Ancient Indian civilization with many surnames
First, the civilized process of more division and less unification.
Natural Environment The geographical scope of ancient India is not limited to India today, but refers to the whole subcontinent, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and other countries today. In ancient India, no country named India, but Persians and ancient Greeks called the area east of the Indus River India, while China's history books and Han Shu called it "body poison", the later Han Dynasty called it "Tianzhu", and Tang Xuanzang changed it to "India" in "Records of the Western Regions". Obviously, this name comes from the name of the Indus River.
Ancient India is surrounded by the sea on three sides and the Himalayas on the north, so it is an independent triangular peninsula in geography. In the north, there are two major river basins, the plains and the Indus and Ganges rivers, which are beneficial to the development of agriculture. There are plateaus, rich forests and mineral deposits in the south, which are conducive to the development of handicrafts. Because of the vast subcontinent and good natural environment, ancient Indians did not have to take all risks to challenge the ocean.
Ancient India is also one of the cradles of human civilization. As far back as14 million years ago, there was a human ancestor Raemakers. Paleolithic cultural sites are mainly distributed in the northern peninsula. Neolithic cultural sites spread all over the subcontinent. From the late 4000 BC to 3000 BC, the peninsula entered the era of stone and stone combination. Around 2300 BC, the Indus Valley entered civilization. Therefore, there have been residents' activities in the subcontinent throughout prehistoric times until the emergence of civilization.
Ancient India can be said to be the melting pot of the world's races. There are short black people, primitive Austrian people, Dehlavi people, Aryans, Persians, Greeks, Dayue people, white Huns and so on. More precisely, there are three major races (yellow race, black race and white race) and more than 200 dialects, so the composition of ancient Indian residents is more complicated.
If Chinese civilization is a process of long-term unification and short-term division, then ancient Indian civilization is the development trend of more division and less unification. Throughout the process of its civilization, there are roughly the following eras:
The first era was the Indus civilization era (about 2300- 1750 BC). This is the earliest civilization in ancient India, and its center is in Halaba and Mohenjo, so it is called "Halaba culture". But this civilization was not discovered until 192 1- 1924. Like Sumerian civilization in the two river basins, it has been buried underground for a long time and is unknown to people. Therefore, when the first volume of Cambridge History of India was first published in 1922, people still thought that ancient India entered civilization from the "late Vedic era" in 1000 BC. The discovery of Halaba culture pushed forward the time of ancient Indian civilization 1300 years.
The second era is the Vedic era (about 1500-600 BC). This era is divided into two stages: the early Vedic era (1500- 1000 BC) and the late Vedic era (900-600 BC). So it is divided into two stages because the history of ancient India has been blurred for nearly 200 years after the brilliant Indus civilization was destroyed for unknown reasons. From about 1500 BC, Indo-European Aryans invaded the subcontinent, but these Aryans were at the end of primitive society, so in the whole early Vedas, that is, during 1500- 1000 BC, ancient India retreated to the era of barbaric transition to civilization. It was not until 900 BC that the Aryans entered civilization, or that ancient India entered civilization for the second time. Scholars call the period of 900-600 BC the Late Vedic Age. However, compared with Halaba culture, the civilization of this period is really a poor creature.
The third era is the national era (600-400 BC). Sometimes it is also called "the early Buddhist era". This is an era in which ancient Indian countries developed synchronously, but it is also an era in which the warring States disputed and gradually laid a unified foundation, among which the country of Ganges is the most powerful. At this time, the economic, political and cultural center of ancient India also moved eastward, that is, the Ganges River basin became the center of civilization. As for the Indus Valley, it not only lost its important position, but also was occupied by the Persian Empire in 5 18 BC and became a province.
The fourth era was the Peacock Empire (324- 187 BC). This was the first unified era and empire in the history of ancient India, but the unifier was not a powerful country in various countries' eras, but an uprising leader from the peacock family in the Indus Valley who lost his important position. After Alexander destroyed the Persian Empire, the Indus Valley became the territory of Alexander's Empire. But as soon as Alexander left India, an uprising broke out here. The uprising leader Chandragupta not only drove away Alexander's defenders, but also completed the great cause of reunification and established an empire. On the one hand, it is the development trend of ancient civilizations in the world, on the other hand, it is also conducive to the development of economy, politics and culture. Therefore, during the reign of the third generation of Ashoka (269-232 BC), the empire entered a prosperous era. However, after the empire lasted 137 years, it was replaced by the Siouga dynasty (187-75 BC) in187 BC. Siouga dynasty was no longer an empire, initially ruled the entire Ganges River valley, and later became a small court favoring Mojeto. By 75 BC, the last emperor of Zanga dynasty was killed by Ganhua, but the Ganhua dynasty (75-30 BC) was unstable, and four kings ruled for 45 years, with an average of 1 1 year. In 30 BC, this small court was also destroyed by the small national security Duroy in South India. In short, after the demise of the Peacock Empire, the history of ancient India was ambiguous for a long time; Second, foreign invasion. In summer, there are Greeks, Cypriots, rest people and big moon people. Among them, only China's Dayue family established a stable regime in the northwest of ancient India.
