Civilización del valle del Indo, en su fase de apogeo (2600-1900 a. C.)
Los humanos anatómicamente modernos llegaron por primera vez al subcontinente indio hace entre 73.000 y 55.000 años. [1] Los primeros restos humanos conocidos en el sur de Asia datan de hace 30.000 años. El sedentarismo comenzó en el sur de Asia alrededor del 7000 a. C.; [2] para el 4500 a. C., la vida sedentaria se había extendido, [2] y evolucionó gradualmente hacia la Civilización del Valle del Indo , que floreció entre el 2500 a. C. y el 1900 a. C. en el actual Pakistán y el noroeste de la India. A principios del segundo milenio a. C., la sequía persistente provocó que la población del valle del Indo se dispersara de los grandes centros urbanos a las aldeas. Las tribus indoarias se trasladaron al Punjab desde Asia Central en varias oleadas de migración . El Período Védico del pueblo védico en el norte de la India (1500-500 a. C.) estuvo marcado por la composición de sus extensas colecciones de himnos ( Vedas ). La estructura social estaba vagamente estratificada a través del sistema varna , incorporado al altamente evolucionado sistema Jāti actual . Los indoarios, pastores y nómadas, se extendieron desde el Punjab hasta la llanura del Ganges . Alrededor del 600 a. C., surgió una nueva cultura interregional; luego, las pequeñas jefaturas ( janapadas ) se consolidaron en estados más grandes ( mahajanapadas ). Se produjo una segunda urbanización, que vino con el surgimiento de nuevos movimientos ascéticos y conceptos religiosos, [3] incluido el surgimiento del jainismo y el budismo . Este último se sintetizó con las culturas religiosas preexistentes del subcontinente, dando lugar al hinduismo .
Influencia cultural india ( Gran India )Cronología de la historia de la India
Chandragupta Maurya derrocó al Imperio Nanda y estableció el primer gran imperio en la antigua India, el Imperio Maurya . El rey maurya de la India, Ashoka, es ampliamente reconocido por su aceptación histórica del budismo y sus intentos de difundir la no violencia y la paz en todo su imperio. El Imperio Maurya colapsaría en 185 a. C., tras el asesinato del entonces emperador Brihadratha por su general Pushyamitra Shunga . Shunga formaría el Imperio Shunga en el norte y noreste del subcontinente, mientras que el Reino grecobactriano reclamaría el noroeste y fundaría el Reino indogriego . Varias partes de la India fueron gobernadas por numerosas dinastías, incluido el Imperio Gupta , entre los siglos IV y VI d. C. Este período, en el que se produjo un resurgimiento intelectual y religioso hindú , se conoce como la Edad Clásica o Edad de Oro de la India . Aspectos de la civilización, administración, cultura y religión de la India se extendieron a gran parte de Asia, lo que llevó al establecimiento de reinos indianizados en la región, formando la Gran India . [4] [5] El evento más significativo entre los siglos VII y XI fue la lucha tripartita centrada en Kannauj . El sur de la India vio el surgimiento de múltiples potencias imperiales desde mediados del siglo V. La dinastía Chola conquistó el sur de la India en el siglo XI. A principios del período medieval, las matemáticas indias , incluidos los numerales hindúes , influyeron en el desarrollo de las matemáticas y la astronomía en el mundo árabe , incluida la creación del sistema de numeración hindú-arábigo . [6]
Las conquistas islámicas hicieron incursiones limitadas en el Afganistán moderno y Sindh ya en el siglo VIII, [7] seguidas por las invasiones de Mahmud Ghazni . [8]
El Sultanato de Delhi fue fundado en 1206 por turcos de Asia Central que fueron indianizados . [9] [10] [11] [12] Gobernaron una parte importante del subcontinente indio del norte a principios del siglo XIV. Fue gobernado por múltiples dinastías turcas , afganas e indias , incluida la dinastía indianizada turco-mongol Tughlaq [13] pero decayó a fines del siglo XIV después de las invasiones de Tamerlán [14] y vio el advenimiento de los sultanatos Malwa , Gujarat y Bahmani , el último de los cuales se dividió en 1518 en los cinco sultanatos del Decán . El rico Sultanato de Bengala también emergió como una gran potencia, que duró más de tres siglos. [15] Durante este período, surgieron múltiples reinos hindúes fuertes , en particular el Imperio Vijayanagara y los estados Rajput , que desempeñaron un papel importante en la configuración del panorama cultural y político de la India.
Se estima que la expansión de los homínidos desde África llegó al subcontinente indio hace aproximadamente dos millones de años, y posiblemente hace 2,2 millones de años. [25] [26] [27] Esta datación se basa en la presencia conocida del Homo erectus en Indonesia hace 1,8 millones de años y en el este de Asia hace 1,36 millones de años, así como en el descubrimiento de herramientas de piedra en Riwat en Pakistán . [26] [28] Aunque se han reivindicado algunos descubrimientos más antiguos, las fechas sugeridas, basadas en la datación de sedimentos fluviales , no se han verificado de forma independiente. [27] [29]
Los restos fósiles de homínidos más antiguos del subcontinente indio son los del Homo erectus o del Homo heidelbergensis , del valle de Narmada en la India central, y datan de hace aproximadamente medio millón de años. [26] [29] Se han afirmado hallazgos fósiles más antiguos, pero se consideran poco fiables. [29] Las revisiones de la evidencia arqueológica han sugerido que la ocupación del subcontinente indio por los homínidos fue esporádica hasta hace aproximadamente 700.000 años, y estaba geográficamente extendida hace aproximadamente 250.000 años. [29] [27]
Según el demógrafo histórico del sur de Asia, Tim Dyson:
Los seres humanos modernos, el Homo sapiens, se originaron en África. Luego, de manera intermitente, en algún momento entre 60.000 y 80.000 años atrás, pequeños grupos de ellos comenzaron a ingresar al noroeste del subcontinente indio. Parece probable que inicialmente llegaran por la costa. Es prácticamente seguro que hubo Homo sapiens en el subcontinente hace 55.000 años, aunque los primeros fósiles que se han encontrado de ellos datan de solo unos 30.000 años antes del presente. [30]
Los datos del cromosoma Y y del ADNmt respaldan la colonización del sur de Asia por humanos modernos originarios de África. ... Las fechas de coalescencia para la mayoría de las poblaciones no europeas promedian entre 73 y 55 ka. [31]
Los investigadores estiman que la primera expansión exitosa del Homo sapiens más allá de África y a través de la península Arábiga ocurrió entre hace 80.000 y 40.000 años, aunque puede haber habido emigraciones anteriores que no tuvieron éxito. Algunos de sus descendientes extendieron el área de distribución humana aún más en cada generación, extendiéndose a cada tierra habitable que encontraron. Una vía humana fue a lo largo de las cálidas y productivas tierras costeras del Golfo Pérsico y el norte del Océano Índico. Finalmente, varias bandas entraron en la India entre hace 75.000 y 35.000 años. [32]
Se ha interpretado que la evidencia arqueológica sugiere la presencia de humanos anatómicamente modernos en el subcontinente indio hace 78.000–74.000 años, [33] aunque esta interpretación es discutida. [34] [35] La ocupación del sur de Asia por humanos modernos, inicialmente en diversas formas de aislamiento como cazadores-recolectores, la ha convertido en un continente altamente diverso, superado solo por África en diversidad genética humana. [36]
Según Tim Dyson:
La investigación genética ha contribuido al conocimiento de la prehistoria de los pueblos del subcontinente en otros aspectos. En particular, el nivel de diversidad genética en la región es extremadamente alto. De hecho, sólo la población de África es genéticamente más diversa. En relación con esto, hay evidencia sólida de eventos "fundadores" en el subcontinente. Con esto se entienden las circunstancias en las que un subgrupo, como una tribu, deriva de un número minúsculo de individuos "originales". Además, en comparación con la mayoría de las regiones del mundo, los pueblos del subcontinente se distinguen relativamente por haber practicado niveles comparativamente altos de endogamia. [36]
La vida sedentaria surgió en el subcontinente en los márgenes occidentales del aluvión del río Indo hace aproximadamente 9.000 años, evolucionando gradualmente hasta convertirse en la civilización del valle del Indo del tercer milenio a. C. [2] [37] Según Tim Dyson: "Hace 7.000 años la agricultura estaba firmemente establecida en Baluchistán... [y] se extendió lentamente hacia el este hasta el valle del Indo". Michael Fisher añade: [38]
El ejemplo más antiguo descubierto... de una sociedad agrícola bien establecida y sedentaria se encuentra en Mehrgarh, en las colinas entre el Paso de Bolan y la llanura del Indo (hoy en Pakistán) (véase el mapa 3.1). Ya desde el año 7000 a. C., las comunidades de la zona comenzaron a invertir más mano de obra en la preparación de la tierra y en la selección, plantación, cuidado y cosecha de determinadas plantas productoras de cereales. También domesticaron animales, entre ellos ovejas, cabras, cerdos y bueyes (tanto cebúes con joroba [ Bos indicus ] como sin joroba [ Bos taurus ]). La castración de los bueyes, por ejemplo, hizo que pasaran de ser principalmente fuentes de carne a ser también animales de tiro domesticados. [38]
La civilización se centró principalmente en el actual Pakistán, en la cuenca del río Indo y, en segundo lugar, en la cuenca del río Ghaggar-Hakra . La civilización madura del Indo floreció entre los años 2600 y 1900 a. C., aproximadamente, y marcó el comienzo de la civilización urbana en el subcontinente indio. Incluía ciudades como Harappa , Ganweriwal y Mohenjo-daro en el actual Pakistán, y Dholavira , Kalibangan , Rakhigarhi y Lothal en la actual India.
Mohenjo-Daro (una de las ciudades más grandes del Indo). Vista del Gran Baño del lugar , que muestra el trazado urbano circundante.Dholavira , una ciudad de la civilización del valle del Indo, con escaleras para alcanzar el nivel del agua en reservorios construidos artificialmente [41]Restos arqueológicos del sistema de drenaje de los baños de Lothal
Los habitantes del antiguo valle del río Indo, los harappa, desarrollaron nuevas técnicas en metalurgia y artesanía, y produjeron cobre, bronce, plomo y estaño. [42] La civilización es conocida por sus ciudades construidas con ladrillos y sus sistemas de drenaje junto a las carreteras, y se cree que tenía algún tipo de organización municipal. La civilización también desarrolló una escritura del Indo , la más antigua de las escrituras indias antiguas , que actualmente no se ha descifrado. [43] Esta es la razón por la que la lengua harappa no está atestiguada directamente y su afiliación es incierta. [44]
Tres sellos y sus impresiones que muestran caracteres de escritura del Indo junto a animales: unicornio (izquierda), toro (centro) y elefante (derecha); en el Museo Guimet
Después del colapso de la civilización del valle del Indo, los habitantes emigraron de los valles de los ríos Indo y Ghaggar-Hakra hacia las estribaciones del Himalaya de la cuenca del Ganges y el Yamuna. [45]
Durante el segundo milenio a. C., la cultura de la cerámica de color ocre se encontraba en la región de Ganga Yamuna Doab. Se trataba de asentamientos rurales dedicados a la agricultura y la caza. Utilizaban herramientas de cobre como hachas, lanzas, flechas y espadas, y tenían animales domésticos. [47]
Edad de Hierro (do.1800 – 200 a. C.)
Período védico (do.1500 – 600 a. C.)
A partir de 1900 a. C., las tribus indoarias se trasladaron al Punjab desde Asia Central en varias oleadas de migración . [48] [49] El período védico es cuando los Vedas estaban compuestos por himnos litúrgicos del pueblo indoario . La cultura védica estaba ubicada en parte del noroeste de la India, mientras que otras partes de la India tenían una identidad cultural distintiva. Muchas regiones del subcontinente indio pasaron del Calcolítico a la Edad del Hierro en este período. [50]
La cultura védica se describe en los textos de los Vedas , todavía sagrados para los hindúes, que fueron compuestos oralmente y transmitidos en sánscrito védico . Los Vedas son algunos de los textos más antiguos existentes en la India. [51] El período védico, que duró aproximadamente desde el 1500 hasta el 500 a. C., [52] [53] contribuyó a las bases de varios aspectos culturales del subcontinente indio.
