IMTP

Topic: Discovery of India

Akshay Kakade

Harappan Civilization
Introduction/History:

Harappan civilization that is harappan cukture is also known as Indus

Valley Civilization.Indus Valley which is in pinjab and sindh.the two
greatest cities are Mohenjo-daro and harappa.Its location is at Sahiwal
District,Punjab,Pakistan.It is an archaeological site.this site takes it name
from the modern village located near the former course of Ravi River.Right
now the actual harappa village is 6km from the ancient site.it also has a
legacy railway station from the period of british.harappa civilization
wasdeveloped in the old bronze age.
there were evacuation which led to discovery of many
artifacts such as harappanseals bearing Indus inscriptions, weighing
stones, terracotta figurines, and shades of pottery vassels.infact harappan
jewelery has also been found at many of these sites.the harappans were
skilled artists and artisans.there is ample evidence of trade with distance
cities such as sumer and other mesopotamian settlements.
the harappans had a fully functional drainage system
and streets and buildings were build in a grid like pattern.the also had a
well constructed large public baths that is used for religious rituals.the
studies hav said that they were ruled by military rulers but rather than
goverend by military rulers the cities were ruled by wealthy traders and
religious leaders.the harappans used to seals to exhibit their powers.
It is often described with the Indus Valley scripts and
portrayed a variety of animals. a number of inscribed seals also include
swastika symbols. some of the excavated seals and tablets even depict
narratives and religious figures. this civilization has a larger population
than any of the contempory civilization. The harappan civilization
experienced its height around 2500BC and began to decline about
2000BC.
Some of the theory suggest that the Aryan people
migrated into this area. Aryan religious texts and human remains in
Mohenjodaro suggest that the Aryans may have violently entered the
area, killing its inhibitants and burning the cities.

Culture and economy:

Indus Valley civilization wasmainly an urban sustained by surplus
agricultural production and commerce, the later including trde with sumer
in southern mesopotamia.the greatest cities like mohenjodaro and
harappa were use tho have different living quarters, flat roofed brick

houses and fortified administrative or religious centers.distinctive seals

were used among the other applications perhaps for identification of
property and shipments of goods.although coper and bronze were used.
there were charts weight and measures and on the other
hand they were highly standardized, and confrim to a set scales of
gradations.iron was not yet employed.Cotton was woven and dyed for
clothing.wheat, rice and a variety of vegetables were cultivated.a number
of animals were there in cluding humped bull, were domesticated as well
as fowl of fighting.
Wheel made potteruy and geometric motifs were there.these
harappans had many trade routes along the indus river that went as far as
the Persian Gulf, mesopotamia, and egypt.the harappn society was not
fully peaceful with the human skeletons remains demonstrating some of
the hightest rate of injury.
Paleopathlogical analysis demonstrated that leprosy and
tuberculosis were persent at harappa with highest prevalence rate of both
the disease and trauma present in the skeleton.the rates of cranio facial
trauma and infection increased through time, demonstrating that the
civilization collapsed amid illness and injury.the combimed evidence for
differnces in mortuary treatment and epidimology inducate that some
individuals and communities at harappa were excluded from access to
basic resources like health and safety, a basic feature of hierarchical
societies world wide.
Economy of harappa people was mainly based on trade which
is external.it was basd on dom,estics animals, particularly on zebu cattle,
and on a variable agriculture of growing pulses, cereals and other
plants.there was mixed farming.this mixed farming was highly profitable
as rains and other local water resourses supported farming in the
region.coastal settlemments took advantage of marine resourses such as
shelfish, which provide not only food but also shells an important
resourses for making ornaments.raising livestock was useful investment
against the crops failure.in the drought season the agriculture activities
use to decreases and the grazing animals activities was increased and
also the products too increased.
In the mansoon years crops yeild very high and grazing
was good and the number of animals was also use to increased .inlean
years when grazing was limited the additional animal could either be
killed for food or use to obtain for food stuffthe faunal material was one of
the beast sources of information.

