Interesting facts of ancient India. ancient india

History of ancient India

The civilization of ancient India until the beginning of the twentieth century was relatively little studied by archaeologists and historians, it was believed that the main centers of civilization ancient world lay in the Middle East, between the Tigris and Euphrates, and in ancient Egypt. Everything changed thanks to the finds of the English archaeologist James Breasted, who was the first to discover in India traces of the ancient Harappan civilization, or Proto-Indian, as it is also called. And it turned out that the ancient Indian civilization is as ancient as the ancient Egyptian, that the culture of ancient India was no less developed than in ancient Sumer or. About ancient India, its history, culture, religion, art, our today's article.

History of ancient India

As we have already said, the most ancient Indian civilization, called the Harappan or proto-Indian civilization, was discovered by archaeologists at the beginning of the last twentieth century. Before the astonished eyes of scientists, a vibrant culture appeared, with developed cities, houses equipped with running water (this is at a time when people in Europe still lived in caves in places), developed crafts, trade and art. The ancient Indian city of Harappa was the first to be excavated, which gave the name to this civilization, then Mohenjo-Daro and many other ancient settlements of that time.

The territory of ancient India of that ancient period is located along the valley of the Indus River and its tributaries, and, as if with a necklace, covered the eastern coast of the Arabian Sea in the territory of modern India and Pakistan.

The origin of ancient India is still the subject of debate among historians and archaeologists. There is no agreement between them about whether the ancient proto-Indian civilization had local roots, or whether it was brought from neighboring Mesopotamia, with which, by the way, intensive trade was conducted.

One way or another, but most scientists believe that the proto-Indian civilization was formed from local early agricultural cultures that existed in the fertile Indus River valley. And archaeological finds support this point of view, since archaeologists have discovered many ancient agricultural settlements in the Indus Valley, which date back to the 6th-4th millennia BC. e.

The fertile Indus Valley, favorable climate, large deposits of silicon, providing raw materials for the manufacture of materials, all this contributed to the fact that these lands soon became one of the first cradles of the most ancient civilization of mankind.

Unfortunately, we cannot say much about the earliest page of ancient Indian history, since no written sources have come down to us from this period, the only way we can judge the life of the ancient Indians is archaeological finds. For this reason, we can say a lot about the culture of ancient India, about how their life and economy were, but we know practically nothing, for example, which kings ruled ancient India, what laws were there, whether they fought wars, and so on.

Decline of Indian Civilization

The reasons for the decline and decline of the ancient proto-Indian civilization also remain a historical mystery. But what we can tell from archaeological sources is that the crisis did not happen quickly, but gradually. The ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro gradually emptied, buildings were abandoned, handicraft production was reduced, and trade fell into decay. Metal was used less and less.

There are several hypotheses regarding the reasons for this decline, one of them says that all this was caused by changes in ecology, a change in the course of the Indus River due to a strong earthquake that caused floods, a change in the direction of the monsoons, previously unknown diseases and epidemics, severe drought.

And the last straw that caused the fall of the Harappan civilization was the invasion of nomadic tribes - the Aryans, who came to India from the Central Asian steppes. Due to internal troubles, the Harappan cities could not resist the newcomers, and were soon conquered by them. Gradually, the arias mixed with local population, and their mixture formed the modern Indian people.

Culture of ancient India

The Harappan culture of ancient India was very advanced, as for that time, which is what it says, at least the presence of highly developed cities that had straight streets. The houses were built of mud bricks and were even equipped with running water. Among the houses of the ancient Indian city there were necessarily public granaries, in the city itself there were quarters of various artisans. In particular, the ancient Indians were skilled potters, their artistically painted pottery was in demand far beyond the borders of India itself.

In the surrounding villages, barley and wheat were grown, sheep and goats were bred. A little later they began to plant date palms, sow rye, grow rice and cotton.

Art of ancient India

The ancient Indians were very creative people, but they achieved the greatest success in architecture and sculpture. True, unfortunately, much more late works of Indian art have survived to our times than with ancient period India, Harappan civilization.