Sociedad védica
Un manuscrito de principios del siglo XIX en escritura devanagari del Rigveda , transmitido originalmente de forma oral [54]
Los historiadores han analizado los Vedas para postular una cultura védica en el Punjab y la llanura superior del Ganges . [50] El árbol Pipal y la vaca fueron santificados en la época del Atharva Veda . [55] Muchos de los conceptos de la filosofía india adoptados más tarde, como el dharma , tienen sus raíces en antecedentes védicos. [56]
La sociedad védica primitiva se describe en el Rigveda , el texto védico más antiguo, que se cree que fue compilado durante el segundo milenio a. C., [57] [58] en la región noroccidental del subcontinente indio. [59] En ese momento, la sociedad aria consistía predominantemente en grupos tribales y pastorales, distintos de la urbanización de Harappa que había sido abandonada. [60] La presencia indoaria temprana probablemente corresponde, en parte, a la cultura de la cerámica de color ocre en contextos arqueológicos. [61] [62]
Al final del período Rigvédico, la sociedad aria se expandió desde la región noroccidental del subcontinente indio hasta la llanura occidental del Ganges . Se volvió cada vez más agrícola y se organizó socialmente en torno a la jerarquía de las cuatro varnas o clases sociales. Esta estructura social se caracterizó tanto por el sincretismo con las culturas nativas del norte de la India [63] como por la exclusión de algunos pueblos indígenas al etiquetar sus ocupaciones como impuras [64] . Durante este período, muchas de las pequeñas unidades tribales y cacicazgos anteriores comenzaron a fusionarse en Janapadas (organizaciones políticas monárquicas de nivel estatal). [65]
Las epopeyas sánscritas Ramayana y Mahabharata fueron compuestas durante este período. [66] El Mahabharata sigue siendo el poema individual más largo del mundo. [67] Los historiadores postularon anteriormente una "épica" como el entorno de estos dos poemas épicos, pero ahora reconocen que los textos pasaron por múltiples etapas de desarrollo a lo largo de los siglos. [68] Se cree que los textos existentes de estas epopeyas pertenecen a la era postvédica, entre aproximadamente el 400 a. C. y el 400 d. C. [68] [69]
Janapadas
Mapa de la era védica tardía que muestra los límites de Āryāvarta con Janapadas en el norte de la India, comienzo de los reinos de la Edad del Hierro en la India: Kuru , Panchala , Kosala , Videha
La Edad del Hierro en el subcontinente indio desde aproximadamente 1200 a. C. hasta el siglo VI a. C. se define por el surgimiento de los Janapadas, que son reinos , repúblicas y reinos , en particular los Reinos de la Edad del Hierro de Kuru , Panchala , Kosala y Videha . [70] [71]
El Reino Kuru ( c. 1200–450 a. C.) fue la primera sociedad a nivel estatal del período védico, correspondiente al comienzo de la Edad de Hierro en el noroeste de la India, alrededor de 1200–800 a. C., [72] así como con la composición del Atharvaveda . [73] El estado Kuru organizó los himnos védicos en colecciones y desarrolló el ritual srauta para mantener el orden social. [73] Dos figuras clave del estado Kuru fueron el rey Parikshit y su sucesor Janamejaya , quienes transformaron este reino en el poder político, social y cultural dominante del norte de la India. [73] Cuando el reino Kuru decayó, el centro de la cultura védica se trasladó a sus vecinos orientales, el reino Panchala. [73] Se cree que la cultura arqueológica PGW (cerámica gris pintada), que floreció en las regiones de Haryana, en el noreste de la India , y en el oeste de Uttar Pradesh, desde aproximadamente 1100 hasta 600 a. C., [61] corresponde a los reinos Kuru y Panchala . [73] [74]
Durante el Período Védico Tardío, el reino de Videha surgió como un nuevo centro de cultura védica, situado aún más al este (en lo que hoy es Nepal y el estado de Bihar ); [62] alcanzando su prominencia bajo el rey Janaka , cuya corte proporcionó patrocinio a sabios y filósofos brahmanes como Yajnavalkya , Aruni y Gārgī Vāchaknavī . [75] La última parte de este período se corresponde con una consolidación de estados y reinos cada vez más grandes, llamados Mahajanapadas , en el norte de la India.
Segunda urbanización (do.600 – 200 a. C.)
Ciudad de Kushinagar en el siglo V a. C. según un friso del siglo I a. C. en la Puerta Sur de la Stupa 1 de Sanchi
El período entre 800 y 200 a. C. fue testigo de la formación del movimiento Śramaṇa , del que se originaron el jainismo y el budismo . Los primeros Upanishads se escribieron durante este período. Después de 500 a. C., comenzó la llamada "segunda urbanización" [nota 1] , con nuevos asentamientos urbanos que surgieron en la llanura del Ganges. [76] Las bases para la "segunda urbanización" se establecieron antes de 600 a. C., en la cultura de cerámica gris pintada de Ghaggar-Hakra y la llanura superior del Ganges; aunque la mayoría de los sitios de cerámica gris pintada eran pequeñas aldeas agrícolas, "varias docenas" de sitios de cerámica gris pintada finalmente surgieron como asentamientos relativamente grandes que pueden caracterizarse como ciudades, las más grandes de las cuales estaban fortificadas por zanjas o fosos y terraplenes hechos de tierra apilada con empalizadas de madera. [77]
La llanura central del Ganges, donde Magadha ganó prominencia, formando la base del Imperio Maurya , era un área cultural distinta, [78] con nuevos estados que surgieron después del 500 a. C. [79] [80] Fue influenciada por la cultura védica, [81] pero difería notablemente de la región de Kuru-Panchala. [78] "Fue el área del cultivo de arroz más antiguo conocido en el sur de Asia y hacia el 1800 a. C. era la ubicación de una población neolítica avanzada asociada con los sitios de Chirand y Chechar". [82] En esta región, florecieron los movimientos Śramánicos y se originaron el jainismo y el budismo. [76]
Budismo y jainismo
Los Upanishads y los movimientos Śramaṇa
El período entre 800 a. C. y 400 a. C. fue testigo de la composición de los primeros Upanishads , [83] [84] [85] que forman la base teórica del hinduismo clásico y también se conocen como Vedanta (conclusión de los Vedas ). [86]
La creciente urbanización de la India en los siglos VII y VI a. C. condujo al surgimiento de nuevos movimientos ascéticos o "Śramaṇa" que desafiaron la ortodoxia de los rituales. [83] Mahavira ( c. 599-527 a. C.), defensor del jainismo , y Gautama Buddha ( c. 563-483 a. C.), fundador del budismo, fueron los íconos más destacados de este movimiento. Śramaṇa dio lugar al concepto del ciclo de nacimiento y muerte, el concepto de samsara y el concepto de liberación. [87] Buda encontró un Camino Medio que mejoró el ascetismo extremo encontrado en las religiones Śramaṇa . [88]
Casi al mismo tiempo, Mahavira (el 24.º Tirthankara del jainismo) propagó una teología que más tarde se convertiría en jainismo. [89] Sin embargo, la ortodoxia jainista cree que las enseñanzas de los Tirthankaras son anteriores a todo tiempo conocido y los eruditos creen que Parshvanatha (c. 872 – c. 772 a. C.), a quien se le concedió el estatus de 23.º Tirthankara , fue una figura histórica. Se cree que los Vedas han documentado algunos Tirthankaras y una orden ascética similar al movimiento Śramaṇa . [90]
Las primeras "repúblicas" o gaṇasaṅgha , [94] como los shakyas , los koliyas , los mallakas y los licchavis tenían gobiernos republicanos. Los gaṇasaṅgha , [94] como los mallakas, centrados en la ciudad de Kusinagara , y la Liga Vajjika , centrada en la ciudad de Vaishali , existieron ya en el siglo VI a. C. y persistieron en algunas áreas hasta el siglo IV d. C. [95] El clan más famoso entre los clanes confederados gobernantes del Vajji Mahajanapada fueron los licchavis . [96]
Este período corresponde en un contexto arqueológico a la cultura de cerámica negra pulida del norte . Especialmente centrada en la llanura central del Ganges, pero también extendida por vastas áreas del subcontinente indio septentrional y central, esta cultura se caracteriza por el surgimiento de grandes ciudades con fortificaciones masivas, un crecimiento poblacional significativo, una mayor estratificación social, redes comerciales de amplio alcance, construcción de arquitectura pública y canales de agua, industrias artesanales especializadas, un sistema de pesas, monedas marcadas con punzón y la introducción de la escritura en forma de escrituras Brahmi y Kharosthi . [97] [98] El idioma de la nobleza en ese momento era el sánscrito , mientras que los idiomas de la población general del norte de la India se conocen como Prakrits .
En la época de Gautama Buda , muchos de los dieciséis reinos se habían fusionado en cuatro reinos principales: Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala y Magadha. [93]
Las primeras dinastías de Magadha
Dinastías Magadha
Magadha formó uno de los dieciséis Mahajanapadas ( sánscrito : "Grandes Reinos") o reinos en la antigua India . El núcleo del reino era el área de Bihar al sur del Ganges ; su primera capital fue Rajagriha (la moderna Rajgir) luego Pataliputra (la moderna Patna ). Magadha se expandió para incluir la mayor parte de Bihar y Bengala con la conquista de Licchavi y Anga respectivamente, [99] seguido por gran parte del este de Uttar Pradesh y Orissa. El antiguo reino de Magadha se menciona profusamente en textos jainistas y budistas. También se menciona en el Ramayana , Mahabharata y Puranas . [100] La primera referencia al pueblo Magadha aparece en el Atharva-Veda, donde se los encuentra enumerados junto con los Angas , Gandharis y Mujavats. Magadha jugó un papel importante en el desarrollo del jainismo y el budismo . Las comunidades republicanas (como la comunidad de Rajakumara) se fusionan en el reino de Magadha. Los pueblos tenían sus propias asambleas bajo el mando de sus jefes locales, llamados Gramakas. Sus administraciones se dividían en funciones ejecutivas, judiciales y militares.
Fuentes tempranas, del Canon budista pali , los Agamas jainistas y los Puranas hindúes , mencionan que Magadha fue gobernada por la dinastía Pradyota y la dinastía Haryanka ( c. 544-413 a. C.) durante unos 200 años, c. 600-413 a. C. El rey Bimbisara de la dinastía Haryanka lideró una política activa y expansiva, conquistando Anga en lo que ahora es el este de Bihar y Bengala Occidental . El rey Bimbisara fue derrocado y asesinado por su hijo, el príncipe Ajatashatru , quien continuó la política expansionista de Magadha. Durante este período, Gautama Buda , el fundador del budismo, vivió gran parte de su vida en el reino de Magadha. Alcanzó la iluminación en Bodh Gaya , dio su primer sermón en Sarnath y el primer concilio budista se celebró en Rajgriha. [101] La dinastía Haryanka fue derrocada por la dinastía Shaishunaga ( c. 413–345 a. C.). El último gobernante Shishunaga, Kalasoka, fue asesinado por Mahapadma Nanda en 345 a. C., el primero de los llamados Nueve Nandas (Mahapadma Nanda y sus ocho hijos).
El Imperio Nanda y la campaña de Alejandro
El Imperio Nanda ( c. 345–322 a. C.), en su apogeo, se extendió desde Bengala en el este, hasta el Punjab en el oeste y tan al sur como la cordillera de Vindhya . [102] La dinastía Nanda construyó sobre los cimientos establecidos por sus predecesores Haryanka y Shishunaga . [103] El imperio Nanda ha construido un vasto ejército, que consta de 200.000 infantes , 20.000 jinetes , 2.000 carros de guerra y 3.000 elefantes de guerra (según las estimaciones más bajas). [104] [105]
Chandragupta expandió rápidamente su poder hacia el oeste a través del centro y el oeste de la India, y para el 317 a. C. el imperio había ocupado completamente el noroeste de la India. El Imperio Maurya derrotó a Seleuco I , fundador del Imperio seléucida , durante la guerra seléucida-maurya , ganando así territorio adicional al oeste del río Indo. El hijo de Chandragupta, Bindusara, accedió al trono alrededor del 297 a. C. Cuando murió en torno al 272 a. C., una gran parte del subcontinente indio estaba bajo soberanía maurya. Sin embargo, la región de Kalinga (alrededor de la actual Odisha ) permaneció fuera del control maurya, tal vez interfiriendo con el comercio con el sur. [108]
Bindusara fue sucedido por Ashoka , cuyo reinado duró hasta su muerte en aproximadamente 232 a. C. [109] Su campaña contra los kalingans en aproximadamente 260 a. C., aunque exitosa, condujo a una inmensa pérdida de vidas y miseria. Esto llevó a Ashoka a evitar la violencia y posteriormente a abrazar el budismo. [108] El imperio comenzó a declinar después de su muerte y el último gobernante maurya, Brihadratha , fue asesinado por Pushyamitra Shunga para establecer el Imperio Shunga . [109]
Bajo el gobierno de Chandragupta Maurya y sus sucesores, el comercio interno y externo, la agricultura y las actividades económicas prosperaron y se expandieron en toda la India gracias a la creación de un sistema único y eficiente de finanzas, administración y seguridad. Los mauryas construyeron la Gran Carretera Troncal , una de las carreteras principales más antiguas y largas de Asia que conecta el subcontinente indio con Asia Central. [110] Después de la Guerra de Kalinga , el Imperio experimentó casi medio siglo de paz y seguridad bajo Ashoka. La India maurya también disfrutó de una era de armonía social, transformación religiosa y expansión del conocimiento científico. La adopción del jainismo por parte de Chandragupta Maurya aumentó la renovación y la reforma social y religiosa en toda su sociedad, mientras que se ha dicho que la adopción del budismo por parte de Ashoka fue la base del reinado de la paz social y política y la no violencia en toda la India. [ cita requerida ] Ashoka patrocinó misiones budistas en Sri Lanka , el sudeste asiático , Asia occidental , el norte de África y la Europa mediterránea . [111]
El Arthashastra escrito por Chanakya y los Edictos de Ashoka son los principales registros escritos de la época Maurya. Arqueológicamente, este período cae en la era de la cerámica negra pulida del norte . El Imperio Maurya se basaba en una economía y una sociedad modernas y eficientes en las que la venta de mercancías estaba estrechamente regulada por el gobierno. [112] Aunque no había banca en la sociedad Maurya, la usura era una costumbre. Se ha encontrado una cantidad significativa de registros escritos sobre la esclavitud, lo que sugiere una prevalencia de la misma. [113] Durante este período, se desarrolló un acero de alta calidad llamado acero Wootz en el sur de la India y más tarde se exportó a China y Arabia. [114]
La literatura Sangam trata de la historia, la política, las guerras y la cultura del pueblo tamil de este período. [117] A diferencia de los escritores sánscritos, que en su mayoría eran brahmanes, los escritores Sangam provenían de diversas clases y orígenes sociales y en su mayoría no eran brahmanes. [118]
Relieve de un templo de varios pisos, siglo II d. C., estupa de Ghantasala . [123] [124]
El período comprendido entre el Imperio Maurya en el siglo III a. C. y el final del Imperio Gupta en el siglo VI d. C. se conoce como el período "clásico" de la India. [125] El Imperio Gupta (siglos IV-VI) se considera la "Edad de Oro" del hinduismo, aunque una gran cantidad de reinos gobernaron la India en estos siglos. Además, la literatura Sangam floreció desde el siglo III a. C. hasta el siglo III d. C. en el sur de la India. [126] Durante este período, se estima que la economía de la India fue la más grande del mundo, con entre un tercio y un cuarto de la riqueza mundial, desde el año 1 d. C. hasta el año 1000 d. C. [127] [128]
Período clásico temprano (c. 200 a. C. – c. 320 d. C.)
