**INDIA

NORTH INDIA

Indus-Saraswati villages [3000]. Villages supported by rice and cotton farming developed in northwest India along the Indus and Saraswati rivers. Villiagers worshipped a Great Mother goddess and a god of fire.

Indus-Saraswati cities [2600]. The villages grew into cities. Among the largest cities were Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. The Indus peoples wrote using pictorial symbols, but their language is not understood today. Indus ships carried Indus cotton and other trade goods to Sumer and destinations along the Arabian Sea.

Mohenjo-Daro. Bricks were the primary building material for Indus-Saraswati cities, including Mohenjo-Daro. Streets were arranged in a rectangular grid and included sewer systems.

Indus-Saraswati abandoned [1900]. The Saraswati River dried up, perhaps because earthquakes diverted water or climate changes reduced rainfall. Farm output decreased and people gradually moved away. Most moved east across northern India. Some, who travelled west, may have reappeared as the Kassites and the Mitanni.

Expansion toward Ganges [1000]. Iron tools made it easier to cut trees, build farms, and expand across northern India toward the Ganges River area.

White Horse Ceremony. A king's white horse was permitted to wander freely for a year [900]. Everywhere the horse went became the king's land. At the end of the year the horse was sacrificed in an elaborate ceremony. Wars sometimes started because the horse crossed into another king's land.

Rig-Veda. Religious hymns [Vedas] described events and culture. After being passed down orally for many hundreds of years, the first collection of these Sanskrit language hymns was written down about 800 [Rig-Veda].

Brahmanas. Religious writings [800, Brahmanas] explained the meaning of the Rig-Veda hymns and provided instructions for conducting sacred rituals. The rituals became elaborate, expensive, and rigid. Priests were required to perform each ritual precisely or else the gods would become angry. The Brahmanas honored the creator god, Brahman, who is represented by 'aum', a sound that has no form.

Upanishads. Critics complained about the Brahman religion: its rituals were too rigid; its priests, too rich; and its sacrifices, too cruel. Their writings [750, Upanishads] introduced the ideas of a never dying soul [atman], rebirth after the body dies [samsara], and the aftereffect of good or evil in a past life that returns at rebirth [karma]. Good works are rewarded with a favorable rebirth and evil deeds are punished by an undesirable reincarnation.

Caste system. The books of the Brahmanas defined social classes. Priests were the highest class. Rulers, merchants, and laborers held lower ranks. These social classes developed into a hereditary caste system because occupations were passed from father to son.

Sixteen Kingdoms [600]. Kingdoms whose rulers were called 'raja' formed across north India. The sixteen strongest kingdoms were ruled by great kings, 'maharajas'.

Sutras. Religious writings [600, Sutras] defined rules of conduct including child marriage and the separation of castes.

Hindu religion. Brahmanism evolved into the Hindu religion [600]. The gods Shiva [the destroyer] and Vishnu [the preserver] joined Brahman as the three main gods. Vishnu visited earth as a god in a human or animal body [avatar]. Vishnu's human forms include Rama, Krishna, and Buddha. Hindus do not seek converts because birth determines membership. They honor the cow as a life giving Divine Mother. They drink milk, but do not eat meat.

Buddha. A prince from Nepal [Siddhartha Gautama, 563/483], who became known as Buddha, traveled through northern India to learn why the world was full of suffering. He decided that we are unhappy because we desire pleasure, power, and other earthly goods. Buddha asked followers to end unhappiness by freeing themselves from worldly cravings and to seek enlightenment [nirvana] by meditating and leading a good life. Because Buddhism does not honor a god, it is a belief system, not a religion.

Jain religion. A religious teacher [Vardhamana Mahavira, 540/468] started the Jain ['victorious'] religion. He rejected Brahman rituals and encouraged chastity, fasting, and self-discipline. He taught that everything in nature is alive, has a soul, and should not be killed. Jain members observe fasting, are vegetarian, and avoid violence.

Four Kingdoms [460]. Wars reduced the sixteen kingdoms in the Ganges River region to four.

Magadha [400]. Magadha conquered the other Ganges River kingdoms and formed a single kingdom.

Mahabharata. The world's longest epic poem [Mahabharata, 350], is the story of Great Bharat, India's first kingdom. The official name of modern day India is Bharat. The epic tells how two families divide a kingdom and how two lovers cause a war. The Mahabharata helped promote the Hindu religion and the caste system.

Bhagavad Gita. The Heavenly One's Song [Bhagavad Gita] occurs near the end of the epic poem, Mahabharata. The hero of the epic puts down his weapons before a battle because he sees a relative on the opposing side and doesn't want to kill him. The god Vishnu appears in the body of Krishna and advises the hero to pick up his weapon and perform his duty. The god explains that only the opponents' bodies will be destroyed. Their souls will be reborn unharmed.