At harappan settlements cattle occur in great density and

accounts for about 40-70 percent of the total animals founddomestic pigs
outnumbers the other animals.in addition various corvine kinds also
supplemented their diet by affording exploitionof their secondary
products.most of the proximal and distal long boneswere damaged por
consumed as those were not occured in the collectiion.cattle bones were
used as jaw fragments and isolated molars and phalanges.
The presence of bones of various agr groups within the cattle
assemblage indicates their optimal food yeilding capacity.it assumesthat
the young one was slaughter first most probably the males, females and
few other males probably maintained for the purpose of milking, breeding
as a drought animals. Hunting of wild animals was common.
The animals like tiger, jungle cat, jackal, sambar, leopard, wild
pig, wolf, etc.these came to known because of the harappa various sites
where there was animals bones been found.the played really a good and
important role in food economy.the harappans was also fully familiar with
tiger and rhinoceros.
Every harappan site sthere were 10 to 40 percent of bones
that too wild bones were found.many arrows and spears were recovered
from several harappan site.these twoweapons were the major weapons
used for hunting by the harappan.the metal objects lead us tointer that a
group of specialist classes were there in the harappan population.
Environment played an important role in regulating the
sociology of huntingas paractice by harappan.except the concerted
attempt made by a number of able bodies at a time, it is almost
impossible to trace and kill a pig or a wild buffalo in the virgin tropical
rain forest region .
The only direct evidence of the practrice of the harappan
agriculture come fromplouged filed of kalibanga belonging to the early
harappan period.the harappan cultivated bread wheat, barley, sesame,
sorghum, peas, melons, dat palm, rice, milets and cotton.the size of
harappan town itself indicates that it was plough agriculture dependence
on bullocks for drought.evidence regarding the harappan culture are
constituted byb the food grain and fibers and from poteries, granaries,
terracotta toys and ornaments recovered n excavations.

Gupta Empire
Introduction.
The gupta empire is the most ancient indian empire.teh
capitalof this empire is Pataliputra.mostlythe languages which use to be
spoken were sanskrit for literacy and acedemiv front and prakrit as a
vrenacular language.theier religion was Hindu, Buddhism and jainism.the
founder of this empier was sri gupta which existed at uits zenith from
approximately 320to 550 CE and covered much of iundian sub continent.
This period is also called as golden age of indiaand was marked
by extensive inventions and discoveries in science and techonology,
engineering, art, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion, literature and
philosophyby all such element it is generally known as hondu culture.the
rulersof the gupta destiny were chandra gupta I, samudragupta II and
chandragupta II.The scholars of those period was kalidasa, aryabhatta,
varahamihira, vishnu sharma and vatsyayana who had done great work in
the acedemic fields.
The feturesthey were having were cultural creativity and
magnificent architecture, sculptures and paintings. there was trade which
made the region an important culture center. The near by regions and the
kingdoms were burma, sri lanka, southeast asia.later ion these gupta were
ultimately ousted by vardhana ruler harsha eho establised his empire in
first half of the 7th century.
The hindu epic writings ramayana and mahabbarata were
completed and spread to all inthe empire.hindu temple and shrines were
built throughout the lands build by the guptas.sanskrit, poetry and drama
had an importance in the gupta period know as classical age of indian
culture and arts.later on arab traders adopted this revolutionary concept
and passedthis mathematical system to the europeans.
Wars of succession and invasions from the hunas [ephthalite
or white huns] resulted in the gradual declineof the gupta empire.the

empire split up but gupta ruler continued to rule magadha in the minor
capacity until 720.
Origin of the guptas.
Culture and lifestyle of the gupta dynasty was well known through the
avaliability of various ancient coins, scripyures, inscriptions,
texts,etc.belonging to that area.gupta rulers were good efficient
conquerors and good administrators who knew how tho govern.it was a
long and efficient rule has amde ahuge impact on a policatl, social, and
culturtal sphere in the history of ancient india.
Aryabhatta and vrahamihira the two great mathematician
contributed in the field of vedic maths.aryabhatta founded and estimated
the value of Pi to the fourth decimal scalealgebra was developed to a
great extent.infinity was also found and the symbol of 1 to 9 were
devised.advances in astronaomy was also on the heights of the gupta
age.the theory of gravity was also found during this period.the field of
medicine aklso advances a lot and doctors used to perform operations.the
magnificants work were famous painting of the caves ajanta, the sarnath
temple, the doegarh dashavatara temple panels and the udaygiri varaha
cave are some of the marvellous coonstruction of the gupta age.
There was military organisation also.gupats have achieved immense
success with the force of armswhich would not be possibkle without the
martial system.chariots were used heavily byb the time of the gupta.they
depend mostly on the infantry archers, and the bow was the dominat
weapons of the army.gupats army was more disciplined.the also had a
naval commando to control the regional waters.
Gupta dynasty was a vaishya dynasty.there is a contraversy among the
scholars abouth the original homeland of gupta.jaiswal as pointed out that
gupta are original inhibitant of prayaga[allahabad], uttarpradesh .other
scholars says that gupta was antarvedi embracing the region of oudh and
prayag.and many theories went on.due to all such theories conflicts were
made.
Srigupta and ghatotkacha:
Ghatotkach was the son of srigupta.he ruled probably from the year c.280
to 319.chandragupta I and ghatotkach are referred as maharaja .guota
establisged and ruled a few small hindu kingdomsin magadha and
around modern day bihar.
Chandragupta I:

