Bhimbetka rock shelters 9000-7000 BC
Location
The Bhimbetka rock shelters show the earliest traces of human life. They are located near Bhopal in Raisen District of Madhya Pradesh at the southern fringes of the Vindhyachal hills.
Discovery
Bhimbetka was first referred in the archeological records in 1888 AD as a Buddhist site. Later, Dr. Vishnu Wakankar accidentally discovered the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka in 1957-58 AD.
About the Shelters and Paintings
There are more than 700 shelters in Bhimbetka rock shelters. Out of those 243 are in the Bhimbetka group and 178 in the Lakha Juar group. Bhimbetka rock shelters are also famous for interesting rock paintings. Some of the rock paintings found in the Bhimbetka rock shelters can be traced back to the Stone Age era, closely 30,000 years old. The paintings depict the lives of people living in the caves at that time. It includes scenes of child birth, communal dancing, drinking, religious rites, burials and natural environment. The most interesting part is that, the paintings are not faded even after thousands of years. It is considered by many archeologists that paintings were made of vegetable dyes, colored earth, leaf extracts, roots and animal fat.
Farming, Herding and Hunting
Mehrgarh is located on the Kachi plain of Balochistan, now in Pakistan, one of the most important Neolithic sites of archaeology. It covered an area of 200 hectares at its peak. It is considered to be one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming and herding in South Asia. The early Mehrgarh residents involved inhunting and they domesticated animals like cattle, sheep and goats. They cultivated barley, wheat, einkorn, jujubes and dates. People used stone and bone tools such as polished stone-axes and bone-pointers for hunting. One of the important characteristics of Mehrgarh is its gradual development from an early village society to a regional center.
Use Pottery
Mehrgarh Period I (7000 BC-5500 BC), was Neolithic and did not have the use of pottery. Evidence of hand made pottery begins from Mehrgarh Period II (5500 BC-4800 BC). In Mehrgarh period III (4800 BC-3500 BC), potter wheel was developed and they produced large volume of fine terra-cotta figurine and pottery with exotic geometric designs. They also manufactured and produced ornaments of beads, seashells and semi-precious stones.
The Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization (3300 BC to 1300 BC) was one of the world's earliest urban civilizations of the Bronze Age along with its contemporaries like Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. This civilization was formed in the western region of South Asia and extended to regions of modern-day India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Indus Valley Civilization was discovered in early of 20th century with the excavation of the Harappan city, the first city of Indus valley. So, the civilization is also known as Harappan Civilization. The Civilization prospered around the River basin of Indus, primarily centered along the Indus and the Punjab region. It was the largest ancient civilization in the world and was extended over an area approximately 1,260,000 sq. km.
Cities of Indus Valley Civilization
The civilization is well-known for the development of ancient cities with knowledge of urban planning, hygiene and sanitation systems. Cities were well equipped with roadside drainage, sewage system, brick platforms, protective walls, water wells, individual homes and multistoried houses. Harappa was the first city to be unearthed and was excavated in the 1920s. Following are some major urban centers of Indus Valley Civilization discovered till date from the sites.
1. Harappa
2. Lothal
3. Mohenjo-daro
4. Dholavira
5. Kalibanga
6. Rakhigarhi
Harappa Archaeological Site
The Harappa archaeological site is located in Punjab, about 35 km west of Sahiwal. At the time of construction of Lahore-Multan Railroad when bricks from the ruins were used as track ballast, the ancient city of Harappa was severely destroyed. The site of the ancient Harappa city contains the wrecks of the glorious ancient city.
Mohenjo-daro Archaeological Site
The Mohenjo-daro city was built in around 2600 BC in the province of Sindh of current Pakistan and was abandoned in the 19th century BC. It was one of the largest cities of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization. The Mohenjo-daro civilization was discovered in 1922 AD. Mohenjo-daro has planned street grid layout and rectilinear buildings. Most of the buildings were built of fired and mortared brick and some were constructed with sun-dried mud-brick and wooden superstructures. During excavation in 1926 AD, a bronze statuette named as the 'Dancing Girl' of 10.8 cm high was found in Mohenjo-daro. A seated male figure of 17.5 cm tall was found in 1927 AD in a building with unusually ornamental brickwork and a wall-niche.
