Indian History in Chronological Order - Ancient India - UPSC Preparation - Pooja Ma'am

Hello everyone, welcome to Tathaastu ICS. My name is Pooja Sharma and today I am here again with this new video, where we are going to discuss the complete timeline of ancient history. Right? So, before diving into the timeline of ancient history, we are going to understand the division of the history first. Right? So, let's see how the history, the Indian history is divided. Okay. Before, you know, sabse pehle jab Indian history ki So, that division was between that the ancient history was considered as the history of Hindus because the majority of the kings at that point of time were Hindus and the medieval history was considered as a history of the Muslims and the modern history was considered as the history of the Britishers. But this division of history is actually based on some preconceived ideas and this division was again, you know, was not there anymore and we came with the new division. According to the new division, the history has three parts. The one is our ancient history, then we have medieval history and then we have modern history. So, this is the correct division of the Indian history, which we are going to remember. So, ancient history is not the history of Hindus because we have the histories of the Jainis and the history of the Buddhism also. Similarly, the medieval history is not only the history of the Muslims. Obviously, it is the history of the Hindus and the other sectarian population as well and again the modern history is not about the Britishers. Modern history is about the modern ideas. Modern history is about the nationalism also. Obviously, modern history is also not the history of the Britishers in India. It is actually the modern ideas, the history of the modern overview of the country. Now, let's look at the basic timeline of history in general, not only ancient history, complete history. So, from the earliest time, from the times of the prehistory, you can say that the start of the history, start of the prehistory is considered as 2 million years ago. From that earliest time till the 16th century CE, till the time of Harsha, it is considered as ancient history. This part is considered as ancient part. Till 6th century only, right? Now, let's look at another division where it is from 6th century CE to 13th century CE and from 13th century CE to 18th century CE. This complete portion of the history, this complete portion of the timeline is actually your medieval history. But again, medieval history is also divided into two parts. The first part is the early medieval history. Isko hum bolte hain early medieval history. Isko hum bolte hain later medieval history, right? And obviously, after 18th century, the history is considered as the modern history. So, in today's lecture, we are going to go into the deep detail of the timeline from the earliest time to the 6th century CE that is our complete ancient history. So, let's start the discussion. So, before diving into the history, the history was also divided into another two parts. Again, the one division is there between the ancient medieval and the modern history and the ancient history itself is also divided into two parts. That is your prehistory part and another is your historical part. So, we are, most of the time we are confused between what is the meaning of prehistory, why that part of the history is known as prehistory, not the actual history and what does it mean there is a start of the history. So, let's clear this confusion also. So, you can see by these images also. So, most of the time, mostly the time of the early man, prehistory, stone age hain humara aur jo earlier metal age hain till the Chalcolithic period, humara jo stone age hain usme Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic time period aata hai, uske baad aata hai humara Chalcolithic. So, that whole most of the stone age and little bit of the metal age, that whole part of the history is actually considered as prehistory and after the start of the bronze age or the start of the Indus valley civilization, the Vedic culture, the Mauryan empire, Gupta empire and so on, that part of the history is known as the history. Why this part of the history is not considered as history? Obviously, there is a difference between that. Look, whenever we want to know about history, there are two important sources. How do we know about history? One important part of those sources is the archaeological sources. Ek humare paas hote hain archaeological sources. Jaise, ek simple example, Taj Mahal is an archaeological source. Taj Mahal hume batata hai ki Taj Mahal was being constructed in a certain time period, right? Usme jo humare jitne bhi inscription likhi hui hai, wo hume batata hai ki kisne banwaya tha, us time ki situations kya thi. To ek archaeological evidence hai, medieval history ka. But medieval history ka sirf archaeological evidence to hain nahi. Humare paas obviously we have so many books also bhi hai. Babar Nama bhi hai, Akbar Nama, which actually tells us about the history of the Mughals. So, we have two types of sources when it comes to, you know, knowing history. But when it comes to the prehistory part, we have only one source of information, that is the archaeological sources. That part of history for which we only have archaeological sources, right? So, that part of history is known as prehistory because in prehistory there was no invention of writing and all. So, we don't know what was written at that point of time. We don't have any literary source of the prehistory. Hence, that part of history is known as prehistory. Only archaeological evidence. Kaise archaeological evidence milte humein prehistory ke? Humein stone tools milenge. Okay? Mostly we are going to find a stone tool sometimes in the Chalcolithic period. We are going to find some metal tools also, right? So, those tools are going to tell us the