Ghatotkach had named his son candragupta.in the

breakthriugh deal chandragupta was married to kumaradevi a lichchhavi
princess the main poer of the magadha.with a dowry of the kingdom
magadha.he set his power to be extended conquering much of magadha,
prayaga and saketa.he also established a strtching from the ganga river to
prayaga by 321
Samudragupta
He ruled foe about 45years.he took kingdoms of ahichahhatra
and padmavati early in his reign. he then attack the malvas, the
yaudheyas, the arjunayanas, the muduras and the abhiras all of which
were tribes in india.he gave hoimself tyhe title of king of kings and world
monarch.vincent smith had described him as an indian napoleon.he
performed ashwamedha yajna inwhich a horse with a army uis sent to all
near by territories to friend and foes.
The stone replica of the horse then prepared is in the lucknow
museum.samudragupta was not only a talented military leader but also a
great patron of art and literature.he was poet and musician himself.he was
a firm beliver in hinduism and is known to have worship lord vishnu.he
was considerate of other religion and allowed srilankas buddhist king
sirimeghvanna to build a monestery bodh gaya.he provided a gold railing
around the bodhi tree.
Gupta adminstration:
The empire wascalled by various names such as rajya, rashtra, desha,
mandala, prithiv and avni.there were provinces which were divided into 26
which were styled as bhukti, pradesha and bhoga.these provincese were
also divided into vishayas and was put under control of vishayapatis.a part
of vishaya was called vithi.
Legacy of the gupta empire:
Aryabhatta and varahamihira who believed to be the first to come up with
the concept of zero.he also postulated that the earth moves around the
sun and stidied solar and lunar eclipses.kalidas was a great play writer
who wrote shakuntala.the famous shushruta samhita came from the
gupta.chess is originated from this period.he also discovered that moons
and planets shine by reflection of sunlight.
Maurya empire.
The capital of maurya empire is patalipura.the languages
were used were old indic language.it is an iron ahe historical power in

ancient india,ruled by maurya dynasty from 322 to 185 BCE.the empire

was found by chandragupta maurya who had overthrown the nanda
dynasty and rapidlyexpanded his power westwards across central and
western india alongside chanakyas help.chandragupta defeted the
invasion led bt seleucus I.
This was the kargest enpire of the world in its time.it
declined for about 50 years after ashokas rule ended and it dissolved in
185BCE with the foundation of shunga dynasty in magadha.after the war
of kalinga the empire experienced the peace and security under
ashoka.mauryan indian also enjoyed an era.chandragupta maurya
embrace of jainism increased social and religious renewal and reform
across his society, while ashoka embrace of buddhism.the population was
50 to 60 milion making the maurya empire one of the most populous
empire of antiquity.the lion capital of ashoka at sarnath has beren made
the national emblem of india.
History:
Maurya empire was founded by candragupta maurya with the helpof
chanakya.chanakya swore revenge and vowed todestroy thje nanda
empire.chanakya traveled magadha but was insulted by its king dhana
nanda of nanda dynasty.chandragupta maurya rise topoer is shrouded in
mystery and controversy.a kshatriya clan known as mauryas are reffered
to in the earliest buddhist texts.chandragupta first emerge in greek
accounts as sandrokottos.as a young man he is said to have met the
alexander.chanakya original intention waere to trained a guerilla army
under chandraguptas command
Conquest of magadha:
Using the intelligence chandragupta gathered many young men across
magadha and other provinces, oppressive rule of the king dhana plus the
resourses necessary for this army to fight a long series of
battles.mauryas general and spies meanwhile bribed the corrupt general
of nanda.he created the atmosphere of civil war in his kingdom.he also
managed to win over popular sentiment.chandragupta was the new king
of magadha.chandragupta established a strong centralized state with an
administrator at pataliputra.bindusara son of chandragupta extended the
rule of mauryan empire towards southern india.he also had a greek
ambassador at his court named deimachus strabo.
Bindusara:
At the age of 22 years old inherited a large empire that consisted of what
is now nothern, central and eastern parts of india along with the parts of