1700 TO 500-BC VEDIC ERA
Period of Vedas
The Vedic period or Vedic age is a very important period for Indian History and Indian Mythology. In this period the oldest and very important scriptures of Hinduism "Vedas" were composed. The perfect time span of the Vedic age is unclear. The oldest and first of the Vedas, the Rigveda , was composed roughly between 1700-1100 BC and this time period is referred as the early of the Vedic period. In the Vedic Period, the text transmission happed by oral tradition. In post Vedic period the text were captured in the written format. The Vedic age is the pioneer of the modern Hinduism.
Vedas of Vedic Period
The four Vedas, very important scriptures of Hinduism are considered to be dated from Vedic Period. Apart from the Vedas, other text like Brahmanas, Aranyakas, older Upanishads and Shrautasutras are also considered as the Vedic text. The four Vedas of Hinduism are
1. Rigveda
2. Yajurveda
3. Samaveda
4. Artharvaveda
Rigveda
The Rigveda is the oldest of all Vedas and is the compilation of ancient Indian holy Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It is one of the most sacred texts of Hinduism. The Rig Veda tells the story of Indra, Agni, Varuna etc the different Gods of Hinduism. It contains the Sanskrit hymns about the origin of the world, praise of the gods, prayers for life, prosperity in the form of poetry. The Rigveda is structured in 10 books, known as Mandalas. The Mandalas were compiled at different time periods between 1700-1100 BC. The hymns of each mandala are called as suktas, intended for various sacrificial rituals. The Gayatri Mantra, the highly valued universal prayer is a hymn of Mandala 3 of the Rigveda.
Yajurveda
The Yajurveda one of the most important Vedas, is considered to be composed between 1000 and 600 BC. Shukla (white) and Krishna (black) are the two main versions of the Yajurveda. The Krishna Yajurveda has four branches (Shakas)
1. Taittiriya Shaka
2. Maitrayani Shaka
3. Caraka-Katha Shaka
4. Kapisthala-Katha Shaka
and Shukla Yajurveda has two branches
1. Vajasaneyi Madhyandina
2. Vajasaneyi Kanva
Samaveda
The Samaveda is the second of the most important Vedas of Hinduism. It has 1549 stanzas and is taken almost entirely from Rigveda except few stanzas.
Artharvaveda
The Artharvaveda Samhita is the fourth Vedas of Hindu Religion. The Artharvaveda is text belong to the poets Atharvan and Angirasa. It has total 760 hymns and some hymns are in common with the Rigveda.
Other Texts of Vedic Period
After the Vedas the most important texts of Vedic Periods are the Upanishads of Hindu religion. There are more than 200 known Upanishads. Indra, Agni (the Fire) and Soma are the main deities of Upanishads. There are many other deities such as Mitra-Varuna, Aryaman, Bhaga and Amsa, the nature deities such as Surya (the Sun), Vayu (the wind), Prithivi (the earth). Upanishads has also different goddesses like Ushas (the dawn), Prithvi, Aditi, rivers Saraswati etc.
Born and Early Age
Mahavira, the Indian sage was born in 599 BC. He was commonly known as Vardhamana, his childhood name. His birth place wasKundalagrama in Vaishali district near Patna of modern day Bihar, India. He was born in a royal Hindu family on the 13th day under the rising moon of Chaitra. His father King Siddartha was a kshatriya ruler and mother Queen Trishala was a princess from the royal family of Lichchhavi clan. Mahavira was married to Yashoda. The birthday of Mahavira is celebrated as Mahavir Jayanti in the world, the most important religious holiday of Jains.
Jainism
Mahavira established the Jainism, an Indian religion. Jainism advised the path of non-violence towards all living beings. According to Jain tradition, he was the last and 24th Tirthankara. The meaning of Tirthankara is a Jain holy teacher.
At the age of thirty in 569 BC, Mahavira abandoned home and gave up his worldly possessions including his clothes and lived an extremely austere life. He spent twelve years as an ascetic and used to meditate most of his time. At the age of 42, in 557 BC he attained omniscience.