Maurya under Chandragupta [321]. A military general [Chandragupta Maurya] took control of Magadha and created a prosperous kingdom. He believed that the state should be strong and used spies and a huge army to maintain order. He traded elephants to Seleucus, one of the generals who succeeded Alexander the Great, and received land in northwest India in return [305].

Maurya under Ashoka [274]. A successor [Ashoka] expanded the Mauryan kingdom in a bloody war. He felt guilty about the bloodshed, adopted Buddhism, and sent missionaries to spread Buddha's message of non-violence.

Ashoka's Pillars. Ashoka erected pillars along roads [250]. Inscriptions on the pillars describe his conquests and explain his sorrow over the suffering he caused. A statue of an animal sat at the top of each pillar. One of the statues, a four-headed lion, is the national symbol of present day India.

Buddha's Tomb. Ashoka began building a dome-shaped tomb [236, at Sanchi] to hold the remains of Buddha.

Maurya weak After the ruler died [236, Ashoka] his sons divided the kingdom and fought with each other. The Seleucids of Syria took northwest India.

Ramayana. In the second of India's two great epic poems [Ramayana], the god Vishnu appears in a human body as Rama and rescues his wife with the help of an army of monkeys.

Anti-Buddhist rulers [184]. A Brahman who opposed Buddhism assassinated the last Mauryan king and founded the Sunga dynasty [184/72]. Buddhism regained its popularity and another Brahman rebelled and formed the Kanva dynasty [72/28]. Many Buddhists left the country. The Iranian-speaking Shaka [128] and the Kushan [80] entered northwest India.

North India weak [58 BCE]. The Shatavahana from central India defeated the Kanva [58] causing a 350 years of weakness in North India. The Iranian Kushan and Shaka controlled large areas of North India.

Gupta Empire [320]. The Gupta conquered nearby kingdoms, but allowed the defeated rulers to remain in power. The Gupta made mining and metalworking state industries, grew rich, and built temples, theaters, and hospitals.

Gupta divided [470]. The Gupta split [470] into two states at Ujjayini and Pataliputra. Hinduism became more popular than Buddhism and Jainism. After defeating the Persians [484] the East Iranian Hepthalites occupied northwest India and raided Gupta territory [510].

Zero and decimals. Zero was used as a decimal place number [500], making it easy to distinguish quantities such as 8, 80, and 800.

Chess. Although it may have been played earlier, chess was described during the Gupta period [550]. Its Sanskrit name [Chaturanga] means four elements of the army: elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers.

Gupta end [550]. The Gupta Empire declined and small kingdoms formed.

Harsha Empire [606]. The king of Magadha attacked the city of Kannauj and killed its king. One of the victim's relatives [Harsha] took power and conquered a large area of northern India.

Regional kingdoms [647]. The founder of the Harsha Empire died without naming a successor and his empire broke into regional kingdoms. The Umayyads began to attack northwest India [712].

Gurjarat-Prathihara [740]. The Gurjarat and Pratihara kingdoms formed a coalition [740], defeated the Umayyads [750], and defended northern India from Muslim attacks for 200 years. The Palas formed a Buddhist state in eastern India and ruled for 450 years [750/1199].

City states [916]. Succession problems weakened Gurjarat-Pratihara. The Rashtrakuta from central India attacked [916] and the Gurjarat-Pratihara kingdom split into small states. Turks founded a kingdom at Ghazni [998/1038]. They repeatedly raided northern India, destroying villages and taking treasures from temples.

CENTRAL INDIA

Shatavahana [100 BC]. When Mauryan empire broke apart, the Shatavahana [also called Andhra] took control of central India [230 BC]. They defended themselves from attacks by the Iranian Shaka [35/90 CE], developed sea trade with Europe and Asia, and spread Mayahana Buddhism.

Vatakata and Pallava [276/543]. The Shatavahana kingdom split into small states. The Vakatakas grew strong in the west and the Pallavas ruled in the east. When the Gupta kingdom expanded across north India, the Vakatakas and Pallavas paid tribute and remained independent.

Chalukya [543]. The Chalukya unified central India [543] and kept the Harsha from expanding southward [610]. The Chalukya king conquered land near the east coast of India and named his brother its king. The East Chalukya kingdom [624/1078] survived 350 years longer than the original Chalukya state [547/757].

Rashtrakuta [757]. The Rashtrakuta formed a strong military state [757/973]. They conquered the West Chalukya and attacked the Gurjarat-Pratihara in the north [916], making it easier for Ghazni Turks to attack North India [977].

West Chalukya [973]. The West Chalukya [973/1070] recovered their kingdom from the Rastrakuta.

SOUTH INDIA

Tamil Kingdoms [500 BC]. Three kingdoms formed near the southern tip of India [Karala, Pandya, Chola]. Surrounded on three sides by sea, the far south remained isolated and developed unique cultures. The society of these kingdoms was matriarchal, while the rest of India was patriarchal.

Chola expand [996]. The Chola conquered the two other Tamil kingdoms at India's southern tip. They also controlled Sri Lanka [996/1070].

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