इतिहास का परिचय

• The study of the past is called history
• Herodotus is known as the father of history
• History is divided into 3 periods: Prehistoric, Protohistoric, and Historic

Prehistoric Period

• This is the time when humans did not know how to read or write
• Information from this period comes only from archaeological evidence
• The Stone Age is part of this period
• Stone Age: Humans used stone tools and weapons during this time
• The Stone Age is divided into 4 parts:
• Paleolithic Period: The earliest period of history; humans were nomadic hunter-gatherers (food collectors), and their main goal was to get food like animals; the biggest achievement of this period was the discovery of fire
• Mesolithic Period: The period after the Paleolithic; human weapons were smaller; the main activity of humans was the funeral program
• Neolithic or Late Stone Age: Humans started living in permanent houses, and agriculture and animal husbandry also started; humans invented the wheel and beads in this period
• Humans began farming around 7000 BC between the hills of Suleiman and Kirthar in Pakistan, with the first crops being barley and wheat
• Copper Age: The last period of the Stone Age
• The discovery of copper during this time led to the start of industrialization
• The Indus Valley Civilization is a developed form of this industrialization
• Humans were hunters in the Paleolithic period
• The first evidence of rice was found in Koldihwa, Allahabad

Protohistoric Period

• Humans wrote in this period, but the script has not been deciphered
• Information from this period also comes from archaeological evidence
• The Indus Valley Civilization belongs to this period

Indus Valley Civilization

• This civilization was found on the banks of the Indus River, hence the name

• The first excavation for information about this civilization was done at Harappa, so it is also called the Harappan Civilization

• Charles Mason provided information about the Indus Valley Civilization

• James Cunningham conducted a survey of the Indus Valley Civilization

• The Indus Valley Civilization was spread over 1.3 million square kilometers

• John Marshall named the Indus Valley Civilization

• Daya Ram Sahni did the first excavation of the Indus Valley Civilization

• The Indus Valley Civilization has a triangular shape

• It was the first urban civilization in the world

• It developed from 2500 BC to 1750 BC

• The western boundary was in Sutkargendor, Pakistan, on the banks of the Dasht River

• The northern boundary was in Manda, Kashmir, on the banks of the Chinab River

• The eastern boundary was in Alamgirpur, Uttar Pradesh, on the banks of the Hindon River

• The southern boundary was in Daimabad, Maharashtra, on the banks of the Pravara River

Important Sites of the Indus Valley Civilization

• Harappa (1921): Excavated by Daya Ram Sahni; located on the banks of the Ravi River in the Mount Gomri district of Pakistan
• Items found at Harappa include the potter's wheel, granary, laborers' residences, idol of the mother goddess, wooden mortar, wooden coffin, R.H. 37 cemetery, skull of an elephant, and the Swastik symbol
• Mohenjo-daro (1921): Excavated by Rakhal Das Banerjee in 1921; located in the Larkana district of Pakistan on the banks of the Indus River
• It was the largest city of the Indus Valley Civilization
• A large mound of the dead was found here
• Items found here include priests' residences, wells in houses, a large bath, granary, cotton cloth, the widest road, assembly hall, Pashupati Shiva, a bronze dancer, and a pile of copper
• The granary of Mohenjo-daro is the largest building or structure of the Indus Valley Civilization
• Chanhudaro (1931): Excavated by Gopal Majumdar in 1931; located on the banks of the Indus River in Pakistan
• It is the only city without a fort
• It was an industrial city
• Items found here include makeup materials, lipstick, mirror, beads, doll, needle, decorated brick, and an image of a dog chasing a cat
• Ropar (1953): Excavated by Yagya Dutt Sharma in 1953; located on the banks of the Sutlej River in Punjab
• The bodies of humans and their pet animals were found here
• A similar corpse was found in Burzahom, Jammu and Kashmir during the Neolithic period
• Banawali: Excavated by Ravindra Singh; located in Haryana near the Rangoi River
• There was no water drainage system here, so pits were found in the houses; the roads here were crooked
• Kalibanga: Means black clay bangles
• Items found here include decorated bricks, bangles, plowed fields, plows, and havan kund (fire altars); located on the banks of the Saraswati (Ghaggar) River in Rajasthan
• Excavated by B.K. Thapar and B.B. Lal
• Dholavira: Located in Gujarat; the largest site of the Indus Valley Civilization
• Excavated by Ravindra Singh
• Surkotda: Located in Gujarat; remains of a pot containing ashes and bones of horses were found here
• Lothal: The port site of the Indus Valley Civilization
• A dockyard has been found here
• The doors of the houses here opened towards the streets
• A seal of Persia has been found here, which indicates foreign trade

