A Chronology of Hindu History in the BC Period - Please note -
this page is being moved Here
India is often overlooked or even dismissed as unimportant in
the worlds history books, yet new evidence is revealing her to be the mother of what we call modern civilisati/on.
Here on this page, history is being re-written from earth science, emerging discoveries
in archaeology, ancient texts, linguistics and genetics.
Like many people seeking to know the truth of our existence, I have questioned
the historic narrative handed down to us through various governmental agencies
to find it has been heavily tainted by political expediency,
personal bias and belief systems. (See the history of how we learn history)
In our current age, a Western materialist point of view in the guise of
patriarchal capitalism dominates the world in pursuit of individual pleasure. History instead
of being an important aspect of our search for truth and enabling our evolution is
primarily used to obfuscate important truths, justify bad behaviour, draw
national borders and facilitate the exercise of
authority.
Under the Western flexible morality, people say nice things and rule but do dastardly deeds
for power and profits. Corporatism flourishes and the people are denied access
to untainted spiritual knowledge so they remain slaves to an immoral and corrupt
economic system.
Conversely in the East, Dharma was established to guide the people into eternity
as co-creators. Ones reason for being was truth and enlightenment, to
live an inclusive spiritual life of celebration without need of borders. That
life of Dharma was tainted by those who chose materialism over spirituality, a
sense of spirituality who's last bastion became modern India.
After the occupation of India some 1400 years ago, Dharma declined rapidly to be
almost wiped out by the European plunderers yet the Westerners seeking
betterment discovered their own spiritual longing. The religions handed to them
were found corrupt and all hearts turned to India for guidance.
Yet as a new wave of genuine spirituality emerges around the globe, as people
seek freedom and rights for all life, India remains mired in the mess inherited
from the British.
By believing in a false narrative as many Hindus do today, they are dis-empowered
and sucked into the Western, patriarchal capitalist system where they turn aside
from Dharma and celebrating life to be co-conspirators in not only
the dismantling of India but in increasing suffering and destabilizing the
planet.
For some time now I have seen that civilisation emerged from the general region
of India where perhaps 30,000 years ago people were coming together,
understanding that being happy was more important than power and possessions.
They questioned their place in the cosmos and learned things that today's
most technologically equipped scientists are only just learning, confirming or
yet to comprehend.
In analysis, the 'out of Africa theory' for humanities existence has fallen over
and it seems that 'modern humans' perhaps evolved from the mixing between various 'pre modern humans' meaning that the continental features we see on
people's faces in our modern world may well be indigenous.
Would you rather live in
ignorance and believe what you are told even what wrong? This page is a work in progress and occasionally updated. You
are welcome to contribute/contact via my facebook page
and a pdf of this page can be downloaded here though there may
be a few differences.
Please note that all references to "Hindu" relate to the geographic region of
greater India, not any belief system as essentially Hindus are non believers and
the testimony of Vedanta represents the original science within Sanatana Dharma
that the world has misconstrued.
Are you content to believe without proof?
India may have had a biological head start on the other continents as back some 3.2 billion years ago when Earth was a water world,
"the Singhbhum region of modern day India represents the earliest continental land exposed to the air." Priyadarshi Chowdhury,
a geologist at Australia's Monash University.
Geographically, about 90 million years ago India rifted away from Madagascar and began its relatively (in tectonic plate speeds)
rapid movement northward, ultimately closing the Tethys Sea, colliding with Asia between 55 and 50 million
years ago to commence creation of the Himalayas. The Deccan Traps began forming 66.25 million years ago, at the end of
the Cretaceous period. The bulk of the volcanic eruption occurred along the Western Ghats some 66 million years ago. This series of eruptions may have lasted
about 30,000 years.
2,000,000 BC
While there is a record of great apes dating back to 12 million
years, tools crafted by proto-humans dated over two million years have been discovered in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent.
The earliest archaeological site in the subcontinent is the palaeolithic
hominid site in the
Soan River valley. Soanian sites
are found in the Sivalik region
across what are now India, Pakistan, and Nepal - is this a precursor to the IVC?
Note that stone with good fracture qualities--such as flint, jasper, and chert--was not always as readily available in Asia as it was elsewhere in the world.
Asian populations, therefore, depended on coarse-grained quartz, volcanic tuff, and petrified wood, none of which lends itself to fine tool fabrication.
Madrasian Culture sites have been found in Attirampakkam located near
Chennai (formerly known as Madras), Tamil Nadu. Tools related to this culture have been
found at various other locations in this region. Bifacial handaxes and cleavers are
typical assemblages recovered of this culture.
Flake tools, microliths and other chopping tools have also been found. Most of these tools were composed of the metamorphic rock
quartzite. The stone tool artefacts in this assemblage have been identified as a
part of the second inter-pluvial period in India.
Evidence for presence of Hominins with Acheulean technology in Tamil
Nadu. (Acheulean artifacts from Africa have been dated to 1.6 million years ago. The oldest Acheulean sites in India are only slightly younger than those in Africa..)
