How The Historical Sense Of Ancient India Is Different From Classical World?

 How The Historical Sense Of Ancient India Is Different From Classical World?

The study of ancient Indian history is important for those who wish to understand the true nature of the past, as well as for those who seek to understand the nature of the obstacles hindering the progress of India as a nation. Both ancient Indian tradition and classical historiography are valuable in themselves. 

Many ancient Indian historians have stated that, despite the variety of Brahmanic, Buddhist and Jain texts, there is not a single work that can be compared with the history of Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius On a par. Greek, Livy's Almanac or Tacitus. Rimsky. In their view, ancient Indian literature has little historical and chronological significance compared with European literature and should be avoided. According to the ancient Greek and Roman historians mentioned above, only political stories are published, while the stories of ancient Indian historians cover all areas of history including social and economic history, politics, religion and culture. 

Indian nationalist historians of the early 20th century tended to exaggerate the glories of the past, but nevertheless introduced contradictions into historical interpretation, which in turn led to more accurate studies of Indian institutions. European scholars who reconstructed the early history of India in the 19th century considered it to be essentially static, and Indian society was only interested in spiritual things. 

Prior to the twentieth century, for example, historians believed that Indian history began in the second millennium BC, when a people known as the In-do-Aryans migrated to the Indian subcontinent and created a new civilization. It was preceded by the Vedic era, when tribal societies of Indo-European origin, led by warlike leaders, settled in northern India. The Classical era was marked by the revival of urban civilization in ancient India, and with it the written culture. 

Ancient India at the time of the Buddha was a classic era in Indian history when literacy and urban civilization reappeared in the Indian subcontinent a thousand years after his death. Ancient India at the time of the Buddha witnessed the development of a religious culture from which three distinct religions arose - Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. These contradictions had a profound creative impact on the religious life of ancient India, giving rise to two new religions: Jainism and Buddhism. 

The traditional Vedic religion was communal and well suited to small tribal societies, but less so to the larger and more complex societies that emerged in ancient India during this historical period. The origins of the Vedic tradition in India, still practiced today, can now be traced, at least in part, to the indigenous peoples of ancient settlements such as Balatal and their interaction and fusion with the culture of the Aryan migrants who arrived in the region between C. 2000-c. 1500 BCE, the beginning of the so-called Vedic period (c. 1500–500 BCE), during which the Hindu scriptures known as the Vedas were preserved in writing. Despite the emergence of urban cultures in the Indus Valley in 2500 BC, until the 7th-6th centuries. BC. there is no definite chronology of Indian history. and much of what we know comes from the writings of Greek visitors such as Megasthenes (c. 

As was the case in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, the story is based on Paleolithic foragers who migrated to the region, followed by Neolithic farmers who settled in the villages. The Late Vedic differs from the Early Vedic in that during these centuries the lands along the Ganges were colonized by the Aryans, whose political, economic, social and religious life became more complex. South Asian Geography The dynamic history of India thus alternated between periods in which the subcontinent was partly unified by empires, and periods in which it consisted of ever-changing regional states. 

Some of them were located in northern India, along the Ganges River, but others first grew in the south, on the Indian peninsula. Finally, during the ancient and medieval period, India flourished as a civilization due to its dynamic economy. The Indians played a crucial role in the development of the ancient global world system, especially in the important maritime trade policy of India's south coast. 

This fact testifies to the growing trade links between India and the Middle East during this period of Indian history. Undoubtedly, the most impressive finds of the Mediterranean trade with India come from excavations undertaken in 1941-1950 and renewed in 1989-1992 at Arikamedu near Pondicherry on the southeast coast of India. Probably identified as the ancient port of Poduque, a trading settlement from the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods has been discovered at the site. 

The fact that billions of people today practice religions that originated in ancient India is not the only significance of Indian civilization during this period. But this civilization was not created by one nation, one race or one nation, and it makes no sense to see the history of India as the history of the Indian people. The influence of ancient Indian history on the modern world is due to the many manifestations of Indian genius, and the language used by people so logically that it inspires critical thinking about the fundamental unity that underlies human diversity. 

The spread of Buddhism from India can be used to illustrate the connection of the regions of the world in ancient times. The four major religions of the world - Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism - originated in India. 