history of that point of time. Hence, the prehistory. But when it comes to history, when there is a start of Indus valley civilization, we have so many seals. We have so much of script, right? So, script was there. So, we have literary evidence. Similarly, when it comes to the Vedic period, we also have literary evidence. We already have the literature that is Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharva Veda. And after that also, we have earth shastra. In Mauryan period, we have so many mudra rakshas, so many sources which are going to tell us about the Mauryan period. And obviously, in the Gupta period also, we have so many of literary sources. Toh uske baad toh bahot saara literature likha gaya. Toh humein sirf archaeological sources se nahi pata. Is part ke baare mein humein ye baatein sare literary sources se hi pata hai. But ye jo part hai, ye sirf humein archaeological sources se hi pata chalega. Hence, the prehistory. Actually, prehistory aur history ke beech mein ek aur chota sa part aata hai, jisko bolte hai proto history. Proto history kya hoti hai? Jaise, jo industrial civilization ka time period hai, specifically IVC time. Specifically, the time of the industrial civilization. Because at that point of time, obviously, we have the literary evidence. Amara paas literary evidence toh hain, but we haven't deciphered that. Toh jo IVC ki script hain, usko humne abhi decipher nahi kiya because of that, we don't know what was actually written. We have the literary evidence, but we don't know what all is written on those scenes. Hence, this part of history is also known as proto history. Right? And after that, when we have the actual literary sources, after that, there is a start of history only. So, this is the difference between the prehistory, the proto history and the history in general. Let's understand the chronology. Let's start with the chronology of the ancient history. So, ancient history humari start hoti hai stone age se. Stone age ka matlab hai, jab human stone ko hi prefer kar raha tha, stone ko hi use kar raha tha. Stone ko kis cheez ke liye use kar raha tha? Mostly hunting ke liye use kar raha tha. And human had only two occupations. One was hunting, another one was gathering. Right? So, this is the earliest time period. So, you can see that around 2 million BCE or you can say that 2.5 million years ago, there was emergence of human on the earth. And till 10,000 BCE, jo humara pura ka pura Pleistocene period hai. Pleistocene jo hai humara geographical division hai, periods ka. It's not an historical one. Pura ka pura jo Pleistocene period hai, that period consists of your Paleolithic period. Historical period me Paleolithic period aata hai. So, Paleolithic period me human only knows two things, hunting and gathering. Baaki aur kuch jaada information hum nahi thi. He was only using the stone tools. Sirf stone tools pe hi pura ka pura nirbhar hai human. Hence, it is also known as Paleolithic. Paleo ka matlab hi hota hai sabse first, earliest. Lithic ka matlab hota hai stone. So, it is also known as early stone age. Toh is age ko hum early stone age bhi bolte hain. Early stone age. Paleolithic period rehta hai humara 10,000 BCE tak. That's it. Only till 10,000 BCE. After 10,000 BCE, there is a start of new period that is known as Mesolithic period. Usko hum kehte hai Mesolithic. Meso ka matlab hota hai middle. Hence, it is also known as middle stone age. Middle stone age. Meso jab bhi aata hai, it means there is something transitionary is going to happen. So, Mesolithic period is actually transition of the human from the Paleolithic period to the Neolithic period. Hence, the Mesolithic period. But Mesolithic period in the human history is very very important. Why? First of all, Mesolithic period jo start hota hai, wo Holocene period mein start hota hai. Holocene ka matlab hai ki climate change ho gaya hai. Hum ice age se non ice age mein enter kar gaye. Hence the Holocene period. Holocene period mein warmer condition hai. Conditions are much warmer. So, it is very easy for human to move around. Toh human ke liye move karna bahut aasaan ho gaya hai. Accha, human ke liye move karna bahut easy ho gaya hai. Toh human is not going to remain the same human which he was during the Paleolithic period. Toh Paleolithic period mein human jaisa hai. Obviously, because of the change in the environment and scenario, human is also going to change. Yaha pe kya kya changes aayenge? Yaha pe ek toh domestication of animal start ho jayega. Uske hlaba, human is going to use the microliths. Human microliths use karna start kartega. Microliths kya hota hai? Micro means very small, liths means again stone. Toh bahut chhote stone. Small, jaise ye hai. Is type ka jo sharp, agar ye toh stone ka nahi hai. Agar aisa koi instrument hai that is also known as microliths. Microliths ka fayda kya hota hai? Ki hum hunting door se kar sakte hain. Hunting door se kyun karein? Big animals ki hunting nahi. Small animal ki hunting hogi door se. Accha, animal bhi chhote ho gaye hai. Ice age mein animals were very large. Mammoths and all. In the non-Ice age, in the Holocene period, or you can say that the start of the Mesolithic period, the animal size has also reduced. Reduce nahi, jo smaller animals the unhone apne aapko adapt kar liya. Hence they were more in number. Jo larger animal hai, wo Holocene period mein climate change se khud ko adapt nahi kar paya. Hence the situation around human is very very different. Hence the tools are also going to change. Another important innovation or the important event that is going to happen during the Mesolithic period is the start of the art. Konsi art? Painting is going to start. So we have so many sites in India also such as Bhimbetka and other sites, Lakhudra and all. We can see so many paintings which are being drawn by human during the Mesolithic period. And it is actually the major characteristics of the Mesolithic period. The