700,000 - 125,000BC
Bhimbetka and Daraki-Chattan Capules which constitute the oldest prehistoric art ever discovered dated to around 700,000 BC
A skull fragment, "the only human fossil skull in Asia" was found in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley
in central India indicating that this part of Indian subcontinent might have been inhabited around 300,000 years ago. Anek R. Sankhyan describes it as "debated and conveniently interpreted as "evolved" Homo erectus or "archaic human".
Further conjecture: "The paleontology division of Geological Survey of India says a fossilized human skull was found embedded in a conglomerate bed in Narmada valley. The bed occurs at a basal part of a formation sandwiched
between two formation of 0.73 Ma and 74000 yrs before present (BP). The conglomerate bed has also preserved fossils of Hippopotamus namadicus, Equus namadicus, Stegodon namadicus, Sus namadicus, etc. having Middle
Pleistocene affinity. All these stratigraphic and palaeontological evidences point to a Middle
Pleistocene age (~12.5 lakhs year ago [1.200,000]) of the Narmada Homo erectus skull." ~ MIMG
100,000 BC
Bhimbetka shelters in the foothills of the Vindhyan Mountains on the southern edge of the central Indian plateau were inhabited by
Homo erectus with rock art adding to the Daraki-Chattan Capules.
74,000 BCE
Technology similar to contemporary artefacts found used by Homo sapiens in Africa found in Jwalapuram is an archaeological site in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, southern India, which
shows hominid habitation before and after the
Toba eruption event (dates for this event vary between 75000 and 73000 BC) There are various claims that the fallout from the Toba Volcano covered much of India to a depth of about 5 cm yet it would be unreasonable to assume that this amount of volcanic ash would be spread uniformly. There is evidence of human habitation before and after in the same locales, so it would be a mistake to assume that life had been snuffed out and the area only repopulated many years later.
It is reasonable to presume that the inhabitants of the period may have suffered terribly yet they endured. Daily Mail
"The Jwalapuram Locality 22 preserves more than 1600 stone artefacts, many agricultural assigned to the Indian Middle Palaeolithic identifying the behavioural and environmental adaptations of the hominin group(s) that occupied
India when Toba erupted." ~ archaeologist Michael Haslam,
MyIndiaMyGlory.
50,000 BC
Narmada Valley harboured pre-historic human settlements, possibly pre-Harappan
'civilisation' including the only pre-modern human fossil known in Asia. Excavations carried out by the Shridhar Vakankar Archaeological Research Institute in the Narmada valley (Khargone district)
discovered some 350 archaeological items.
40,000 BC
The house mouse dependent on agricultural activity begins to migrate out of India.
Narasimha idol found in Germany carbon dated to 35000 BC
The Hindu sense of cosmology claims that our entire universe is alive, it is born and dies over and over. They knew about 26,000 year cycle we call axial precession implying a continuous knowledge
over as many years. Although it is possible it was later calculated, 30k BC is a likely date that what we call Hindu civilisation was beginning to evolve.
"Trade between India, Tibet and Persia 35K BC" ~
David Adams
Possible first gold crafted as Kalpa Vigraha, a Vishnu Idol circa 26000 BC It
seems at this time that there were likely pockets of civilisation across the
region of greater India with travel and communication. People were likely
wondering what the purpose of life was and observed the emotive states
(happiness, joy, sadness et cetera) and sought some way of control so that
they could be always happy. They had probably been thinking on this for some
time and observing the phenomenon of life taking steps to ensure a full belly
and protection from the extremes of nature and of course dangerous animals.
At some time in this period or perhaps earlier, the first yogi appeared and
the people came to understand that there are only two directions of life,
inwards and outwards but the two affected each other.
17000+ Years Unbroken Indian Civilization
with Nilesh Oak
Spending time looking inwards and in a sense being there (meditation) gave rise to a deep sense of joy and happiness and this became part of the enculturation process.
Those equipped with self-knowledge looked at the material world and over the millennia helped to improve life for people and ways of living. Sanatana Dharma was being born and the accumulating
knowledge was being passed on through schools employing rote learning.
Paleolithic industries in South India Tamil Nadu
First confirmed semi permanent settlements in the Bhimbetka rock shelters in modern Madhya Pradesh.
Some of the Stone Age rock paintings found among the Bhimbetka rock shelters are thought to be approximately 30,000 years old.
The ancient history of the region includes some of South Asia's oldest settlements and some of its major civilisations.
Silk Road trade route between China and all points west with the Oxus river and
The Wakhan Corridor as central,
(Alexander's Lost World part six).
A plant similar to rice has been dated to India at this time.
26,492 BC.
End of previous Kali Yuga to what has passed - start of ascending Dwapara Yuga and the demise of the
Neanderthals who's dna remains in Hindu and East Asian populations of today.
Since this is clear evidence they travelled so extensively, it would be foolish
to believe Hindu explorers were less adventurous.
23,720 years BCE
The Rig Veda composed ?