As per Jainism, one must perform the following ethical principles not only in thought, but also in words (speech) and action to attain the enlightenment and ultimately liberation from all bonding. It is also called as observing the Mahavrata ('Great Vows'). These vows are:
1. Nonviolence (Ahimsa) - to cause no harm to any living being;
2. Truthfulness (Satya) - to speak the harmless truth only;
3. Non-stealing (Asteya) - to take nothing not properly given;
4. Chastity (Brahmacharya) - to indulge in no sensual pleasure; 5. Non-possession/Non-attachment (Aparigraha) - to detach completely from people, places, and material things.
Truthfulness of Mahavira
Mahavira lived a life of pure honesty and truthfulness. He lived a life without enjoying any property. He gave utmost regard and respect to other living beings including humans, animals and plants. He did not do any harm to anyone. Because of his courage and bravery he got the name Mahavira. Mahavira is also known as Arukan or Arukadevan in Tamil. In different texts, he is referred as Vira, Viraprabhu, Sanmati, Ativira and Gnatputra.
Nirvana
In 527 BC, at the age of 72 years, he attained nirvana in Pava. Jains celebrate this as the day he attained liberation or moksa.
Born and Early Age
Siddhartha Gautama, was born in 563 BC in Lumbini, the modern day Nepal. His father Suddhodana was a ruler of the Shakya clan, capital at Kapilavastu. His mother Queen Maha Maya was a Koliyan princess. As was the custom of Shakya clan, Queen Mahamaya at the advance stage of her pregnancy traveled to her father's kingdom for the child birth. But during the long journey, her birth pains started on the way. At Lumbini, under a sal tree of a garden, she delivered her baby boy Gautama. The king was excited that his son would become a king like himself. When Gautama was seven days old, his mother died and he was brought up by his mother's sister Gautami. Gautama grew up in a completely private environment and lived an extravagant life of a young prince.
Gautama was married to Yasodhara, beautiful princess of a neighboring kingdom at the young age of sixteen. They had a son namedRahula.
Establish of Buddhism
Siddhartha Gautama was the founder of Buddhism. Although his father protected him and prepared him to live a life of total seclusion, one day Gautama confronted with the reality of the inevitable suffering of life. He saw severely ill person, he spotted a funeral ceremony by the side of a river and finally he saw a dead person. He asked his charioteer Channa about all these things. Channa explained him the reality and told him truth, "all of us get old, sick, and eventually die ".
The next day, at the age of twenty-nine, Gautama left his kingdom to find a way to relieve universal suffering. He left his wife and his newborn son Rahula.
Siddhartha started practicing rigorous ascetic practices, studying and following different methods of meditation. Even after following his practice meticulously and sincerely, he did not get his answers to his questions. He intensified his efforts with more rigorous way and started refusing food and water. For six years, he practiced but he was never fully satisfied.
One day in a famous incident, Gautama accepted milk and rice pudding from a girl named Sujata while he became starve and weak. In that incident he understood that physical austerities were not the means to achieve liberation. After this incident, Gautama seated for meditation under a pipal tree in Bodh Gaya, India - now known as the Bodhi tree. He is said to have accomplished Enlightenment after 49 days of his meditation on the full moon of May, with the rising of the morning star. Siddhartha finally got the answers of his questions of suffering. He was 35 years old when achieved the Enlightenment. At that moment he became the Buddha, which means "he who is awake".
Gautama encouraged people to follow the balance life rather than extremism. He called this The Middle Way.
Nirvana
In 483 BC, at the age of 80, Buddha attained Parinirvana and abandoned his earthly body.
Foundation of Sanskrit Grammar
Panini was a famous Sanskrit grammarian from Pushkalavati, Gandhara of ancient Indian. He is mostly famous for his Sanskrit grammarAshtadhyayi. He formulated 3,959 rules of Sanskrit morphology, syntax and semantics in the grammar. The Ashtadhyayi is the initial text of the grammatical branch of the Vedanga. It is one of the most important auxiliary academic texts of Vedic religion.
Personal Life
Panini's personal life is unknown and is uncertain. According to later traditions, his mother was Daksi and his maternal uncle name was Vyadi. It was mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang that his birth place was Salatura, a suburb of Taxila.
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