human painted so many. What kind of art human has done? Day to day lifestyle he is actually depicted on the wall. There can be several reasons why human has done it. Maybe the human wanted to teach this to the next generation, or human wanted to keep the records of his day to day activities, or maybe only for the recreational purpose human was having these large paintings on the walls of the caves he was living in. So this is the important events which are going to, which happened during the Mesolithic period. After Mesolithic period, human entered into the Neolithic period. Okay. Neolithic period is also known as very revolutionary period. Hence it is also known as Neolithic revolution. Neolithic revolution. Why revolution? We call any period as revolution when there is a major change. A very major change which is going to change the history of human forever. What was that major change? That major change was the start of the agriculture. Okay. This is the period in which agriculture will start. In these two periods, human is mostly, you know, relying only on the hunting part. He used to hunt, he used to gather. After coming here, a little bit of domestication started. But in this period, human was doing agriculture also. The benefit of agriculture is, if you are starting agriculture at some place, so you are going to grow your crops. You will grow your crops at a place. It will take time. So human started settling around that farm. So human, because he had to wait when his crops will mature. So human started settling around the farm. So a settled life started because of the start of agriculture also. So human has started the settled life as well. Mesolithic or Paleolithic period, human was nomadic. Human was moving from one place to another place for the hunting of the animal. There was no permanent settlement human had. But in the Neolithic period, human is going to have a permanent settlement. Human is going to start the village life. So village life starts in our Neolithic period. Start of village life is also the start of the society. When will the actual start of society happen? When our village as a unit will start. It is not like this. Social human was not there in both these periods. Human, obviously in Mesolithic period, human is a social animal. That is why the video of human dance, playing of musical instrument is of this type. Why human is going to dance with other people? Because human is very much social. But here the society will start becoming more complex because we are going to start a village life. So all these things are going to happen during the Stone Age. So these are the purely Stone Age. New means new. So this is also known as New Stone Age. It is also called New Stone Age. So I hope it is clear. The Stone Age is clear. First there is Paleolithic period. After that we have Mesolithic period and after that we have Neolithic period. So this is how the chronology works. If you want to look at the time period. So from 2 million BC or 2.5 million years ago till 10,000 BC. 10,000 BC is the time when there is a climate change is going to happen. Hence the start of the Mesolithic period. Mesolithic period in India is going to stay till 4000 BC. Right? And after 4000 BC. Right? There is a start of your Neolithic period. Right? Then we are going to enter into Chalcolithic period. So Charm of Chalcolithic period or the important thing of Chalcolithic period is that human first learned to use metal. Till now human was relying on stone. Now human is going to start using metal that is your Copper. Hence the name Chalco plus Lithic. Right? So here this is also known as Copper Stone Age. Right? This is also called as Copper Stone Age. Copper and Stone Age. Majorly human was using only stone. Human majorly is using only stone. Same. See the things which are early will remain as it is. Like agriculture started in Neolithic. So that same agriculture is going to follow in the Chalcolithic period also. So in Chalcolithic period also what is the major occupation of human? Agriculture. Settled life. Okay? Huts. Human started to make settled houses. But along with that human also started to use Copper. What are the benefits of using Copper? For that hunting. For that making utensils and pottery will become very easy. Right? So this is the Chalcolithic period. After Chalcolithic period human is going to enter into the Bronze Age. Okay? After that human enters into the Bronze Age. Now here human knew only about Copper. Now in Copper human is going to add Tin and human is going to make a new metal which is more sturdy. Human is going to make Bronze. So after Chalcolithic period the Bronze Age is also going to start. But interestingly because the history of North India, history of South India and history of the North Eastern India was always different. Okay? So the history of North-West or North in general, the history of South is the same. And the history of North-East is different. So I will try to tell you the division, the difference which is going to happen in the North and the South and the North-East also. So as soon as we enter into the Bronze Age, in the Bronze Age the North-Northern part, North-Western part, there the Bronze Age is also going to coincide with the Indus Valley Civilization. So in the North, this portion of the North, this part is the area around Indus River. Right? Here a new civilization will start. Okay? Civilization. It is actually something also known as historical anomaly. Right? Historically something different is going to happen. But in the South, nothing like this will happen. In the South, only the Copper Age will remain. Hence, when I was going to tell you about the timeline, I have kept the Copper Age till 700 BC. Okay? It means when in the North, when in the North here, the Bronze Age is going on. Here when there is the Bronze Age, at that time, here there is the Copper Age and in the South also the Copper Age is going