18,000 BCE
Peak of last ice age or global maximum of ice coverage
15,000 BCE
Birth of Shiva the first yogi and commencement of the Vedic era
"The world of form and the formless Void:
Neither of these exists independently.
In the One, there is neither separation nor union;
Truly, there is nothing but Shiva alone"
14776 BC.
Peak of last Satya Yuga
14,500 BCE
The composition of the astronomical text Surya Siddhanta. Nilish Oak again
explains how the age of this ancient texts has been calculated and the
discrepancies in some of the earlier historical reckoning.
Given that this is not an introduction to astronomy but an advanced text
indicates that the level of knowledge is indicative of a settled civilisation
with a strong multigenerational heritage?
13,000 BCE
It is said that the suptarishies went to all corners of the earth and if they are direct students of Shiva as the first yogi who according to legend lived around 15,000 BC, one of them went to the Americas where we find many cultural similarities as in ancient India. The Tamils of course have a reputation as being great seafarers. See the book 'Hindu America' by Chamal Lal.
As far as known, Hindu culture was matriarchal - communal and the culture of creating deities or gods was prevalent.
Matriarchal cultures are about coexistence with nature and creating conditions for future generations to flourish.
"As no clear record remains from before 9500 BC, perhaps we can imagine a collection of villages and towns covering the region of north-east Bharatha interconnected by foot paths and waterways.
The people would have been farming, collecting wild food and hunting. They would be experimenting with different lifestyles and under the influence of the wandering yogis, becoming more accepting of the unpredictability of life.
Beginnings of agriculture:
"Evidence of rice ostensibly being used as food on the banks of Lahuradewa lake in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The area, located in the Sant Kabir Nagar District, has been in the limelight
for over two decades now thanks to the discovery of rice cultivation
from the mid-7th millennium (i.e., 6000s) BCE, carbonised rice grains dating as far back as ~11,000 BCE, and micro-charcoal particles and Cerealia pollen, providing
evidence of human activity and some form of slash-and-burn agriculture in the region from at least 13,000 BCE". ~ India Facts
12,900 BCE
The Younger Dryas which is also called Younger Dryas stadial was probably caused by the impact of fragments from a passing comet. This initially halted the post ice age global warming but it extinguished the remains of past human civilisations and caused the global exticction of the remaining megafauna.
"We understand why the Comet Skanda did not affect the wife of Vasistha, but all the other wives of the Rishi on his way. We show their position 10,800 b. C. with Vega still as Pole Star." ~ Hiranyakesi Grhasutra
The Younger Dryas was characterized by cooler average temperatures that returned parts of Europe and North America to ice age conditions. The onset of the Younger Dryas took less than 100 years, and the period lasted for roughly 1,300 years. The date for Shiva given above should perhaps be later as in the Zoroastrian scriptures known as the Zend Avesta, certain verses the verses speak of a primordial father figure called Yima (who maybe Shiva), the first evolved man and the founder of civilization. This is referenced in the opening section of the Zend Avesta, known as the Vendidad.
Other evidence of the comet is found in the Megalithic Temples of Malta and the serpent mound in Ohio. How India fared during the disasterous period is not clear but as sea levels rose, populations were forced to move which likely created social friction and likely began mass migrations. It's thought the Sumerians migrated from the continental shelf near to Mumbai or perhaps nearer to the present remains of the undersea city of Dwarka.
12,000 BCE
India did not exist in isolation, there had been a trade in goods and ideas over thousands of years before this time. Hindlogists see related motifs in the artwork at Gobekli Tepe which also 'relects evidence of the The Younger Dryas and a warning to humanity' ~ Graham Hancock.
We should remember that the entire region from India to the Mediterranean was much wetter and even the Sinai was a mixture of forests and grasslands as North Africa was a mix of savanna, with African animals, forests and great Lakes.
The Origin of Sanatana Dharma
We don't know when but there must have been a shift in consciousness from
which Sanatana Dharma and perhaps a modern sense of democracy were born. It seems likely that following
the revelations of Shiva the first Yogi said to have lived in the 12-15,000 year BC
period, he unveiled the technology of being human including the concept of
Ardhanareeshvara that symbolizes male and female principles are bound and cannot be
separated. It conveys the unity of opposites in the universe. The male half
stands for Purusha and the female half being Prakriti, and they cannot exist separate
from each other.
From those first teachings of the first yogi that were spread wide by the Saptarishis, Sanatana Dharma evolved to give everyone the
opportunity to touch the absolute, to live equitably and eternally as co-creators.
It's thought that societies were matriarchal, the economy reflected communal
living and satisfying both the needs of survival and individual mental development.
It is said that the suptarishies, the direct students of Shiva (as the first
yogi) went to all corners of the earth and one of them went to the Americas
where we find many cultural similarities as in ancient India. The Tamils of
course have a reputation as being great seafarers and the point made by
Vedveer Arya: "According to KD Abhyankar, the star Agastya (Canopus) was
known to Indians since the Rig Vedic period. The star Agastya became visible
for the first time in India at KanyAkumari around 10,000 BCE, at Chennai
around 8500 BCE, at Hyderabad 7200 BCE, in the Vindhya region around 5200 BCE
and at Delhi around 3100 BCE.