afganistan and baluuchistan.he brought sixteen states under maurya

empire and conqured almost all of them.bindusara son ashoka led the
further empire
Ashoka:
A young prince and as well as a brilliant commander who crushed
revoltsin taxila and ujjain.he was aggressive as well as ambitious.ashoka
embrassed the techings of buddhism and renounced war and violence. He
also send his missionaries to asia and aslo spread the buddhism in other
countries.ashoka had a principle of ahimsa by banning hunting and
violent sports activity.he undertook a masive public work building
campaign across country.ashoka was the one of the most successful and
famous monarachs in indian history.
Economy:
Farmers were freed of tax and crops collection burdens from regional
kings, paying.there was increased in the agriculture
productivity.chandragupta maurya establisheda single currency across
india and a network of regional governer and adminstrative and a civil
service provide security and justice for merchants , farmers and
traders.maurya also sponsered many works waterway to enhance
productivity.he coin had a sliver punch mark ofthe maurya empire with
the symbol of wheel and elephant.ashoka alsosponsered thousand of
roads as a construction as well as waterways, canals, hosdpitals, rest
houses and oyher public works.
Religion:

1. Hindusim:
This was a major religion at that time hindu priest and the minister were
the imptortant part of the emperors court.though embrassing bhuddism
ashoka retained the member ship of hindu brahmana priests and
ministrer in his court. There disgraced of the caste system and orthodox
discrimination.maurya society bagen to embracing the philosophy of
ahimsa.they started giving the increased prosperity and improved law
enforcement.mauryas began to absorb the ideals and values of jain and
buddhist teachings.
2. Buddhism:
The birth place of buddhism was the magadha .ashoka initially practiced
hindusim but later turn towards buddhism following the kalinga

war.ashoka son name aws mahinda.ashoka sent his son mahinda and
daughter sanghamitta to sri lanka.the king tissa was very charmed with
the buddhist ideas and so he adopted buddhism in his state and also as
areligion.he has built as many as stupas that is around 84,000 stupas
across india.ie sanchi and mahabodhi temple.he also increased the
popularity of buddhism in afghanistan, thailand and north asia including
siberia.
3. Jainism:
Chandragupta maurya embraced jainism after retiring.chandragupta was
a discipline of jain monk,bhadrabahu.it is said that inhis last days he
observed the rigorous but self purifying jain ritual of santhara.samprati
grandson of ashoka also embraced jainism.he was influenced by the
jainmonk and he is know to have buiklt 125000 derasars across india.thus
jainism became the vital force under yhe maurya rule.
Architectural remains:
Kumhrar the old place site is the greatest monument.the place is thought
to have been an aggregrated of buildings.the pillars were set in a row
which are regular rows thus dividing the hall into a number of smaller
square bays.the number of columns is 80 each about 20 high.the buildings
stood inextensive parkstudded with fish ponds and furnished with agreat
variety of monumental tress and shrubs.later fragments of stone pillars
including one nearly complete with their round tapering shafts and
smooth polish indicate yhat ashoka was responsible for the construction of
the stone coloumns which replaced the earlier wooden ones.

Mughal empire
Introduction:
The mughal empire or moguk empire self designated as gurkani.gurkani
wasthe empire in the indian subcontinent.it was established by the
muslim persianate dynasty of chagatai turco mongol origin which got
extended over the partsof indian subcontinent and afghanistan.the
capitals of mughal empire was agra, fatehpur sikri, lahore and delhi.the

