A brief history of India over centuries

TL;DR: The Indian subcontinent has been ruled by multiple empires with varied backgrounds leading to a very rich and diverse culture being created. The time between 300AD to 1000AD saw the rise of India as a global power while the time between 1000AD to 1850AD saw a mixture of invasions, oragnis growth all leading to the great fusion of cultures.

The origins of India dates back to 6000 years ago to the Saraswati-Indus region of the Indian sub-continent. This area extends from Sri Lanka in the south to the Himalayan mountains in the north, Arabian sea in the west to Bay of Bengal in the east. This region was built around two major rivers — Saraswati and Indus to create a civilisation, which was the largest and more advanced than Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Chinese civilisations. The main culture in this civilisation is known as the Vedic culture or Harappan culture. This was a very urban culture with systematic cities which were well-connected to trade routes. This civilisation declined when the river dried up around 2000 BC and the civilisation migrated east, especially around the river Ganga and beyond. During this time, the country was also called ‘Sapt Sindhu’ which means ‘the land of seven rivers’. The word ‘India’ and ‘Hindu’ both come from a Sanskrit word called ‘Sindhu’ which means river.

The period from 300AD to 1000AD was the most prosperous for the development of India — with great progress in empires, religion, commerce, technology, science, literature and arts. Around 300AD, owing to the fertile lands and great trade connection, one third of the world’s population i.e. 75 million were settled in India as against 59.8 million in China, 33.8 million in rest of Asia, 17 million in Africa and a mere 11 million in Europe.

The period from 300AD to 550AD was ruled by the Guptas . The first king being Chandra Gupta I. His son, Samudra Gupta, extended the empire across India and rivalled the Mouryas dominance. Chandra Gupta II, also known as Vikram Aditya, was considered the most brilliant king in the entire history of India. Through his conquest, and well-organised governance, he was able to achieve political unity and peace during his regime. It was known as the happiest and the most civilised region during that time across the world. The Guptas had their capital in Pataliputra and they granted local and regional autonomy to different regions. Areas away from the capital, like South India, played tribute to the king but remained largely independent. Through it’s rich heritage and culture, the Gupta empire had a massive impact on China and South-East Asia as well.

Between the period of 400AD to 500AD, the Hunas started invading India and this led to the decline of the Gupta empire. By mid-sixth century, multiple Hindu rulers united and drove the Hunas out of India successfully. Around 700AD, the Rashrakuta Dynasty took control of the entire Deccan region along with South India. Between 700AD to 900AD, the Pratiharas, Palas and the Rashrakuta were the three main centres of powers ruling the subcontinent. The Pratiharas, ruling the North West, played a major role in stopping the Arabs trying to invade India multiple times for about 200 years. The Palas, ruling the North East, were a Buddhist dynasty which reached their zenith in the early ninth century before the Pratiharas displaced them. As the Rashrakuta empire disintegrated, the Deccan region had multiple empires including Chalukyas, Pallavas, Pandyas and Cholas.

During the ninth century, Rajendra Chola unified the entire south and had a very strong army and navy which they used for their maritime expeditions. The Cholas had a massive influence on South East Asia — which led to the spread of Hinduism in that region. They had great trade relations with the Middle East, Africa, China and Europe. During this time, India was considered the richest region on Earth. Around 1000AD, India produced 30% of the worlds total food, goods and services while China produced around 25% and Europe produced around 11%. This was the golden age of India with great advancement leading to prosperity, stability and religious harmony. Unfortunately, the north-west frontier coveted on India’s success and were driven by the desire to expand their faith and obtain glory which led to the periodic raids of royal cities and rich cities for plunder followed by sustained conquest of large regions for political power and religious dominance.

The period from 1000AD to 1850AD was a difficult time for the common people of India who faced economic hardship and religious prosecution. However, this period also saw the growth of great music, literature and Indo-Islamic architecture. In the 8th century, there were multiple Arab invasions traveling all the way from Basra, Iraq soon after Islam was founded. By the 9th century, the Hindu empire in Afghanistan was conquered by the Arabs but were restricted by the Hindu kings to not pass the Khyber Pass. The next wave of attacks were in the late 10th centure by the Ghaznavid Empire — Asian-muslim Turks led by Muhammad of Ghur. He invaded India 17 times and finally, established the Delhi Sultanate. These invasions utterly ruined the prosperity of the country. By the 13th Century, the Sultanate had captured and controlled the entire North India. Hindu ruled continued in Rajastan and Gujurat and thrived in the South during this time, notably under the Vijayanagar Empire founded in the 14th century.

In the 16th century, Babur — a descendent of Mongol emperor Genghis Khan and the famous Central Asian Muslim rule Timur, seized Kabul in Afghanistan. He conquered the Sultanate as well as the Rajput conferderacy to form the Mughal empire. His grandson, Akbar who became emperor in 1556 expanded the Mughal Empire over over northern India. He next captured part of the Deccan region by conquest and also, by entering into alliances with Hindu Kings. He was a strong believer of religious harmony and led to the Indo-Islamic architecture. Unfortunately, his descendents were not strong believers of religious harmony.

In the 17th century, the Deccan part saw the rise of the great Maratha warrior Shivaji. By the time of his birth in 1627, the Marathas had lived under Muslim domination for hundreds of years. In 10 years, he captured enough area to alarm the Sultan of Bijapur as well as the Mughals. He inaugurated independent Maratha rule by performing his coronation in 1674. By the mid-18th century, the Mughal rule had declined. The Sikhs, Jats, Rajputs and Marathas as well as some provincial governors had carved independent states thereby leaving no strong central rule.

The British formed the East India Company in the 16th century as they came to India as businessmen and not conquerors. However over time, the East India Company fortified key trading posts using private armies, meddled in local politics and engaged in unfair trading practices and imposed heavy taxes. Using the strategy of divide and rule, they attained near total control of Indian subcontinent until 1947.

Finally, in 1947, under the guidance of the Indian Independence Movement, India achieved Independence and has gone on to become the world's largest democratic country.