Ancient History

India is the one of the richest and the most ancient civilizations in the world, which existed over 5,000 years ago. This civilization was started from Indus Valley; hence it is know as Indus-Valley civilization. The first people seem to have reached India from Africa around 40,000 BC. At first they were hunters and gatherers, like other people around the world at this time. But by around 4000 BC, these people had begun farming and by 2500 BC settled in the Indus river valley, where they began to live in cities and use irrigation to water their fields. Gradually every year a lot of people moved to Indus valley because of plenty of water and un-barren field to cultivate and eat wild plants for surviving. When it got really crowded there, people began to build cities.

Gradually two major cities built; Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. bout 400 kilometers (250 miles) away. Harappa on the Ravi river, and Mohenjodaro on the Indus during excavations in 1920. The remains of these two cities were part of a large civilization and well developed ancient civilization, which is now called by historians as 'Indus Valley Civilization', or 'Saraswati Civilization'. Later Harappan (Sarasvati) civilization 3100-1900 BC shows massive cities, complex agriculture and metallurgy, sophistication of arts and crafts, and precision in weights and measures. They built large buildings, which were mathematically-planned. The city planning in those ancient cities is comparable to the best of our modern cities. This civilization had a written language and was highly sophisticated. Some of these towns were almost three miles in diameter with thousands of residents.

The city of Mohenjo Daro is testimony to the town planning activities of the IVC. Cities are divided into lower dwellings & the Citadel which houses important buildings. The streets form a grid system and are of modulated width. Bricks of fixed sizes are used for building while stone and wood are also used. Municipal authorities who are responsible for the whole of the valley also regularly maintain a highly efficient drainage system. Buildings in the lower area are rather monotonous, being mainly functional rather than decorative. But many houses are 2 storeyed.

By 1500 BC, the Indus river valley saw an invasion of Indo-Europeans, like similar invasions in Greece and Italy a little earlier. 4500 B.C. marks Mandhatr's defeat of Druhyus, driving them to the west into Iran. 4000-3700 B.C. was the Rig Veda period.

In 3730 B.C. occurred the 'Battle of Ten' Kings - the age of Sudas and his sage advisors, Vasistha and Visvamitra. 3600 to 3100 B.C. was the late Vedic age during which Yajur, Sama, and Atharva Vedas were composed. 3100 B.C. is the date of the Mahabharata, composed by Vyasa. At this time, a tectonic plate shift resulted in river Yamuna which was a tributary of river Saraswati shifted its course and Saraswati became smaller. It was the beginning of 'Kali Yuga.

1.Evolution of man