Part Nine IX › Division III III › Section 935 935

The Indian Subcontinent and Ceylon to c. ad 1200

Subject Outline

AThe character and achievements of traditional Indian civilizations and their influence on Ceylonese and Southeast Asian civilizations, the geography and ethnography of the Indian subcontinent and Ceylon, archaeological and documentary historical sources, historiographic problems
BIndia from the prehistoric period to ad 300: the emergence of civilization in the Indus River Valley, the growth of kingdoms and the great empires
- 1Late Stone Age hunters and Neolithic settlement in Baluchistan and the Indus Valley, first settlements east of the Indus
- 2Indus civilization (c. 2300-c. 1750 bc): social, economic, and cultural developments
  - aDevelopment of urban centres; e.g., Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Kahbangan, Lothal
  - bDevelopments in agriculture, animal husbandry, metalwork and pottery, transportation, and trade
  - cDevelopments in languages, religion, and the visual arts
- 3The development of the Indo-Aryan states (c. 1500-600 bc): urbanization at KasI (Varanasi) and elsewhere in the Ganges Valley, other cultures in the Indian subcontinent
  - aEarly Ganges cultures to c. 1200 bc: social organization and religious development
  - bLater Ganges cultures to c. 600 bc: development of the caste system and emergence of Brahman, Ksatriya, Vaisya, and Sudra castes
- 4Pre-Mauryan states (c. 600-150 bc): development of political and economic systems, Taxila as a cultural centre
  - aThe early development of Buddhism and Jainism, beginning of Magadha ascendancy
  - bInvasion by Alexander the Great (327 bc) and establishment of Greek settlements
- 5Development of the Mauryan empire (c. 321-185 bc): the capital at Pataliputra (Patna)
  - aEstablishment of the empire by Candra Gupta (c. 321 -c. 297 bc) and consolidation by Asoka (c. 265-238 bc)
  - bMauryan economic, social, and administrative developments, evolution of the concept of the state
- 6The rise of small kingdoms in the north (150 bc-ad 300): Indo-Greek and Asian rulers, various local republics and kingdoms (Sunga, Kalinga)
- 7South Indian civilizations to ad 300
  - aDevelopment of guilds, banking systems, and extensive maritime trade with the West
  - bCultural and religious development; e.g., patronage of religious art and literature, growth of sects in Hinduism and Jainism, assimilation of foreigners into caste society
CNorth India, the Deccan, and South India (ad 300-750)
- 1The Guptas of North India (ad 320-540): expansion and administration of territory, invasions by the Hunas (c. mid-5th century), successor states to the Guptas
- 2Various kingdoms of the Deccan: the Vakataka dynasty, the Calukyas, and the Rastrakutas
- 3The Pallavas in South India: developments in religious art and architecture, literature, and science
DNorth India (750-1200), the Deccan, and South India (750-c. 1330): new dynasties and centres of power
- 1The tripartite struggle in North India, the Rajput kingdoms, Turkish control in Ghazna from 998
- 2The decline of the Calukyas in the Deccan and the rise of the Cblas in the 10th century, later Hoysalas and Pandyas control, relations with the south
- 3Social, economic, and cultural developments; e.g., feudalism and economic decentralization, partial social mobility, growth of Tantrism, literature and the visual arts
ECeylon from the prehistoric period to the end of the Classical Age (ad 1200)
- 1Prehistoric settlements in Ceylon, colonization by Indo-Aryan tribes in the 5th century bc, conversion to Buddhism (c. 3rd century bc)