I have only a limited idea but with the help of Wikipedia and a search engine we may be able to recreate some basic chronology:
Neolithic: earliest is
Mehrgarh culture
(Baluchistan). They worked precious stones as lapislazuli and
polished copper and they have the earliest examples of dentistry (see:
http://mehrgarh.webpal.info/mehrgarh/index.php?option=com_co ntent&task=view&id=13&Itemid=2 ).
Mehrgarh site?
It reached Chalcolithic and later was abandoned.
Indus Valley Civilization: (Bronze Age).
See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilization
Map of the Indus Civilization.
The famous great bath or swimming pool of Mohenjo-Daro
It seems that they spoke Dravidian and that they had a large public
sector. The basics of Hinduist religion can be traced to this major
ancient civilization dated 2800-1800 BCE.
They traded with Summer, where it was known as Meluha. It's thought that the Vedic despective term
mlecha (
nigger) comes from that name.
The famous seal of
Pashupati, the lord of the beasts, considered a proto-Shiva.
Vedic Age: It was
assumed that an Indo-Aryan migration was what destroyed the Indus
civilization and replaced it with the Vedic one. But this theory is now
deemed "colonialist" and challenged by some in India. Yet no good
alternatives have been suggested, as the proposed counter-theory of an
Indian origin for IEs is not acceptable however you look at it.
Thought this is often called Vedic Civilization, no cities have been found. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_civilization for more details.
Map of the Vedic culture, showing Vedic tribes/realms in black and
non-Vedic tribes in purple. Green names refer to Vedic schools and the
orange area is nothing but the Thar desert.
It is assumed that it was in this period when Dravidian languages
entered the south of of India, pressed by the Indo-Aryans. It is also
assumed that the hierarchical caste system was created at this time. IE
Vedic religion would later recede before surviving forms of the more
pure original Hinduism. Yet the caste system perdurated.
Middle Kingdoms: from
the 6th century BCE to the Islamic invasions. By 600 BCE several
kingdoms existed in Northern India, including Maghada, Kosala, Kuru and
Gandhara.
At this time the NW region became under the domination of Persia untile
the time of Alexander. At that time Maghada rose to hegemony under
Chadragupta, founding the Mauryan Empire. His grandson Ashoka (273-232
BCE) brought this empire to its greatest extent.
The Empire of Ashoka.
After the desintegration of the Mauryan Empire, other kingdoms took place. Most important may be the Indo-Greek kingdom of
Bactria in the NW. They were invaded by the Scythians (Sakas) and then by Parthians, who created the kingdom of
Kushana.
At this time the
Satavahana kingdom arose in the Deccan, serving as cultural bridge between the north and the south.
Satavahana coin.
In the South several Dravidic kingdoms arose too:
Chera,
Chola and
Pandya.
Roman silver coins have been found in several places and it's thought
that they had some merchant outposts and even that Pagan exiles found
refuge there, influencing the latter Indian art.
C. 320, the
Gupta Empire arose reunifying Northern India. C. 500 they were conquered by the White Huns.
Silver Gupta coin.
Hun coin (NW)
Gupta demise seemingly favored the role of Southern India and the
recovery of Hinduism that had been overshadowed by Buddhism. Two main
realms fighted for hegemony:
Chalukya and
Pallava kingdoms. A third realm, the
Pandya kingdom also intervened.
Islamic Period: The
first Muslim outposts were stabilished as early as 711, but the true
conquest wouldn't begin until three centuries later, when
Mahmud of Ghazni
initiated a series of incursions that created a a base in Punjab from
where future conquest would start. The main Muslim state, the
Delhi Sultanate
was stabilished by Turco-Afgan warlords in 1210. It expanded to almost
all Northern India and helped the creation of nmerous minor sultanates.
It's main Hinduist rival maybe was the
Viyajanagara Empire
of Southern India, that controled the maritime routes to the spice
islands and the precious stones of Gondwana. It was defeated by a
coalition of the 5
Deccan Sultanates, descendants of the more glorious
Bahmanid Sultanate,
in 1565. After that Viyajanagar only survived as a shadow of what it
had been: the peak of Indian ilustration and the last great Hindu state
before Modern India.
Modern Period: Since 1526
Mughals would invade Delhi and other states of India. They would took over the Sultanate of Delhi.
Since 1680 they were fought by the Hinduist
Mahratha Confederacy.
They achieved total military success over Delhi in the 18th century but
were evetually defeated by Afgans at Panipat in 1761. This would cause
the desintegration of both states and the appearences of new ones such
as the Nizam of
Hyderabad and he
Sikh Kingdom. But the overall winner was
Britain.
Most info from Wikipedia. I just put it together.
Edited by Maju