Imperio Shunga
Imperio Shunga
Los Shungas se originaron en Magadha y controlaron grandes áreas del subcontinente indio central y oriental desde alrededor de 187 a 78 a. C. La dinastía fue establecida por Pushyamitra Shunga , quien derrocó al último emperador Maurya . Su capital fue Pataliputra , pero emperadores posteriores, como Bhagabhadra , también tuvieron su corte en Vidisha , la actual Besnagar . [129]
Pushyamitra Shunga gobernó durante 36 años y fue sucedido por su hijo Agnimitra . Hubo diez gobernantes Shunga. Sin embargo, después de la muerte de Agnimitra, el imperio se desintegró rápidamente; [130] inscripciones y monedas indican que gran parte del norte y centro de la India consistía en pequeños reinos y ciudades-estado que eran independientes de cualquier hegemonía Shunga. [131] El imperio es conocido por sus numerosas guerras con potencias extranjeras e indígenas. Lucharon con la dinastía Mahameghavahana de Kalinga , la dinastía Satavahana de Deccan , los indogriegos y posiblemente los Panchalas y Mitras de Mathura .
El arte, la educación, la filosofía y otras formas de aprendizaje florecieron durante este período, incluidos monumentos arquitectónicos como la estupa de Bharhut y la famosa Gran Estupa de Sanchi . Los gobernantes Shunga ayudaron a establecer la tradición del patrocinio real del aprendizaje y el arte. La escritura utilizada por el imperio era una variante de Brahmi y se utilizaba para escribir el idioma sánscrito . El Imperio Shunga jugó un papel imperativo en el patrocinio de la cultura india en una época en la que se estaban produciendo algunos de los desarrollos más importantes del pensamiento hindú.
Imperio Satavahana
Imperio Satavahana
Los Śātavāhanas tenían su base en Amaravati , en Andhra Pradesh , así como en Junnar ( Pune ) y Prathisthan ( Paithan ), en Maharashtra . El territorio del imperio abarcó grandes partes de la India desde el siglo I a. C. en adelante. Los Sātavāhanas comenzaron como feudatarios de la dinastía Maurya , pero declararon su independencia con su declive.
Los Sātavāhanas son conocidos por su patrocinio del hinduismo y el budismo, lo que dio lugar a monumentos budistas desde Ellora ( Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la UNESCO ) hasta Amaravati . Fueron uno de los primeros estados indios en emitir monedas con sus gobernantes grabados en relieve. Formaron un puente cultural y desempeñaron un papel vital en el comercio, así como en la transferencia de ideas y cultura hacia y desde la llanura indogangética hasta el extremo sur de la India.
Tuvieron que competir con el Imperio Shunga y luego con la dinastía Kanva de Magadha para establecer su gobierno. Más tarde, desempeñaron un papel crucial para proteger gran parte de la India contra invasores extranjeros como los Sakas , Yavanas y Pahlavas . En particular, sus luchas con los Kshatrapas occidentales continuaron durante mucho tiempo. Los notables gobernantes de la dinastía Satavahana Gautamiputra Satakarni y Sri Yajna Sātakarni pudieron derrotar a los invasores extranjeros como los Kshatrapas occidentales y detener su expansión. En el siglo III d. C., el imperio se dividió en estados más pequeños. [132]
Comercio y viajes a la India
Ruta de la Seda y comercio de especias , antiguas rutas comerciales que unían la India con el Viejo Mundo ; transportaban bienes e ideas entre las antiguas civilizaciones del Viejo Mundo y la India. Las rutas terrestres están marcadas en rojo y las rutas fluviales en azul.
El comercio de especias en Kerala atrajo a comerciantes de todo el Viejo Mundo a la India. El puerto costero del suroeste de la India, Muziris, se había establecido como un importante centro de comercio de especias desde el año 3000 a. C., según los registros sumerios . Los comerciantes judíos llegaron a Kochi , Kerala, India , ya en el año 562 a. C. [133] El mundo grecorromano siguió con el comercio a lo largo de la ruta del incienso y las rutas romano-India . [134] Durante el siglo II a. C., los barcos griegos e indios se encontraban para comerciar en puertos árabes como Adén . [135] Durante el primer milenio, las rutas marítimas a la India estaban controladas por los indios y los etíopes que se convirtieron en la potencia comercial marítima del Mar Rojo .
Los comerciantes indios que se dedicaban al comercio de especias llevaron la cocina india al sudeste asiático, donde las mezclas de especias y los curries se hicieron populares entre los habitantes nativos. [136] El budismo entró en China a través de la Ruta de la Seda en el siglo I o II d. C. [137] Los establecimientos religiosos hindúes y budistas del sur y sudeste asiático llegaron a ser centros de producción y comercio a medida que acumulaban capital donado por los mecenas. Se dedicaban a la gestión de propiedades, la artesanía y el comercio. El budismo, en particular, viajó junto con el comercio marítimo, promoviendo la alfabetización, el arte y el uso de monedas. [138]
Imperio Kushan
Imperio Kushan
El Imperio Kushan se expandió desde lo que hoy es Afganistán hacia el noroeste del subcontinente indio bajo el liderazgo de su primer emperador, Kujula Kadphises , aproximadamente a mediados del siglo I d. C. Los Kushans eran posiblemente una tribu de habla tocario , [139] una de las cinco ramas de la confederación Yuezhi . [140] [141] En la época de su nieto, Kanishka el Grande , el imperio se extendió para abarcar gran parte de Afganistán , [142] y luego las partes del norte del subcontinente indio. [143]
El emperador Kanishka fue un gran mecenas del budismo; sin embargo, a medida que los kushans se expandieron hacia el sur, las deidades de sus acuñaciones posteriores comenzaron a reflejar su nueva mayoría hindú . [144] [145] El historiador Vincent Smith dijo sobre Kanishka:
Desempeñó el papel de un segundo Ashoka en la historia del budismo. [146]
El imperio vinculó el comercio marítimo del océano Índico con el comercio de la Ruta de la Seda a través del valle del Indo, fomentando el comercio de larga distancia, en particular entre China y Roma . Los kushán aportaron nuevas tendencias al floreciente arte de Gandhara y al arte de Mathura , que alcanzaron su apogeo durante el gobierno kushán. [147] El período de paz bajo el gobierno kushán se conoce como Pax Kushana . En el siglo III, su imperio en la India se estaba desintegrando y su último gran emperador conocido fue Vasudeva I. [ 148] [149]
Periodo clásico (c. 320 – 650 d. C.)
Imperio Gupta
Imperio Gupta
El período Gupta se destacó por su creatividad cultural, especialmente en literatura, arquitectura, escultura y pintura. [150] El período Gupta produjo eruditos como Kalidasa , Aryabhata , Varahamihira , Vishnu Sharma y Vatsyayana . El período Gupta marcó un hito en la cultura india: los Gupta realizaban sacrificios védicos para legitimar su gobierno, pero también patrocinaban el budismo, una alternativa a la ortodoxia brahmánica. Las hazañas militares de los tres primeros gobernantes ( Chandragupta I , Samudragupta y Chandragupta II ) pusieron gran parte de la India bajo su liderazgo. [151] La ciencia y la administración política alcanzaron nuevas alturas durante la era Gupta. Los fuertes lazos comerciales también hicieron de la región un importante centro cultural y la establecieron como una base que influiría en los reinos y regiones cercanas. [152] [153] El período de paz bajo el gobierno Gupta se conoce como Pax Gupta .
Los últimos Guptas resistieron con éxito a los reinos del noroeste hasta la llegada de los hunos de Alchon , que se establecieron en Afganistán en la primera mitad del siglo V d. C., con su capital en Bamiyán . [154] Sin embargo, gran parte del sur de la India, incluido el Decán, no se vio afectada por estos acontecimientos. [155] [156]
Imperio Vakataka
El Imperio Vākāṭaka se originó en el Decán a mediados del siglo III d. C. Se cree que su estado se extendió desde los límites meridionales de Malwa y Gujarat en el norte hasta el río Tungabhadra en el sur, así como desde el mar Arábigo en el oeste hasta los límites de Chhattisgarh en el este. Fueron los sucesores más importantes de los Satavahanas en el Decán , contemporáneos de los Guptas en el norte de la India y sucedidos por la dinastía Vishnukundina .
Los Vakatakas son conocidos por haber sido mecenas de las artes, la arquitectura y la literatura. Los viharas y chaityas budistas excavados en la roca de las cuevas de Ajanta ( Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la UNESCO ) se construyeron bajo el patrocinio del emperador Vakataka, Harishena . [157] [158]
Monjes budistas rezando frente a la Dagoba de la cueva Chaitya 26 de las cuevas de Ajanta.
"Chaitya Griha" o sala de oración budista, con un Buda sentado, cueva 26 de las cuevas de Ajanta.
Muchos embajadores, representantes y viajeros extranjeros están incluidos como devotos que asisten al descenso de Buda desde el cielo de Trayastrimsa; pintura de la cueva 17 de las cuevas de Ajanta.
Reino de Kamarupa
Sello de placa de cobre de los reyes Kamarupa en las ruinas de Madan Kamdev .
Gobernada por tres dinastías : Varmanas (c. 350-650 d. C.), Mlechchha (c. 655-900 d. C.) y Kamarupa-Palas (c. 900-1100 d. C.), desde sus capitales en la actual Guwahati ( Pragjyotishpura ), Tezpur ( Haruppeswara ) y Gauhati del Norte ( Durjaya ), respectivamente. Las tres dinastías afirmaron descender de Narakasura . [ cita requerida ] Durante el reinado del rey Varman, Bhaskar Varman (c. 600-650 d. C.), el viajero chino Xuanzang visitó la región y registró sus viajes. Más tarde, tras el debilitamiento y la desintegración (después de Kamarupa-Palas), la tradición Kamarupa se extendió hasta c. 1255 d. C. por las dinastías Lunar I (c. 1120-1185 d. C.) y Lunar II (c. 1155-1255 d. C.). [162] El reino de Kamarupa llegó a su fin a mediados del siglo XIII cuando la dinastía Khen bajo Sandhya de Kamarupanagara (Guwahati del Norte), trasladó su capital a Kamatapur (Bengala del Norte) después de la invasión de los turcos musulmanes y estableció el reino de Kamata . [163]
Los Pallavas , durante los siglos IV al IX, fueron, junto con los Guptas del Norte , grandes patrocinadores del desarrollo del sánscrito en el sur del subcontinente indio. El reinado de los Pallava vio las primeras inscripciones en sánscrito en una escritura llamada Grantha . [164] Los primeros Pallavas tenían diferentes conexiones con los países del sudeste asiático . Los Pallavas utilizaron la arquitectura dravídica para construir algunos templos y academias hindúes muy importantes en Mamallapuram , Kanchipuram y otros lugares; su gobierno vio el surgimiento de grandes poetas. La práctica de dedicar templos a diferentes deidades se puso de moda seguida por una fina arquitectura artística de templos y un estilo escultórico de Vastu Shastra . [165]
Los Pallavas alcanzaron el apogeo del poder durante el reinado de Mahendravarman I (571-630 d. C.) y Narasimhavarman I (630-668 d. C.) y dominaron las partes telugu y del norte de la región tamil hasta finales del siglo IX. [166]
Imperio Kadamba
Kadamba shikara (torre) con Kalasa (pináculo) en la cima, Doddagaddavalli .