on. Right? Okay? So in the mainland of India, in the Ganga Valley and in the South India, the Copper Age is going on. But in the North-Western part of our country, around the Indus River, a new age is going to emerge. That is your Bronze Age. And Bronze Age is again coinciding with your Indus Valley Civilization. Why Indus Valley Civilization? Because it is actually a civilization. Okay? What is civilization? When humans become urbanized, so these new innovations are going to happen. Hence, the civilization. Why Indus Valley Civilization? Because majorly, most of the important cities are around Indus River. Hence, the name Indus Valley Civilization. So what all is going to happen during the Indus Valley Civilization? Let's see the first time period. So roughly, it is going to start. Some people say that IBC was there from 3300 to 1200 BC. Right? So this is also very much correct timeline. But if you want to know about the exact time of the mature phase of the Indus Valley Civilization, that is going to start from 2700 BC till your 1900 BC. After 1900 BC, your important town is Mohenjodhar Harpa. They are going to decline. Okay? It is already declining. And hence, the end of the Indus Valley Civilization around 1900 BC. But obviously, the later phase is going to go till 1200 BC also. Right? So please remember that. So what is the new in this Indus Valley Civilization? Obviously, there are so many things which are very much revolutionary in nature. For example, urban planning. Okay? So urbanization is something which is very new. Planned city we have. Planned cities. We have so many seals. Okay? We have actually the script also. So these people knows how to write. Obviously, they had their language. Language is also with the people of Stone Age. But they don't have the script. They haven't written that language. So we have script. We have seals. They have trade also during Indus Valley Civilization. Not only internal trade, we have international trade also. The people of the Indus Valley Civilization used to trade with the people of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is there in the present day Iraq. So they used to trade with each other. Hence, the name civilization. So, such kind of civilization that happened during this time period. Okay? So this actually happened after the Chalcolithic period or you can say that it is also going to coincide with your Bronze Age. Now, what is going to happen after Indus Valley Civilization? Around 1900 B.C. Around 1900 B.C. the major cities are going to decline. Okay? Those cities will start to decline. Right? And almost 400 years later. Okay? Or you can say that the advent of the Aryans in our country. Okay? Advent of Aryans. So, around 1600 B.C. there is a start of the coming of the Aryans to our country. Obviously, they came in waves. At that point of time, because Aryans never mentioned Indus Valley Civilization. So, Aryans came to our country. At that point of time, there was no Indus Valley Civilization. There is a possibility they found some fragmented part of the towns and cities. But they did not witness such large cities like Mohenjodaro and Harappa which we have found after excavations. So, they did not find anything like that. That is why they did not mention it in Rig Veda. Because in early Vedic period, Rig Veda is going to be composed. Okay? Rig Veda will be composed. But we do not find any hymns or mantras in that which is explaining to the indigenous people who had such kind of big cities. Hence, we do not know what actually happened during these 400 years. What happens in these 400 years? We can say that when the Vedic people came to our country, obviously, there were indigenous population was also there. That indigenous population was majorly rural in nature. Okay? They are rural. So, urbanization had ended. And the fragmented part of that urbanization was living in the form of rural society. Hence, when Aryans came, they could not find such large establishment. And they had conflict with the indigenous people also. They had conflict with each other also. Okay? Aryans are a warrior race. Okay? Aryans, when we think, Aryans came to our country. They wrote, they composed Vedas. So, they were only, you know, people who were only doing yagya. No, no, no. Aryans were actually warriors. Okay? They came with the horses. They had this horse-driven chariot also. And they had this bronze, they had this bronze weapon also. Vedic period is also divided into two parts. One is your early Vedic period. And another one is your later Vedic period. So, our early Vedic period is our bronze age also. And our later Vedic period, that is the start of your iron age also. So, iron, humans will know in later Vedic phase. So, when Aryans came to our country, they didn't know about iron. They only knew about bronze. So, they had bronze weapon. And they had their own culture. They had their own way of lifestyle. The moment they are going to come to our country, they are going to compose Rig Veda. So, in early Vedic period, Rig Veda will be composed. Rest of the three Vedas are composed in later Vedic period. Okay, later Vedic period will start from around 1000 BCE. Okay? From 1000 BCE. So, from 1600 BCE till 1000 BCE, we have early Vedic period. And after that, we have later Vedic period. Till 1600 BCE and after that, there will be the start of the new period. So, this is the chronology. After Indus Valley Civilization, we are going to witness the Vedic age. And Vedic age ka bhi jo later Vedic phase hai, that is actually coinciding with the iron age in our country. Let's look at the iron age also. So, iron age in our country is there from 1000 BCE to 200 BCE. Accha, ye jo Vedic period hai aur jo Indus Valley Civilization hai. All these events, all these periods were happening in the northern part of our country. North India mein happen ho raha hai sab kuch. South mein Vedic period nahi aaya. South mein Indus Valley Civilization