Lonely Planet - EARTH

The Muslim Invasion:

            Muslim Invaders tried to invade the northern part of India. One of the notable person among them is the Mahmud of Ghazni. He tried 17 times to invade India, but failed miserably in all his attempts. Then finally on his 18th attempt, he invaded the somnath temple killing 70000 soldiers. He looted tons of gold and precious jewels fom India and added glory to Ghazni, a small place located between kabul and kandahar.

         This weakened the northern territories of India leading to further invasion by other muslim rulers. After the Mahmud Ghazni, the Mahmud of Ghor from afghanistan invaded India and set up his kingdom. One of his generals, Qutb-ud-din  conquered delhi and became the governer of delhi. After the death of Mahmud of Ghor, he became the sultan of Delhi.  He built the famous Qutb Minar at Delhi. He died when the building was half constructed stage. It was then completed by his cousin Illtutmush.

South India:

          The southern part od India has always been calm and has its own unique history. The south India was ruled by the Cheras, Cholas,Pandiyas,Pallavas and the Chalukyas. The chalukyas  mainly ruled over the deccan region, i.e, the central part of India. The ruled for nearly 200 years before they got defeated by the Rashtrakutas.

       The Pallavas pioneered the dravidian architecture with its exuberant, almost baroque,style. Some of the famous pallava art forms can be found at mahabalipuram and the rock fort temple at trichy.  The South’s prosperity was based on the long established trade links with the other civilizations, among them the egyptians and the romans. In return for spices, pearls, ivory and silk, the Indians received roman gold. Indian merchants also extended their influence to southeast Asia. The pallavas were overthrown by the cholas. The cholas extended the trade and their influence spread to deccan plateau, srilanka, parts of malay peninsula and the sumatra based srivijaya kingdom.

 Some of the notable architecture of the cholas are the Brihadeshwara temple at thanjavur and the Nataraja temple at chidambaram.

                   In 319 AD, Chandra Gupta Maurya 1, the third king of one of the tribes known as Guptas, came to prominence by a fortuitous marriage to the daughter of one of the most powerful tribes in the north, the Licchavis. The Gupat empire grew rapidly and under Chandragupta Maurya 2, it achieved its greatest extent.

           It was during the rule of Chandragupta Maurya, a chinese pilgrim visited India. He described the people as ‘rich and contended and being rules by enlightened kings’. Art, Poetry and literatures flourished during his period. Some of the finest art forms are found at ajanta, ellora, sanchi and sarnath. Towards the end of the gupta rule, hinduism became the dominant religion and it overshadowed buddhism and jainism.

By the begining of the 6th century, the gupta army was defeated by the huns and the nothern India again got divided into many small kingdoms.

           Among all the Indian empires, the Mauryan empire was the first and the most important empire. Two famous kings from the Maurya dynasty are Chandra Gupta Maurya and King Ashoka.

Emperor Ashoka’s period was characterised by a period of flourishing art and sculpture. The emperor preached moral values to all his subjects and ensured that they are followed throughout his kingdom. It was during is rule, buddhism gained importance. The emperor declared buddhism as the state religion in the 2nd century B.C. The sarnath pillar and the sanchi stupa depict the works done by Ashoka in order to spread buddhism. It is said that Ashoka and his children spread buddhism in Srilanka. The four lions seal od Ashoka which is found in all the pillars he erected has become the national emblem. The symbol means commitment to peace and goowill.

The Mauryas:

              If the harappan culture was the cradle of indian civilization, the Chandra gupta maurya was the founder of the first great indian empire. Chandra gupta maurya came to power in 321 B.C, having seized the throne from the Nanda dynasty, and he soon expanded the empire to include the indua valley previously conquered by Alexander.

            The Mauryan empire had Pataliputra(Patna)  as its capital and it encompassed the whole of north India and reached till karnataka in south India. This was madepossible by the efficient bureaucracy,organized tiers of local government and a well defined social order consisting of rigid caste system.

          The most important and famous king of the Maurya dynasty is the king Ashoka. After his death in 232 B.C., no-one could unite the Mauryan empire which was spread over a vast area and eventually, the mauryan empire collapsed in the year 184 B.C.

   While historians dispute the origins of the aryan presence in northern india, there is little argument that the subsequent aryan kingdoms adhered to one of history’s more curious forms of territorial demarcation. Under the hifhly formalised ritual of asvamedha, a horse was allowed to roam freely followed by a band of soldiers. If the horse ’s progress was impeded, the king would fight for the land in question. At the end of the prescribed period, the entire area over which the horse has wandered was taken to be the king’s unchallenged territory. The horse was rewarded for its success or failure. This ritual was still performed centuries later by dynasties such as chalukyas of badami to demonstrate the ruler’s complete control over his kingdom.

Fall of Indus Valley Civilization:

                     The harappan civilization was fluorishing until the start of the 2nd millenium B.C. The invasion of the Aryans led to the fall of the harappan civilization is one form of the theory. The other theory says that the harappan civilization would have destroyed due to floods or decreased rainfall which affected their agriculture.  It is said that the hindu caste system was formed during this period when the aryans started infiltrating into the nothern part of the country, pushing the natives,i.e, the dravidians to the south.

                    The hindu sacred  scriptures were written during this period, from 1500 B.C to 1200 B.C. The aryan tribes then formes major kingdoms in the north and guarded their land from foreign invasion. It was during this period, two major invasions, one by persian king Darius and another by Alexander the Great, were avoided. Two important religions buddhism and jainism was developed at this time.

Indus Valley Civilization:

                      The Indua Valley Civilization marked the begining of civilization in the countries India and Pakistan. This civilization existed during 4th century B.C  to 1st century B.C. The first inhabitants of this place was the nomadic tribes who started to cultivate land. These people also made use of domestic animals for their milk and ploughing the land. By the 2nd century B.C, large cities were formed and a harappan culture evolved.

                 The harappan culture marked the era of modern civilization. These people built cities and townships and were much greater in number. The major cities of this civilization are Mohenjadaro and Harappa. The was a large tank built by them in which people had bath during religious festivals and it was considered sacred.

              It was during this period trade started fluorishing and they developed weights and measures for this purpose. The terracotta and bronze figurines are art forms developed during this period. The worship of clay statues of goddess kali and lord shiva started in this civilization and it marked the start of hinduism.