Los Kadambas se originaron en Karnataka , fueron fundados por Mayurasharma en el año 345 d. C. y posteriormente mostraron potencial para desarrollarse hasta alcanzar proporciones imperiales. El rey Mayurasharma derrotó a los ejércitos de los Pallavas de Kanchi , posiblemente con la ayuda de algunas tribus nativas. La fama de los Kadambas alcanzó su apogeo durante el gobierno de Kakusthavarma , un gobernante notable con quien los reyes de la dinastía Gupta del norte de la India cultivaron alianzas matrimoniales. Los Kadambas fueron contemporáneos de la dinastía Ganga occidental y juntos formaron los primeros reinos nativos que gobernaron la tierra con absoluta autonomía. Posteriormente, la dinastía continuó gobernando como feudatario de los imperios Kannada más grandes, los imperios Chalukya y Rashtrakuta , durante más de quinientos años, durante los cuales se ramificaron en dinastías menores ( Kadambas de Goa , Kadambas de Halasi y Kadambas de Hangal ).
Tras la caída del anterior Imperio Gupta a mediados del siglo VI, el norte de la India volvió a ser una región de repúblicas más pequeñas y estados monárquicos. El vacío de poder dio lugar al ascenso de los Vardhanas de Thanesar, que comenzaron a unificar las repúblicas y monarquías desde el Punjab hasta la India central. Tras la muerte del padre y el hermano de Harsha, los representantes del imperio coronaron a Harsha emperador en abril de 606 d. C., otorgándole el título de maharajá. [168] En su apogeo, su imperio cubría gran parte del norte y noroeste de la India, se extendía hacia el este hasta Kamarupa y hacia el sur hasta el río Narmada ; y finalmente hizo de Kannauj (en la actual Uttar Pradesh ) su capital, y gobernó hasta 647 d. C. [169]
La paz y prosperidad que prevalecieron hicieron de su corte un centro de cosmopolitismo, atrayendo a eruditos, artistas y visitantes religiosos. [169] Durante este tiempo, Harsha se convirtió al budismo desde el culto a Surya . [170] El viajero chino Xuanzang visitó la corte de Harsha y escribió un relato muy favorable sobre él, alabando su justicia y generosidad. [169] Su biografía Harshacharita ("Hechos de Harsha") escrita por el poeta sánscrito Banabhatta , describe su asociación con Thanesar y el palacio con una Dhavalagriha (Mansión Blanca) de dos pisos . [171] [172]
Período medieval temprano (mediados del siglo VI -do.1200)
La India medieval temprana comenzó después del final del Imperio Gupta en el siglo VI d.C. [125] Este período también cubre la "Era Clásica Tardía" del hinduismo, que comenzó después del colapso del Imperio de Harsha en el siglo VII, [173] y terminó en el siglo XIII con el surgimiento del Sultanato de Delhi en el norte de la India; [174] el comienzo del Kannauj Imperial , que condujo a la lucha tripartita ; y el final de los Cholas posteriores con la muerte de Rajendra Chola III en 1279 en el sur de la India; sin embargo, algunos aspectos del período clásico continuaron hasta la caída del Imperio Vijayanagara en el sur alrededor del siglo XVII.
Desde el siglo V al XIII, los sacrificios Śrauta declinaron y las tradiciones iniciáticas del budismo, el jainismo o más comúnmente el shaivismo , el vaishnavismo y el shaktismo se expandieron en las cortes reales. [175] Este período produjo algunas de las mejores artes de la India, consideradas el epítome del desarrollo clásico, y el desarrollo de los principales sistemas espirituales y filosóficos que continuaron estando en el hinduismo, el budismo y el jainismo.
En el siglo VII, Kumārila Bhaṭṭa formuló su escuela de filosofía Mimamsa y defendió la posición sobre los rituales védicos contra los ataques budistas. Los eruditos destacan la contribución de Bhaṭṭa al declive del budismo en la India . [176] En el siglo VIII, Adi Shankara viajó por el subcontinente indio para propagar y difundir la doctrina de Advaita Vedanta , que consolidó; y se le atribuye la unificación de las principales características de los pensamientos actuales en el hinduismo. [177] [178] [179] Fue un crítico tanto del budismo como de la escuela Minamsa del hinduismo; [180] [181] [182] [183] y fundó mathas (monasterios) para la difusión y el desarrollo de Advaita Vedanta. [184] La invasión de Sindh (Pakistán moderno) por Muhammad bin Qasim en 711 fue testigo de un mayor declive del budismo. [185]
La dinastía Gupta Posterior gobernó la región de Magadha en el este de la India entre los siglos VI y VII d. C. Los Gupta Posteriores sucedieron a los Gupta imperiales como gobernantes de Magadha, pero no hay evidencia que relacione las dos dinastías; parecen ser dos familias distintas. [193] Los Gupta Posteriores se llaman así porque los nombres de sus gobernantes terminaban con el sufijo "-gupta", que podrían haber adoptado para presentarse como los sucesores legítimos de los Gupta imperiales. [194]
Imperio Chalukya
El Imperio Chalukya gobernó grandes partes del sur y centro de la India entre los siglos VI y XII, como tres dinastías relacionadas pero individuales. La dinastía más antigua, conocida como los "Badami Chalukyas", gobernó desde Vatapi (la moderna Badami ) desde mediados del siglo VI. Los Badami Chalukyas comenzaron a afirmar su independencia en la decadencia del reino Kadamba de Banavasi y rápidamente ganaron prominencia durante el reinado de Pulakeshin II . El gobierno de los Chalukyas marca un hito importante en la historia del sur de la India y una época dorada en la historia de Karnataka . La atmósfera política en el sur de la India cambió de reinos más pequeños a grandes imperios con el ascenso de los Badami Chalukyas. Un reino con sede en el sur de la India tomó el control y consolidó toda la región entre los ríos Kaveri y Narmada . El ascenso de este imperio vio el nacimiento de una administración eficiente, el comercio exterior y el desarrollo de un nuevo estilo de arquitectura llamado "arquitectura Chalukya". La dinastía Chalukya gobernó partes del sur y centro de la India desde Badami en Karnataka entre 550 y 750, y luego nuevamente desde Kalyani entre 970 y 1190.
Vista exterior del templo de Durga del siglo VIII en el complejo Aihole . Incluye templos y monumentos hindúes, budistas y jainistas
Imperio Rashtrakuta
Fundado por Dantidurga alrededor de 753, [195] el Imperio Rashtrakuta gobernó desde su capital en Manyakheta durante casi dos siglos. [196] En su apogeo, los Rashtrakutas gobernaron desde el Ganges-Yamuna Doab en el norte hasta el Cabo Comorin en el sur, una época fructífera de logros arquitectónicos y literarios. [197] [198]
Los primeros gobernantes de esta dinastía eran hindúes, pero los gobernantes posteriores estuvieron fuertemente influenciados por el jainismo. [199] Govinda III y Amoghavarsha fueron los más famosos de la larga lista de administradores capaces producidos por la dinastía. Amoghavarsha también fue un autor y escribió Kavirajamarga , la obra en kannada más antigua conocida sobre poética. [196] [200] La arquitectura alcanzó un hito en el estilo dravidiano, cuyo mejor ejemplo se ve en el templo Kailasanath en Ellora. Otras contribuciones importantes son el templo Kashivishvanatha y el templo jainista Narayana en Pattadakal en Karnataka.
El viajero árabe Suleiman describió el Imperio Rashtrakuta como uno de los cuatro grandes imperios del mundo. [201] El período Rashtrakuta marcó el comienzo de la edad de oro de las matemáticas del sur de la India. El gran matemático del sur de la India Mahāvīra tuvo un enorme impacto en los matemáticos del sur de la India medieval. [202] Los gobernantes Rashtrakuta también patrocinaron a hombres de letras en una variedad de idiomas. [196]
Los Gurjara-Pratiharas fueron fundamentales para contener a los ejércitos árabes que se movían al este del río Indo . Nagabhata I derrotó al ejército árabe bajo Junaid y Tamin durante las campañas omeyas en la India . [203] Bajo Nagabhata II , los Gurjara-Pratiharas se convirtieron en la dinastía más poderosa del norte de la India. Fue sucedido por su hijo Ramabhadra , quien gobernó brevemente antes de ser sucedido por su hijo, Mihira Bhoja . Bajo Bhoja y su sucesor Mahendrapala I , el Imperio Pratihara alcanzó su apogeo de prosperidad y poder. En la época de Mahendrapala, su territorio se extendía desde la frontera de Sindh en el oeste hasta Bihar en el este y desde el Himalaya en el norte hasta alrededor del río Narmada en el sur. [204] La expansión desencadenó una lucha de poder tripartita con los imperios Rashtrakuta y Pala por el control del subcontinente indio.
A finales del siglo X, varios feudatarios del imperio aprovecharon la debilidad temporal de los Gurjara-Pratiharas para declarar su independencia, en particular el Reino de Malwa , el Reino de Bundelkhand, los Tomaras de Haryana , el Reino de Sambhar [205] y el Reino de Dahala . [ cita requerida ]
Una de las cuatro entradas del Teli ka Mandir , construido por el emperador Pratihara Mihira Bhoja . [206]
Monumentos y estatuas relacionados con el jainismo tallados en la pared de roca dentro de las cuevas de Siddhachal , Fuerte de Gwalior
Templo Ghateshwara Mahadeva en el complejo de templos de Baroli . Complejo de ocho templos, construido por los Gurjara-Pratiharas, dentro de un recinto amurallado
Dinastía Gahadavala
La dinastía Gahadavala gobernó partes de los actuales estados indios de Uttar Pradesh y Bihar durante los siglos XI y XII. Su capital estaba situada en Varanasi . [207]
En 1097 d. C., la dinastía Karnat de Mithila surgió en la zona fronteriza entre Bihar y Nepal y mantuvo capitales en Darbhanga y Simraongadh . La dinastía fue establecida por Nanyadeva , un comandante militar de origen Karnataka. Bajo esta dinastía, el idioma Maithili comenzó a desarrollarse con la primera pieza de literatura Maithili, el Varna Ratnakara , producida en el siglo XIV por Jyotirishwar Thakur. Los Karnat también llevaron a cabo incursiones en Nepal . Cayeron en 1324 tras la invasión de Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq . [208] [209]
Imperio Pala
Ruinas excavadas de Nalanda , un centro de aprendizaje budista desde 450 hasta 1193
El Imperio Pala fue fundado por Gopala I. [ 210] [211] [212] Fue gobernado por una dinastía budista de Bengala. Los Palas reunificaron Bengala después de la caída del Reino Gauda de Shashanka . [213]
Los Palas eran seguidores de las escuelas mahayana y tántrica del budismo, [214] también patrocinaban el shaivismo y el vaishnavismo . [215] El imperio alcanzó su apogeo bajo Dharmapala y Devapala . Se cree que Dharmapala conquistó Kanauj y extendió su dominio hasta los límites más lejanos de la India en el noroeste. [215]
El Imperio Pala puede considerarse como la era dorada de Bengala. [216] Dharmapala fundó el Vikramashila y revivió Nalanda, [215] considerada una de las primeras grandes universidades de la historia registrada. Nalanda alcanzó su apogeo bajo el patrocinio del Imperio Pala. [216] [217] Los Palas también construyeron muchos viharas . Mantuvieron estrechos vínculos culturales y comerciales con países del sudeste asiático y el Tíbet . El comercio marítimo contribuyó en gran medida a la prosperidad del Imperio Pala.