The epoch of the Puranic story about Agastya who crossed the Vindhya Mountain
cannot be later than 5000 BCE. Thus, the history of the 197 Pandyan kings of
the Sangam period ought to have begun around 5000 BCE and the first Pandyan
king may have belonged to the era of the Ramayana i.e. 5100 - 5000 BCE" ~ The
Chronology of Ancient India by Subhash Kak.
10,000 BCE
Mr. Arcio Nuns, a Brazilian nuclear scientist
claims the Dravidians of Asia entered the Americas. This is supported by the
find of petroglyphs at Ratnagiri on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra.
Dated to around 10,000
BCE by the Maharashtra State Archaeology Department. Some of these
12,000-year-old petroglyphs depict astrological symbols used for the
Aquarius and Pisces constellations, others depict sacred symbols like the
Winged Scarab and others used by many ancient cultures as well as images
resembling hippos and kangaroos indicating oceanic contacts with Africa and
Australia.
Article
This is also when sea levels began to rise as global ice retreated
9000 BCE
The Sarasvati Civilization (Indus Valley Civilization)
begins as we are discovering though it's
likely the roots stretch back many thousands of years. The civilization used an early form of the Indus signs, the
so-called Indus script.
Over the course of next 8000 years,
inhabitants of the Civilization developed new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products,
seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, tin which was a scarce resourse in the subcontinent and iron) had elaborate urban planning, baked brick houses, efficient drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings.
The civilization depended significantly on trade, was the first civilization to use wheeled transport in form of bullock carts, and also used boats.
The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro become large metropolises and the civilization expands to over 2,500 cities and settlements across the whole of Pakistan,
much of northern India, and large parts of Afghanistan, covering a region of around one million square miles, which was larger than the land area of its contemporaries
Egypt and Mesopotamia combined, and also had superior urban planning and sewage systems.
Archeolosists discovered a Devi Temple with Yantra at Sidhi in MP.
"Johnathan Kenoyer of the Harappa Archeological Research Project dated the shrine to 9000 BC proving a remarkable continuity of spiritual understanding in India."
The commencement of natural desertification hastened by agriculture and the use of wood for brickmaking and metal smelting - copper.
The city of Mehrgarh existed - with a large city of about 30,000 persons -
showing evidence ofthe world's first dental drilling of tooth decay (approximately 7,000 to 9,000 years ago) has been found in Merhgarh, as well as the first use of cotton fiber (6th millennium BC).
The city of Bhirrana exists: said to be a pre-Indus Valley Civilisation -
wiki
The Bhirrana site is stated to be the oldest Saraswati-Indus Valley Civilization site, dating back to 7570-6200 BCE.
The antiquities found from this site include pottery, fabrics, copper chisels, arrow heads, spear heads; beads of steatite,
faience, terracotta and shell, bangles of copper and terracotta; semi-precious stones and beads etc. Charred grains of
wheat and barley were also recovered from the deposits. The most interesting find from this site is a female dancing girl
(replica of the famous Dancing Girl from Mohenjodaro) engraved on a potsherd as graffiti. Terracotta wheels with
painted spokes are also important findings from this site. Multi-roomed houses were found at this town, which were
made of mud bricks (sun-baked bricks), and wide straight roads were found separating the houses. A circular
structure of baked earth (like a tandoor) was found, still commonly used in community kitchens across rural India.
In the words of L.S. Rao who had led the excavations at the Bhirrana site: "the importance of the excavation at
Bhirrana lies in the fact that we have strong evidence for the first time of an unbroken cultural sequence,
starting from the village culture represented by Hakra ware and its evolution gradually
into semi-urban and urban cultures till the site was finally abandoned." FE
Possibly the end of the Rig Veda era and the emergence of the first patriarchal
societies?
"Avesta was the beginning of a great split in the ancient
Vedic thought that arose on the banks of the river Saraswati. This split was
recorded in the ancient Puranic literature of India, as the conflict between
the Devas and the Asuras. It was an ideological fault-line,
that divided the same tribe of people into two - a group of people who
believed in the immortality of Atman (the soul, which is not body) and the
others who believed in the mortality of the body and its need for the final
resurrection and revival to become immortal. The first group identified
themselves with the immortal Atman and cared nothing about
the perishable body. The second group identified themselves with the mortal
body and were constantly engaged in its prolonged preservation and its final
resurrection." ~ http://takshasila.wikidot.com/
In other words, Avesta represented materialism while Vedanta represented
spirituality and the creation of heaven on earth. Avesta represented the
biblical fall from grace and expulsion from the
Garden of Eden and gave rise
to patriarchal capitalism - a drive seeking pleasure and avoidance of fear,
antagonistic to the welfare of life and those seeking
liberation.
Patriarchal capitalism (spread by
Noah's flood) created the belief systems we are familiar with
today featuring transient civilisations and perpetual conflict, India however would
remain matriarchal and the worlds longest continuous civilisation although
corrupted but resistant to efforts to destroy it.
