|
|
History of India
History is the study of the past. This study is based on the conclusions drawn from various sources. The most reliable of these sources exists as inscriptions, manuscripts, and other library sources.
Before the development of the art of writing there existed a period in the human story about which we know from Archaeology. Archaeology helps us to reconstruct the story of human existence from the remains discovered after digging in sites where original civilizations flourished.
The need to know the past is an inseparable part of the human endeavor into the future. The history of a place depends on the physical environment and it plays a decisive role in shaping it. The territory of India represents a geographical amalgamation of various features.
India represents a land of diverse cultural heritage. The civilization which flourished on the banks of the Indus proves its unique contribution to the history of the world.
Her role in the international affairs can be ascertained by the fact that today she adorns the crown of being the largest democracy in spite of her seventh position in size and second position in population.
The Indian sub continent has several distinct physical divisions. They can be classified under the following.
- The northern mountains( The Himalayan Mountains)
- The fertile plains of Ganga (The Indo- Gangetic Plain)
- The desert region (The Thar Desert)
- The coastal plains (The Eastern and the Western Coastal Plains)
- The plateaus (The Malwa, the Chotanagpur, the Deccan Plateau)
- The Islands ( The Andaman and Nicobar, the Lakshadweep Islands)
The high mountain ranges provides a distinct climate to the country. Besides being a source of water to the rivers that flow to the northern plains, it also provides a secure border for the country. The passes in the Northern mountains allowed both invaders and immigrants to come into India since ancient times. Thus the country witnessed a cultural nourishment, which resulted in enrichment and development of the diversity that is adorned across India.
The peninsula in the south bounded by the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian sea on the west presents the earliest geological structure.
The Great alluvial plains that extends from Punjab to Assam is a densely populated area and produces the major part of the country's food grains. This qualifies it to be called the 'food bowl of India". The coastline in India from the state of Gujarat to Bengal favoured trade and thereby led to the establishment of trade which in due course of time was transformed into centres of diplomacy. Owing to the barriers that made movement difficult, numerous independent political rule flourished in the ancient times and thrived unknown to civilization.
A study of Indian history will require an analysis of the sources from which its past is deduced. At many points of this continuous journey the continuity is hindered, with no way other than reconstructing with the help of controlled imagination and exaggeration, which today has became an accepted part of the Indian culture.
|
|