Figure 1.--Modern Indians are very proud of their ancient heritage. The photograph here shows a school trip at Pancha Rathas (Five Rathas) in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu. The five temples are rock hewn jewels from the Pallava Kingdom. The monoliths date from the 7th century.

The Aryan dominance gave way with the age of empire which began about 500 BC. This was the India that Alexander the Great encountered. There were numerous empires in different regions of India. The political geography of the sub-Continent was quite complicated. The greatest of these empires was the The Gupta Empire well after Alexander's invasion (320 AD to about 500 AD). The Gupta Empire existed at about the same time as the final years of the Roman Empire in the the West. It controlled northern India. The Gupta Empire brought law and order to northern India. Elephants were incorporated into the imperial army. Some call the Gupta period, the "Golden Age" of ancient India. Some historians have described the Gupta Empire as the foundation of modern India. There was religious freedom and the Empire promoted education, literature and art. It was the Gupta who turned backed the fearsome Huns who so plagued European history. The Gupta was only the largest empire and located in northern India. There were many other important states, especially in the south as well as shorter lasting smaller kingdoms.

Aryans and Vedic culture (1500-500 BC)

Ancient India was conquered by the Aryans BC by the Aryans (about 1500). The actual chronology is the subject of considerable scholarly dispute. The Aryans were a nomadic people from from Central Asia. The fact that there are considerable similarities between Sandcript and European languages is strong evidence of an original aryan language. They entered the Indus Valley through the Khyber pass--the traditional invasion route into the Southern Asian sub-continent. As in so many cases, the Aryans were a war-like hearding people that conquuered a more sophisticated settled agaraian civilization. The Aryans employed carts and engaged in constant warfare. DNA evidence suggests that their numbers were realtively small as they have not left a substantial genetic imprint in modern India. The Aryans did not have sophisticated governmental structures and were instead still organized in tribal clans and warrior chiefs called rajas. They left few structures that archeologists could study. They did leave a rich set of stories at first sung and told orally. The principal Aryan beliefs as well as descriptions of daily life were set down in the Vedic Scriptures, a collection of poems and sacred hymns, about 1500 BC. Veda meant simply knowledge and include four parts: the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. The ancient warriors caste, the Kashtriya, are described in the Vedic scriptures. The theme of war between the powers of light and darkness is central to the ancient Aryan Vedic scriptures. Scholars see this as a literary expression of the conflict between light and dark skinned peoples. We have noted scholars questioning the standard Aryan invasion theory. [Frawley] We are not sure at this time if this is a rejection of the theory as it is not very politically correct or if there are well-grounded reasons for revaluating this theory.

The Persians

Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great Persian campaigned west of the Indus River 537 (BC). Darius follows Cyrus' incursions by conquering the Indus Valley in northwest India (517-509). The region becomes a province of th Persian Empire.

Alexander (327-323 BC)

The Aryan dominance gave way with the age of empire which began about 500 BC. This was the India that Alexander the Great encountered. There were numerous empires in different regions of India. The political geography of the sub-Continent was quite complicated, including a Persian occupied northwest. Alexander passed through the Indus Valley, the Persian controlled area of India. He installs Greek officials and introduces an Helinistic element to the culture of northwest India. Alexander died (323).

The Gupta (320 BC to about 500 AD)

Alexander's death creates the potential for an independent Indian state to fill the niche left by the Persians and Greeks. Chandragupta Maurya founds the Maurya dynasty, founding the first Indian empire. He centered his capital at Patna. He traded 500 war elephants to Seleucus in exchange for the Indus region and regions to the West. This was the area conquered by the Persians and Greeks. Ashoka was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya and most impressive ruler in the Maurya dynasty (273-32 BC). He implemented a series of reforms turning the growing Empire intom a powerful state. His edicts also broughtbabout moral reform basedv on his . His policy on reform flows from his Buddhist orientation. The Gupta suceeded in conquering most of India (by 184 BC). The Gupta Empire existed at about the same time as the final years of the Roman Empire in the the West. It controlled northern India. The Gupta Empire brought law and order to northern India. Elephants were incorporated into the imperial army. Some call the Gupta period, the 'Golden Age' of ancient India. Some historians have described the Gupta Empire as the foundation of modern India. There was religious freedom and the Empire promoted education, literature and art. It was the Gupta who turned backed the fearsome Huns who so plagued European history. The Gupta waa only the largest empire and located in northern India. There were many other important states, especially in the south as well as shorter lasting smaller kingdoms. The Maurya dynasty was ended when the last of the line is assassinated by an ambitious general (184 BC).

