History: UGC/NET/SLET JRF & Other Competitive Examinations

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The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Anatomically modern humans, as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. In 322 B.C., Magadha, under the rule of Chandragupta Maurya, began to assert its hegemony over neighboring areas. Chandragupta, who ruled from 324 to 301 B.C., was the architect of the first Indian imperial power-the Mauryan Empire (326-184 B.C.). In 1526, Babur, a descendant of Timur and Gengis Kahn from Fergana Valler (present-day Uzbekistan) swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal Empire which covered modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. From the 16th century, European powers from Portugal, Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom established trading posts in India. Later, they took advantage of internal conflicts and established colonies in the country. The British Rule in India began with the coming of the British East India Company in 1600 leading to the rule of Queen Victoria. It culminated in the First War of Indian Independence in 1857. In the 20th century Mahatma Gandhi led millions of people in a national campaign of non-violent civil disobedience to obtain independence from the British in 1947. To enable the readers both students and scholars to formulate their own independent views on the subject.

This book is strictly according to the syllabus of UGC NET/ SLET and other competitive examinations. It is equally important for the teachers,students and research scholars.

Dr. Zaker Pathan, is currently working as Head, Department of History, Art Science and Commerce College Badnapur, Distt. Jalna Maharasthtra. Dr. Pathan is a research guide in History. He has guided four Doctoral and seven M.Phil students to successful award of their degree. He is also contributing editor of Binifo International Publication and New Voices Publication. He has chaired many conferences, seminars and workshop as subject expert, at the national and International level. More than 30 of his referred articles have been published in English and Marathi.

History of India and its civilization dates back to at least 6500 BC which perhaps makes the oldest surviving civilization in the world. India has been a meeting ground between the East and the West. Through out its history many invaders have come to India but Indian religions allowed it to adapt to and absorb all of them. All the while, these local dynasties built upon the roots of a culture well established. India has always been simply too big, too complicated, and too culturally subtle to let any one empire dominate it for long.

The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, was the first major civilization in South Asia.

Although Indian accounts to a large extent ignored Alexander the Great's Indus campaign in 326 B.C., Greek writers recorded their impressions of the general conditions prevailing in South Asia during this period. A two-way cultural fusion between several Indo-Greek elements- especially in art, architecture, and coinage--occurred in the next several hundred years. North India's political landscape was transformed by the emergence of Magadha in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain.

The subsequent Slave dynasty of Delhi managed to conquer large areas of northern India, approximately equal in extent to the ancient Gupta Empire, while the Khilji dynasty conquered most of central India but were ultimately unsuccessful in conquering and uniting the subcontinent. The Sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance.

In 1526, Babur, a Timurid descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan from Fergana Valley (modern day Uzbekistan), swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal Empire, which at its zenith covered modern day Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.