As for the comparatively later Indian art, it is very strongly influenced by the religion of ancient India, both Buddhism and Hinduism. Images of Buddha and many Indian deities have been preserved to this day on many ancient Indian temples and wall paintings.

The erotic motif is also very strong in Indian art, the most striking example of which is the Indian temple of Khajuraho, where the Kama Sutra is depicted in stones in the most direct sense.

This is yet the most innocent image from the Khajuraho temple.

In general, the Hindus had a peculiar attitude towards sex, for them it was not something shameful, but, on the contrary, almost a spiritual practice, hence the proximity of eroticism and religion in Indian culture.

Religion of ancient India

India became the homeland for one of the three world religions - Buddhism, although, paradoxically, Buddhism itself did not accept, remaining true to its original religion - Hinduism. Buddhism, having originated in India, spread to all surrounding countries.

Hinduism, the traditional religion of India, has deep roots, as it comes to us from the ancient times of Indian history, in fact, it is a mixture of the beliefs of the ancient Indians of the Harappan civilization and the Aryan aliens. Mixing with the local population, the Aryans thoroughly mixed the religion of ancient India.

Hinduism is based on belief in many different gods, and there are so many gods in Hinduism that even the Hindus themselves cannot name their exact number. So every Indian village can have its own local patron god. And the gods of ancient India are divided into two large groups: suras and asuras, who in some Indian myths oppose each other, in some myths asuras are not gods at all, but more demons opposing divine suras. In this divine confrontation between the Hindu gods, one can see echoes of the real confrontation between the two cultures, the Aryan and the Harappan (proto-Indian).

And, nevertheless, in the divine diversity of the gods of Hinduism, several more main gods can be distinguished, which are revered by all Hindus, these are:

• Brahma is the creator god, according to Hinduism, it is Brahma who is the creator of all things.
• Shiva is the destroyer god. If Brahma is such a divine pencil, then Shiva is an eraser responsible for destruction, including the destruction of everything bad.
• Vishnu, the supreme god-observer, the very word "Vishnu" is translated from Sanskrit as "comprehensive." It is the guardian of the universe and all things. He also watches over his "divine colleagues" Brahma and Shiva, so that one of them does not overdo it in his creation, and the second - in his destruction.

• In addition to Hinduism and Buddhism, India is home to a huge number of different philosophical and religious teachings. Therefore, India is sometimes called the "land of a thousand religions."
• It was from ancient India that chess, yoga, tea came to us (according to legend, an Indian monk meditated under a tea tree, a bowl of water lay next to him, and a leaf accidentally fell from the tree into the bowl, after tasting the bowl of water and tea leaf, the monk came to amazement at a delicious drink, and so tea was born).
• Among the sciences in ancient India, mathematics was especially developed, and the ancient Indian mathematicians were the first to invent the decimal number system, the number 0, the rules for extracting square and cube roots, and also calculated the number "Pi" with great accuracy.
• No less skillful were the ancient Indian astronomers, who were able to determine the phases of the moon without a telescope.
• India is one of the origins of writing, Indian Sanskrit, which was written by Indian scholars and priests - Brahmins, became especially popular. However, the development of writing in ancient India began already in the post-Harappan period, with the arrival of the Aryans.

ancient india video

And finally, interesting documentary about ancient India from the Discovery Channel.

Interesting Facts About Ancient India. A magical and fabulous country, one of the most ancient. India is full of secrets and mysteries, many facts about this state seem incredible. It is from India that many human achievements originate. Let's learn more about some of them.

1. The beloved game of chess has come to modern world from India.
2. Even in ancient times, the inhabitants of India made crystalline sugar from cane. Many who lived at that time were amazed at how honey could be made without bees, it was artificial honey from sugar.

   

3. India is the birthplace of the world famous hookah. They taught the Persians to smoke, the Persians taught the Egyptians, and so gradually the whole world learned about it.

   

4. There are as many religions as in India, there is no one civilization. In religion, Indian culture is unparalleled. Since ancient times, the Hindus have worshiped many gods, composed a lot of legends and stories about the origin of mankind. The religion of India has left its mark on many modern creeds.