Further Notes on the Civilization

• Double burials have been found here, which is a symbol of the Sati practice
• Rangpur: Located in Gujarat
• Rice husk has been found here
• The largest site of the Indus Valley Civilization is Dholavira (Gujarat + Pakistan)
• The largest site in India is Rakhigarhi (Haryana)
• The largest city of the Indus Valley Civilization is Mohenjo-daro

Characteristics of Indus Valley Civilization

• An urban civilization
• Roads cut each other at right angles and were in the east-west direction, which resulted in automatic cleaning of the roads by wind
• Drains were covered
• The main basis of the economy was agriculture
• Trade happened up to foreign countries
• The society was matriarchal
• Their script was pictorial, which has not been deciphered
• There was a picture of a one-horned animal on their seals
• No picture of cow was found on their seals
• The minimum weight for measuring was 16 kg
• The people of the Indus Valley Civilization were not familiar with wars or swords
• The biggest reason for the destruction of the Indus Valley Civilization is considered to be floods

Mesopotamian Civilization (10,000 BC)

• Developed in Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
• The soil here was highly fertile; it was a rural civilization; the main basis of its economy was agriculture
• The temples of this time were called Zigurads
• The Mesopotamian civilization consisted of 4 parts: Sumerian civilization, Babylonian Civilization, Assyrian Civilization, and Caldean Civilization
• The hanging garden is located in Babylon
• Sikandar destroyed this civilization and imposed Greek civilization in its place
• The first civilization in the world was the Mesopotamian civilization. The first urban civilization in the world was the Indus Valley Civilization

Egyptian Civilization (3100 BC)

• Located in the deserts of Egypt
• It is called the gift of the Nile River
• This civilization developed under the leadership of the Pharaoh
• Pyramids, solar calendars, and mummies were developed in this civilization; chemistry was strong in this civilization
• The pyramid of Giza is the most famous

Roman Civilization (600 BC)

• Developed in Italy
• They had control over the entire Mediterranean Sea
• The most developed civilization in ancient times
• Remains are still preserved, which are a tourist attraction
• The two biggest kings of this civilization were Julius Caesar and Augustus
• Julius Caesar was assassinated by his cabinet
• The play Julius Caesar was written by William Shakespeare

Persian Civilization (500 BC)

• It was in present-day Iran
• This civilization developed rapidly
• They had control over the entire Arabian Peninsula
• Their language was Persian and they believed in the Parsi religion
• Sikandar ended this religion

Sparta

• Famous for its brave soldiers
• A small area near Greece
• Only 300 soldiers of Sparta defeated 20000 soldiers of Greece under the leadership of Leonidas
• Zerkseiz was leading the huge army of Greece
• Zerkseiz defeated the Spartans by deceit

Yellow River Civilization

• Developed in China in 5000 BC
• Extends to the banks of the Hwang Ho River
• This civilization was famous for its fertile land

Historic Period

• Written sources are available about this period, and it has also been read
• It includes the time from the Vedic period till now

Understanding Inscriptions

• The study of inscriptions is called epigraphy

Key Inscriptions

• The practice of writing inscriptions began with the ruler Darius of Iran
• The first inscription was found in Bogazkoi, Turkey or Asia Minor
• Elephant Cave Inscription (Odisha): Written by Kalingaraj Kharvel; discusses the Kalinga War; the king of Kalinga was Nandraj at the time of the war
• Aihole Inscription (Rajasthan): Pulakeshin-II discusses the victory over Harshvardhan
• Junagadh Inscription (Gujarat): Rudradaman discusses Sudarshan Lake; the lake was built by Chandragupta Maurya
• Prayag Inscription (Allahabad): Samudragupta discusses his military campaigns
• Bhitari Pillar Inscription (Ghazipur U.P.): Skandagupta discusses the attack on the Huns
• Bihar Inscription (Bihar Sharif): Skandagupta discusses the Ashvamedha Yagya
• Devapada Inscription (Bangladesh): This is of Sen dynasty ruler Vijayasen
• Gwalior Inscription (Madhya Pradesh): of Pratihar ruler Bhoja
• Mandasor Inscription (MP): of Malwa ruler Yashovarman