languages the poeple use to say was chagatai turkic initially and persian
was official and court language.and the people used to speak urdu
language.their religion was islamic.
The empire is been dated to the founder baburs victory over
ibrahim lodi.ibrahim lodi was the last ruler of the delhi sultanate in the
first battle of panipat.classic period of the mughal empire started in the
year 1556 with the ascension of akbar the great tothe throne.akbar
sonwas named as jahangir.during the rule of akbar and jahangir the region
enjoyed religious harmony , economic progress and the monarchs were
interested in the local religion and cultural traditions.rajput kingdoms
continued to pose a threat to the mughal empire.
All the mughal empire was muslim.the shah jahan reign
came. he was the fifth empire. this was the golden age of the Mughal
architecture. He erected several monuments out of which taj mahal at
agra, jama masjid, moti masjid, red fort Lahore fort are there.in the mid 18
centuries the Marathas has routed the mughal armies. they also won the
provinces from punjab to bengal.due to the weakness of the Mughal
empire administrative and economic system leading to breakup of the
empire and declaration of independence of its former provinces by the
nawab of bengal, nawab of awadh, the nizam of hyderabad and other
small states.
During the following century the mughal power became
severely limited and the last emperor, bahadur shah II,had authority over
shahjahanabad.the last remnants of the empire were formally takenover
by the british and the government of india act 1858 let the british crown
formally assume direct control of india in the form of the new british raj.
HISTORY:
The mughal empire was founded by Babur. The second ruler of the mughal
empire ruler was genghis khan on his mother side.babur turned toindia to
satisfy his ambitions. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed
steadily southward into India from afghanistan through the khyber
pass. Babur's forces occupied much of northern India after his victory
at panipat in 1526. The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns,
however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had
made in India.
The instability of the empire became evident under his
son, humayun, who was driven out of India and into Persia by
rebels. Humayun's exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the
safavid and Mughal Courts, and led to increasing Persian cultural influence

in the Mughal Empire. The restoration of Mughal rule began after

Humayun's triumphant return from Persia in 1555, but he died from a fatal
accident shortly afterwards. Humayun's son, akbar, succeeded to the
throne under a regent, bairam khan, who helped consolidate the Mughal
Empire in India.
Akbar's son, jahangir, ruled the empire at its peak, but he was
addicted to opium, neglected the affairs of the state, and came under the
influence of rival court cliques. During the reign of Jahangir's son, shah
jahan, the culture and splendour of the luxurious Mughal court reached its
zenith as exemplified by the taj mahal. The maintenance of the court, at
this time, began to cost more than the revenue.
Through warfare and diplomacy akbar was able to extend the empire in
all directions and controlled godavari river.shah jahan eldest son dara
shikoh became regent in 1658 as a resuly of his fatehers illness.however a
younger son auranzeb allied with islamic orthodoxy against his
brother.aurangzeb defeated dara in 1659.shah jahan fully recovered from
his illness.aurangzeb declared him as a imcompetent to rule and had him
imprisoned.aurangzeb expanded the empire almost the whole of south
asia but after his death many parts were revolt.son of aurangzeb shah
alam repealed the religious policies of his father and attempted to reform
the adminstration.
Art and culture of south asian:
A major Mughal contribution to the Indian subcontinent was their unique
architecture. Many monuments were built by the Muslim emperors,
especially shah jahan, during the Mughal era including the UNESCO world
heritage site taj mahal, which is known to be one of the finer examples of
Mughal architecture. Other world heritage site includes. Humauyns tomb,
Fatehpur sikri, the Red fort, the Agra fort, the Agra fort and the Lahore
fort. The palaces, tombs, and forts built by the dynasty stand today in
agra, delhi aurangabad, dhaka, fatehpur sikri, lahore, jaipur, kabul,
sheikhupura and many other cities of india, pakistan, afghanistan and
bangladesh.
Contribution are as followes:

There was art and culture which was persian amalgamated with the
indian art culture.

There were new trade routes from arab and turkic lands.

The government was centralised and imperialistic by this smaller

kingdoms was brought together.

Mughal gardening and landscape.