   

5. The people of ancient India did a lot for the development of science. Indian sages achieved great success in mathematics, medicine, astronomy, and also in linguistics. They knew the meaning of the number "pi", and came up with a decimal counting system, the numbers we use are also their merit. Many mathematical terms were also invented by the inhabitants of India. In astronomy, they guessed about the rotation of the earth around its axis. Even in those distant times, doctors performed operations using special instruments. Doctors treated herbal remedies serious illnesses. While in other civilizations they didn’t even have a clue about it.

   

6. Hindus are not inferior in literature. The Vedas are the most ancient literary heritage. They were created 2 thousand years ago BC. Later came Ramayana and Mahabharata. Then came the Panchatantra. It was a collection of fables, fairy tales, parables and legends, its content was instructive.

   

7. Surely everyone associates India with songs and dances, without which it is impossible to imagine this culture. Indian dances and theater take their origins in the ancient rites of Indian tribes.. Hindus consider Shiva the king of dance, they also prefer Krishna.

   

8. Not a few achievements in chemistry. The ancient Hindus understood various metals and alloys. They were able to create dyes, glass, jewelry, aromatics, and even poisons.

   

9. In ancient India, they knew human anatomy well.. The doctors knew all the organs human body. They knew how to correctly diagnose and prescribe treatment.

   

10. Hindus were able to tame a huge animal - an elephant. These animals served to transport heavy loads, carried logs. They also took part in battles, warriors sat on them, and shot at the enemies with arrows. Elephants trampled enemies. The Hindus believed that elephants are of divine origin, one of their gods was with the head of an elephant. Buffaloes served them for digging the field, and the cow was considered a sacred animal, she was called mother and nurse. Killing a cow was considered a sin.

    

11. People built their dwellings along the rivers, or on the edge of the jungle.. Ordinary Indians were engaged in the cultivation of wheat, vegetables and barley. They knew how to grow cotton, from which they made yarn, and made comfortable clothes. Over time, these clothes colorfully changed.

    

12. The cities of ancient India had sewers.. The sewerage system was simply exemplary in those days. It was collected from a network of channels. Everything was done very thoughtfully and carefully. The channels were cleaned from time to time. Outside the city, drains were made of bricks.

    

13. There is information in history that the Indians waged unusual wars.. They used some kind of "weapon of the gods." What is most interesting, the action of these weapons is similar to nuclear weapons, at that moment humanity was still very far from such achievements.

    

14. In the last century, a unique archaeological discovery was made. Near the Indus River, excavated a huge city. Its length was 5 km, the city itself was divided into 12 parts. The streets were level and straight. The houses are built of mud and bricks.

    

15. There were sculpture schools in ancient India. The largest of them are Gandhara, Mathura, and Amaravata. The sculptures of India are religious and cultural in nature. Hindus came up with a special guide for making sculptures.

    

Ancient Indian civilization is one of the most ancient and original civilizations of the East. The history of this country dates back thousands of years.

Historical data report that India was inhabited in ancient times in the Indus River valley. ancient people, who laid the foundation for a great civilization, was called the Indians. From early times, science and culture developed in India, and writing arose. The ancient Indians reached a high level Agriculture which led to the rapid development of society. They grew sugar cane, weaved the finest fabrics, and were engaged in trade.

The beliefs of the Indians were as diverse as their culture. They revered various gods and the Vedas, deified animals and worshiped the Brahmins - the keepers of sacred knowledge, who were equated with living deities.

Due to its many achievements, India was of great historical importance even in antiquity.

Geographic location and nature

India is located in the south of Asia. In ancient times, it occupied a vast territory bordering the Himalayas in the north - highest mountains in the world. India is divided into southern and northern parts, which are very different in their development. This division is due to the natural conditions of these areas, separated by a mountain range.

South India occupies the fertile lands of the peninsula, rich in flat landscapes and rivers. The central territory of the peninsula is characterized by an arid climate, as the mountains hold back wet winds from the ocean.

Northern India is located on the mainland and includes deserts and semi-desert lands. In the west of North India flows the Indus River and large rivers flowing into it. This made it possible to develop agriculture here and, with the help of canals, to irrigate arid territories.

