History of the Indian Subcontinent History of Greater India Stone Age 70,000–7000 BCE PRE-HISTORIC TIMES    PRE-VEDIC TIMES Mehrgarh Culture ANCIENT VEDIC TIMES VEDAS AS DIALOGUE Rishi-Muni and Shivaitas 7000–3300 BCE Indus Valley Civilisation 3300–1700 BCE Late Harappan Culture 1700–1300 BCE Vedic Civilisation 1500–500 BCE Maha Janapadas 700–300 BCE Magadha Empire 684–26 BCE - Maurya Dynasty 321–184 BCE Middle Kingdoms 230 BCE–1279 CE - Satavahana Empire 230 BCE–200 CE - Ancient Tamil Kingdoms 200 BCE–200 CE - Kushan Empire 60–240 CE - Gupta Empire 240–550 - Chalukya Empire 543–1200 - Pala Empire 750–1174 - Chola Empire 848–1279 Islamic Sultanates 1210–1596 - Delhi Sultanate 1210–1526 - Deccan Sultanates 1490–1596 Hoysala Empire 1040–1346 Vijayanagara Empire 1336–1565 Mughal Era 1526–1707 Maratha Empire 1674–1818 Colonial Era 1757–1947 Modern States 1947 onwards

The Vedic civilization is the culture associated with the Vedas. Mainstream scholarship places the Vedic civilization into the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE. Hindu traditions[1] suggest dates as early as the 6th millennium BCE and a spread of the hyperpower-style Vedic culture. The use of Vedic Sanskrit continued up to the 6th century BCE, when the culture began to be transformed into classical forms of Hinduism. This time period in the history of India is known as the Vedic period or Vedic age. Its early phase saw the formation of various kingdoms of ancient India. In its late phase (from ca. 700 BCE), it saw the rise of the Mahajanapadas, and was succeeded by the golden age of Hinduism and classical Sanskrit literature, the Maurya Empire (from ca. 320 BCE) and the Middle kingdoms of India. Overview The reconstruction of the history of Vedic India is based on text-internal details. Linguistically, the Vedic texts could be classified in five chronological strata: 1. Rigvedic: The Rigveda is by far the most archaic of the Vedic texts preserved, and it retains many common Indo-Iranian elements, both in language and in content, that are not present in any other Vedic texts. Its creation must have taken place over several centuries, and apart from the youngest books (1 and 10), it must have been essentially complete by 2000 - 1500 BCE [citation needed]. Archaeologically, this period may correspond with the Gandhara Grave culture, and the successors of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), Cemetery H cultures of the Punjab and the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture (OCP) further east. It is undisputed (but particularly emphasized by Hindu scholars) that there is a strong component of cultural continuity of the indigenous IVC. Map of early Iron Age Vedic India after Witzel (1989). Realms or tribes are labelled black, Foreign tribes mentioned in early Vedic texts purple, Vedic shakhas in green. Rivers are labelled blue. The Thar desert is marked orange. 2. Mantra language: This period includes both the mantra and prose language of the Atharvaveda (Paippalada and Shaunakiya), the Rigveda Khilani , the Samaveda Samhita (containing some 75 mantras not in the Rigveda), and the mantras of the Yajurveda. These texts are largely derived from the Rigveda, but have undergone certain changes, both by linguistic change and by reinterpretation. Conspicuous changes include change of vishva "all" by sarva, and the spread of the kuru- verbal stem (for Rigvedic krno-). This is the time of the early Iron Age in north-western India, corresponding to the Black and Red Ware (BRW) culture, and the kingdom of the Kurus , dating from ca. the 12th century BCE. 3. Samhita prose: This period marks the beginning of the collection and codification of a Vedic canon. An important linguistic change is the complete loss of the injunctive, of the subjunctive, and of the aorist. The commentary part of the Yajurveda (MS, KS) belongs to this period. Archaeologically, the Painted Grey Ware (PGW) culture from ca. 900 BCE corresponds, and the shift of the political center from the Kurus to the Pancalas at the Ganges. 4. Brahmana prose: The Brahmanas proper of the four Vedas belong to this period, as well as the oldest of the Upanishads ( BAU, ChU, JUB). 5. Sutra language: This is the last stratum of Vedic Sanskrit leading up to 500 BCE, comprising the bulk of the Shrauta and Grhya Sutras, and some Upanishads (E.g. KathU, MaitrU. Younger Upanishads are post-Vedic). Videha as a third political center is established. 6. Epic and Paninian Sanskrit: The language of the Mahabharata and Ramayana epics, and the Classical Sanskrit described by Panini is considered post-Vedic, and belongs to the time after 500 BCE. Archaeologically, the rapid spread of Northern Black Polished Ware (NBP) over all of northern India corresponds to this period. The Vedanta, the Buddha, and the Pali Prakrit dialect of Buddhist scripture belong to this period. Historical records set in only after the end of the Vedic period, and remain scarce throughout the Indian Middle Ages. The end of Vedic India is marked by linguistic, cultural and political changes. The grammar of Panini marks a final apex in the codification of sacred texts, and at the same time the beginning of Classical Sanskrit. The invasion of Darius I of the Indus valley in the late 6th century BC marks the beginning of outside influence, continued in the kingdoms of the Indo Greeks, new waves of immigration from 150 BCE (Abhira, Shaka), and ultimately the medieval Islamic Sultans. The most important historical source of the geography of post-Vedic India is the 2nd century Greek historian Arrian .   Rigvedic period - The origin of the Vedic civilization and its relation to the Indus Valley civilization, related cultures, Indo-Aryan migration and Gandhara Grave culture remains controversial and politically charged in Indian society. The Rigveda is primarily a collection of religious hymns, and allusions to, but not explanation of, various myths and stories, mainly in the younger books 1 and 10. The oldest hymns, probably in books 2–7, although some people hold book 9, the Soma Mandala, to be even more ancient, contain many elements inherited from pre-Vedic, common Indo-Iranian society. Therefore, it is difficult to define the precise beginning of the "Rigvedic period", as it emerges seamlessly from the era preceding it. Also, due to the nomadic nature of the society described, it cannot be localized, and in its earliest phase describes tribes that were essentially on the move.   Vedic civilization - The later Vedic period The transition from the early to the later Vedic period was marked by the emergence of agriculture as the dominant economic activity and a corresponding decline in the significance of cattle rearing. Several changes went hand in hand with this. For instance, several large kingdoms arose because of the increasing importance of land and its protection. The late Vedic period from ca. 500 BC more or less seamlessly blends into the period of the Middle kingdoms of India known from historical sources. (This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer))