Ancient History

Meghadutam (cloud messenger) is a lyric poem written by Kalidasa, considered to be one of the greatest Sanskrit poets. In Sanskrit literature, the poetic conceit used in the Meghadutam spawned the genre of sandesha kavya or messenger poems, most of which are modeled on the Meghaduta.

Ujjain (Avanti, Avantikapuri), is an ancient city of Malwa region in central India, on the eastern bank of the Kshipra River, today part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. Avanti with its capital at Ujjaini, is mentioned in Buddhist literature as one of the four great powers along with Vatsa, Kosala and Magadha.

Roman trade with India started around the beginning of the Common Era following the reign of Augustus and his conquest of Egypt. Following the Roman- Persian Wars Khosrow I of the Persian Sassanian Dynasty captured the areas under the Roman Byzantine Empire. The Arabs, led by ‘Amr ibn al-’As, crossed into Egypt in late 639 or early 640 C.E. That advance marked the beginning of the Islamic conquest of Egypt and the fall of ports such as Alexandria, used to secure trade with India by the Greco Roman world since the Ptolemaic dynasty.

The first two metals to be used widely were gold and copper. The use of copper in antiquity is of more significance than gold as the first tools, implements and weapons were made from copper. From 4,000 to 6,000 BC was the Chalcolithic period which was when copper came into common use.

The Vedic period (or Vedic age) was a period in history during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed. The time span of the period is uncertain. Philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the Rig Veda, the oldest of the Vedas, was composed roughly between 1700 and 1100 BCE, also referred to as the early Vedic period. It is an important source of information on the Vedic religion and their Gods as well as presents a detailed account of the life of the people at that time.

Suvarnabhumi is a Sanskrit term meaning the “Golden Land” or “Land of Gold”, coined by the ancient Indians which refers broadly to Southeast Asian region across Gulf of Bengal and Eastern Indian Ocean.

The Shulba Sutras are sutra texts belonging to the Strauta ritual and containing geometry related to firealtar construction. They are part of the larger corpus of texts called the Shrauta Sutras, considered to be appendices to the Vedas. They are the only sources of knowledge of Indian mathematics from the Vedic period. The four major Shulba Sutras, which are mathematically the most significant, are those composed by Baudhayana, Manava, Apastamba and Katyayana.

Kailashnath Temple is a famous temple, one of the 34 monasteries and temples, extending over more than 2 km, that were dug side by side in the wall of a high basalt cliff in the complex located at Ellora, Maharashtra, India. Of these 34 monasteries and temples, the Kailasa (cave 16) is a remarkable example of Dravidian architecture on account of its striking proportion; elaborate workmanship architectural content and sculptural ornamentation of rock-cut architecture.

The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th century monumental statues of standing buddha carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan.

Ajivika (“living” in Sanskrit) was a system of ancient Indian philosophy and an ascetic movement of the Mahajanapada period in the Indian subcontinent. Ajivika was primarily a heterodox Hindu (Nastika) or atheistic system.

The recovery of a large number of Mother Goddess figurines almost from every excavated site suggests that the Mother Goddess worship cult was very wide-spread during Indus days. The figurine has been cast with an elaborate headgear supported by a pair of bands and a brooch, tight-fitted short tunic with skirt part fastened with a broad waist-band using a medallion like clasp, and tight-fitted trousers, necklaces, ear-ornaments.

Giraffe was not known to the people of Indus Valley Civilisation.

Dancing Girl is a prehistoric bronze sculpture made in approximately 2500 BCE in the Indus Valley Civilisation city of Mohenjo-daro (in modern-day Pakistan), which was one of the earliest human cities. The Girl was in dancing position and was wearing a no. of bangles in her both hands

It is not Known.Seals found during excavation of Indus Valley Civilization had symbolic (pictographic) script which has not been deciphered yet.The Indus script (also known as the Harappan script) is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilisation during the Kot Diji and Mature Harappan periods between 3500 and 1900 BCE.

Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni CIE (16 December 1879 – 7 March 1939) was an Indian archaeologist who supervised the excavation of the Indus valley site at Harappa in 1921-22. A protege of John Marshall, in 1931.