To the east flows the Ganges River and many of its tributaries. The climate of this area is humid. Due to the high rainfall in these areas, it was convenient to grow rice and reeds. In ancient times, these places were dense forests inhabited by wild animals, which created many difficulties for the first farmers.

The geographical conditions of India are completely different - snow-capped mountains and green plains, impenetrable humid jungles and hot deserts. Animal and vegetable worlds are also very diverse and include many unique species. It is these features of the climate and territorial location that significantly influenced further development Ancient India in some areas, and an almost complete slowdown in progress in other, hard-to-reach areas.

Emergence of the state

Scientists know little about the existence and structure of the ancient state of the Indians, since the written sources of that period have not been deciphered. Only the location of the centers of ancient civilization has been precisely established - major cities Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. These could have been the capitals of the first ancient state formations. Archaeologists have found sculptures, remains of buildings and places of worship, which gives an idea of high level development of society at that time.

In the middle of the II millennium BC. e. Aryan tribes came to the territory of Ancient India. Indian civilization began to disappear under the onslaught of the invading conquerors. The written language was lost, and the formed social order broke up.

The Aryans extended their social division to the Indians and applied the class system - varnas. The highest position was occupied by brahmins or priests. The class of kshatriyas was made up of noble warriors, and the vaishyas were peasants and merchants. The Shudras occupied a rather low position. The name of this varna meant "servant" - this included all non-Aryans. The most difficult work went to those who did not belong to any of the estates.

Later, a division into castes began to form, depending on the type of activity. Caste affiliation was determined at birth and determined the norms of behavior for each member of society.

In the first millennium BC. e. in India, rulers arise - kings or rajas. The first strong powers are being formed, which positively influenced the development of the economy, trade relations, the development of statehood and culture. By the end of the 4th c. BC e. a strong empire was formed, which began to attract not only merchants, but also the conquering armies led by Alexander the Great. Macedonian failed to capture Indian lands, but the long contact of different cultures favorably influenced the course of their development.

India is becoming one of the largest and most powerful states of the East, and the culture that was formed at that time, having undergone some modifications, has come down to our time.

Economic life and occupations of the Indians

Having settled on the fertile lands near the Indus River, the ancient Indians immediately mastered agriculture and grew many crops of cereals, and were engaged in gardening. The Indians learned how to tame animals, including cats and dogs, and were engaged in breeding chickens, sheep, goats and cows.

Various crafts were widespread. Ancient masters were engaged in weaving, jewelry work, carving on ivory and stones. Iron had not yet been discovered by the Indians, but they used bronze and copper as material for tools.

Major cities were busy shopping malls, and trade was conducted both within the country and far beyond its borders. Archaeological finds allow us to assert that already in antiquity sea ​​routes, and on the territory of India there were ports for communications with Mesopotamia and other eastern countries.

With the advent of the Aryans, who were nomads and lagged behind the Indian civilization in development, a period of decline begins. Only in the II-I millennium BC. e. India gradually began to revive, returning to agricultural activities.

In the river valley, Indians begin to develop rice cultivation, grow legumes and cereal crops. An important role in the development of the economy was played by the appearance of horses, which were not known to the locals before the arrival of the Aryans. Elephants began to be used in the cultivation and clearing of land for planting. This greatly facilitated the task of fighting the impenetrable jungle, which at that time occupied almost all suitable for agriculture.

Forgotten crafts - weaving and pottery - begin to revive. Having learned how to extract iron, the metallurgical branch of the economy received a big impetus. However, trade still did not reach the desired level and was limited to exchange with nearby settlements.

ancient writing

The Indian civilization was so advanced that it had its own distinct language. The age of the found tablets with writing samples is estimated at thousands of years, but so far scientists have not been able to decipher these ancient signs.

The language system of the ancient Indian people is very complex and diverse. It has about 400 hieroglyphs and signs - rectangular figures, waves, squares. The first samples of writing have survived to this day in the form of clay tablets. Archaeologists also found inscriptions on stones made with sharp stone objects. But the content of these ancient records, behind which is the language that existed in antiquity, cannot be deciphered even with the use of computer technology.

