Outline :
The Pre Historic Era
I. The stone age
II. The bronze age
Vedic period
Janapadas and Mahajanapadas
Maurya empire
Gupta empire
Empires in deccan and south
Medieval and Early Modern periods
Modern period and Independence
2. OUTLINE OF SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY
• The Pre Historic Era
I. The stone age
II. The bronze age
• Vedic period
• Janapadas and Mahajanapadas
• Maurya empire
• Gupta empire
• Empires in deccan and south
• Medieval and Early Modern periods
• Modern period and Independence
3. THE PRE HISTORIC ERA {UNTIL C. 1750 BCE}
• Remains (stone tools and a skull) in central India show presence of an early species of man , Homo
erectus.
• The main centers of these settlements are found in the Soan Valley and Pakistan.
• Immigration of the Homo Sapiens to South Asia dates to 75,000 to 50,000 years ago.
4. • The Edakkal Caves are pictorial writings believed to date to at least 6,000 BCE, from the Neolithic man,
indicating the presence of a prehistoric civilization or settlement in Kerala.
• The Stone Age carvings of Edakkal are rare and are the only known examples from South India.
Stone age (6,000 BCE) writings of Edakkal Caves in Kerala, India.
SOURCE: Wikipedia.org/media
5. When more extensive settlement of the
subcontinent occurred after the end of the last
Ice Age approximately 12,000 years ago. The first
confirmed semi permanent settlements appeared
9,000 years ago in the Bhimbetka rock shelters in
modern Madhya Pradesh, India.
Bhimbetka rock painting, Madhya Pradesh, India
(c. 30,000 years old)
SOURCE: Wikipedia.org/media
6. THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION
[3300 BCE] – BRONZE AGE
• First major civilization in South Asia.
• The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the
Harappan Civilization.
• Divided into the
• Early Harappan.
• Mature Harappan.
• Late Harappan.
• People learnt how to extract and smelt copper
.Experiments done led to inventio of bromze and other
alloys. Thus this came to be known as bronze age.
• Collapsed around 1900-1700 BC. Possibly due to :-
• Desertification.
• Aryan invasion.
• Floods or climate change.
• Overpopulation leading to diseases.
10. TECHNOLOGY
• The people of the Indus Civilization achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. They
were among the first to develop a system of uniform weights and measures.
• Harappans evolved some new techniques in metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The
engineering skill of the Harappans was remarkable, especially in building docks.
11. THE CITY PLANNING
• The excavations proved that the cities were well
planned.
• Most cities were divided into two parts.
• The upper part was called as citadel and lower part
was known as lower town.
• There was well planned system of water supply and
drainage system.
• Brickwork was completely waterproof. It protected
them from frequent floods of the indus vallley.
12. Dholavira Sophisticated Water Reservoir, evidence for hydraulic sewage systems in the ancient Indus Valley Civilization.
13. ARTS AND CRAFTS
• Various sculptures, seals, bronze vessels pottery, gold
jewelry, and anatomically detailed figurines in terracotta,
bronze, and steatite have been found at excavation sites
• A number of gold, terracotta and stone figurines of girls
in dancing poses reveal the presence of some dance
form. These terracotta figurines included cows, bears,
monkeys, and dogs.
14. WRITING SYSTEM
• Between 400 and as many as 600 distinct Indus symbols have been found on seals, small tablets,
ceramic pots and more than a dozen other materials, including a "signboard" that apparently once hung
over the gate of the inner citadel of the Indus city of Dholavira.
Ten Indus Signs, dubbed Dholavira Signboard
15. • It was centered on the Indus River and its tributaries which extended into the Ghaggar- Hakra River
valley, The Ganges-Yamuna Doab, Gujarat, and southeastern Afghanistan.
• The civilization was primarily located in modern-day India (Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan
provinces) and Pakistan (Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan provinces).
• Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy
and handicraft (carneol products, seal carving), and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin.
17. BUTTON, ORNAMENTAL:
• Buttons—made from seashell—were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by
2000 BCE.
• Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pierced into them so that they could be
attached to clothing by using a thread.
• It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old.
SOURCE: Google.com/Images
18. RULER
• Rulers made from Ivory were in use by the Indus Valley Civilization in what today is Pakistan and some
parts of Western India prior to 1500 BCE.
• Excavations at Lothal (2400 BCE) have yielded one such ruler calibrated to about 1/16 of an inch—less
than 2 millimeters.
19. STEPWELL
• Earliest clear evidence of the origins of the stepwell is found in the Indus Valley Civilisation's
archaeological site at Mohenjodaro in Pakistan[6] and Dholavira, India.
• The three features of stepwells in the subcontinent are evident from one particular site, abandoned by
2500 BC, which combines a bathing pool, steps leading down to water, and figures of some religious
importance into one structure.
20. COLLAPSE AND LATE HARAPPAN
• Around 1800 BCE signs of a gradual decline began to emerge, and by around 1700 BCE most of the cities
had been abandoned. In 1953 Sir Mortimer Wheeler proposed that the invasion of an Indo-European
tribe from Central Asia, the "Aryans", caused the decline of the Indus Civilisation.
• As evidence, he cited a group of 37 skeletons found in various parts of Mohenjo-Daro, and passages in
the Vedas referring to battles and forts.
21. IRON AGE
• The discovery of iron led to the manufacturing of stronger tools like sickle,shovels,axe,nails.etc.
• Trade of iron flourished.
• Barter system was replaced by the use of currency.
• It was followed by vedic civilisation.
22. VEDIC PERIOD (C. 1750 BCE–600 BCE)
• Indo-Aryan settled into Northern India, bringing with them their religious tradition.
• Initially a tribal, pastoral society centered in the NW India.
• Spread after 1200 BC to the Gangetic Plain.
• Increasing settled agriculture, a hierarchy of four social classes.
• Emergence of monarchical, state-level polities.
• Vedas were composed
• Core themes of Ramayana and Mahabharata originated.
