Five thousand years ago in the north-west of India (in Harappa and Mohenjo-Dahr) life was already a key, cities were built, traders traded, artisans produced elegant and useful things, cultural workers entertained the working people. The rest of the territory of India was deserted: rare tribes were in the Stone Age, and in the place of modern megacities and coastal resorts there were swamps and impassable jungles.

A thousand years passed - the ancestors of modern Indians began to slowly drain the swamps and cut through the virgin forests. After all, the Iron Age came, and people learned how to extract ore, produce iron and make tools out of it. Over the next five hundred years, virtually the entire Ganges valley was developed and populated.

Individual communities and small states were at enmity among themselves for access to the main waterway, until they were unified (by capture, of course) by the Magadha rulers. And on time!

In the fourth century BC, Alexander the Great invaded India. He easily captured the vicinity of the Indus, but the lands on the banks of the Ganges were not given to him. The Indian counterpropaganda worked out clearly and effectively: rumors of huge armies and thousands of ferocious war elephants forced the Macedonian army to openly disobey their leader Alexander had to reconcile and retreat to Persia

First Indian Empire

After retreat Alexander the Great, power in Madagha was captured by Chandragupta Maurya as a result of a bloody battle, in which a million people, one hundred thousand horses and ten thousand elephants took part. Thus, the first Indian empire was formed, the Maurya empire stretching from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal.

The Ashoka Board

The Empire grew and developed, the goods were transported along safe roads and rivers, diplomatic relations with neighbors allowed to maintain peace in the region. There was an era of prosperity, the highest point of which was the rule of Ashoka, who subdued a little more territory and actively spread Buddhism in the subordinate lands. As a progressive monarch Ashoka forbade forced labor, built universities and hospitals, fought for the preservation of the environment and rare species of animals.

Half a century after Ashoka's death, Mauryev's empire fell. During the parade, the last king Mauryev was murdered villainously by the commander of Shung, who proclaimed himself the founder of a new dynasty. Began the persecution of Buddhists, the destruction of churches. Fortunately, Shungi's power lasted only for a relatively short time.

Greeks and Scythians

The dynasty fell and the Indo-Greek kingdom arose in India. Over the next two centuries (180 BC - 10 CE), the Greeks ruled in India. They were swept away by a wave of Scythians coming from the north - an Indo-Scythian kingdom that existed until it was replaced by the Kushan kingdom.

Kushan kingdom

The first Kushan ruler Kujul Kadfiz modestly called himself king of kings . His son continued his daddies conquest, and as a result the empire seized the territories of modern Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern India . Caravans of spices, precious stones, sugar and ivory moved on land to Rome and China . Sea merchants arrived on their ships to Alexandria . There ozhnya became a significant source of income . Towns were built, and urban customs and habits were extended to the countryside . Buddhism, supported by the authorities, became the most popular religion . The empire lasted until the third century of the new era, and then slowly began to disintegrate .

@@ The "golden age" of India, the rule of the Gupta dynasty, began.