At the same time, the plurality of Indian traditions and their respective social and political influence can be underscored by a discussion of the role of Jainism and Buddhism (which also represented resistance to Brahminic authority in Hinduism and therefore were anti-caste in nature). in the formation of the Mauryan state in India. At the same time, one might wonder how Buddhism challenged Hindu society in classical India in the same way that it challenged the Confucian state in China. More recently, historians have reconstructed the subcontinent's social, economic, and cultural history in greater detail, although politics have continued to influence the study of Indian history. 

In addition, he claims that there were historical documents in ancient India, such as Puranic documents, as well as other works of a mixed historical nature. All of his claims are correct, except that there was no historian in ancient India, historical events are not documented, and chronology is completely absent from ancient Indian literature. 

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Indian Civilization Is The Oldest Civilization

Indian Civilization Is The Oldest Civilization .

For the purposes of this article, the term "Ancient India" refers to a period in Indian history that began in the early 3rd century BC, when literate urban culture first emerged, and ended with the end of the glorious Gupta Empire after AD 500. One of the oldest civilizations in the world was born in India, and this highly developed culture had a profound impact on the subsequent development of the country and also reflected the way of life of many inhabitants of the East. Reconstruction of the religion of the Indus Valley Civilization is impossible, but there is solid evidence that it had a great influence on the later religious history of India. 

The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), also known as the Harappan civilization after Pakistan's archaeological site, has been shrouded in mystery, mostly because scientists have yet to understand the Harappan language, which is made up of fragmented characters. Drawings and other inscriptions. The Indus Valley Civilization, also known as the Harappan civilization, its first site was Harappa, excavated in the 1920s in what was then the British Indian province of Punjab, now in Pakistan. It coexisted with other early civilizations of the ancient world in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, and was one of the earliest civilizations in world history. Along with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it is one of the three earliest civilizations in the ancient world and one of the three most widely distributed civilizations, with an area of ​​1.25 million kilometers. 

The Indus Valley Civilization is one of the three "Ancient Eastern" societies, considered to be the cradle of civilizations in the ancient human world and one of the most widely distributed; the other two societies of the "Ancient Eastern" are Mesopotamia and Pharaoh Egypt. The Indus Valley Civilization is the earliest known type of culture in the Indian subcontinent, now called "urban" (or centered on large cities), and the largest of the four ancient civilizations including Egypt, Mesopotamia and China one of. Urban civilization first appeared in ancient India, the Indus Valley Civilization at the beginning of the third millennium BC, which is now Pakistan and northwestern India. During this period, urban civilization was reborn in the Indian subcontinent, and with it a cultured culture. 

This was also the formative period when most of the basic characteristics of traditional Indian civilization were established. These include the emergence of early Hinduism as the dominant religion in India and the social/religious phenomenon known as caste. Vedic civilization is the foundation of Hinduism as a religion, and the oldest Vedic writings, the Rig Veda, contain a large number of Indo-Iranian elements in language and content that are not found in later Indian Vedas. 

The Harappan civilization was followed by the Vedic period, which lasted until the 5th century BC, however, many historians believe that the carvings are said to be from the Indus Valley Civilization, as they depict women in the Indian women's saree. Impossible to find in the Harappa era, as well as figures sitting cross-legged, holding hands, a symbol of devotion in the Vedic era. The origins of the Vedic traditions of India are still practiced today and can now be traced, at least in part, to the indigenous peoples of ancient settlements such as Balatar and their interaction and integration with the culture of Aryan immigrants who arrived in the region in C. 2000-c between. 1500 BC, the beginning of the so-called Vedic period (c. 1500-500 BC), during which Hindu scriptures known as the Vedas survived in written form. If we consider the emergence of civilization to coincide with the development of primitive writing, then this is the Near Eastern Neolithic, the transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in the fourth millennium BC. and the development of the original script of Harappa in the Indus Valley of South Asia around 3300 BC. is the earliest case, followed by the evolution of Chinese primitive writing into oracle bone script, and the re-emergence of Mesoamerican writing systems around 900 BC. 

One of the earliest Neolithic sites on the Indian subcontinent is Bhirrana, located along the ancient Ghaggar-Hakra river system in what is now the Indian state of Haryana, dating back to around 7600 BC. This suggests that the Harappan civilization is almost as old as West Asian sites such as Jericho, where evidence of Neolithic cities dating back to 9000 BC has been found. Although it is known that the ancient city of Harappa existed as early as 1829, its archaeological significance has been neglected, with subsequent excavations and the discovery of the great Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana (both Dating back to the 5th or 4th century BC). ), while ignoring the possibility of the region's rich history. The remains of the ancient cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (both in modern-day Pakistan) and the remains of many other settlements provide clues to the mystery. 