The mughal painters borrowed the individual motifs and certian

naturalistic effects from the renaissance and mannerist paintings.
URDU LANGUAGE:
Although Persian was the dominant and "official" language of the empire,
the language of the elite later evolved into a form known as urdu. Highly
Persianized and also influenced by Arabic and Turkic, the language was
written in a type of persio arabic script known as nastaliq, and with
literary conventions and specialised vocabulary being retained
from persian, arabic, turkic; the new dialect was eventually given its own
name of Urdu.
Bengali calendar and economy:
The economic power house of mughal empire was bengal subah.the
calendar played a vital role in developing and organising harvest, tax
collection and bengali culture in general including new year and autumn
festivals.the provinces was a leading procedure of grains, salts, pearls,
fruits,liquors and wines, precious metals and ornaments.its handloom
industry flourished under royal warrants making worldwide muslim
trade.nawabs permitted europeans companies to set up trading post
across the region including firms from british, france, denmark, the
netherlands, portugal and austria-hungary.europeans regarded bengal as
the richest place for the trade
Mughal society:
There were maktabs were the youth were thought quran and islamic law.
The Mughals maintained a small fleet, which merely carried pilgrims to
Mecca, imported a few Arab horses in surat. Debal in sindh was mostly
autonomous. The Mughals also maintained various river fleets of dhows,
which transported soldiers over rivers and fought rebels. Among its
admirals were yahya saleh, munnawar khan and muhammad saleh
kamboh. The Mughals also protected the siddis of janjira. Its sailors were
renowned and often voyaged to China and the East African Swahili Coast,
together with some Mughal subjects carrying out private-sector trade.

The Indian economy remained as prosperous under the Mughals as it was,

because of the creation of a road system and a uniform currency, together
with the unification of the country.
Manufactured goods and peasant-grown cash crops were sold throughout
the world. Key industries included shipbuilding (the Indian shipbuilding
industry was as advanced as the European, and Indians sold ships to
European firms), textiles, and steel.
Sience and techonology:

Astronomy:
Humayun built a personal observatory near delhi.the instruments and
observational techiques used at the mughal obsevatories were mainly
derived from the islamic tradition.
Alchemy:
Sake dean mahomed learned much of mughal alchemy and understood
the techniques used to produce various alkali and soaps to produce
shampoo.he was appointed as a shampooing surgeon.
Technology:
Fathullah shirazi C 1582, a Persian polymath and mechanical engineer
who worked for Akbar, developed a volley gun
Akbar was the first to initiate and use metal cylinder rockets known
as bans particularly against war elephants, during the Battle of Sanbal.

MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATION
INTRODUCTION:
This medieval period includes the prehistoric settlements and societies in
the indian subcontinents; the blending of the indus valley civilization
and indo-aryan culture into the vedic civilization. A sophisticated and
technologically advanced urban culture developed in the mature
harappana period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE. This civilisation collapsed at
the start of the second millennium BCE and was later followed by the iron
age vedic civilization, which extended over much of the indo genetic
plan and which witnessed the rise of major polities known as the
mahajanpadas.
History:
For a period that has come to be so strongly associated with the Islamic
influence and rule in India, Medieval Indian history went for almost three
whole centuries under the so-called indigenous rulers, that included the
Chalukyas, the Pallavas, the Pandyas, the Rashtrakutas, the Muslims rulers
and finally the Mughal Empire. The most important dynasty to emerge in
the middle of the 9th century was that of the Cholas.
Palas:
Between 8th and 10th centuries A.D., a number of powerful empires
dominated the eastern and northern parts of India. The Pala king
Dharmpala, son of Gopala reigned from the late 8th century A.D. to early

9th century A.D. Nalanda University and Vikramashila University were

founded by Dharmpala.
Senas
After the decline of the Palas, the Sena dynasty established its rule in
Bengal. The founder of the dynasty was Samantasena. The greatest ruler
of the dynasty was Vijaysena. He conquered the whole of Bengal and was
succeeded by his son Ballalasena. He reigned peacefully but kept his
dominions intact. He was a great scholar and wrote four works including
one on astronomy. The last ruler of this dynasty was Lakshamanasena
under whose reign the Muslims invaded Bengal, and the empire fell.
Pratihara
The greatest ruler of the Pratihara dynasty was Mihir Bhoja. He recovered
Kanauj (Kanyakubja) by 836, and it remained the capital of the Pratiharas
for almost a century. He built the city Bhojpal (Bhopal). Raja Bhoja and
other valiant Gujara kings faced and defeated many attacks of the Arabs
from west.
Between 915-918 A.D, Kanauj was attacked by a Rashtrakuta king, who
devastated the city leading to the weakening of the Pratihara Empire. In
1018, Kannauj then ruled by Rajyapala Pratihara was sacked by Mahmud
of Ghazni. The empire broke into independent Rajput states.
Rashtrakutas .
This dynasty, which ruled from Karnataka, is illustrious for several reasons.
They ruled the territory vaster than that of any other dynasty. They were
great patrons of art and literature. The encouragement that several
Rashtrakuta kings provided to education and literature is unique, and the
religious tolerance exercised by them was exemplary.
The chola empire of south .
It emerged in the middle of the 9th century A.D., covered a large part of
Indian peninsula, as well as parts of Sri Lanka and the Maldives Islands.
The first important ruler to emerge from the dynasty was Rajaraja Chola I
and his son and successor Rajendra Chola. Rajaraja carried forward the
annexation policy of his father. He led armed expedition to distant lands of
Bengal, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
The successors of Rajendra I, Rajadhiraj and Rajendra II were brave rulers
who fought fiercely against the later Chalukya kings, but could not check
the decline of Chola Empire. The later Chola kings were weak and
incompetent rulers. The Chola Empire thus lingered on for another century