This is also when it's thought that tribes from India migrated west to Europe
and the beginning of the Indo-European languages along with spread of
patriarchal capitalism that suited those having difficulty conceiving the
eternal.
Patriarchal capitalism is suited to acquiring pleasure, antagonistic to the
welfare of life and especially to those seeking liberation. As those embracing
the physical and furthered patriarchal capitalism giving rise to transient
civilisations and perpetual conflict, India however would remain matriarchal
and the worlds longest continuous civilisation corrupted but resistant to
efforts to destroy it during the modern era.
Lord Rama may have been born on 3rd February 5674 BCE and other opinion says 5114 BC.
6000 BC
The submersion of Dwarka as sea levels rose and the covering of the continental shelf
(Great flood stories). The area between South India and Sri Lanka was
submerged. The Persian Gulf which was a river valley flooded and it's possible migrants from coastal areas of migrated this way to become the Sumerians.
There is evidence of Indian rice and buffalos moving into this region (Tigris/Euphrates delta) during the period.
India produces native wild silks - tasar, muga and eri which are not always uniform in colour. It's not clear wheather silkworms of the Bombyx mori moth that feed on mulberry were endemic to India.
Was this the time of the Kurukshetra War?
Perhaps is was 5561BC as described in the book (When Did the Mahabharata War Happen
by Nilesh Nilkanth Oak) but there is some
conjecture as the oldest chariot in the archeological record is dated tp 2000 bc. But first consider what we have in terms of
the understanding from 200 years ago as per the image which can be saved and enlarged.
P. V. Vartak calculates a date of 16 October 5561 BCE using planetary positions.
P. V. Holey states a date of 13 November 3143 BCE using planetary positions and calendar systems.
Aihole inscriptions give the date of Kurukshetra war around 3102 BCE.
K. Sadananda, based on translation work, states that the Kurukshetra War started on 22 November 3067 BCE.
B. N. Achar used planetarium software to argue that the Mahabharata War took place in 3067 BCE.
S. Balakrishna concluded a date of 2559 BCE using consecutive lunar eclipses.
R. N. Iyengar concluded a date of 1478 BCE using double eclipses and Saturn+Jupiter conjunctions.
P. R. Sarkar estimates a date of 1298 BCE for the war of Kurukshetra.
V. S. Dubey claims that the war happened near 950 BCE ~ wiki
The author of this page in light of the level of technology apparent with
the recent Sanauli Chariot discovery leans towards a time period nearer that claimed by R. N. Iyengar and P. R. Sarkar.
Migrations from India to the Mediterranean and beyond.
Perhaps the arrival of capitalism combined with a
patriarchal mentality returning to India with traders undermined Sanatana Dharma
and actually caused the Kurukshetra War at a later date?
The first domestication of elephants.
The Prachi Valley civilization (Odisha, East India) exists ref.
We don't know when Manu created his laws but he talks about possessions, human rights and of course money which as far as we know began to
emerge at this time.
This idicates that India was strongly influenced by patriarchal capitalism.
The Life of Lord Rama 5114 BC (vifindia.org).
Is it that there was also a clan perhaps named after Lord Rama
who over time became the Rajputs, coined the name Rajasthan and a Rama man became the Egyptian Ramsees?
According to scholars and the evidences across Iraq and Iran, the Rama clan ruled extensively and were influential in the development of Egyptian culture (Ramses). This image is one of many similar found across the region of greater Persia said to symbolise Lord Rama.
Creation of The Laws of Manu History and Influence of Law Code of Manu.
5694 BC
End of descending Treta Yuga and commencement
of the descending Dwarpara Yuga
5000 BC
By one theory, this is the beginning of the Kali Yuga? with a duration of 432,000 years, leaving us with 427,000 years until the end of the present age. This theory is
less widely accepted.
Seaward travel east from India and either seafarers stranded in Australia or migrants settled and mixed with the local inhabitants as per modern genetic evidence.
The Saraswati river begins to diminish causing westward migrations and Hindu influence in Egypt - probably two way trade in ideas and technology.
Tamil DNA appears in Australian Aboriginals indicating Tamil travel and trade.
The original Sun Temple at Multan is said to have been built by Samba, son of Krishna.
Mundigak was a large prehistoric town complete with what's been defined as a palace (image), an important cultural phenominon from the 5th-2nd millennia BC.
Whats significant here is that unlike the Indus region, administrative power was perhaps more centralised.
Cotton growing becomes widespread in South America - indicating trade across the Pacific
as India was home to cotton.
Despite being far from the sea, Mohenjodaro was or became an Integral trading port within the Dwarka Port System Youtube
4000 BC
Bampor, capital of Bampur County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province of what is now Iran. jatland.com)
3300 BC
Commencement of Copper - Bronze age in India although this may have been earlier (Hindustan Times)
According to a Puran, Egypt is known as Misr-Sthan. In Hindi today it is Misr. In Hebrew, it is known as Al-Misr.