bhi nahi aayi. So, what was happening in the south at that point of time. So, when in the north there was Indus Valley Civilization, in the south there was Chalcolithic period only. Okay? With time, they came to know about the bronze also. And when there was a, you know, later Vedic phase, start of the later Vedic phase in the northern part of the country, in the south India, there was again the start of the iron age, but that iron age was known as Megalithic period. Usko bhi iron age hai. North ka iron age jo hai, wo later Vedic period hai. Aur jo south ka iron age hai, usko hum bolte hain Megalithic period. Why Megalithic? Mega means big, lithic means stone. So, this particular period is being characterized by their burial style. Toh woh jo apne loved ones burry karte the, uske upar ek bahot bada stone rakh dete the. Different different types of burials they had. They had cyst burials. Right? They used to bury like that. They used to have a big stone on the burial site. Right? So, they had different different kind of burials and when we excavated those burial sites, we have found the iron implements. Okay? So, because of that, we came to know that around 10,000 to 1000 BC, the people of south India were also knowing about iron. And obviously in the north, we know about, we know that from the later Vedic text only, from the Vedas only, that they knew about iron. Toh iron jo 1000 BC mein aata hai, woh north mein bhi iron age start hoga, south mein bhi hoga. But north ka iron age coincide karega later Vedic period ke saath aur south ka iron age coincide karega Megalithic period ke saath. So, when there is a later Vedic phase in the north India and the south India, there is a primitive phase that is known as Megalithic period. Megalithic people are primarily tribal in nature only. Okay? Woh tribal hi hai. After the Vedic period, accha jo Vedic period hai, Vedic period is the start of the new type of society, new type of political system, new type of economic system in our country. Toh societal system mein kya change hoga, Vedic age mein Varna system is going to gain. Okay? Gain its strength over the society. Toh Varna system ka emergence ho jayega, economic level pe agriculture bohot important ho jayega, specifically in the later Vedic phase. Earlier Vedic phase mein toh pastoralism hai. Later mein jaake agriculture important hota hai. Toh wahi legacy aage chalegi. Toh agriculture is very important from the economic point of view, from the social point of view. Varna system has gained its root in the society and the society has a different overview. The religion, the type of religion which was being, you know, followed by the IBC people is very different from the religion which is being followed by the Vedic people. And the religion which is going to be followed by the Vedic people is going to go forward. Wahi religion jo hai aage society mein percolate hoga and ussi, yahi social, economic and political, yahi tino tino cheezein aapas mein ek doosre ko link karenge. Political level pe kya change aayega? Dekho, early Vedic period mein political system hai majorly tribal nature ka hai. Tribal society hai, tribal polity hai. Tribal polity mein jo deezein making hai, wo consensus se lete hain. But by the end of the later Vedic phase, dheere dheere, jo tribal political system hai, wo dheere dheere monarchical system mein change ho jayega. Monarchical system mein kya hota hai? Monarchical system mein king jo hai, wo supreme aur absolute authority ban jata hai. Toh waha pe deezein making, jo hai consensus se nahi hoti. May be consultation can happen, but final deezein will only be taken by the king only. So by the start of the Mahajanpada age, toh yeh sab political, economic aur social change already society mein later Vedic phases mein ho chuke hote hain. Mahajanpada age has already some set rules and regulation. Ek set political system hai, jismein monarchical system is actually going to. Political system monarchy system has gained its root. Social system mein varna system is very very important. Right now varna system mein kya hai? Varna system mein there are four varnas. Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. And they are, they have their chronological order. Toh social hierarchy ek start ho gayi hai ki few varnas are more important or the superior than the another varna. Varna system is again based on the economic occupation only. Aur jo economy hai, wo bhi kis pe based hai? Economy is also based on your varna system. Achha yeh monarchical system, varna system aur economy in which agriculture is the major economic activity. They are also linked with each other. So majorly main, the Vaishya people are doing agriculture. Varna system is the one who is actually giving strength to the economic system. Varna system is the one which is giving strength to the monarchical system also. Toh monarchical system ko kaise varna system strength de raha hai? Varna system mein jo brahmanical supremacy hai, wo bol rahi hai ki nahi. Monarch is very important. Whatever they are going to say, it is going to be written in the scriptures. Right? So it is going to be important in the society. It is very easy to implement the monarchical rule to the society. If that monarchical rules and regulations are being backed by some kind of, you know, religious practice, right? Or the social practice. Hence these three things are going to have nexus with each other. The political, social, economic system, they are going to support each other and we are going to have a certain kind of society. But most more, very interesting part of this Mahajanpad period is that, why, first of all let's understand why Mahajanpad period. It means at that point of time we have important 16 monarchies. North India mein mostly 16 monarchies hain. If you want to have a look at these monarchies, let's see. Toh yeh hamare 16 monarchies hain. Puru, Panchal, Magad, Koshan, Malla, Vajji. So these all are