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By Root 1659 0

came to the Indus Valley sweeping all before them; however, they were not the cultural equal of the preceding Harappan civilization. As a result, India and the Indus Valley fell into a dark age from which we can gather very little information. The Aryan language forms a cluster of languages that include German, English, and Sanskrit. These nomadic Aryan people probably arrived from Turkistan, and their arrival completely changed the language and culture of India, ushering in the Vedic period that followed the ancient Harappan. The Aryans brought an Iron Age culture into the valley, but it lacked a written language—at least initially. This Aryan culture dominated India through its religious underpinnings, the Upanishads, eventually developing into the complex religious and social caste system still seen today. What we do have from this era are the literary epics of Hinduism (the Vedas): Ramayana and Mahabharata. Hinduism was formed from early Aryan beliefs and prospered in India. It prevailed over Buddhism which spread from India to the rest of Asia and became a dominant force in these areas.[22] The Mahabharata is a key myth in Indian culture. In this story of an epic heroic war, the Krishna, its hero, finally manages to defeat his enemies in an enormous final battle (what else?). From this myth materializes many stories that dictate how one should live his life and perform his duties to society. The story was composed between 400 BC and 400 AD (current theory), and it is here the ancient gods of pre-history are established forever in India’s story. The myth blurs itself into history, and it is as real in India today as it was in ancient times. Even in 2010, India’s people dance to the gods of pre-history and their society continues as prescribed so many thousands of years ago in the ancient texts. In the countryside, away from the large cities, the rural people live the same as their ancient ancestors. The houses are the same, they tell the same stories, and live the same religion. The Aryan impact on India has been enduring.

Figure 7 Maurya Empire

The Maurya dynasty united India in 321 BC. This was the first time the subcontinent enjoyed one ruler, as the Aryan clans had practiced constant warfare since their arrival. Following the fall of the Maurya dynasty, the Gupta dynasty unified the northern areas of India in the fifth century, bringing about what most scholars believe was a golden age. This dynasty was ruined when the Huns arrived in the fourth century. There was a resurgence of the northern dynasties in the seventh century, and this allowed a flowering of Indian culture. The Mongols were to arrive again in AD 1526 and unite the subcontinent under an Islamic dynasty; however, Hinduism would survive even under Islamic rule in India proper. The area of modern day Pakistan converted to Islam during the Mongol period, and this division still troubles the subcontinent, and the world, today.

Greece and Rome

Greece and then Rome dominated European, Mediterranean, and Near East history from 1200 BC to AD 1453. Greece, a mountainous area in the northeastern Mediterranean, was comprised of city-states, with each small area being self-governing and each adopting vastly different ways of governance. Rome was a city that grew to govern the entire Mediterranean area, Western Europe (Gaul, Spain, Portugal, parts of Germany and England), Turkey, North Africa, Egypt, and some of Mesopotamia. If one counts the Eastern Roman Empire, Rome lasted from 753 BC to AD 1453 when the capitol of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople, fell to the Turks. The fall of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires, about AD 455 and 1453 respectively, are among the most significant events in world history.

The Greeks

800 BC to 338 BC

We will start with the amazing Greeks. Of all the cities in ancient Greece, Athens is the best known. The main Greek city-states were up and running by 800 BC. From about 750 BC, when Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey, to 404 BC, when the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens ended, Greek civilization