main page
You can find site in:
MAIN PAGE  Arts
Art History
Title: Revolt of 1857 l Indus Valley Cilizations l Sindhu Valley
Url: http://www.discovergoldenindia.com/
Site added: 2008-02-26 10:55:42
Page Rank: 2
Statistics:
 IP: |
0 |
| BL: |
0 |
 listed: |
No |
| Googlebot last access: |
0 |
 Rank: 6,703,523
BL: 28
|
|
Long description:
The Indus Valley Civilization also called the Sindhu Valley civilization is the largest of the 4 ancient urbanized civilizations, with other 3 being China , Egypt and Sumeria. The common feature of these civilizations is that, they were river-valley based. Indus Valley had its origins in Indus river valley. What was originally called Sindhu, is now referred to as Indus. Indus valley is now a part of present Pakistan , and extends over India , Afghanistan , Iran and even Saudi Arabia . The origins of Indus valley dates back to 5000 BC and continues up to 3200 BC.
When flourishing, Indus valley had nearly 1400 cities and towns. It had the largest trading centres, well connected by land and sea routes. Mystery pervades Indus Valley 's sudden fall and disintegration. Theories about the demise of this civilization centre-round, sudden floods, famine, deserts, foreign invasion, but all these fall short of any valid explanation of how this civilization disappeared.
By 1800 BC the nomadic Sanskrit speaking people appeared in the North western region. Referred to as Aryans, they were taken to be the mentors of Vedic religion, contained in their sacred religious texts called Vedas. Rigveda the most sacred text of Aryans mentions of God Indira of having destroyed Purs [cities and towns] and driving away the short, snub, and dark skinned people further south and east. Controversy surrounds whether the defeated were people belonging to Indus valley or not. But what is really unique about Indus valley people is their rich culture, for excavations at the various Indus sites proved amazing with finding of forts and walled towns, drainage system, variety burnt bricks, artifacts, seals, and writing samples.
Mahajanapadas towards Empires : From 1500 BC there seems to be the realization of thesis-antithesis-synthesis. The invading Aryans finally gave up their nomadic life, started establishing themselves in regions till then under earlier settlers. They took to agriculture and farming. Law and order was restored with village becoming the basic unit of administration. The Aryans were becoming Indianized by adapting the lifestyle of the locals. Their religion came to see certain changes; the simple practices came to be replaced by elaborate rituals, and acceptance of non-Aryan God Shiva as part of the religious pantheon.
The Mahajanapadas came into existence from 800 BC, the oldest being that of Kosala the
origin of which lies in mystery. Soon, Kosala was occupied by Magadha which was one of earliest and powerful Mahajanapadas. Magadha grew into an empire with sway over the region extending from Tashkent (Taksha Khand) now in Uzbekistan to Bengal in the East [ India ]. As the most powerful Mahajanapada , Magadha rose into prominence under Ajathashatru, who subdued other Janapadas and paved the way for the rise of Magadha .
BACK
|
|
772
682