the 16. Most of these Mahajanpadas are concentrated in the northern part of our country. North mein ho raha hai yeh sab. Right? But interestingly, the kind of social, economic and the political system is going on or taking the roots in the Mahajanpad period. At that point of time, there is going to be a reaction to all that also. Us poore system ke liye ek reaction bhi aayega. That reaction will be there with the emergence of this Shramana system. Ek naya system start hoga. Shramana system. And in this Shramana system, Shramana system is actually not against the Brahmana system or the Brahmanical supremacy. They are actually, are the different views in the society. So, Shramana system ne ek alag, ek different views diya. Different view tha. Wo jo different view hai, usi Shramana system se do important religious sect cho hain emerge One is your Jainism, another one is your Buddhism. And they are also going to impact the political system, social system and the economic system at that point of time. Toh jo emergence hai Shramana system ka aur usme bhi jo emergence hai Jainism aur Buddhism ka, wo political system ko kaise change karenge? Dekho political system ko toh bahut change nahin kar paayenge. Wo social system ko change karenge. Toh society mein jo Varna system se, jo overpowered jo society hai, jisme Varna system is very much overpowered. Jainism and Buddhism is going to give a way, where people can feel equal to each other. Toh wo ek equality, that all the people are equal. Toh wo equality ka concept hai at that point of time, when there is so much social hierarchy is going on, is going to be given by Buddhism and Jainism. The concept of the non-violence is going to gain in the society, thanks to Jainism and Buddhism. And obviously, the economy is also going to change. So, from economic point of view, the Vaishya class is not only an agriculture class now. Vaishya class is also going to become the trading class. Toh jo trading class hai and trading class is always the richer class. So, Vaishya in general, Vaishya mean, at that point of Vaishya came from the word Vis. So, they were the normal general public, general population. Majority of them were doing agriculture. But now they are doing other occupation also. So, they are doing trading also. They are potters also. They are goldsmiths also. They have different different occupations and they are becoming richer and richer again and they are asking for the equality in the society also. So, this is how the scene is going to change. Again, it is and the most surprising thing is that, that everything is going to happen during the, you know, within these 200 years. So, there is a start of the Varna system, a strong system in the society and suddenly we are going to get reaction to that system also within these 200 years. Obviously, Varna system is still there. But again, Buddhism and Jainism or the Shramana system was the first one which actually challenged it. They were not against it because their views challenged the views of the, you know, these orthodox Varna system. Hence, we are saying that this was something that was revolutionary in nature at that point of time. Okay, let's move forward what happened after the Mahajanpada period. In Mahajanpada period, you can see that there are 16 Mahajanpada. Obviously, these 16 Mahajanpadas are majority of them are monarchies. They are going to fight with each other. So, like Magadhi is going to fight with Kashi. Kashi is going to fight with Kaushal. Kaushal is going to fight with Vats. Magadhi is going to fight with Anga and eventually Magadhi is going to emerge as the victorious. Magadhi's location is like this and Magadhi's leader is also very strong. Hence, Magadhi is going to gain and eventually all the kingdoms will become a part of the Magadha empire. So, Magadha, a new empire is going to emerge after Mahajanpada period. So, this is the rise of Magadha around 554 BC till 321 BC when there is start of Mauryan period. So, Mahajanpada period or the start of Mauryan period, Magadha as a state has a rise. First, Magadha is small. With time, Magadha is going to gain over the northwestern part of our country also and Magadha is going to gain over the Avanti area and the Malabar region of our country as well. So, Magadha is going to emerge as the most superior and it will mostly remain in North India. Magadha is not going to enter the South India. It will mostly remain in North India. So, there are three dynasties in Magadha and the last dynasty is the dynasty of Nandas. So, Dhananand is the last Nanda ruler or the last Magadha emperor at that point of time and after that Chandragupta Maurya with the help of Chanakya is going to defeat Dhananand and finally he is going to gain the seat of the Magadha and hence the start of the Mauryan empire. So, everything is going to happen in 321 BC. So, 321 or you can remember around 320 BC, there is a start of the Mauryan empire in our country. So, the Mauryan empire will first occupy the small area of Magadha and then he is going to reach the South India also. He is going to take over the deep north western part of our country also and this whole part became part of the one empire which is going to be known as Mauryan empire. Thanks to Chandragupta Maurya, the main king of Magadha empire is Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka is also part of your Mauryan empire. Ashoka, the king, the great king. And we can say that this is the first time, this is the first time we can see that a pan India kingdom. The Mauryan empire is actually the first kingdom which occupied almost all of the India. So, Mauryan empire's history is not only the history of North India, it is the history of majority of your Dakkan part also and north western part also. Now, so what is going to happen after the decline of Mauryan empire? Mauryan empire, the successors of Ashoka are very weak successors. So, because of those weak successors, Mauryan