Los Cholas medievales cobraron importancia a mediados del siglo IX y establecieron el mayor imperio que el sur de la India había visto. [218] Unieron con éxito el sur de la India bajo su gobierno y a través de su fuerza naval extendieron su influencia en los países del sudeste asiático como Srivijaya. [189] Bajo Rajaraja Chola I y sus sucesores Rajendra Chola I , Rajadhiraja Chola , Virarajendra Chola y Kulothunga Chola I, la dinastía se convirtió en una potencia militar, económica y cultural en el sur de Asia y el sudeste asiático. [219] [220] Las armadas de Rajendra Chola I ocuparon las costas marítimas desde Birmania hasta Vietnam, [221] las islas Andamán y Nicobar , las islas Lakshadweep (Laccadive), Sumatra y la península malaya . El poder del nuevo imperio fue proclamado al mundo oriental por la expedición al Ganges que emprendió Rajendra Chola I y por la ocupación de ciudades del imperio marítimo de Srivijaya en el sudeste asiático, así como por las repetidas embajadas a China. [222]
Dominaron los asuntos políticos de Sri Lanka durante más de dos siglos mediante invasiones y ocupaciones repetidas. También mantuvieron contactos comerciales continuos con los árabes y el imperio chino. [223] Rajaraja Chola I y su hijo Rajendra Chola I dieron unidad política a todo el sur de la India y establecieron el Imperio Chola como una potencia marítima respetada. [224] Bajo los Chola, el sur de la India alcanzó nuevas cotas de excelencia en arte, religión y literatura. En todas estas esferas, el período Chola marcó la culminación de movimientos que habían comenzado en una época anterior bajo los Pallavas. La arquitectura monumental en forma de templos majestuosos y esculturas en piedra y bronce alcanzó una fineza nunca antes lograda en la India. [225]
Entrada al templo Brihadeeswara Gopurams en Thanjavur
Imperio Chalukya Occidental
El Imperio Chalukya Occidental gobernó la mayor parte del Deccan occidental , en el sur de la India, entre los siglos X y XII. [227] Vastas áreas entre el río Narmada en el norte y el río Kaveri en el sur quedaron bajo el control de los Chalukya. [227] Durante este período, las otras familias gobernantes principales del Deccan, los Hoysalas , los Seuna Yadavas de Devagiri , la dinastía Kakatiya y los Kalachuris del Sur , eran subordinados de los Chalukyas occidentales y obtuvieron su independencia solo cuando el poder de los Chalukya disminuyó durante la segunda mitad del siglo XII. [228]
Los Chalukyas occidentales desarrollaron un estilo arquitectónico conocido hoy como estilo de transición, un vínculo arquitectónico entre el estilo de la dinastía Chalukya temprana y el del posterior imperio Hoysala. La mayoría de sus monumentos se encuentran en los distritos que bordean el río Tungabhadra en el centro de Karnataka. Ejemplos bien conocidos son el templo Kasivisvesvara en Lakkundi , el templo Mallikarjuna en Kuruvatti, el templo Kallesvara en Bagali, el templo Siddhesvara en Haveri y el templo Mahadeva en Itagi. [229] Este fue un período importante en el desarrollo de las bellas artes en el sur de la India, especialmente en la literatura, ya que los reyes Chalukya occidentales alentaron a los escritores en la lengua nativa de Kannada y sánscrito como el filósofo y estadista Basava y el gran matemático Bhāskara II . [230] [231]
El período medieval tardío está marcado por repetidas invasiones de los clanes nómadas musulmanes de Asia Central, [232] [233] el gobierno del sultanato de Delhi y por el crecimiento de otras dinastías e imperios, basados en la tecnología militar del sultanato. [234] Pasó de ser un monopolio turco a una entidad política indomusulmana indianizada [9] [235] [236] [12]
Sultanato de Delhi
El Sultanato de Delhi fue una serie de estados islámicos sucesivos con sede en Delhi, gobernados por varias dinastías de origen turco , índico , [237] [238] turco-indio [239] y pastún . [240] Gobernó grandes partes del subcontinente indio desde el siglo XIII hasta principios del siglo XVI. [241] En los siglos XII y XIII, los turcos de Asia Central invadieron partes del norte de la India y establecieron el Sultanato de Delhi en las antiguas posesiones hindúes. [242] La posterior dinastía mameluca de Delhi logró conquistar grandes áreas del norte de la India, mientras que la dinastía Khalji conquistó la mayor parte de la India central al tiempo que obligaba a los principales reinos hindúes del sur de la India a convertirse en estados vasallos . [241]
El Sultanato de Delhi marcó el comienzo de un período de renacimiento cultural indio. La fusión de culturas "indomusulmanas" resultante dejó monumentos sincréticos duraderos en la arquitectura, la música, la literatura, la religión y la vestimenta. Se supone que el idioma urdu nació durante el período del Sultanato de Delhi. El Sultanato de Delhi es el único imperio indoislámico que entronizó a una de las pocas gobernantes femeninas de la India, Razia Sultana (1236-1240).
Aunque inicialmente fue disruptivo debido al paso del poder de las élites indias nativas a las élites musulmanas turcas, musulmanas índicas y musulmanas pastunes, el Sultanato de Delhi fue responsable de integrar el subcontinente indio en un sistema mundial en crecimiento, incorporando a la India a una red internacional más amplia, lo que tuvo un impacto significativo en la cultura y la sociedad indias. [243] Sin embargo, el Sultanato de Delhi también causó la destrucción y profanación a gran escala de templos en el subcontinente indio. [244]
Las invasiones mongolas de la India fueron repelidas con éxito por el Sultanato de Delhi durante el gobierno de Alauddin Khalji . Un factor importante en su éxito fue su ejército de esclavos mamelucos turcos , que eran muy hábiles en el mismo estilo de guerra de caballería nómada que los mongoles. Es posible que el Imperio mongol se hubiera expandido a la India si no hubiera sido por el papel del Sultanato de Delhi en repelerlos. [245] Al rechazar repetidamente a los invasores mongoles, [246] el sultanato salvó a la India de la devastación que sufrió Asia occidental y central. Los soldados de esa región y los hombres eruditos y administradores que huyeron de las invasiones mongolas de Irán migraron al subcontinente, creando así una cultura indoislámica sincrética en el norte. [245]
Un conquistador turco-mongol en Asia Central, Tamerlán , atacó al sultán reinante Nasir-u Din Mehmud de la dinastía Tughlaq en la ciudad de Delhi, en el norte de la India. [247] El ejército del sultán fue derrotado el 17 de diciembre de 1398. Tamerlán entró en Delhi y la ciudad fue saqueada, destruida y dejada en ruinas después de que el ejército de Tamerlán matara y saqueara durante tres días y tres noches. Ordenó que se saqueara toda la ciudad excepto a los sayyids , eruditos y los "otros musulmanes" (artistas); 100.000 prisioneros de guerra fueron ejecutados en un día. [248] El sultanato sufrió significativamente por el saqueo de Delhi. Aunque revivió brevemente bajo la dinastía Lodi , no fue más que una sombra del anterior.
El Imperio Vijayanagara fue establecido en 1336 por Harihara I y su hermano Bukka Raya I de la dinastía Sangama , [249] que se originó como heredero político del Imperio Hoysala , el Imperio Kakatiya , [250] y el Imperio Pandyan . [251] El imperio saltó a la fama como culminación de los intentos de las potencias del sur de la India de protegerse de las invasiones islámicas a finales del siglo XIII. Duró hasta 1646, aunque su poder declinó después de una importante derrota militar en 1565 por los ejércitos combinados de los sultanatos del Decán . El imperio recibe su nombre de su ciudad capital, Vijayanagara , cuyas ruinas rodean la actual Hampi , ahora Patrimonio de la Humanidad en Karnataka, India. [252]
In the first two decades after the founding of the empire, Harihara I gained control over most of the area south of the Tungabhadra river and earned the title of Purvapaschima Samudradhishavara ("master of the eastern and western seas"). By 1374 Bukka Raya I, successor to Harihara I, had defeated the chiefdom of Arcot, the Reddys of Kondavidu, and the Sultan of Madurai and had gained control over Goa in the west and the Tungabhadra-Krishna doab in the north.[253][254]
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.[255] The next ruler, Deva Raya I, emerged successful against the Gajapatis of Odisha and undertook important works of fortification and irrigation.[256] Italian traveller Niccolo de Conti wrote of him as the most powerful ruler of India.[257]Deva Raya II succeeded to the throne in 1424 and was possibly the most capable of the Sangama Dynasty rulers.[258] He quelled rebelling feudal lords as well as the Zamorin of Calicut and Quilon in the south. He invaded the island of Sri Lanka and became overlord of the kings of Burma at Pegu and Tanasserim.[259][260][261]
The Vijayanagara Emperors were tolerant of all religions and sects, as writings by foreign visitors show.[262] 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.[263] The empire's founders, Harihara I and Bukka Raya I, were devout Shaivas (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.[264] Nobles from Central Asia's Timurid kingdoms also came to Vijayanagara.[265] 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 Tirupati.[266] A Sanskrit work, Jambavati Kalyanam by King Krishnadevaraya, called Lord Virupaksha Karnata Rajya Raksha Mani ("protective jewel of Karnata Empire").[267] The kings patronised the saints of the dvaita order (philosophy of dualism) of Madhvacharya at Udupi.[268]
Photograph of the ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire at Hampi, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1868[269]
Gajashaala, or elephant's stable, was built by the Vijayanagar rulers for their war elephants.[270]
Vijayanagara marketplace at Hampi, along with the sacred tank located on the side of Krishna temple.
Stone temple car in Vitthala Temple at Hampi
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.[271] Efficient administration and vigorous overseas trade brought new technologies such as water management systems for irrigation.[272] 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.[273]
Vijayanagara went into decline after the defeat in the Battle of Talikota (1565). After the death of Aliya Rama Raya in the Battle of Talikota, Tirumala Deva Raya started the Aravidu dynasty, moved and founded a new capital of Penukonda to replace the destroyed Hampi, and attempted to reconstitute the remains of Vijayanagara Empire.[274] Tirumala abdicated in 1572, dividing the remains of his kingdom to his three sons, and pursued a religious life until his death in 1578. The Aravidu dynasty successors ruled the region but the empire collapsed in 1614, and the final remains ended in 1646, from continued wars with the Bijapur sultanate and others.[275][276][277] During this period, more kingdoms in South India became independent and separate from Vijayanagara. These include the Mysore Kingdom, Keladi Nayaka, Nayaks of Madurai, Nayaks of Tanjore, Nayakas of Chitradurga and Nayak Kingdom of Gingee – all of which declared independence and went on to have a significant impact on the history of South India in the coming centuries.[275]
Chinese manuscript Tribute Giraffe with Attendant, depicting a giraffe presented by Bengali envoys in the name of Sultan Saifuddin Hamza Shah of Bengal to the Yongle Emperor of Ming China
Mahmud Gawan Madrasa was built by Mahmud Gawan, the Wazir of the Bahmani Sultanate as the centre of religious as well as secular education
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 the 12th to the 18th centuries.[278][279][280] 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.[281]
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 teh Punjab. The Tomaras established themselves at Gwalior, and Man Singh Tomar reconstructed the Gwalior Fort.[282] During this period, Mewar emerged as the leading Rajput state; and Rana Kumbha expanded his kingdom at the expense of the Sultanates of Malwa and Gujarat.[282][283] 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.[282] 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 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.[284]
In the south, the Bahmani Sultanate in the Deccan, born from a rebellion in 1347 against the Tughlaq dynasty,[285] was the chief rival of Vijayanagara, and frequently created difficulties for them.[286] Starting in 1490, the Bahmani Sultanate's governors revolted, their independent states composing the five Deccan sultanates; Ahmadnagar declared independence, followed by Bijapur and Berar in the same year; Golkonda became independent in 1518 and Bidar in 1528.[287] Although generally rivals, they allied against the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565, permanently weakening Vijayanagar in the Battle of Talikota.[288][289]
In the East, the Gajapati Kingdom remained a strong regional power to reckon with, associated with a high point in the growth of regional culture and architecture. Under Kapilendradeva, Gajapatis became an empire stretching from the lower Ganga in the north to the Kaveri in the south.[290] In Northeast India, the Ahom Kingdom was a major power for six centuries;[291][292] led by Lachit Borphukan, the Ahoms decisively defeated the Mughal army at the Battle of Saraighat during the Ahom-Mughal conflicts.[293] Further east in Northeastern India was the Kingdom of Manipur, which ruled from their seat of power at Kangla Fort and developed a sophisticated Hindu Gaudiya Vaishnavite culture.[294][295][296]
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, 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 Kamrup and Kamata in the northeast and 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 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 Mughalconquest and disintegration into petty kingdoms.
Bhakti movement and Sikhism
The Bhakti movement refers to the theistic devotional trend that emerged in medieval Hinduism[297] and later revolutionised in Sikhism.[298] It originated in the seventh-century south India (now parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala), and spread northwards.[297] It swept over east and north India from the 15th century onwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th century.[299]
The Bhakti movement regionally developed around different gods and goddesses, such as Vaishnavism (Vishnu), Shaivism (Shiva), Shaktism (Shakti goddesses), and Smartism.[300][301][302] The movement was inspired by many poet-saints, who championed a wide range of philosophical positions ranging from theistic dualism of Dvaita to absolute monism of Advaita Vedanta.[303][304]
Sikhism is a monotheistic and panentheistic religion based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru,[305] and the ten successive Sikh gurus. After the death of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, the Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, became the literal embodiment of the eternal, impersonal Guru, where the scripture's word serves as the spiritual guide for Sikhs.[306][307][308]
The early modern period of Indian history is dated from 1526 to 1858, 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 patronised. This period witnessed the further development of Indo-Islamic architecture;[309][310] the growth of Marathas and Sikhs enabled them to rule significant regions of India in the waning days of the Mughal empire.[16] 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.[311]
Mughal Empire
Mughal Empire
In 1526, Babur swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal Empire, which at its zenith covered much of South Asia.[313] 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 (r. 1556–1605), grandson of Babur, defeated Hemu in the Second Battle of Panipat on 6 November 1556 after winning 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 Indo-Saracenic architecture.
