Ancient India

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

1. Origins and Urban Planning of the Indus Valley Civilization. The Indus Valley civilization (c. 3300-1300 BCE) built the ancient world's most extensively planned cities.
2. Decline of the Indus Civilization and the Rise of Vedic Society. Indus cities declined by 1900 BCE from climate change, not invasion, as Indo-Aryan tribes settled the Punjab.
3. The Mahajanapadas, Buddhism, and Jainism. By 600 BCE, sixteen great kingdoms ruled northern India, and Buddhism and Jainism arose against Vedic orthodoxy.
4. Alexander's Invasion and the Founding of the Mauryan Empire. Chandragupta Maurya founded India's first pan-Indian empire around 321 BCE, after Alexander's withdrawal.
5. Ashoka the Great: The Kalinga War and the Dhamma. After a bloody war in Kalinga around 261 BCE, Ashoka converted to Buddhism and ruled by a new ethic, the Dhamma.
6. The Fall of the Mauryas and the Intermediate Period. The Mauryan Empire fragmented by 185 BCE, opening centuries of diversity before the Gupta Empire arose.
7. The Gupta Empire: Reunification and the Classical Golden Age. Founded around 320 CE, the Gupta Empire reunified northern India and presided over a celebrated golden age.
8. The Decline of the Gupta Empire and Its Enduring Legacy. Hephthalite Hun invasions fractured the Gupta Empire by the mid-sixth century CE, though its legacy endured.