empire is going to decline and finally Mauryan empire is going to vanish and the post Mauryan period is going to start. So, what all is going to happen during the post Mauryan period? Mauryan period was something which was providing unity to the country. There is a unified kingdom from north to south, from east to west. There is only one king. After the great king Ashoka, there were weak kings. And with time, everyone is going to make themselves independent. So, small fragments will be formed. So, instead of a single polity, hence the name post Mauryan period. Hence the post Mauryan period, it means small kingdoms which emerged after the Mauryan empire, that particular period was known as post Mauryan period. Post Mauryan period is there from 200 BC roughly till your 300 AD. Post Mauryan period is actually a very interesting period. Let's see what all is going to happen in the post Mauryan period. In post Mauryan period, we are going to witness two kind of dynasties. First of all, understand that in the post Mauryan period, there is no single dynasty which is going to cover majority of the part of the India, either north India or south India or Dakkan, anywhere. So, they are going to occupy a very small region. And there are two types of kingdoms. Foreign kingdoms are also going to enter in our country. Foreign rulers. Indian kings. Indian kingdoms. Indian rulers. So, first understand that all indigenous kingdoms are going to emerge. Kanwaz. And after Kanwaz, we are going to have Satavahanas. Here you can see that in this map, Satavahanas has occupied this area. But after Kanwaz, Satavahanas are going to occupy this part of the country also. So, Satavahanas are going to become the major, the most important indigenous kingdom at that point of time in the post Mauryan period. So, what about the foreign kingdoms? So, four types of foreign rulers or the foreign tribes are going to enter our country. The first is your Greeks. Indo-Greeks are going to enter. So, Greeks are going to enter from the Bactria. And they are going to enter and they are going to occupy northwestern part of our country. After that Greeks, there is a entry of Shakas. Right? And after Pahlavas, there will be entry of Kushanas. All these four tribes are foreign in origin. Most of these tribes are going to come from the Central Asia. So, he was an Indo-Greek king which came after in post Mauryan period. After that the Shakas are going to come and they are going to stay in our country. So, they are going to come in the five branches, but the most important branch is your western Shakas. So, they are going to occupy themselves in the Gujarat area and they are going to remain there till 400 AD also. So, they are going to stay in our country for the longest period of time. And then the Pahlavas are going to come, but Pahlavas are not going to occupy a big part of northwestern part. And then there will be Kushanas. Kushanas are the most important foreign kingdoms or the foreign tribes which is going to enter to our country in the post Mauryan period. So, Kanishka is going to rule from the Kundanwan or the Kashmir and Kanishka is going to occupy majority of the North India. So, when Kanishka or the Kushanas are there in north and northern part, in the Dakkan area there are Satwanas and in the western part there are Shakas. So, there is a mix of the indigenous and foreign rulers and they are going to occupy the majority of India's territory at that point of time. Hence, because all of these kingdoms are there in the fragmented part. So, none of the kingdom can be considered as which is being named on which we can name the particular period. Hence, the period is known as post Mauryan period. So, it is a fragmented polity. But obviously, the invasion of the foreign tribes in our country is going to change the scenario in our country, not only from the political point of view, from the cultural and from the social point of view also. So, new elements will emerge in society. There will be intermixing of the Greeks, Shakas ideology as well. Their culture is also going to become the part of our culture also. After post Mauryan period, when in the north we have Mauryan period, when in the north we have post Mauryan period. So, both the Mauryan period and post Mauryan period which are happening in north India, at that time a new age starts in the south. It is called Sangam age. So, Sangam age is going to be there from 300 BCE till 300 AD. When there is Sangam age in the south, there is Mauryan age in the north and also post Mauryan age. At that time, in the deep south, not only south, we are going to talk about deep south. Deep south means what? Majorly two of our states, present day state, one is your Kerala, another one is your Tamil Nadu. So, we are going to witness Sangam period or the Sangam age, where we are going to have these three important kingdoms, Keras, Cholas and Pandyas. This is again, the Sangam age is the start of the monarchical system in the south India. North monarchical system starts in the end of the later Vedic period or the start of the Mahajanapada period. But the monarchical system which starts in south India will start in 300 BCE when Sangam age starts. The social, political and cultural scene of Sangam age is very different from the north India. But with time, because there will be, you know, percolation of the traders, percolation of the missionaries, Buddhists, Jain and the Brahmin missionary, the culture of the north is also going to impact the culture of the south India. But this is going to happen with time. So, let's come back to the north India. So, in north India, after post Mauryan period, a new period is going to start that is known as Gupta period or Gupta empire. Okay, who are these Guptas? So, the Guptas are basically originated from the eastern UP. In eastern UP, Guptas once upon a time were feudatories of Kushanas. But eventually, after the decline of Kushanas, the