Akbar married a Rajput princess, Mariam-uz-Zamani, and they had a son, Jahangir (r. 1605–1627).[314] Jahangir followed his father's policy. The Mughal dynasty ruled most of the Indian subcontinent by 1600. The reign of Shah Jahan (r. 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,[315] and surpassed China to become the world's largest economic power, controlling 24.4% of the world economy,[316] and the world leader in manufacturing,[317] producing 25% of global industrial output.[318] The economic and demographic upsurge was stimulated by Mughal agrarian reforms that intensified agricultural production,[319] and a relatively high degree of urbanisation.[320]
Other Mughal UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Agra Fort showing Yamuna river and Taj Mahal in the background
The Mughal Empire reached the zenith of its territorial expanse during the reign of Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707), under whose reign India surpassed Qing China as the world's largest economy.[321][322] 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,[323] employing significantly more Hindus in his imperial bureaucracy than his predecessors, and advancing administrators based on ability rather than religion.[324] 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.[325][326]
18th-century political formation in India
The Mughals suffered several blows due to invasions from Marathas, Rajputs, Jats and 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.[citation needed] While Bharatpur State under Jat ruler Suraj Mal, overran the Mughal garrison at Agra and plundered the city.[327] In 1739, Nader Shah, emperor of Iran, defeated the Mughal army at the Battle of Karnal.[328] After this victory, Nader captured and sacked Delhi, carrying away treasures including the Peacock Throne.[329] Mughal rule was further weakened by constant native Indian resistance; Banda Singh Bahadur led the Sikh Khalsa against Mughal religious oppression; Hindu Rajas of Bengal, Pratapaditya and Raja Sitaram Ray revolted; and MaharajaChhatrasal, of Bundela Rajputs, fought the Mughals and established the Panna State.[330] The 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 Sikhs, with 30,000 Sikhs being killed, an offensive that had begun with the Mughals, with the Chhota Ghallughara,[331] and lasted several decades under its Muslim successor states.[332]
Maratha Empire
Maratha Empire
The Maratha kingdom was founded and consolidated by Chatrapati Shivaji.[333] 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".[334]
In the early 18th century, under the Peshwas, the Marathas consolidated and ruled over much of South Asia. The Marathas are credited to a large extent for ending Mughal rule in India.[335][336][337] In 1737, the Marathas defeated a Mughal army in their capital, in the Battle of Delhi. The Marathas continued their military campaigns against the Mughals, Nizam, Nawab of Bengal and the Durrani Empire to further extend their boundaries. At its peak, the domain of the Marathas encompassed most of the Indian subcontinent.[338] The Marathas even attempted to capture Delhi and discussed putting Vishwasrao Peshwa on the throne there in place of the Mughal emperor.[339]
Under Madhavrao I, the strongest knights were granted semi-autonomy, creating a confederacy of United Maratha states under the Gaekwads of Baroda, the Holkars of Indore and Malwa, the Scindias of Gwalior and Ujjain, the Bhonsales of Nagpur and the Puars of Dhar and 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.[344] The Marathas remained a major power in India until their defeat in the Second and Third Anglo-Maratha Wars (1805–1818).
Sikh Empire
The Sikh Empire was a political entity that governed the Northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent, based around the Punjab, from 1799 to 1849. It was forged, on the foundations of the Khalsa, under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780–1839).[citation needed]
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.[345][346]
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 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.
Other kingdoms
Territories of India in 1763
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 finalising 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).
Hyderabad was founded by the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda in 1591. Following a brief Mughal rule, Asif Jah, a Mughal official, seized control of Hyderabad and declared himself Nizam-al-Mulk of Hyderabad in 1724. The Nizams lost considerable territory and paid tribute to the Maratha Empire after being routed in multiple battles, such as the Battle of Palkhed.[347] However, the Nizams maintained their sovereignty from 1724 until 1948 through paying tributes to the Marathas, and later, being vassals of the British. Hyderabad State became a princely state in British India in 1798.
The Nawabs of Bengal had become the de facto rulers of Bengal following the decline of Mughal Empire. However, their rule was interrupted by Marathas who carried out 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.[348] 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.[349][350]
In the 18th century, the whole of Rajputana was virtually subdued by the Marathas. The Second Anglo-Maratha War distracted the Marathas from 1807 to 1809, but afterward Maratha domination of Rajputana resumed. In 1817, the British went to war with the Pindaris, raiders who were fled in Maratha territory, which quickly became the Third Anglo-Maratha War, and the British government offered its protection to the Rajput rulers from the Pindaris and the Marathas. By the end of 1818 similar treaties had been executed between the other Rajput states and Britain. The Maratha Sindhia ruler of Gwalior gave up the district of Ajmer-Merwara to the British, and Maratha influence in Rajasthan came to an end.[351] Most of the Rajput princes remained loyal to Britain in the Revolt of 1857, and few political changes were made in Rajputana until Indian independence in 1947. The Rajputana Agency contained more than 20 princely states, most notable being Udaipur State, Jaipur State, Bikaner State and Jodhpur State.
After the fall of the Maratha Empire, many 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, 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.[352][353] While in eastern and north-eastern 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.
After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire, Polygar states emerged in Southern India; and managed to weather invasions and flourished until the Polygar Wars, where they were defeated by the British East India Company forces.[354] Around the 18th century, the Kingdom of Nepal was formed by Rajput rulers.[355]
European exploration
The route followed in Vasco da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499)p
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.[356] Goa remained the main Portuguese territory until it was annexed by India in 1961.[357]
The next to arrive were the Dutch, with their main base in Ceylon. They established ports in Malabar. However, their expansion into India was halted after their defeat in the Battle of Colachel by the Kingdom of Travancore during the Travancore-Dutch War. The Dutch never recovered from the defeat and no longer posed a large colonial threat to India.[358][359]
The internal conflicts among Indian kingdoms gave opportunities to the European traders to gradually establish political influence and appropriate lands. Following the Dutch, the British — who set up in the west coast port of Surat in 1619 — and the French both established trading outposts in India. Although continental European powers controlled various coastal regions of southern and eastern India during the ensuing century, they eventually lost all their territories in India to the British, with the exception of the French outposts of Pondichéry and Chandernagore, and the Portuguese colonies of Goa, Daman and Diu.[citation needed]
East India Company rule in India
India under East India Company rule
The English East India Company was founded in 1600. It gained a foothold in India with the establishment of a 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 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 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, Dutch, French, and Danish were similarly expanding in the subcontinent.
The company's victory under Robert Clive in the 1757 Battle of Plassey and another victory in the 1764 Battle of Buxar (in Bihar), consolidated the company's power, and forced emperor Shah Alam II to appoint it the diwan, or revenue collector, of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. The company thus became the de facto ruler of large areas of the lower Gangetic plain by 1773. It also proceeded by degrees to expand its dominions around Bombay and Madras. The Anglo-Mysore Wars (1766–99) and the Anglo-Maratha Wars (1772–1818) left it in control of large areas of India south of the Sutlej River. With the defeat of the Marathas, no native power represented a threat for the company any longer.[360]
The expansion of the company's power chiefly took two forms. The first of these was the outright annexation of Indian states and subsequent direct governance of the underlying regions that collectively came to comprise British India. The annexed regions included the North-Western Provinces (comprising Rohilkhand, Gorakhpur, and the Doab) (1801), Delhi (1803), Assam (Ahom Kingdom 1828) and Sindh (1843). Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir were annexed after the Anglo-Sikh Wars in 1849–56 (Period of tenure of Marquess of Dalhousie Governor General). However, Kashmir was immediately sold under the Treaty of Amritsar (1850) to the Dogra Dynasty of Jammu and thereby became a princely state. In 1854, Berar was annexed along with the state of Oudh two years later.[citation needed]
Gold coin, minted 1835, with obverse showing the bust of William IV, king of United Kingdom from 26 June 1830 to 20 June 1837, and reverse marked "Two mohurs" in English (do ashrafi in Urdu) issued during Company rule in India
Photograph (1855) showing the construction of the Bhor Ghaut incline bridge, Bombay; the incline was conceived by George Clark, the Chief Engineer in the East India Company's Government of Bombay
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.[361] The most important such support came from the subsidiary alliances with Indian princes.[361] In the early 19th century, the territories of these princes accounted for two-thirds of India.[361] 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.[362]
The Indian indenture system was an ongoing system of indenture, a form of debt bondage, by which 3.5 million Indians were transported to colonies of European powers to provide labour 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 Indo-African populations.
The Indian rebellion of 1857 was a large-scale rebellion by soldiers employed by the British East India Company in northern and central India against the company's rule. The spark that led to the mutiny was the issue of new gunpowder cartridges for the Enfield rifle, which was insensitive to local religious prohibition. The key mutineer was Mangal Pandey.[364] In addition, the underlying grievances over British taxation, the ethnic gulf between the British officers and their Indian troops and land annexations played a significant role in the rebellion. Within weeks after Pandey's mutiny, dozens of units of the Indian army joined peasant armies in widespread rebellion. The rebel soldiers were later joined by Indian nobility, many of whom had lost titles and domains under the Doctrine of Lapse and felt that the company had interfered with a traditional system of inheritance. Rebel leaders such as Nana Sahib and the Rani of Jhansi belonged to this group.[365]
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.[366] 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.[367]
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.[368]
British Raj (1858–1947)
British Raj
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.[369] In education, 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.[370] 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.[371] Historians have been divided on issues of economic history, with the Nationalist school arguing that India was poorer due to British rule.[372]
In 1905, Lord Curzonsplit 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 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.[373] 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.[374] Sikhs founded the Shiromani Akali Dal in 1920.[375] 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.[376]
Two silver rupee coins issued by the British Raj in 1862 and 1886 respectively, the first in obverse showing a bust of Victoria, Queen, the second of Victoria, Empress. Victoria became Empress of India in 1876.
A second-day cancellation of the stamps issued in February 1931 to commemorate the inauguration of New Delhi as the capital of the British Indian Empire. Between 1858 and 1911, Calcutta had been the capital of the Raj.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) was a Bengali language poet, short-story writer, and playwright, and in addition a music composer and painter, who won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1913
The Bengali Renaissance refers to a social reform movement, dominated by Bengali Hindus, in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period of British rule. Historian Nitish Sengupta describes the renaissance as having started with reformer and humanitarian Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1775–1833), and ended with Asia's first Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941).[377] This flowering of religious and social reformers, scholars, and writers is described by historian David Kopf as "one of the most creative periods in Indian history."[378]
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 movements 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.[379] It played an important role in reawakening Indian minds and intellect across the Indian subcontinent.
Famines
Map of famines in India during British Empire in year 1800–1885.
A picture of orphans who survived the Bengal famine of 1943, a man-made disaster by the British government
During British East India Company and British Crown rule, India experienced some of deadliest ever recorded famines. These famines, usually resulting from crop failures and often exacerbated by policies of the colonial government,[380] included the Great Famine of 1876–1878 in which 6.1 million to 10.3 million people died,[381] the Great Bengal famine of 1770 where between 1 and 10 million people died,[382][383] the Indian famine of 1899–1900 in which 1.25 to 10 million people died,[380] and the Bengal famine of 1943 where between 2.1 and 3.8 million people died.[384] The Third plague pandemic in the mid-19th century killed 10 million people in India.[385] Despite persistent diseases and famines, the population of the Indian subcontinent, which stood at up to 200 million in 1750,[386] had reached 389 million by 1941.[387]
India Gate is a memorial to 70,000 soldiers of the British Indian Army who died in the period 1914–21 in the First World War
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.[388] The Army saw early action on the 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.[389]
One million Indian troops served abroad during the war. In total, 74,187 died,[390] and another 67,000 were wounded.[391] The roughly 90,000 soldiers who died fighting in World War I and the Afghan Wars are commemorated by the India Gate.
The stamp series "Victory" issued by the Government of British India to commemorate allied victory in World War II
British India officially declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939.[392] The British Raj, as part of the 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 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 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;[393] however, it was Japan that helped him revamp the Indian National Army (INA), after the First Indian National Army under Mohan Singh was dissolved. The INA fought under Japanese direction, mostly in Burma.[394] Bose also headed the Provisional Government of Free India (or Azad Hind), a government-in-exile based in Singapore.[395][396]
By 1942, neighbouring Burma was invaded by Japan, which by then had already captured the Indian territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Japan gave nominal control of the islands to the Provisional Government of Free India on 21 October 1943, and in the following March, the Indian National Army with the help of Japan crossed into India and advanced as far as Kohima in Nagaland. This advance on the mainland of the Indian subcontinent reached its farthest point on Indian territory, retreating from the Battle of Kohima in June and from that of Imphal on 3 July 1944.
The region of Bengal in British India suffered a devastating famine during 1940–1943. An estimated 2.1–3 million died from the famine, frequently characterised as "man-made",[397] with most sources asserting that wartime colonial policies exacerbated the crisis.[398]
Indian independence movement (1885–1947)
The first session of the Indian National Congress in 1885. A. O. Hume, the founder, is shown in the middle (third row from the front). The Congress was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa.[399]
Front page of the Tribune (25 March 1931), reporting the execution of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev by the British for the murder of 21-year-old police officer J. P. Saunders. Bhagat Singh quickly became a folk hero of the Indian independence movement.
From the late 19th century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi (right), the Congress became the principal leader of the Indian independence movement.[400] Gandhi is shown here with Jawaharlal Nehru, later the first prime minister of India.
The numbers of British in India were small,[401] yet they were able to rule 52% of the Indian subcontinent directly and exercise considerable leverage over the princely states that accounted for 48% of the area.[402]
One of the most important events of the 19th century was the rise of Indian nationalism,[403] leading Indians to seek first "self-rule" and later "complete independence". However, historians are divided over the causes of its rise. Probable reasons include a "clash of interests of the Indian people with British interests",[403] "racial discriminations",[404] and "the revelation of India's past".[405]
The first step toward Indian self-rule was the appointment of councillors to advise the British viceroy in 1861 and the first Indian was appointed in 1909. Provincial Councils with Indian members were also set up. The councillors' participation was subsequently widened into legislative councils. The British built a large British Indian Army, with the senior officers all British and many of the troops from small minority groups such as Gurkhas from Nepal and Sikhs.[406] The civil service was increasingly filled with natives at the lower levels, with the British holding the more senior positions.[407]
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"[408] 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;[409] 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.[409]
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.[410] 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.[411]
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-co-operation, civil disobedience and economic resistance. However, 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.