Pallavas (7th-9th centuries AD)

The Tamil speaking Pallava dynasty ruled much of southeastern India. his includef the Northern Tamil Nadu region and whole of Andhra Pradesh. The capital was at Kanchipuram. The name used for the dynasty was Sanskrit word meaning "branch". The Pallavas were an offshoot of the Satavahana rulers. They expanded their control into the Guntur region of Andhra Pradesh. The area even today continues to be knoen as Palnadu or Pallava Nadu. The Pallavas grew in importance after the decline of the Satavahanas of Andhra and decline of Cholas in Tamilnadu. The Pallavas patronized Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. The dynasty is particularly noted for some of the most illustrious Sanskrit poets (like Bharavi and Dandin) aswell as the seashore rock-cut temples of Mahabalipuram, known as Pancha Rathas (the Five Rathas) The ruise of the kingdom as a significasnt power occurred during the reign of Mahendravarman I (571–630 AD) and Narasimhavarman I (630–668 AD). They were a force in southeastern India (Telugu and northern parts of the Tamil region) for about 600 years, but only a major power for about 200 years. (7-9th century). The Pallavas were in constant conflict to states surrounding them to the north, west, and south. The most importat were the Chalukyas of Badami in the north and the Tamil kingdoms of Chola and Pandyas in the south. They ultimstely defeated by the expanding Chola Empire (9th century AD). Some sources describe Bodhidharma who founded the Zen school of Buddhism in China, as a prince of the Pallava dynasty/ He is said to be a contemporary of Skandavarman IV and Nandivarman I, and the son of Simhavarman II. There is, however, considerable schoolarly debate on this.

Chola (300 BC-1279 AD)

The Chola culture was the principal Tamil state of southern India. It existed for over a millenium, although the territory and importance varied greatly over time. The Chola extended both theough the anchientb and medieval era, although their golden age was during the medieval era bfore the arival of the Moguls and Europeans. The early history is not well documented, but inscriptions from the left by Asoka of the Maurya Empire mntion the Chola (3rd century BC). Chola was one of the three croned Tamil kings ( Chola, Chera and Pandya) which dominated the ancient Tamil lands. Medieval India was dominated by the Choula in the south and the Rajputs in the north. The most important dynasty during the medieval rose in southern India away from the Indus Valley in the north where civilization first appeared during the ancient era. The Cholas unlike other mahor dynasties (the Chalukyas, the Pallavas, the Pandyas or the Rashtrakutas) were a native dynasty not an invaduing force. The Deccan region was in chaos. The Deccan Plateau comprises much of southern Asia. The Cholas reduced the Pallavas to the status of minor vassals. The Rashtrakutas had declined, but a resurgent branch of the Chalukya family (the later Chalukyas) became an imortant regionalpower in the western Deccan. The Deccan region was contested by the later Chalukyas, the Yadavas in Devagiri (northern Deccan around Aurangabad), the Kakatiyas of Warangal (Andhra Pradesh) and the Hoysalas of Dorasamudra (Mysore). It was Cholas who ultimarely merged as unchallenged authorities in the south (900-1100 AD). The Chola heartland was the fertile Kaveri valley, but the Chola expanded over much of southern India at its peak. The Chola controlled India south of the Tungabhadra which they united for two and a half centuries and more. The Chola under Rajaraja Chola I and his son Rajendra Chola I, the became a dominant military, economic and cultural power throughout South Asia and projecting power into Southeast Asia. There were military expeditions north to the Ganges conducted by Rajendra Chola I, They occupied the maritime cities of Srivijaya. Chinese records report embassies from Chola. At its peak the Chola Empire extended from the islands of the Maldives in the south to as far north as the banks of the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh (1010-1200). Rajaraja Chola was the great warrior king of the Chola. It was he who conquered peninsular South India, annexed parts of the island of Ceylon/Sri Lanka,and the Maldives. Rajendra Chola even mounted military expedition to North India, reaching Ganges and defeated the Pala ruler of Pataliputra, Mahipala. The Chola then began to decline (early-13yj century). The rise of the Pandyas spelled the end of the Chola. The Chola are best known for their literature and architecture. Th Chola kings were great builders. The temples they built were designed as both religious and commercial centers. Tgeynalso left important works of Tamil literature. The Chola pioneered centralised government in South Asia and governed through a trained bureaucracy. Their influence to the eastcan be seen in the Malay chronicle 'Sejahrah Melayu' which reports that the rulers of the strategically placed Malacca Sultanate far to the east claimed to be descendants of the Chola Empire.