Glimpses of Indian History

By Rajat Prasad

The greater Indus region was home to the largest of the four ancient urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia and China. It was not discovered until the 1920's. Most of its ruins, even its major cities, remain to be excavated. The ancient Indus Civilization script has not been deciphered.

Harappa was a city in the Indus civilization that flourished around 2600 to 1700 B.C.E. in the western part of South Asia.

Indus Valley Civilization

Location of Indus valley Civilization

The Vedic Period or the Vedic Age refers to that time period when the Vedic Sanskrit texts were composed in India. The society that emerged during that time is known as the Vedic Period, or the Vedic Age, Civilization. The Vedic Civilization flourished between the 1500 BC and 500 BC on the Indo-Gangetic Plains of the Indian subcontinent. This civilization laid down the foundation of Hinduism as well as the associated Indian culture. 

THE VEDIC PERIOD

Siddhārtha Gautama was the historical founder of Buddhism. He was born a  warrior prince in Lumbini, Shakya Republic, which was part of the Kosala realm of ancient India.

Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment sitting under a peepal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India. Gautama, from then on, was known as "The Enlightened One " .

For the remaining years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Northeastern India and other regions and spread his teaching.

Later the religion to various countries of the world

Birth and Rise of Buddhism

Alexander invaded India in 326 BC in his desire to conquer the entire world.

He fought King Porus of western India, The battle proved to be the costliest Alexander fought.

The Indian Campaign opened trade routes between India and Europe.

Invasion of Alexander the Great

Started in 322 BCE by Chandragupta Maurya.

Stretched from Modern day Pakistan to Bangladesh in East and Southern India .

People of different religion lived together in Harmony

Emperor Ashoka built various Buddhist stupas and erects pillars bearing inscriptions.

 A sophisticated civil service governed everything from municipal hygiene to international trade.

Maurya Dynasty

In 1178 AD Muhammad invaded India , but failed in his first attempt.

In 1191 Muhammad again invaded India and in second battle of Tarain he was finally victorious.

This victory led to formation of first Muslim ruled Empire in India.

Invasion of Muhammad of Ghor

On 8 July 1497 Vasco da Gama led a fleet of four ships with a crew of 170 men from Lisbon. The distance traveled in the journey around Africa to India and back was greater than around the equator.

The fleet arrived present day Kerala state of India, on 20 May 1498.

This Discovery led to opening of sea trade routes between India and Europe.

Arrival of Vasco Da Gama

THE MUGHAL DYNASTY Babur was the founder of Mughal Empire in

India. In1526, Babur defeated the Ibrahim Shah Lodhi, at the First Battle of Panipat and started Mughal reign in India. Bahadur Shah 2 was the last emperor of Mughal dynasty. He was exiled by the British after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

At their best time, they controlled the large part of Indian subcontinent. From Baluchistan in the west to Bengal in the east and from Kashmir in the north to the Kaveri basin in the south.

THE TAJ MAHAL was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in AGRA IN 1632. It is considered one of the wonders of the world

The East India Company was an English and later British joint-stock company, which was formed to pursue trade with the East Indies .

The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600

The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own private armies, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. Company rule in India effectively began in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey and lasted until 1858 when, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857

The arrival of the British and East India Company

Introduction of Trains The first train in India had become

operational on 22 December 1851 for localized hauling of canal construction material. A year and a half later, on 16 April 1853, the first passenger train service was inaugurated between the city of Mumbai and Thane.

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a rebellion in India against the rule of the British East India Company, that ran from May 1857 to July 1859. The rebellion began as a mutiny of SOLDIERS of the East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the Northern and central India

After the rebellion the rule of company ended and transferred to the British Crown

Indian Rebellion of 1857

India became independent on 15 August 1947 after many years of struggle against the British rule.

Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India.

The constitution of India came into effect from 26 January 1950

Independence from British Rule

FREEDOM FIGHTERS

India first participated in Olympics as an independent nation in 1948.

There were 79 competitors, all men, took part in 39 events in 10 sports.

The men’s Hockey team won gold medal , it was India’s only medal at the London Olympics.

India’s first participation in Olympics

India built many space satellites for research , the first one was Aryabhatta which was launched in 1975 from soviet Union.

It was built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

Rohini RS-1 was launched in 1980 , it was first indigenous based launch.

Excellence in space

Indian Economy opened up in 1991 to allow foreign investment and privatization .

India’s economy is now at  $2 trillion economy up from meager  $275 billion in 1991.

The action accelerated India’s economic growth and social welfare.

The per capita also rose drastically since then.

Economic liberalization in India

Chandrayaan-1 was India's first lunar probe. It was launched by the Indian Space Research Organization in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. 

On 14 November 2008, the Moon Impact Probe separated from the Chandrayaan orbiter and struck the south pole in a controlled manner, making India the fourth country to place its flag on the Moon.

Chandrayaan-1

5 Indians have Oscars up to date . They are Bhanu Athaiya – she was awarded for her costume

design work in the film ”Gandhi” Satyajit Ray – He was awarded honorary Oscar in 1992 AR Rahman- He won two Oscars , one for Best original

song and another for Best Original Score for the film “Slum dog Millionaire”

Resul Pookutty – He was awarded the Oscar for best sound mixing for the film “Slum dog millionaire”

Gulzar-He won the Oscar for best original song along with AR Rahman for the film “slum dog millionaire”

India at the Oscars

Bindra wins first Individual Gold Medal

Abhinav Bindra won India’s first individual gold at the Olympics in 10 meter Rifle shooting at the Beijing Olympics

he Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan  is a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).[ It is India's first interplanetary mission and ISRO has become the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after the Soviet space program, NASA, and the European Space Agency. It is the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt.

Mars Orbiter Mission

India has the seventh largest economy in the world

India is currently fastest growing economy in the world

India has the fastest growing service sectors in the world

The European Union is the biggest importer of Indian goods

India’s Economy as of 2016

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