3140 BC
End of descending Dwarpara Yuga and commencement of the descending Kali Yuga.
The most accepted theory matching axial precession and our movement through the constellations, the Kali Yuga began:
"in 3140 BCE, the Kurukshetra War ended, and in 3102 BCE, Krishna left his body. Three to four months after the war, the Kali Yuga began.
As of 2012 AD, Krishna's era ended 5,114 years ago. If you subtract 2592, which is the cumulative number of years of the two Kali Yugas that are at the bottom of the ellipse which describes the axial precession, you arrive at 2522 years. That means we have already completed 2522 years of Dwapara Yuga, and since its total duration is 2592 years, we still have
62 years until its completion.
In the year 2082, we will complete Dwapara Yuga and move on to Treta Yuga." ~ Sadhguru.
Hindu settlement exists at Shortugai (near Bactria or Bactra as is sometimes spelt) on the Oxus River (Amu Darya) on trade route between China and all points west with the Oxus river navigable to the Mediterranean (and Aral, Caspian and Black Sea ports). Perhaps for lapis lazuli, wool, gold, silver, copper, bronze, tin, lead, herbs and spices on this 'silk route'?
A summary of the spice trade.
Extensive land and maritime trade network operating between the Harappan and Mesopotamian civilizations.
The mummified bodies of Egyptian nobles are wrapped in linen from India.
Global warming intensifies with the drying up of the Saraswati River and mass westward migrations of people from North West India.
"A team of archaeologists discovered several iron artefacts, including small knives, in Telangana in 2015, dating back to 1,800 BCE to 2,400 BCE. These iron artefacts were tested at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI)."
Wiki,
TOI
2200 BC - Iron Age India:
Officially, the beginnings of the Iron Age around the world dates to 1200 BC, however, the Iron Age in India clearly goes back to 2200 BC.
Archaeologists have found artefacts including knives and blades dated to this time. These findings clearly attest to India's ancient achievements in the field of metallurgy and push back the Iron Age in India.
C14 carbon studies performed by the metallurgists have shown that there were many other ancient mines from which silver, copper, tin, zinc and lead were produced.
Gene D. Matlock, Chaman Lal and others write about the Hindu connection with the
Americas from this or perhaps an earlier time indicating deep cultural and trade
links.
Glass made at lothal and Baluchpura. From these representations it looks that glass was 'cast' rather than blown and may have been from an earlier time.
2000 BC
The population of the Indian subcontinent is estimated at 6,000,000 but could be many times greater.
The development of swords (Academia)
based on the supposition that the Rigveda and Atharvaveda are later works where as swords in other regions have been found dating to 1400 years earlier?
Possible date for the Horsemen of the Pir Panjal - some say they seem to be more Bactrian inspired than Indic
Chariots and weaponry in burial chambers at Sinauli,
about 70 kilometres north of New Delhi.
"The excavation at Sinauli unearthed a 4000-year old chariot, copper weapons
and warrior burials. The chariot is encased in copper and is believed to be
the oldest surviving physical evidence of the chariot ever to be discovered in
the world. Alongside, there are also shields, bows and arrows, spears, swords,
helmets, axes and other copper weaponry that have been unearthed from the
burial sites." ~
India today.
Lapis from Afghanistan appears in Egypt proving trade and modern day Karalla
thought to be the fabled 'Land of Punt' from where Egypt acquired spices.
From the beginning of the second millennium BC during what was the middle to late Bronze Ag, there was extending across Eurasia
from India (as per the Sanauli chariot) to Anatolia and further west into Europe, evidence of an emergence
of what is referred to as a warrior aristocracy.
The chariot was the indispensable symbol of this newly emergent socio-political phenomenon. Brown Pundits
1900 BC
The Sarasvati River ceases to flow as a result of tectonic upheavals marking the end of the Harappan/Indus Valley Civilisation.
Mass migrations from North West India, The formative Jews?
1806 BC, lowest ebb of the Kali Yuga
1800 BC
Adichanallur urn-burial site in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu.
Hindu culture (Sanatana Dharma) is strong across Southeast Asia and perhaps here we have the beginnings of Mahendraparvata and Angkor Wat in today's Cambodia?
Panchayat or self-governing village bodies called 'sabhas' existed as the
first known democracy. This system may have existed long before but the
Village Panchayat or elected council had large powers, both executive and
judicial. Land was distributed by this panchayat which also collected taxes
out of the produce and paid the government's share on behalf of the village.
Above a number of these village councils there was a larger panchayat or
council to supervise and interfere if necessary.
The panchayat was deliberately destroyed by the East India Company when it was
granted the office of Diwan in 1765.
1500 BC
Emergence of the Gandhāra kingdom which is the present day north-west
Pakistan, is the old name for the valley and district of Peshawar.
Wiki
1300 BC
Cemetery H culture comes to an end.
Late date for the Rigveda ?
A widely accepted birth/death dates for Shakyamuni Buddha 1029 BCE to 949 BCE
Historian Vedveer Arya sees Gautama Buddha as a Nepali and dates his death to 1864 BC.
