A Brief History of India

Abstract

Civilization in India began around 2500 B.C. when the inhabitants of the Indus River Valley began commercial and agricultural trade. Around 1500 B.C., the Indus Valley civilization began to decline, likely due to environmental changes. At this time, Aryan tribes migrated into the Indian subcontinent and flourished in the Ganges River valley. Throughout ancient and medieval India, a number of kingdoms ruled the country and specifically in the fourth and fifth centuries AD, Northern India was unified under the Gupta Dynasty and this period is referred to as “India’s Golden Age,” where Hindu culture, language and politics reached unprecedented growth. Islam expanded across India over the next 500 years and in the tenth and eleventh centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established capitals in Delhi.