Notes on Pillar Inscriptions

• These are tall like pillars
• Mehrauli Pillar Inscription (Delhi)-of Chandragupta-II (Vikramaditya)
• It has not rusted till date, that is, it is famous for its chemical properties
• Mathura Pillar Inscription (U.P.)-of Chandragupta-II Vikramaditya
• Tolerance is discussed in this; Eran Pillar Inscription (M.P.)-of Bhanugupta
• Sati practice is discussed in this
• Buddhist Pillar Inscription (M.P.)-of Vasudeva; discusses Shung dynasty
• Heliodorus/Garaddhwaj Pillar Inscription (M.P.)- Bhagbhadr gave information about Bhagavata Dharma
• Foreign travelers' description of India: Herodotos - Historica
• Megasthenes - Indica
• Periplus of the Erythraean Sea - Unknown
• Ptolemy - Geographica
• Pliny - Natural Historica
• Al Baruni - Kitabul-Hind/Tahkik-e-Hind
• Marco Polo - Chinese traveler
• Faxian - Fau-Kuo-Ki-Chandragupta-II
• Xuan Zang - Si-Q-Ki- Harshvardhan
• Faxian (399 AD): "Fau-Kuo Thi"(book) came to the court of Chandragupta-II (Vikramaditya)
• He has discussed the buildings and shells of that time
• Sung-Chun (512 AD): (China)- It is written in Bose of Bengal
• Xuanzang (629 AD): Si-Yu-Ki-He came to the court of Harshvardhan
• He studied and taught at Nalanda University
• He is called the prince of travelers
• Yijing (673 AD): Was a Chinese traveler
• He took 400 copies (Photocopy) of Tripitaka with him to China
• Ibn Battuta - He was from Morocco
• He traveled 7000 kms and came to the court of Muhammad bin Tughlaq
• His book was "Rehla"
• Abdul Razzaq - He was from Persia
• Came during the Vijayanagara period
• His book is Matla-e-Sahen/He came to the court of Krishnadeva Raya
• "Literary Sources": Written sources are called literary sources
• This is the largest source of information about ancient history
• Non-religious sources: Its relation does not remain with any religion
• Example: Economics
• Religious source: have relation with some or the other religion
• Non-Brahmin: Such source whose relation doesn't remain with Hindu religion it is called non-Brahmin
• Jain-literature: found in Prakrit language
• They are called Aagam/Udaharan: 12 Ang ,12 Upang, Aadharang Sutra , Bhagvati Sutra, Mool-Sutra, etc. ancient Puran
• Baudh literature: Baudh literature is found in Pali language

More Sources

• In the Jatak text there are 200 stories of the previous birth of Mahatma Buddha
• In Lalit Vistaar there is complete biography of Mahatma Buddha
• Anguttara Nikaya mentions 16 Mahajanpads
• The most sacred book of Buddhism is Tripitak, which is a group of 3 books
• Sut Pitak-It is the biggest Pitak
• It is called the Encyclopedia of Buddhism
• Vinay Pitak-It is the smallest Pitak
• The discussion about the entry in Baudh religion is done in it

More Notes

• Abhimma Pitak- in it the philosophical thoughts of Mahatma Buddha is discussed

• Veda

• Rigveda: Knowing, Dyetrey, Kaushitki, Aitreya, Ayurveda, Prajapati

• Samaveda: Knowing, Audgata, Panchavish, Gandharva Veda, Narad

• Yajurveda: Knowing, Arbu, Taitareya, Shatapatha, Dhanurveda, Vishwamitra

• Atharvaveda: Brahma, Gopath, Shlyadev, Vishwakarma

• Vedas- The Vedas have been composed by God

• Therefore, the Vedas are called Apaurusheya

• In the Gupta period, Krishna Dwaipayan i.e Vyas compiled (Collection) the Vedas