Late Vedic period (to 500 BCE)
The growth in education and the rise of universities - any Greek scholar worth his salt must travel and spend time studying in India.
Increased desertification hastened by agriculture and the use of wood for funerals, brickmaking and metal smelting - the Saraswati dries up and IVC ends.
Kashi (Varanasi), the spiritual and cultural capital of ancient India existed in this period. It's undisputed as the oldest inhabited city of the world and thought to have existed since long before.
Dharmic (Hindu) civilization evolved beyond the subcontinent shaping the social construct and statehood of Southeast Asia.
Through trade and education, small indigenous states were transformed into major kingdoms and empires led by a Maharajah with statecraft concept akin to those in India. It gave birth to the former Champa civilisation in southern parts of Central Vietnam, Funan in Cambodia, the Khmer Empire in Indochina, Langkasuka Kingdom and Old Kedah in the Malay Peninsula, the Sriwijayan kingdom on Sumatra, the Medang Kingdom, Singhasari and the Majapahit
Empire based in Java, Bali and parts of the Philippine archipelago.
The civilisation of India influenced the languages, scripts, written
tradition, literature's, calendars, scientific knowledge and artistic aspects
of these peoples and nations.
Age of the Panchala Kingdom roughly located over modern Budaun, Farrukhabad
and the adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh. -
wiki
Legend says that Buddha Shakyamuni was born as a royal prince in 624 BC in a place called Lumbini, in what is now Nepal
contrary to earlier opinion. ~ Kadampa
Carbon dating proves Adichanallar relics
found in Tamilnadu date from 905 to 696 BC.
600 BC
Sixteen Maha Janapadas ("Great Realms" or "Great Kingdoms") emerge.
Vedic period ends?
The capital of the Early Pandyan Kingdom was initially
Korkai, all around 600 BCE, and was later moved to Koodal (now Madurai) during the reign of
Nedunjeliyan I.
Takshashila University was the most famous and the world's first university. Also known as Taxila or Takshila,
it existed from about 600 BC to 500 AD. Taxila was in the kingdom of Gandhar, in Ancient India.
Pānini
the renowned Sanskrit scholar and considered the father of linguistics lived in this period.
According to some, Gautama Buddha was born c. 563/480 BCE as per evidence at
Lumbini
but seems a less likely date.
Commencement of the Sangam period of Tamil Nadu and Kerala spanning from c. 5th century BCE to 3rd century CE. Sangam literature based in Madurai has literary evidences of urban civilisation in Tamil Nadu.
Reign of Cyrus
the Great and founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire
530 BC.
His army reached into northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent, today's Afghanistan, which later proved to be his nemesis and caused his death.
He chose the site of Percepolis under which lay a gold plate on which were
written the tenants of democracy and the Cyrus Cylinder, the oldest known declaration of human rights likely learned/taken from India.
550 BC
Rein of Perisan King Darius the Great (550-486 BC) who led the Achaemenid
conquest of the Indus Valley. Dara is an Indian name and his great grandfather
was called Ariaramnes.
543 BC
The Vanga-based Prince Vijaya (c. 543 BCE) married a daughter of the Pandyan king of Madurai,
to whom he was sending rich presents every year.
Sinhalese chronicle Mahawamsa mentions this event.
End of the Kali Yuga and commencement of the current ascending Dwapara Yuga.
The ideals of
democracy (from India) are enshrined in the foundations of Persepolis.
500 BC
The followers of Buddha are institutionalising Buddhism.
Extensive trade with Rome.
Indian elephants used in construction at Baalbek (and like places), and later to the Roman theater.
Envoys to and from China with special interest in Buddhism.
An early Greek coin discovered from Gandhara region,
dated 500-400 BCE. This is one of the earliest evidence for Hindu contacts with Greece, dating to pre-Alexandrian era.
Kālidāsa, a Classical Sanskrit writer lives about this time.
The Barabar Caves are constructed about this time - they are carved entirely out of granite, with a highly polished internal surface and an amazing echo effect.
These reflect great technological genuis.
483 BC
Another proposed date for the Mahaparinirvana of Gautama Buddha at Kushinagar.
Persian rule in the northwest ends after Darius 3 is defeated by Alexander, who establishes the Macedonian Empire after taking over the Persian Achaemenid Empire and migration of Greeks into the region.
It's thought Alexander sent his plunder home by way of the Oxus, Aral,
Caspian, Black Sea to Mediterranean sea route and used that route to bring in
Greek migrants who over the next 200 years had some influence over North West
India.
"The last Indo-Greek kingdoms of northwestern India were conquered by the
Sakas under the overlordship of Azes and eliminated by 58 BC"
ASI
326 BC
Ambhi king of Takshila, a university city surrenders to Alexander.
Seleucus gives up his territories in the subcontinent (Afghanistan/Baluchistan) to Chandragupta in exchange for 500 elephants. Seleucus offers his daughter in marriage to Chandragupta to seal their friendship.