The All India Azad Muslim Conference gathered in Delhi in April 1940 to voice its support for an independent and united India.[412] Its members included several Islamic organisations in India, as well as 1,400 nationalist Muslim delegates.[413][414][415] The pro-separatist All-India Muslim League worked to try to silence those nationalist Muslims who stood against the partition of India, often using "intimidation and coercion".[414][415] The murder of the All India Azad Muslim Conference leader Allah Bakhsh Soomro also made it easier for the pro-separatist All-India Muslim League to demand the creation of a Pakistan.[415]
After World War II (c. 1946–1947)
"A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new; when an age ends; and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance."
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 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.
Late in 1946, the Labour government decided to end British rule of India, and in early 1947 it announced its intention of transferring power no later than June 1948 and participating in the formation of an interim government.
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 "Great Calcutta Killing of August 1946". The communal violence spread to Bihar, Noakhali in Bengal, Garhmukteshwar in the United Provinces, and on to Rawalpindi in March 1947 in which Sikhs and Hindus were attacked or driven out by Muslims.
Literacy in India grew very slowly until independence in 1947. An acceleration in the rate of literacy growth occurred in the 1991–2001 period.
Independence and partition (1947–present)
A map of the prevailing religions of the British Indian empire based on district-wise majorities based on the Indian census of 1909, and published in the Imperial Gazetteer of India. The partition of the Punjab and Bengal was based on such majorities.
In August 1947, the British Indian Empire was partitioned into the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. In particular, the partition of the Punjab and Bengal led to rioting between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs in these provinces and spread to other nearby regions, leaving some 500,000 dead. The police and army units were largely ineffective. The British officers were gone, and the units were beginning to tolerate if not actually indulge in violence against their religious enemies.[417][418][419] Also, this period saw one of the largest mass migrations anywhere in modern history, with a total of 12 million Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims moving between the newly created nations of India and Pakistan (which gained independence on 15 and 14 August 1947 respectively).[418] In 1971, Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan and East Bengal, seceded from Pakistan.[420]
^The "First urbanisation" was the Indus Valley Civilisation.[76]
^Many historians consider Attock to be the final frontier of the Maratha Empire[342]
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^Lanman, Charles Rockwell (1912) [First published 1884]. A Sanskrit reader: with vocabulary and notes. Boston: Ginn & Co. OCLC 633836. ... jána, m. creature; man; person; in plural, and collectively in singular, folks; a people or race or tribe ... cf. γένος, Lat. genus, Eng. kin, 'race' ...
^Potter, Stephen; Sargent, Laurens Christopher (1974). Pedigree: The Origins of Words from Nature. Taplinger Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8008-6248-0. ... *gen-, found in Skt. jana, 'a man', and Gk. genos and L. genus, 'a race' ...
^Basu, Abhijit (2013). Marvels and Mysteries of the Mahabharata. Leadstart publishing. p. 153. ISBN 978-93-84027-47-6.
^ a b c d eWitzel, Michael (1995). "Early Sanskritization. Origins and Development of the Kuru State". Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 1 (4): 1–26. doi:10.11588/ejvs.1995.4.823. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
^Samuel 2010, pp. 45–51.
^H.C. Raychaudhuri (1950), Political History of Ancient India and Nepal, Calcutta: University of Calcutta, p. 58
^Baumann, Martin (2010). "Hinduism". In Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin (eds.). Religions of the World. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). ABC-Clio. p. 1324. ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3.
^Olivelle, Patrick (2003). "The Renouncer Tradition". In Flood, Gavin (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Blackwell. pp. 273–274. ISBN 978-0-631-21535-6. The second half of the first millennium BC was the period that created many of the ideological and institutional elements that characterise later Indian religions. The renouncer tradition played a central role during this formative period of Indian religious history. ... Some of the fundamental values and beliefs that we generally associate with Indian religions in general and Hinduism, in particular, were in part the creation of the renouncer tradition. These include the two pillars of Indian theologies: samsara—the belief that life in this world is one of suffering and subject to repeated deaths and births (rebirth); moksa/nirvana—the goal of human existence ...
^Laumakis, Stephen (2008). An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-511-38589-6.
^Fisher, Mary Pat (2011) [First published 1991]. Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths (8th ed.). Prentice Hall. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-205-83585-0. Jainism's major teacher for this age is Mahavira ... was a contemporary of the Buddha and died approximately 527 BCE.
^Fisher, Mary Pat (2011) [First published 1991]. Living Religions: An Encyclopedia of the World's Faiths (8th ed.). Prentice Hall. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-205-83585-0. The extreme antiquity of Jainism as a non-Vedic, indigenous Indian religion is well documented. Ancient Hindu and Buddhist scriptures refer to Jainism as an existing tradition which began long before Mahavira.
^Upinder Singh 2008, pp. 260–261.
^Anguttara Nikaya I. p. 213; IV. pp. 252, 256, 261.
^Raychaudhuri Hemchandra (1972), Political History of Ancient India, Calcutta: University of Calcutta, p. 107
^Republics in ancient India. Brill Archive. pp. 93–. GGKEY:HYY6LT5CFT0.
^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.
^Shaffer, Jim (1993). "Reurbanization: The eastern Punjab and beyond". Urban Form and Meaning in South Asia: The Shaping of Cities from Prehistoric to Precolonial Times. Symposium Papers XV. Vol. 31. National Gallery of Art. pp. 53–67. JSTOR 42620472.
^Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D. (December 2006). "East–West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of World-Systems Research. 12 (2): 223. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
^Romila Thapar. A History of India: Volume 1. p. 70.
^ a bThapar 2003, pp. 178–180.
^ a bThapar 2003, pp. 204–206.
^Bhandari, Shirin (5 January 2016). "Dinner on the Grand Trunk Road". Roads & Kingdoms. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
^Kulke & Rothermund 2004, p. 67.
^Romila Thapar. A History of India: Volume 1. p. 78.
^Antonova, Bongard-Levin & Kotovsky 1979, p. 91.
^Technology and Society by Menon, R.V.G. p. 15
^Rosen, Elizabeth S. (1975). "Prince ILango Adigal, Shilappadikaram (The anklet Bracelet), translated by Alain Damelou. Review". Artibus Asiae. 37 (1/2): 148–150. doi:10.2307/3250226. JSTOR 3250226.
^Sen 1999, pp. 204–205.
^Essays on Indian Renaissance by Raj Kumar p. 260
^The First Spring: The Golden Age of India by Abraham Eraly p. 655
^* 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
^"Silappathikaram Tamil Literature". Tamilnadu.com. 22 January 2013. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013.
^Hardy, Adam (1995). Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation : the Karṇāṭa Drāviḍa Tradition, 7th to 13th Centuries. Abhinav Publications. p. 39. ISBN 978-81-7017-312-0.
^Le, Huu Phuoc (2010). Buddhist Architecture. Grafikol. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-9844043-0-8.
^ a bStein, B. (27 April 2010), Arnold, D. (ed.), A History of India (2nd ed.), Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, p. 105, ISBN 978-1-4051-9509-6
^A Social History of Early India by Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya p. 259
^"The World Economy (GDP) : Historical Statistics by Professor Angus Maddison" (PDF). World Economy. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
^Stadtner, Donald (1975). "A Śuṅga Capital from Vidiśā". Artibus Asiae. 37 (1/2): 101–104. doi:10.2307/3250214. ISSN 0004-3648. JSTOR 3250214.
^K. A. Nilkantha Shastri (1970), A Comprehensive History of India: Volume 2, p. 108: "Soon after Agnimitra there was no 'Sunga empire'".
^Bhandare, Shailendra. "Numismatics and History: The Maurya-Gupta Interlude in the Gangetic Plain" in Between the Empires: Society in India, 300 to 400 ed. Patrick Olivelle (2006), p. 96
^Sircar, D. C. (2008). Studies in Indian Coins. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 9788120829732.
^Schreiber, Mordecai (2003). The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia. Rockville, MD: Schreiber Publishing. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-887563-77-2.
^Law 1978, p. 164.
^Greatest emporium in the world, CSI, UNESCO.
^Collingham 2006, p. 245.
^The Medical Times and Gazette, Volume 1. London: John Churchill. 1867. p. 506.
^Runion, Meredith L. (2007). The history of Afghanistan. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-313-33798-7. 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.
^Liu, Xinrui (2001). Adas, Michael (ed.). Agricultural and pastoral societies in ancient and classical history. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-56639-832-9.
^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
^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.
^Grégoire Frumkin (1970). Archaeology in Soviet Central Asia. Brill Archive. pp. 51–. GGKEY:4NPLATFACBB.
^Rafi U. Samad (2011). The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys. Algora Publishing. pp. 93–. ISBN 978-0-87586-859-2.
^Oxford History of India – Vincent Smith
^Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Pratapaditya Pal (1986). Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 B.C.–A.D. 700. University of California Press. pp. 151–. ISBN 978-0-520-05991-7.
^"The History of Pakistan: The Kushans". kushan.org. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
^Si-Yu-Ki, Buddhist Records of the Western World, (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
^"Gupta dynasty: empire in 4th century". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
^"The Story of India – Photo Gallery". PBS. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
^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....
^Bernard Philippe Groslier (1962). The art of Indochina: including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Crown Publishers.
^Iaroslav Lebedynsky, Les Nomades, p. 172.
^Early History of India, p. 339, Dr V.A. Smith; See also Early Empire of Central Asia (1939), W.M. McGovern.
^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.
^Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 173.
^The precise number varies according to whether or not some barely started excavations, such as cave 15A, are counted. 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.
^Tej Ram Sharma, 1978, "Personal and geographical names in the Gupta inscriptions. (1.publ.)", p. 254, Kamarupa consisted of the Western districts of the Brahmaputra valley which being the most powerful state.
^Suresh Kant Sharma, Usha Sharma – 2005, "Discovery of North-East India: Geography, History, Culture, ... – Volume 3", p. 248, Davaka (Nowgong) and Kamarupa as separate and submissive friendly kingdoms.
^The eastern border of Kamarupa is given by the temple of the goddess Tamreshvari (Pūrvāte Kāmarūpasya devī Dikkaravasini in Kalika Purana) near present-day Sadiya. "...the temple of the goddess Tameshwari (Dikkaravasini) is now located at modern Sadiya about 100 miles to the northeast of Sibsagar" (Sircar 1990, pp. 63–68).
^Barpujari, H.K., ed. (1990). The Comprehensive History of Assam (1st ed.). Guwahati, India: Assam Publication Board. OCLC 499315420.
^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
^"Pallava script". SkyKnowledge.com. 30 December 2010.
^Nilakanta Sastri, pp. 412–413
^Hall, John Whitney, ed. (2005) [1988]. "India". History of the World: Earliest Times to the Present Day. John Grayson Kirk. North Dighton, MA: World Publications Group. p. 246. ISBN 978-1-57215-421-6.
^"CNG: eAuction 329. India, Post-Gupta (Ganges Valley). Vardhanas of Thanesar and Kanauj. Harshavardhana. Circa AD 606–647. AR Drachm (13 mm, 2.28 g, 1h)". cngcoins.com.
^RN Kundra & SS Bawa, History of Ancient and Medieval India
^ a b cInternational Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania by Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda p. 507
^"Harsha". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2015.
^"Sthanvishvara (historical region, India)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
^"Harsha (Indian emperor)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
^Michaels 2004, p. 41.
^Michaels 2004, p. 43.
^Sanderson, Alexis (2009). "The Śaiva Age: The Rise and Dominance of Śaivism during the Early Medieval Period". In Einoo, Shingo (ed.). Genesis and Development of Tantrism. Institute of Oriental Culture Special Series no. 23. Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo. pp. 41–43. ISBN 978-4-7963-0188-6.
^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.
^Sahoo, Ajaya Kumar; Kruijf, Johannes G. de (2014). Indian Transnationalism Online: New Perspectives on Diaspora. Ashgate. p. 105. ISBN 978-1-4724-1913-2. 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.
^"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."; 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."
^Jaffrelot, Christophe (1996). The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India. Columbia University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-231-10335-0. 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.
^Chattopadhyaya, Shyama Kumar (2000). The Philosophy of Sankar's Advaita Vedanta. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. ISBN 978-81-7625-222-5.
^Edward Roer (Translator), Shankara's Introduction, p. 3, at Google Books 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."
^Edward Roer (Translator), Shankara's Introduction, p. 3, at Google Books to Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad at p. 3, OCLC 19373677
^KN Jayatilleke (2010), Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, ISBN 978-81-208-0619-1, pp. 246–249, from note 385 onwards; 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 is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence."; Edward Roer (Translator), Shankara's Introduction at Google Books Katie Javanaud (2013), Is The Buddhist 'No-Self' Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?, Philosophy Now; 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".
^Schimmel, Annemarie Schimmel, Religionen – Islam in the Indian Subcontinent, Brill Academic Publishers, 1980, ISBN 978-90-04-06117-0, p. 4
^Avari, Burjor (2007). India: The Ancient Past. A History of the Indian-Subcontinent from 7000 BC to AD 1200. New York: Routledge. pp. 204–205. ISBN 978-0-203-08850-0. Madhyadesha became the ambition of two particular clans among a tribal people in Rajasthan, known as Gurjara and Pratihara. They were both parts of a larger federation of tribes, some of which later came to be known as the Rajputs
^Kamath 1980, p. 93.
