SOURCE
Now that India is giving birth to its twenty-ninth State, Telengana,it is worth remembering that ancient India had fifty-six kingdoms.
Some of them are quite large and were Empires, some small like the Chera Kingdom in Tamil Nadu.
It is interesting to note that these small kingdoms were as prosperous if not more than the large kingdoms’ say in the period of Ramayana,Mahabharata.
The Tamil Chera King, Perunchotru Udiyan Cheralathan fed both the armies of the Epic battle of Mahabharata.
For more details on this read my post on this,
He used to liaise with both the warring groups, such was the respect he commanded and so was his states prosperity.
Even During Ramayana period the prosperity of the smaller states were in evidence.
What i have gleaned from these and other historical facts, in India, Austrian Empire, i that a State is prosperous if the Government is good and there are development activities.
The academic discussion that large Sates have more resources at their disposal, smaller easy to administer …are mere arm-chair discussions.
i was curious to find how ancient Map of India looked like.
Here are some Maps of ancient India from the Ramayana, Mahabharata days.
For details of Kingdoms please check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharata_Khanda#The_boundaries_of_the_kingdoms
Bharatvarsha, India Timeline.
- . prehistoricHuman habitation of India.
- c. 5000 BCE – c. 1900 BCEThe Indus Valley (or Harappan) Civilization.
- c. 4000 BCEIndian village of Balathal inhabited.
- c. 3000 BCE – c. 2600 BCEThe rise of the great Indian cities of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa.
- 2000 BCEPepper is widely used in Indian cooking.
- c. 1700 BCE – c. 1500 BCEDecline of the Harappan Culture in India.
- c. 1700 BCE – 1100 BCEThe Rig Veda written, mentioning the god Rudra (Shiva) for the first time.
- c. 1700 BCE – 150 BCEThe Vedic Period in India.
- 1500 BCEThe Indus Valley is invaded by Aryans - nomadic northerners from central Asia.
- c. 1000 BCEThe Aryans expand into the Ganges valley inIndia.
- c. 700 BCEIndian scholars codify and reinterpret Aryanbeliefs to create the Upanishads texts forming the basis of Hinduism.
- c. 700 BCEIndia is divided into 16 Aryan states or kingdoms.
- c. 600 BCECharaka and Sushruta found two schools of Ayurveda.
- 599 BCE – 527 BCELife of Indian philosopher Vardhamana, founder of Jainism.
- 530 BCEPersia conquers the Indus Valley.
- c. 500 BCEThe kingdom of Magadha, ruled by Bimbisara, is the most powerful state in India.
- c. 490 BCE – 410 BCEThe life of Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha, founder of Buddhism. The traditional date for his birth is 563 BCE, although contemporary scholarly consensus places his birth c. 490 BCE.
- 327 BCE – 325 BCEAlexander’s campaign in northern India.
- 320 BCEChandragupta Maurya seizes the throne of Magadhan and expands the kingdom over northern and central India.
- 298 BCEIndian ruler Chandragupta Maurya dies.
- 298 BCE – 272 BCEChandragupta’s son, Bindusara, rules and expands the Maurya Empire.
- 273 BCE – 236 BCEAshoka, grandson of Chandragupta Maurya,conquers most of central and southern India.
- c. 269 BCEAshoka becomes emperor of the Maurya dynasty in India.
- c. 260 BCEIndian ruler Ashoka conquers the kingdom of Kalinga.
- 232 BCEIndian ruler Ashoka dies and the Mauryaempire declines.
- c. 200 BCEBeginning of the Greco-Bactrian conquests inIndia.
- 186 BCEDemetrios wins a decisive battle in Gandhara, beginning the Yona (or Greek era) in India.
- c. 165 BCEThe Greco-Bactrian king Eucratides invadesIndia.
- 160 BCE – 135 BCEIndo-Greek King Menander rules the Punjab.
- c. 130 BCEEucratids flee from Bactria to India. Rivalry between Eucratids and Euthydemids takes place in the Indo-Greek kingdoms.
- 30 BCEPepper is directly imported by Roman ships from India and its price decreases.
- c. 1 CEFirst non-stop voyages from Egypt to India.
- c. 1 CE – c. 100 CEThe Mahayana movement begins in India with its belief in bodhisattva – saintly souls who helped the living.
- 320 CEGupta I founds the Gupta dynasty which would rule India for 600 years.
- 380 CE – 415 CEReign of Chandra Gupta II in India.
- 450 CEIndia is invaded by the White Huns across theHindu Kush.
- c. 500 CE – c. 600 CEIn India the Tantric expands the number of deities to include helpful demons, contactable through ritual.
- c. 550 CEThe end of the reign of Visnugupta Chandraditya, last of the Gupta rulers in India.
- 712 CEMuslim general Muhammed bin Quasimconquers northern India.
No comments:
Post a Comment