and a half, and finally came to an end with the invasion of Malik Kafur in
the early 14th century A.D.
Prehistoric period :Stone age period:
The civilisation was primarily located in modern-day India (gujarat, punjab,
rajasthan provinces) and Pakistan (sindh, punjab,
and balochistan provinces). Historically part of ancient india, it is one of
the world's earliest urban civilisations, along with Mesopotamia and
Ancient Egypt. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley, the
Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft
(carneol products, seal carving), and produced copper, bronze, lead, and
tin.
Medieval and early modern periods:
The Medieval and Early Modern periods in India is defined by the
disruption to native Indian elites by Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans;
leading to the rajput resistance to muslim conquests, and growth of Hindu,
Muslim, and Sikh, dynasties and empires, built upon new military
technology and techniques; the rise of theistic devotional trend of
the bhakti movement, the cultural synthesis of Hindu and Muslim
elements reflected indo islamic archtitecture and came to an end with
the british raj.
Growth of muslim population in medieval india:
The Muslim intrusions and later Muslim invasions were not dissimilar to
those of the earlier invasions during the 1st millennium. What does
however, make the Muslim intrusions and later Muslim invasions different
is that unlike the preceding invaders who assimilated into the prevalent
social system, the successful Muslim conquerors retained their Islamic
identity and created new legal and administrative systems that
challenged and usually in many cases superseded the existing systems of
social conduct and ethics, even influencing the non-Muslim rivals and
common masses to a large extent, though non-Muslim population was left
to their own laws and customs. They also introduced new cultural codes
that in some ways were very different from the existing cultural codes.
This led to the rise of a new Indian culture which was mixed in nature,
though different from both the ancient Indian culture and later
westernised modern Indian culture. At the same time it must be noted
that overwhelming majority of Muslims in India are Indian natives
converted to Islam. This factor also played an important role in the
synthesis of cultures.

Relevance of Studying Cultural Paradigms as a part of a business

model
Culture is defined as A system of values and norms that are shared
among a group of people and that when taken together constitute a
design for living.
With a population of over one billion, 3.29 million square kilometres of
landmass to cover and a multitude of languages and customs, the Indian
market can be a daunting place for businessmen. Business success can
depend to a large extent on an understanding of the culture, the people,
the land and the business environment that a foreign company and
investor would be expected to operate within.
However, India promises great business opportunities and many
organisations have already turned to this vast country, seeing potential in
a substantial developing workforce and a cost effective geographical base
for offices and factories. Yet, how is it possible to overcome the
challenges of doing business in India due to a lack of relevant information,
political uncertainly, the geographical scale that the country presents, the
regional variations that exist and above all the cultural complexity that
needs to be contended with?
The answer lies in gaining a general understanding of the culture. India is
diverse with varied and distinct geographical regions each having its own
language, customs and festivals. The country is comprised of a rapidly
developing population. At present, 70% still live in villages and work in
agriculture, 13% work in the industry sector and 17% in services. Literacy
is highest in the South at almost 90%. This is contrasted with Northern
regions where the literacy rate is only about 45%.
It is critical to also note the importance religion plays amongst all
communities. The four principle religions are Hinduism (80%), Islam
(14%), Christianity, and Sikhism with a small fraction of the population
also practicing Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Judaism. Festivals are
celebrated with much fanfare, so it is important to respect the major
festivals of Holi, which is celebrated in the spring and Diwali, which is
celebrated in October/November. During these holidays work comes to a
halt.
As with most countries India has its own unique and subtle manner in
which business is conducted. People in India tend to categorise most