300 BC
Beginning of the Satavahana kingdom covering present-day Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Possible composition of the Arthashastra credited to Kautilya, also identified as Vishnugupta and Chanakya
273 BCE
Ashoka the Great regarded as the greatest ancient Indian emperor,
grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, ascends as emperor of the Mauryan Empire.
Kalinga War takes place between
Ashoka and the kingdom of Kalinga.
After conquering Kalinga, Ashoka reportedly regrets what he had done, leading him to adopt Buddhism,
which then became the quasi-official state religion of the Mauryan Empire.
260 BCE
Ashoka begins displaying religious tolerance, grants animal rights, builds hospitals for people and animals, treats his subjects as equals regardless of caste or creed, and promotes
non-violence and
republicanism.
Ashoka inscribes the Edicts of Ashoka, written down using
Brahmi script.
Patanjali. the eminent composer of the Yoga Sutras dated to mid 2nd century BCE by both Western and Indian scholars.
200 BCE
Kuninda Kingdom is established.
Tholkappiyam describes the
grammar and morphology
of Tamil; it is the oldest existing Tamil grammar (dates vary between 200 BCE and 100 CE). (to 100 BC)
Buddhism expands north westward.
Kalaripayattu - written evidence of martial arts in Southern India described in the Sangam literature of this period
Puspagiri University - Buddhist University is established (Lalitgiri). Today, its ruins lie atop the Langudi hills about 90 km from the Mahanadi delta, in the districts of Jajpur and Cuttack, Orissa.
Scenes of the civilization, culture & life of ancient Bengal from
the various antiquities of Chandraketugarh in the district of North 24 Parganas.
~2nd century B.C.E.-1st century. Gangarashtra period.
sylph-ocular.com/ck. Also don't forget to watch this magnificent
& much needed lecture on Chandraketugarh (In Bengali) by Shri Goutam Dey:
https://www.facebook.com/goutam.deganga/videos/2068748243268473
184 BCE
The Mauryan Empire, which shrank considerably, collapses after its emperor Brihadrata
is assassinated by his general Pushyamitra Shunga. Pushyamitra Shunga then establishes
the Shunga dynasty.
Sugar was first produced from sugarcane in northern India sometime about the first century.
Huge exports of spices and silks to Rome to the extent Rome was running out of
cash reserves.
The Pandyan king sends ambassadors to the Greek and Roman lands.
58 BC
Beginning of Vikram Era - The Vikram Samvat calendar starts half a century before the Gregorian calendar and works on an Indian calendar cycle.
Note the time meridian or time reference point for the world was in Ujjain,
not Greenich.
Youtube.
35 BC
A discussion on the paleolithic finds in India and South East Asia published Oct/22.
Western Satraps 35-405 CE (Kshatrapa the longest reigning Indo-Scythian group in India) formed.
Increased desertification hastened by agriculture and the use of wood for funerals, brickmaking and metal smelting.
Year 0
Buddhism expands into South East Asia and begins to replace the existing Hindu culture.
"In the high plateau of eastern Iran, in the oases of Serindia, in the arid wastes of Tibet, Mongolia, and Manchuria, in the ancient civilized lands of China and Japan, in the lands of the primitive
Mons and Khmers and other tribes of Indo-China, in the countries of the Malaya-Polynesians, in Indonesia and Malay, India left the indelible impress of her high culture, not only upon religion, but
also upon art, and literature, in a word, all the higher things of spirit." Rene Grousset (1885-1952) French art historian. Author of several books including Civilization of India and The Empire of the Steppes:
A History of Central Asia.
Kenneth Oakley (30 April 2007). "Paleolithic Cultures in Asia". Frameworks for Dating Fossil Man. Transaction Publishers. pp. 229. ISBN 978-0-202-30960-6.
India is often overlooked or even dismissed as unimportant in
the worlds history books, yet new evidence is revealing her to be the mother of what we call modern civilisati/on.
Here on this page, history is being re-written from earth science, emerging discoveries
in archaeology, ancient texts, linguistics and genetics.
Perhaps is was 5561BC as described in the book (
Migrations from India to the Mediterranean and beyond.
Mundigak was a large prehistoric town complete with what's been defined as a palace (image), an important cultural phenominon from the 5th-2nd millennia BC.
Whats significant here is that unlike the Indus region, administrative power was perhaps more centralised.
Officially, the beginnings of the Iron Age around the world dates to 1200 BC, however, the Iron Age in India clearly goes back to 2200 BC.
Archaeologists have found artefacts including knives and blades dated to this time. These findings clearly attest to India's ancient achievements in the field of metallurgy and push back the Iron Age in India.
C14 carbon studies performed by the metallurgists have shown that there were many other ancient mines from which silver, copper, tin, zinc and lead were produced.
Glass made at lothal and Baluchpura. From these representations it looks that glass was 'cast' rather than blown and may have been from an earlier time.
An early Greek coin discovered from Gandhara region,
dated 500-400 BCE. This is one of the earliest evidence for Hindu contacts with Greece, dating to pre-Alexandrian era.