^Vinod Chandra Srivastava (2008). History of Agriculture in India, Up to C. 1200 A.D. Concept. p. 857. ISBN 978-81-8069-521-6.
^ a bThe Dancing Girl: A History of Early India by Balaji Sadasivan p. 129
^Pollock, Sheldon (2006). The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India. University of California Press. pp. 241–242. ISBN 978-0-520-93202-9.
^Sunil Fotedar (June 1984). The Kashmir Series: Glimpses of Kashmiri Culture – Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari (p. 57).
^R.C. Mazumdar, Ancient India, p. 383
^Karl J. Schmidt (2015). An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History. Routledge. p. 26. ISBN 9781317476818.
^Sailendra Nath Sen (1999). Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age. p. 246. ISBN 9788122411980.
^Thapar 2003, p. 334.
^ a b cChandra, Satish (2009). History of Medieval India. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-81-250-3226-7.
^Kamath 1980, pp. 83, 85, 97.
^Puttaswamy, T.K. (2012). "Mahavira". Mathematical Achievements of Pre-modern Indian Mathematicians. London: Elsevier Publications. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-12-397913-1.
^Sen 1999, p. 380.
^Sen 1999, pp. 380–381.
^Daniélou 2003, p. 170.
^The Britannica Guide to Algebra and Trigonometry by William L. Hosch p. 105
^Wink, André (2002) [First published 1990]. Al-Hind: The making of the Indo-Islamic World. Vol. I. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 283–284. ISBN 978-0-391-04173-8.
^Avari 2007, p. 204.
^Wink, André (2002) [First published 1990]. Al-Hind: The making of the Indo-Islamic World. Vol. I. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 285–286. ISBN 978-0-391-04173-8.
^K.D. Bajpai (2006). History of Gopāchala. Bharatiya Jnanpith. p. 31. ISBN 978-81-263-1155-2.
^Niyogi 1959, p. 38.
^Sinha, CPN (1969). "Origin of the Karnatas of Mithila - A Fresh Appraisal". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 31: 66–72. JSTOR 44138330.
^Chakrabarty, Dilip (2010). The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India: The Geographical Frames of the Ancient Indian Dynasties. Oxford University Press. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-0-19-908832-4.
^Nitish K. Sengupta (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin Books India. pp. 43–45. ISBN 978-0-14-341678-4.
^Biplab Dasgupta (2005). European Trade and Colonial Conquest. Anthem Press. pp. 341–. ISBN 978-1-84331-029-7.
^Kulke & Rothermund 2004, pp. 112, 119.
^History of Buddhism in India, Translation by A Shiefner
^ a b cChandra, Satish (2009). History of Medieval India. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan. pp. 13–15. ISBN 978-81-250-3226-7.
^ a bSen 1999, p. 278.
^PN Chopra; BN Puri; MN Das; AC Pradhan, eds. (2003). A Comprehensive History Of Ancient India (3 Vol. Set). Sterling. pp. 200–202. ISBN 978-81-207-2503-4.
^History of Ancient India: Earliest Times to 1000 A.D. by Radhey Shyam Chaurasia p. 237
^Kulke & Rothermund 2004, p. 116.
^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.
^"The Last Years of Cholas: The decline and fall of a dynasty". En.articlesgratuits.com. 22 August 2007. Archived from the original on 20 January 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations by Tansen Sen p. 229
^History of Asia by B.V. Rao p. 297
^Indian Civilization and Culture by Suhas Chatterjee p. 417
^"Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam".
^ a bA Comprehensive History of Medieval India: by Farooqui Salma Ahmed, Salma Ahmed Farooqui p. 24
^Ancient Indian History and Civilization by Sailendra Nath Sen pp. 403–405
^World Heritage Monuments and Related Edifices in India, Band 1 by ʻAlī Jāvīd pp. 132–134
^History of Kannada Literature by E.P. Rice p. 32
^Bilhana by Prabhakar Narayan Kawthekar, p. 29
^Asher & Talbot 2006, p. 47.
^Metcalf & Metcalf 2006, p. 6.
^Asher & Talbot 2006, p. 53.
^Dr. K. S. Lal (1967). History of the Khaljis, A.D. 1290-1320. p. 14. The khalji revolt is essentially a revolt of the Indian Muslims against the Turkish hegemony, of those who looked to Delhi, against those who sought inspiration from Ghaur and Ghazna.
^Radhey Shyam Chaurasia (2002). History of Medieval India:From 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. Atlantic. p. 30. ISBN 978-81-269-0123-4. In spite of all this, capturing the throne for Khilji was a revolution, as instead of Turks, Indian Muslims gained power
^Easton, Richard M. (2019). India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765. University of California Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0520325128. The career of Khizr Khan, a Punjabi chieftain belonging to the Khokar clan, illustrates the transition to an increasingly polycentric north India.
^Orsini, Francesca; Sheikh, Samira (2014). After Timur Left: Culture and Circulation in Fifteenth-century North India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-945066-4.
^William Hunter (1903), A Brief History of the Indian Peoples, p. 124, at Google Books, 23rd Edition, pp. 124–127
^Ramananda Chatterjee (1961). The Modern Review. Vol. 109. Indiana University. p. 84.
^Bartel, Nick (1999). "Battuta's Travels: Delhi, capital of Muslim India". The Travels of Ibn Battuta – A Virtual Tour with the 14th Century Traveler. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010.
^Asher & Talbot 2006, pp. 50–52.
^Richard Eaton (2000), Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States, Journal of Islamic Studies, 11(3), pp. 283–319
^ a bAsher & Talbot 2006, pp. 50–51.
^Ludden 2002, p. 67.
^"Timur – conquest of India". Gardenvisit. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007.
^Elliot & Dawson. The History of India As told By Its Own Historians Vol III. pp. 445–446.
^History of Classical Sanskrit Literature: by M. Srinivasachariar p. 211
^Eaton 2005, pp. 28–29.
^Sastri 2002, p. 239.
^South India by Amy Karafin, Anirban Mahapatra p. 32
^Kamath 1980, pp. 170–171.
^Sastri 1955, p. 317.
^The success was probably also due to the peaceful nature of Muhammad II Bahmani, according to Sastri 1955, p. 242
^From the notes of Portuguese Nuniz. Robert Sewell notes that a big dam across was built the Tungabhadra and an aqueduct 15 miles (24 km) long was cut out of rock (Sastri 1955, p. 243).
^Bowman, John Stewart, ed. (2000). Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia University Press. p. 271. ISBN 0-231-11004-9.
^Sastri 1955, p. 244.
^From the notes of Persian Abdur Razzak. Writings of Nuniz confirms that the kings of Burma paid tributes to Vijayanagara empire. (Sastri 1955, p. 245)
^Kamath 1980, p. 173.
^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)
^From the notes of Duarte Barbosa. (Kamath 1980, p. 189)
^Wagoner, Phillip B. (November 1996). "Sultan among Hindu Kings: Dress, Titles, and the Islamicization of Hindu Culture at Vijayanagara". The Journal of Asian Studies. 55 (4): 851–880. doi:10.2307/2646526. JSTOR 2646526. S2CID 163090404.
^Kamath 1980, pp. 188–189.
^Fritz, John M.; Michell, George (2015) [First published 2011]. Hampi Vijayanagara. Jaico Publishing House. p. 50. ISBN 978-8 1-8495-602-3.
^Fritz, John M.; Michell, George (2015) [First published 2011]. Hampi Vijayanagara. Jaico Publishing House. pp. 41, 43. ISBN 978-8 1-8495-602-3.
^Wagoner, Phillip B. (2001). "Architecture and Royal Authority under the Early Sangamas". In Fritz, John. M.; Michell, George (eds.). New Light on Hampi: Recent Research at Vijayanagara. Marg Publications. p. 14. ISBN 81-85026-53-X.
^Kamath 1980, p. 189.
^"The austere, grandiose site of Hampi was the last capital of the last great Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar. Its fabulously rich princes built Dravidian temples and palaces which won the admiration of travellers between the 14th and 16th centuries. Conquered by the Deccan Muslim confederacy in 1565, the city was pillaged over a period of six months before being abandoned." From the brief description UNESCO World Heritage List.
^"Vijayanagara Research Project::Elephant Stables". Vijayanagara.org. 9 February 2014. Archived from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
^History of Science and Philosophy of Science by Pradip Kumar Sengupta p. 91
^Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526) by Satish Chandra pp. 188–189
^Art History, Volume II: 1400–present by Boundless p. 243
^Eaton 2005, pp. 100–101.
^ a bKamath 1980, p. 185.
^Vijaya Ramaswamy (2007). Historical Dictionary of the Tamils. Scarecrow Press. pp. li–lii. ISBN 978-0-8108-6445-0.
^Eaton 2005, pp. 101–115.
^Singh, Pradyuman (19 January 2021). Bihar General Knowledge Digest. Prabhat Prakashan. ISBN 9789352667697.
^Surendra Gopal (2017). Mapping Bihar: From Medieval to Modern Times. Taylor & Francis. pp. 289–295. ISBN 978-1-351-03416-6.
^Surinder Singh; I. D. Gaur (2008). Popular Literature and Pre-modern Societies in South Asia. Pearson Education India. pp. 77–. ISBN 978-81-317-1358-7.
^Gordon Mackenzie (1990) [First published 1883]. A manual of the Kistna district in the presidency of Madras. Asian Educational Services. pp. 9–10, 224–. ISBN 978-81-206-0544-2.
^ a b cSen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-93-80607-34-4.
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Further reading
General
Basham, A.L., ed. The Illustrated Cultural History of India (Oxford University Press, 2007)
Buckland, C.E. Dictionary of Indian Biography (1906) 495pp full text
Chakrabarti D.K. 2009. India, an archaeological history : palaeolithic beginnings to early historic foundations.
Dharma Kumar and Meghnad Desai, eds. The Cambridge Economic History of India: Volume 2, c. 1751–1970 (2nd ed. 2010), 1114pp of scholarly articles
Fisher, Michael. An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge UP, 2018)
Guha, Ramachandra. India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy (2007), 890pp; since 1947
James, Lawrence. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India (2000) online
Khan, Yasmin. The Raj At War: A People's History Of India's Second World War (2015); also published as India At War: The Subcontinent and the Second World War India At War: The Subcontinent and the Second World War.
Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan (2n d ed. Yale UP 2017) excerpt
Mcleod, John. The History of India (2002) excerpt and text search
Mansingh, Surjit The A to Z of India (2010), a concise historical encyclopedia
Markovits, Claude, ed. A History of Modern India, 1480–1950 (2002) by a team of French scholars
Metcalf, Barbara D. and Thomas R. Metcalf. A Concise History of Modern India (2006)
Peers, Douglas M. India under Colonial Rule: 1700–1885 (2006), 192pp
Riddick, John F. The History of British India: A Chronology (2006) excerpt
Riddick, John F. Who Was Who in British India (1998); 5000 entries excerpt
Rothermund, Dietmar. An Economic History of India: From Pre-Colonial Times to 1991 (1993)
Sharma, R.S., India's Ancient Past, (Oxford University Press, 2005)
Sarkar, Sumit. Modern India, 1885–1947 (2002)
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![Relieve de un templo de varios pisos, siglo II d. C., estupa de Ghantasala.[123][124]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Relieve de un templo de varios pisos, siglo II d. C., estupa de Ghantasala . [123] [124]
![Relieve de un templo de varios pisos, siglo II d. C., estupa de Ghantasala.[123][124]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Andhra_pradesh,_santuario_a_pi%C3%B9_piani,_da_ghantasala,_90-110_ca..JPG/1280px-Andhra_pradesh,_santuario_a_pi%C3%B9_piani,_da_ghantasala,_90-110_ca..JPG)
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![Una de las cuatro entradas del Teli ka Mandir, construido por el emperador Pratihara Mihira Bhoja.[206]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Teli_ka_Mandir_(15702266503).jpg/1280px-Teli_ka_Mandir_(15702266503).jpg)
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![Fotografía de las ruinas del Imperio Vijayanagara en Hampi, ahora Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la UNESCO en 1868[269]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Ruins_of_Bala_Krishna_Temple_Vijayanagara_Hampi_1868_Edmund_Lyon_photo.jpg/1280px-Ruins_of_Bala_Krishna_Temple_Vijayanagara_Hampi_1868_Edmund_Lyon_photo.jpg)
![Gajashaala, or elephant's stable, was built by the Vijayanagar rulers for their war elephants.[270]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Elephant's_stable_or_Gajashaale.JPG/1280px-Elephant's_stable_or_Gajashaale.JPG)
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![The first session of the Indian National Congress in 1885. A. O. Hume, the founder, is shown in the middle (third row from the front). The Congress was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa.[399]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/1st_INC1885.jpg/1280px-1st_INC1885.jpg)
![From the late 19th century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi (right), the Congress became the principal leader of the Indian independence movement.[400] Gandhi is shown here with Jawaharlal Nehru, later the first prime minister of India.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Nehru_gandhi.jpg/1280px-Nehru_gandhi.jpg)
