Ancient History – UPSC Basics
Pre-historic Period
Last Updated: December 31, 2025Prehistory refers to the period of human history for which we have no written records. It is primarily reconstructed using archaeological sources like stone tools, pottery, artefacts, and bone remains. Geological Context: The Paleolithic Age developed during the Pleistocene period (Ice Age). The Mesolithic and Neolithic ages belong to the...
Indus Valley Civilization: The Story of the First Cities
Last Updated: December 29, 2025Imagine travelling back in time roughly 4,500 years to the banks of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra rivers. You would not find primitive villages, but rather a sophisticated, urban world known today as the Harappan Civilization (c. 2600–1900 BCE). This was a Bronze Age society that valued order, trade, and cleanliness...
Vedic Culture: Evolution from Tribe to Territory
Last Updated: December 30, 2025The Echoes of the Seven Rivers: A Journey through Vedic India Imagine yourself standing on the banks of a roaring river in 1500 BCE. The air is thick with the scent of burning ghee and wood smoke. You are not in the planned, brick-lined streets of the Harappan cities anymore;...
Mahajanapadas: The Dawn of the Second Urbanisation (c. 600 BCE)
Last Updated: December 30, 2025Imagine stepping into a time machine and landing in the Indo-Gangetic plains around the 6th Century BCE. You have left behind the pastoral, tribal life of the Early Vedic age. The landscape has transformed. The dense forests that once covered the Gangetic basin are being cleared, not just by fire,...
Buddhism and Jainism: Origins, Tenets, and Cultural Diplomacy
Last Updated: December 30, 2025In the 6th century BCE, the Gangetic valley was in a state of intellectual ferment. The iron plough had revolutionized agriculture, cities were expanding, and the old Vedic social order was under scrutiny. Amidst the rising dust of new empires, wanderers and ascetics left their homes to find the truth...
The Mauryan Empire: A Story of Unification, Dhamma, and Stone
Last Updated: December 31, 2025The Rise from Chaos Imagine India around 326 BCE. The northwest is in turmoil because Alexander the Great has just invaded. At this precise moment, deep in the Gangetic plains, a different kind of power struggle is brewing. At the time of Alexander’s invasion (326 BC), the Nanda dynasty was...