ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA
ANCIENT INDIA:-
For UPSC and State Civil Services Examinations
PRE-HISTORY PHASE:-
The English word 'history' originates from the Greek historia, signifying "request, information gained by examination". It corresponds to the study of the past and throws light on various past events of significance which shaped and evolved human experiences. History is further divided into pre-history, proto-history, and history. Events occurring before the invention of writing are considered the domain of prehistory, which is generally represented by the three stone ages. Defining proto-history is rather difficult as it has different connotations. Generally, it refers to a period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilisation has not yet developed writing but are mentioned in the written records of a contemporary literate civilisation. For example, the script of the Harappan civilisation remains undeciphered; however, since its existence is noted in Mesopotamian writings, it is considered a part of proto-history. Similarly, the Vedic civilisation from c. 1500–600 BCE had an oral literary tradition, though they did not take to literary writing — they can thus be considered a part of proto-history as well. Archaeologists consider Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures to be a part of protohistory. The study of the past after the invention of writing and the study of literate societies based on the written and archaeological sources constitutes history.
The history and identity of human settlements in India go back to
prehistoric times. The credit for doing an early extensive study of Indian
pre-history go to Robert Bruce Foote, who discovered what was
probably the first palaeolithic tool discovered in India — the Pallavaram
handaxe. Later, he discovered a large number of pre-historic sites in
South India. The contribution of Sir Mortimer Wheeler is equally
significant, as his efforts greatly contributed towards our knowledge of the pre-historical cultures of India and their sequence. On the basis of
geological age, the type and technology of stone tools, and subsistence
base, the Indian Stone Age is classified primarily into three types:
- Old stone Age, Palaeolithic Age (5,00,000−10,000 BCE)
- Late Stone Age, Mesolithic Age (10,000−6000 BCE)
- New Stone Age, Neolithic Age (6,000−1000 BCE)
Palaeolithic Age (Hunters and Food
Gatherers):-
The Palaeolithic Age is the earliest period of the Stone Age, which
developed in the Pleistocene period or the Ice Age. It was spread in
practically all parts of India except the alluvial plains of the Indus and
Ganga. The Palaeolithic man of India are said to have belonged to the
Negrito race and lived in caves and rock shelters. They were food
gathering people who lived on hunting and gathering wild fruits and
vegetables.They had no information on farming, house building, ceramics, or any metal. It was only in later stages that they attained the
knowledge of fire. Man, during this period, used tools of unpolished,
undressed rough stones — mainly hand axes, cleavers, choppers,
blades, burin, and scrapers. Since the stone tools were made of a hard
rock called ‘quartzite’, Palaeolithic men are therefore also called
‘Quartzite men’ in India.
The Palaeolithic Age is divided into three phases according to the
nature of stone tools used. They are:
Tags:ancient india, general knowledge point, gk point, history, ias gk point, Palaeolithic age, stone age, upsc, upsc point,
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