favored more the Muslim principles. He quickly came into conflict with the growing Indian religion of Sikhism (founded by Guru Nanek) by executing their Guru Arjan for not converting to Islam. Jahngir's son Shan Jahan ushered in an era of Mughal architecture. It was during this time that the iconic monument of India, the Taj Mahal was built from 1631-1653. The building was commissioned by Jahan as a monumental mausoleum (tomb) to house the bodies of him and his wife. It was a very costly project and equally as costly to maintain however to this day remains one of the world's great wonders. 

The Maratha Empire

As the emperor Shan Jahan grew ill, their was civil conflict between his two sons over who would inherit the throne. The younger son Aurangzeb had his elder brother killed and his father imprisoned until his death. Aurangzeb thus ascended to the throne in 1658 and instituted harsh persecutions of non-Islams, which lead to the execution of another Sikh guru in 1675. This led to further tension with the native Sikh community who began to militarize. Aurangzeb was regarded as the most controversial of the Mughal emperors and left the kingdom in open revolt. Following his death in 1707 the empire began it's decline and started to break up into various vassals of the growing Maratha Confederacy. The Marathan Empire defeated the Mughal Empire after the 27 year Deccan war from 1680-1707. Furthermore the Mughal Empire suffered a devastating sack of Delhi by the Persians in 1740. 

The Marathan Empire essentially became the empire of non-Muslims who favored Hinduism, Buddhism, Janism, and Sikhism. By 1757 the Marathan Empire had seized most of the Mughal Empire and became the new dominant power of India. In 1771 the Marathans recaptured Delhi from Persian control and the Mughals were forced to turn to the British for aid. The British East India Company had established a trade presence in India as far back as the 1600s notably in the Bay of Bengal and the city of Bombay (present day Mumbai). Naturally the Maratha Empire posed a threat to their business and so began the Anglo-Maratha wars first in 1775. The Marathans were able to defeat the British at the Battle of Wadgaon in 1779 causing the East India company to relinquish much of it's bases. However this led to heightened tensions and the subsequent Second and Third Anglo-Maratha Wars (from 1803-1818) in which the British Empire crushed the Maratha Empire. 

It did not take long after this for all Indian empires (the Maratha, Mughal, and the Sikh Empires) to be controlled by the British East India Company. The Indians made one final stand in the 1857 Rebellion however lost nearly 800,000 people to the British conquest. By 1858 the British Raj was established that essentially colonized India. This was no different then the colonization of the Americas and all of India was a conquered land. That is until the rise of Mahatma Gahndi who led India to their independence in 1947. India is now it's own democratic nation with a thriving culture of religious tolerance.