foreigners into three main groups, namely, Americans, English and

German. With this classification comes a certain amount of preconception
- fuelled by Hollywood - of how a foreigner is likely to behave. Likewise,
many foreign business westerners enter India with pre-conceived notions
of what the country has to offer based on media reports and fleeting first
time impressions. It is important to give oneself time to adjust to the new
cultural surroundings and not be taken in by initial reactions.
There are several idiosyncrasies attaching to the country which also vary
from state to state. Consider the following:
As a sign of respect it is customary to address persons by their family
name as opposed to first names. Very often younger people will persist in
using family names together with an appropriate title, such as Mr./Ms, as a
sign of deference and respect. If a foreign business person wishes to be
addressed by his Christian name he may have to request this several
times over.
Indian society remains patriarchal and thus it is important to understand
the importance of hierarchy. When dealing with Indian businesses it is
important to ascertain who is the authority figure and who has the final
say. Many businesses are still family run and thus power vests at the top.
Hierarchy also runs within middle and junior management. An
understanding of this culture of dependence expected by a boss from his
subordinate is important when running a team of local staff. There is
often a tendency to seek support and advice in situations that may not
warrant this level of dependency by junior staff on his superiors.
Indian time keeping is better known for its lack of punctuality. Indian
Standard Time (IST) or better known as Indian Stretchable Time means
that deadlines are not always strictly adhered to in the work environment.
Hence strict guidelines and enforcement may be necessary to adhere to
western style fixed deadlines.
It is important for a foreign visitor to understand gestures, body
language and non verbal communication. The well known Indian rolling of
heads is often a sign of acknowledgement and affirmation and not a
negative. It is also not meant as a sign of any disrespect and should thus
be acknowledged appropriately.
Use of mobile phones, even during meetings, is customary and not
intended to be a sign of disrespect.
Giving and receiving business cards is also common and expected even
at social gatherings!

 Religious sentiment runs high and many Indian businessmen may defer
business decisions based on what may considered good and auspicious
days. Superstitions may also have to be accounted for in various business
dealings.
Allow enough lead-time for projects and budget for unexpected costs
everything takes longer in India and therefore can be more expensive.
Similarly, it is advisable to handle red tape with caution exchange
controls do exist and regulatory procedures can be highly bureaucratic.
Exit strategies must also be considered up front.
With any foray into India it is imperative to ensure one creates and
maintains a paper trail. Unlike the UK, India has a written contract act,
namely the Indian Contact Act of 1872. This legislation applies to all
agreements in India including letters of intent and memorandum of
understandings. The position in relation to enforceability of letters of
intent/memorandum of understandings can be ambiguous. It is advisable
that any intention of making a preliminary understanding enforceable is
clearly reflected in the documentation. An agreement to agree is, in
principle, not enforceable under Indian law.
It is also important to ensure that one contracts with the correct legal
entity. These days many Indian companies have bases abroad. However,
this is also an area which requires caution. Companies have been caught
out in the past where they have signed agreements with foreign branches
of Indian organisations (a UK branch of an Indian company for example)
which in effect can be shell companies. Thus, in case enforcement for
damages is necessary the foreign party would find it difficult to get
redress against an entity that has no assets and where the parent
company has not been made a party to the agreement.
Indian tax implications also require attention. Often foreign companies
inadvertently create a permanent establishment [PE] in India without
realizing the regulatory and tax consequences of doing so. India
continues to have exchange controls and any movement of foreign
exchange into or out of the country is regulated by the Reserve Bank of
India.
Protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) is another critical facet of
doing business in India. A well thought out IPR strategy can save much
time and cost in future. It is advised that IPR is protected in the early
stages of negotiation and that the IPR is registered with the relevant
registry. Although there is no legal requirement to register trademarks or
copyright material doing so facilitates the enforcement of ones rights in
case of infringement.

As with most countries, India has its own unique and subtle manner in
which business is conducted. Success can depend on an appreciation and
understanding of the cultural aspects in addition to patience and a high
level of long-term commitment and personal attention and involvement.
Establishing and maintaining strong relationships with Indian business
associates is fundamental to successful business in India.