The fifth era was the Guishuang Empire (1-3rd century). The founder of Guishuang Empire was a member of Dayue family who lived in Dunhuang and Qilian Mountains in China. In the 2nd century BC, the nomadic Dayue family was defeated by Xiongnu, moved westward to Central Asia, and then occupied the summer, and gradually changed from nomadic life to agricultural life, and the social system gradually changed from primitive society to class society. Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions and came here in 139 BC. At this time, the Yue people were divided into five tribes, and the chief called them "Mao Hou". /kloc-0 At the beginning of the 20th century, Kukula Kadfisses (1 5-65) of Guishuang Maohou wiped out other Maohou, unified the five major tribes and established Guishuang. Kujura Kadfisses also attacked the Kabul River basin and Kashmir in the south, which laid the foundation of the empire. After the death of Kujura Kadfises, his son Yan Gaozhen (65-75) succeeded him. He invaded India south and occupied the Ganges River basin. By the third generation of King Ganeshiga (78- 102), Guishuang Empire entered its heyday, and its capital was Fulousha (now Peshawar, Pakistan). At this time, the empire spanned Central Asia and South Asia, and ranked as the four largest empires in the world with the Eastern Han Empire of Rome, Rest in Peace and China. At the same time, in 90 AD, Gui Shuang sent 70,000 troops to attack Ban Chao stationed in the western regions. There are few soldiers in Han Yan, and they are very scared. However, Ban Chao took advantage of Gui Shuangjun's expedition and the shortage of rations, "closed the valley" and sent an ambush to kill his troops who sought help from Qiuci, forcing Gui Shuangjun to retreat to the south of Qingling and maintain peaceful relations with the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Ganeshiga fought all his life and expanded the territory of the empire, but he also satisfied the people with the suffering of the war, so that he could not stand his expansion policy, so when he was ill in bed, people covered him with quilts and suffocated him. After his death, the empire began to decline. In the 3rd century, the empire was divided into several small principalities. The history of ancient India has entered a vague stage again. Until the rise of the Gupta Empire in the 4th century. In 425, the remnants of Xia Guishuang were also destroyed by dumb people (White Xiongnu).
It is not difficult to see from the above times that from 2300 BC to the rise of Gupta Empire, ancient India was a period of division among countries except the Peacock Empire in 137 and the Guishuang Empire in 100. Even a vague era.
Second, the lost Indus civilization.
Discovery of Civilization As mentioned above, before 1924, scholars said that the first chapter of ancient Indian civilization began in the Vedic era, which is of course a wrong understanding. 192 1 year, British archaeologists discovered the site of Halaba in the upper reaches of the Indus River, 1924, and they discovered the site of Mohenjo's heroes in the lower reaches. According to scientific determination, these are some ancient civilizations from 2300- 1750 BC. It is 1 10,000 years earlier than the Vedic civilization. The news from India shocked the academic circles all over the world at that time, because the civilization of these sites was not only surprising, but also made people find that the Vedic civilization was simply a dark and retrogressive era.
The scale of civilization: Hero in Mohenjo and Halaba are the ruins of urban civilization, both of which are more than 4.8 kilometers in circumference. These cities are composed of the Acropolis and the Lower City (residential areas), and each city has about 35,000 residents. The two cities are 644 kilometers apart, forming two centers, which are obviously two independent national capitals. Later, archaeologists discovered hundreds of similar sites, large and small. Their distribution is not limited to the Indus Valley, and their geographical distribution is much larger than that of ancient civilization sites in early Egypt and the two river basins. Obviously, this is a civilized era with a relatively large distribution, but it is also an era that has been completely forgotten by people. If Sumerian civilization can still find its shadow from myths and legends, then Indus civilization even has no shadow of myths and legends. Fortunately, archaeologists discovered it, which made these sites, large and small, buried underground for more than 3000 years, see the light of day again, and also made us understand the general situation of their civilization.
Indus civilization is characterized by bronze civilization. Copper products include not only weapons such as daggers, arrows and spears, but also production tools such as sickles, saws, axes, chisels and fishhooks. Agriculture was an important production department at that time. The crops planted are mainly barley, wheat, beans and sesame vegetables, and rice is also planted in places with good water resources. There are also dates, fruit trees and cotton, so India is the hometown of cotton. Residents are also engaged in animal husbandry, and domesticated animals include cattle, pigs, dogs and donkeys. Poultry and fish are also eaten.
Handicraft industry is relatively developed. In addition to bronzes, we have mastered the processing technology of gold, silver, lead, tin and other metals, and the hot working and cold working have reached a high level, especially the metal utensils will be made by welding. Ceramic industry and textile industry also have a high level, such as spindles and spinning wheels, which are found in many sites. The existence of dye vat shows that the dyeing technology of textiles was mastered at that time. Pottery blanks are made of pottery wheels and then fired in a pottery kiln. The design of the pottery kiln is also very reasonable, and the flame can burn to the top floor. There are also some exquisite pottery products with pictures. In addition, handicrafts are also beautifully made, such as necklaces, rings, bracelets, arm bracelets, anklets, earrings and other jewelry, both gold and silver products, as well as ivory and gemstone products. Seals are its specialty. The seal is engraved with words and patterns. Characters have about 400 or 500 symbols, which is a sign of entering civilization, but these characters have not been explained yet.
Business is also very active. There are also things found in sites outside the Indus civilization center, such as the seals of the two river basins. Similarly, circular seals and metal products from the two river basins are also found in these sites, which indicates that there are commercial and trade exchanges with the two river basins. Scholars believe that this long-distance trade is carried out by sea, and the seal also has the pattern of the ship. In addition, there are also stone hammers in the site, and there are binary and decimal methods, which shows that its weights and measures system is also.
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