The language of the ancient Indians, on the contrary, is well studied by specialists in this field. They used Sanskrit, which provided the basis for the development of many Indian languages. Brahmins were considered to be the guardians of the language on earth. The privilege of studying Sanskrit extended only to the Aryans. Those who belonged to the lower classes of society did not have the right to learn writing.

literary heritage

The ancient Indians left behind only a few scattered samples of writing that could not be analyzed and deciphered. The Indians, on the contrary, created immortal written masterpieces. The most significant literary works are the Vedas, the poems "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana", as well as mythological tales and legends that have survived to our time. Many texts written in Sanskrit significantly influenced the formation of the ideas and forms of later works.

The Vedas are considered the oldest literary source and religious book. It contains the basic knowledge and wisdom of the ancient Indians, the chanting and glorification of the gods, the description of rituals and ritual songs. The influence of the Vedas on spiritual life and culture was so strong that a whole thousand-year period in history was called the Vedic culture.

Along with the Vedas, the philosophical literature, whose task was to explain the phenomena of nature, the appearance of the universe and man from a mystical point of view. Such works were called Upanishads. Under the guise of riddles or dialogues, the most important ideas of the spiritual life of people were described. There were also texts that were educational in nature. They were devoted to grammar, astrological knowledge and etymology.

Later there are works of literature of an epic nature. The poem "Mahabharata" is written in Sanskrit and tells about the struggle for the royal throne of the ruler, and also describes the life of Indians, their traditions, travels and wars of that time. The Ramayana is considered a later epic and describes life path prince Rama. This book illustrates many aspects of the life, beliefs and ideas of the ancient Indian people. Both of these works are of great literary interest. Under the general plot of the narrative, the poems combined many myths, fables, fairy tales and hymns. They had a significant impact on the formation of the religious ideas of the ancient Indians, and were also of great importance in the emergence of Hinduism.

Religious beliefs of Indians

Scholars have little information about religious beliefs ancient Indians. They revered the mother goddess, considered the bull a sacred animal and worshiped the god of cattle breeding. The Indians believed in other worlds, the transmigration of souls and deified the forces of nature. The remains of pools have been found in the excavations of ancient cities, which makes it possible to assume that water was worshipped.

The beliefs of the ancient Indians were formed in the era of Vedic culture into two majestic religions - Hinduism and Buddhism. The Vedas were considered sacred and remained a storehouse of sacred knowledge. Along with the Vedas, they honored the Brahmins, who were the embodiment of the gods on earth.

Hinduism came out of the Vedic beliefs and over time has undergone significant changes. The worship of the three main gods - Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva comes to the fore. These deities were considered the creators of all earthly laws. The formed beliefs absorbed the pre-Aryan ideas about the gods. Descriptions of the six-armed god Shiva included the beliefs of the ancient Indians in the cattle breeder god, who was depicted as having three faces. This assimilation of beliefs is characteristic of Judaism.

Already at the beginning of our era, the most important literary source appeared in Hinduism, which was considered sacred - the Bhagavad Gita, which means “Divine Song”. Relying on the caste division of society, religion became national for India. It not only describes divine laws, but is also called upon to shape the way of life and ethical values ​​of its followers.

Much later, Buddhism arose and formed as a separate religion. The name comes from the name of its founder and means "enlightened". There is no reliable data on the biography of the Buddha, but the historicity of his personality as the founder of religion is not disputed.

Buddhism does not worship a pantheon of gods or one god, does not recognize deities as the creators of the world. The only saint is the Buddha, that is, the one who achieved enlightenment and "liberated". At first, Buddhists did not build temples or give of great importance rituals.

Followers believed that the only way to achieve eternal bliss was by living the right life. Buddhism assumed the equality of all people by birth, regardless of castes, and the moral foundations of behavior largely determined the life path of followers. The literary sources of Buddhism were written in Sanskrit. They explained the laws of the philosophical system of their teaching, the meaning of man and the ways of his development.

Having originated in the vastness of India, Buddhism was soon supplanted by Judaism, but was able to spread and take root firmly in the neighboring countries of the East.