• Initially the number of Vedas was 3, hence the Veda was called Trayi

• Atharva Veda was included later so it is not kept in Vedatrayi

• Rigveda- There are 10 Mandals, 1028 Suktas and 10580 Richa-es in it

• Because of the abundance of Richa-es, it is called Rigveda

• It is the most ancient and the largest Veda

• The Gayatri Mantra is discussed in it, which is dedicated to the Sun God

• Shudra was used for the first time in the Rigveda

• The 2nd and 7th Mandal of Rigveda are old because its compilation was done earlier

• The 1st and 10th Mandal is new because its compilation has been done later

• The 9th Mandal discusses the god Soma

• The knower of Rigveda is called Dyetri

• The subveda of Rigveda is Ayurveda, in which there is a discussion of medicine. Its knowledgeable is called Prajapati

• "Samaveda" - there are 1875 mantras in it

• But in reality only 99 mantras are of Samaveda

• The rest of the mantras have been taken from the Rigveda

• The 7 notes Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni of Indian music are discussed in Samaveda

• These songs are sung at the time of Yagya

• The Samaveda scholar is called Udgata

• The upveda of Samaveda is Gandharveda

• The number of Upanishads are 108, but only 13 Upanishads are recognized

• Brihad Narayana Upanishad- This is the largest and the most ancient

• Kathopanishad-The discussion of Yam and Nachiketa is there in it

• The importance of 'ॐ' word has been explained in it

• Mundakopanishad- Satyamev Jayate is discussed in it

• Jabalopanishad- Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh i.e Tridev is discussed in it

• Allopanishad- It is the latest Upanishad

• Its composition was done with Akbar

Ancient History

• The name from Vedic Kaal is taken
• Vedic age began from 1500 BC to 600 BC

Rig Vedic Age

• Started in 1500 BC and extended to 1000 BC

Uttar Vedic Age

• It began in 1000 BC and persisted till 600 BC

• Vedic society was established by Aarya's

• Aarya's arrived from middle East/Asia

• Aarya's language was Sanskrit which was language of Gods, so Aarya's thought they were superior

• The people that didn't know Sanskrit were called Anaarya or lower

• Aargikaran of southern India was done by August Rishi

• Aargikaran of North India was done by king videh/videha's Pandit Gautam Rahugarh

• The most beloved animal at the time was cow

• Which was signal of prosperity

• Penalty for killing cow was death

• Main aim of king was searching for cow (Gavishti)

• Basic aim of economy was agriculture

• Veddic Society was urban

• Veda in 7th Mandal is Dasharaj Yuddh, which was between Aarya and Anaarya

• Aarya won

• The tribe/dynasty of aarya was bharat

• Determination of caste/religion started on the basics of work, and character

• River in vedic time-

• Jhelam – Vitasta

• Chinab – Askini

• Ravi-Puroshni

• Gandak – Sadaneera

• Sarusvati – Ghagghar

• Sindhu- Sindh

• God /deities of vedic time

• Indra, the most important of all

• Reference of whom happens the most number of times

• Agni

• Soma – the lord of the jungle/forest

• Rudra – the most angry of all deities

• Basic structure of Vedic society

• The biggest god was appointed with elections

• Organisation of vedic time

• Shabha(lower)

• 8 times

• Simiti( higher )

• 9 times

• Viddh–most important

• 122

• Sabha/ simiti

• Had permission for females to even participate

• Basic unit of every society was Village

• And his owner/ruler of village was gramic

• Biggest unit was Jan, head of gram/jan was rajin

• Change in agriculture with discovery of iron in Later vedic time

• Society started being more toward urban civilization

Historic Period

• That is from vedic culture era until the Rajputs kingdom

Difference in Vedic Society and Harappan Society

• Harappan
• Urban
• Mother as the prime
• Bull prime
• Harappan society was known for their planning
• There was no war

Vedic Society

• Rural
• Vedic society was focused/ prime for father
• Society war and fight for Cow

Key Religious Teachings

• Jain religion teaches of non stealing

• Not collecting wealth

• Truthfulness

• Celibacy

• Buddhism

• In that gautama Buddha was the head /preacher

• Did not let women teach

• Gautam Budh left his home at the age of 29 and took 6 years for his spiritual learning at Sarnath

• There were some saying that women is equal

• Buddhism also believes in salvation in the end

• There is one true path and follow it with your hearts intention

• And control your desires with meditation