Guptas are going to take over. Guptas are going to occupy this much part of India's territory and they are going to start a new empire which is known as Gupta empire. They are going to stay here for 300 years, from 300 AD to 600 AD. More, very important literary and archaeological innovation is going to happen during the time of Guptas. Why? Because in Guptas period, there is a stability. Brahminical order is re-established. There is a more focus over the Buddhist idea. So, Buddhism is very very important during Mahajanpat and the post Mauryan period and during the Mauryan period also, thanks to Ashoka. But in the Gupta period, there is a re-emergence of the Brahminical order. Hence, the culture, the architecture and literature related to the Vedic culture or culture is going to start. So, new elements are going to emerge in the society. Vegetarianism is going to emerge in the society. The vegetarianism in the western world is going to start because of the, by taking the inspiration from the Buddhism only and there is going to be certain kind of stability in the North India. They are going to take, they are going to take birth and this is the time period when there is a start of the temple architecture as well in our country. Right? So, we can, hence the Gupta period is also known as the golden period in the history. Golden not because there was so much gold at that point of time. It is not only about gold. The Gupta empire, the Gupta period is the period when there is so much cultural innovation. Hence, known as the golden period. Right? After Gupta's, there is going to be the age of Harsha's. After Gupta's, Harsha is from the north-western part of our country. His earlier capital is Sthaneshwar. Then he is going to move to the, move his capital to the Karnoj. Even after Gupta's, what happens again? At the time of Gupta's, the Hunas invasion happens in our country. And because of the invasion of Hunas and the weak later Gupta rulers, the Gupta empire is going to get disintegrated and the small kingdoms are going to emerge. So, the small feudatories of Gupta's are going to emerge again. One of the feudatories is the Pushyabhuti dynasty. Pushyabhuti dynasty was ruling around Kurukshetra. Earlier, Gupta's were their feudatories. With time, they are going to, because they are the ones who are going to actually challenge the Hunas. Because their location is this side. So, they are going to emerge as the most important kingdom of the north India at that point of time. And the important king of the Pushyabhuti dynasty is Harsha only. So, Harsha is going to occupy north India from 606 AD when Harsha is going to ascend the throne and he is going to be there till 647 AD. So, this is actually the history of the north India. Now, let's understand what was happening in the south India when there was the Gupta empire and when there was the Harsha empire at that point of time. It is Sangam age only. After Sangam age, what is going to happen? So, in south India, there will be emergence of the small kingdom. So, here we have Vakataka's. Here, you have Ishkavaku's. In this part of the country, we have Pallava's and in this part, you have the Chola's. So, these small kingdoms are in south India from 300 AD to 600 AD. And during the time of Harsha, when in the north, there are Harsha. Vakataka's are no more there and there are new dynasty, new kingdom which is Chalukya's. Pallava's will remain same, Pandya's will remain same. But, the kingdom of the Dakkan is going to change. During the post-Mauryan period. And when there is a period of Harsha in the north, at that time, Dakkan, not south, I am talking about Dakkan. Dakkan is this part of our country. So, these kingdoms are contemporary to each other. And after that, okay, so we have covered the history of the north India also and the history of the south India also. Right? So, this is the chronology of the north India, of the India during the ancient time. I have given you the overview of the north India also and I have given you the overview of the south India also. Now, let's understand what kind of question UPSC is asking these days and why the chronology is very very important. Where UPSC asks the contemporary kingdoms. Which dynasties are there in the deep south? We should be knowing that. Okay? That Sangam age was going on at that point of time. So, you should be knowing what was happening in the north at that point of time, which kingdoms were there in the south. So, history is not only about the history of the north India. History is about the history of the whole India also. I hope you understood the chronology and chronology again is very important. If you have, you know, clear idea about the chronology, history is going to become a piece of cake for you. Because you are not going to be that much confused about the timeline and the time period. You will be knowing how the things are changing and please understand that don't read the chronology only from political point of view. Please read the chronology from the social and economic point of view also that how the society also changed and how the economic system has changed with time. So, this is how the political system is going to change. But the society is going to change a lot. The economy of our country is going to change a lot. We are going to, once upon a time, during the post-modern period, our trade with the Rome is going to become at its peak and there is so much of influx of the gold from the Rome at that point of time and India was the richest during the post-modern period and by what role the Kushanas has played in that. So, if you are going to know the chronology, you will be able to understand all these things, okay. So, you are going to link political, economic and the social scenario along with the chronology and this is how you are going to read your ancient history. Thank you so much. Have a very very nice day and we are obviously going to meet again.