Ancient History

Pali is a Middle Indo-Aryan language (of Prakrit group) of the Indian subcontinent. It is best known as the language of many of the earliest extant Buddhist scriptures, as collected in the Pali Canon or Tipitaka, and as the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism. T. W. Rhys Davids in his book Buddhist India, and Wilhelm Geiger in his book Pali Literature and Language, suggested that Pali may have originated as a form of lingua franca or common language of culture among people who used differing dialects in North India, used at the time of the Buddha and employed by him.

The archaeological record of the Indus civilization provides practically no evidence of armies, kings, slaves, social conflict, prisons, and other oft-negative traits that we traditionally associated with early civilizations. If there were neither slaves nor kings, a more egalitarian system of governance may have been practiced. Besides, compared to other ancient civilizations the houses were of nearly equal size indicating a more egalitarian social structure i.e. The Social System of the Harappans was fairly egalitarian.

Sikhara, a Sanskrit word translating literally to “mountain peak”, refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India. Sikhara over the sanctum sanctorum where the presiding deity is enshrined is the most prominent and visible part of a Hindu temple of North India.

In Jainism, Rishabh was the first of the 24 Tirthankaras who founded the Ikshavaku dynasty and was the first Tirthankara of the present age. Because of this, he was called Adinath. He is mentioned in the Hindu text of the Bhagavata Purana as an avatar of Vishnu. In Jainism, a Tirthankara is a human being who helps in achieving liberation and enlightenment as an “Arihant” by destroying all of their soul constraining (ghati) karmas, became a role-model and leader for those seeking spiritual guidance.

Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions on rocks, pillars, temple walls, copper plates and other writing material. It is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the writing and the writers.

The Silk Road or Silk Route is a modern term referring to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa. Extending 6,500 km, the Silk Road gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade along it, which began during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). The Kushan empire incorporated Samarkand, Bokhara and Fergana, bordering on the Silk Road towns of Kashgar, Yarkand and Khotan. The main route from Central Asia into India, connecting India with the Silk Roads and the Mediterranean, ran through Gandhara. Kanishka sought to promote the thriving trade with the Silk Road centres like Kashgar and beyond, sending an envoy to Ttajan in Rome.

The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering (dukkha) and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena (or reality) and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion.

Buddha was against caste. His religion was open to all, to shudras, women and even repentant criminals. The Buddhist scriptures were available to all men and women. Buddhism encouraged abolition of distinctions in society and strengthened the principle of social equality.

Among all the Bronze Age cultures, the Indus Valley civilization was the most urbanized. A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus Valley Civilization making them the first urban centres in the region.

The Vedas (“knowledge”) are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.

People living in Harappa or Mohenjo-daro today are even more likely to be the inheritors of that civilization. The key to the Indus script linguistically is Dravidian, then culturally the key to the Indus script is Vedic.

Banerji (also known as Rakhal das Banerjee and Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay) was working for the Archaeological Survey of India in 1920, surveying the lower part of the Indus River valley (now part of Pakistan), when he heard reports of a buried site surmounted by a stupa, a small hemispherical structure used by Buddhist monks for meditation.

Indus civilization, also called Indus valley civilization or Harappan civilization, the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent. The striking feature of the Indus Valley Civilization was Urban Civilization.

There was a sophisticated concept of town planning in the Indus Valley Civilization. From excavations we get to to know that there was flourishing urban architecture. Some of the features are listed below: Grid Pattern Harappa and Mohen-Jo Dero were laid out on a grid pattern and had provisions for an advanced drainage system. Streets were oriented east to west. Each street was having a well organized drainage system. City Walls Each city in the Indus Valley was surrounded by massive walls and gateways. The walls were built to control trade and also to stop the city from being flooded. Each part of the city was made up of walled sections. The acropolis and the lower cities. A typical city would be divided into two sections, each fortified separately. One section was located on an artificially raised mound (sometimes called acropolis) while the other level was on level ground.

Bull seal, Harappa. The majestic zebu bull, with its heavy dewlap and wide curving horns is perhaps the most impressive motif found on the Indus seals. Most depicted animal of the Indus Valley Civilization was Bull.