HISTORY of India from Indus Valley civilization to LAUNCH OF mangalyaan

1. By Rajat Prasad

2.  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.

5.  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.

7.  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

9.  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.

11.  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.

13.  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.

14.  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.

16.  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.

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

19.  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

21.  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.

22.  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

24.  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

26.  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.

27.  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.

29.  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.

30.  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.

32. 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”

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

34.  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.

36.  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