Recent archaeological discoveries have shown that relatively advanced technological artifacts have been found at Rakhigarhi, a site in the Indus Valley, that could prove that ancient Indian civilization began as early as 8,000 years ago. A team of researchers from India used radiocarbon dating techniques on animal remains and pottery fragments to conclude that settlements in the Indus Valley could be 8,000 years old, 2,500 years older than previously thought. Now he claims he has evidence that further pushes back the origins of India, making Indian civilization some 2,000 years older than previously thought. 

NEW DELHI, India a When archaeologist KN Dixit was a young student in 1960, he made a remarkable discovery, pushing back the beginning of civilization in the Indus Valley by about 500 years. In the vast plains of the Indus River (in present-day Pakistan and western India), under layers of earth and mounds of earth, archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 4,600-year-old city. Since the first excavations in Harappa and Mohenjodaro on the territory of modern Pakistan, the Indus civilization was considered one of the oldest civilizations in the world along with Egypt and Mesopotamia (on the territory of modern Iraq). 

While the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt have long been recognized for their outstanding contributions to civilization, India has often been overlooked, especially in the West, although its history and culture are just as rich. Indus culture was found in the northwestern part of pre-independent India, Sind and Punjab; this central zone of mature Harappa had the basis for the development of the entire Indus Valley. But another poorly understood civilization dominated the Indus River basin, extending into much of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan and into northwestern India. 

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Aryan Invasion Theory Is Wrong

Aryan Invasion Theory Is Wrong.

He even teaches that some of the most revered books of Hindu scripture are not really Indian, and devalues ​​Indian culture by making it look less ancient than it really is. As far as such scholars are concerned, no convincing evidence has yet been presented for postulating an external origin for the Indo-Aryans [...] they have taken it upon themselves to counter the theory of Aryan incursions and migrations – hence the label of native Arianism. The Native Aryan theory has no relevance, let alone support, in mainstream science. 

It is clear that there is layer upon layer of archaeological, literary, linguistic and, most importantly, genetic evidence that forms a coherent, repetitive and predictable pattern that debunks the MTA and supports the native Aryan theory. Because of these Indo-Aryan registration data, a genetic case developed by Josephs "92 scientists from around the world" which places the supposed immigration of some people from Central Asia into South Asia during the "second millennium BC (from 2000 BC) . to 1000 BC) “seems completely unviable. Because of these data on the enrollment of Indo-Aryan languages, no one can claim any evidence that the Indo-Aryan languages ​​entered India from Central Asia in 2000 BC. or even in any previous historical period. 

The Indologists solved this problem by declaring that the first Indo-Aryan group whose presence in Western Asia was so scientifically recorded and dated was a pre-Rigvedic group that separated from other Indo-Aryans in Central Asia itself and migrated westward, hence the Vedic Indo-Aryans who later composed the Rig Veda, penetrated into northwestern India at about the same time that the pre-Mitannian Indo-Aryan group entered western Asia. The Indo-Aryans lived in India for at least 15,450 years, which refutes the theory that the Indo-Aryans invaded India 3,500 years ago. The German linguist Max Müller suggested in the 19th century that an Indo-European tribe (the Aryans) invaded the subcontinent 3000-4000 years ago, bringing with it the caste system. Based only on this similarity and without any concrete evidence, nineteenth-century European scholars, including the famous Max Müller and Muir, proposed the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT), according to which Aryan tribes invaded India around 1500 BC, destroying the existing Harappan culture, moved east to create the doab Ganga-Yamuna culture, imposed their own language and caste system on the natives, writing the Vedas quickly over several centuries (Klostermaier, 2007). 

Not only did this explain very easily the similarities between Sanskrit and Greek or Latin, when it was assumed that one branch of the Aryans migrated to Europe and another invaded India. Simply put, AIT claims that India was invaded by the Aryans, a blue-eyed nomadic tribe from Europe, in 1500 BC. who drove the swarthy and snub-nosed Dravidians to southern India. The Aryan invasion theory denies an Indian origin for the predominant culture of India, but attributes Indian culture to invaders from elsewhere. A frequent approach of OIT proponents is to mistakenly label AMT as IAT and present these theories as an attempt by Westerners since the days of Max Müller to subjugate Indian culture to the higher culture carried by light-skinned invaders. 

Proponents of the OIT postulate - without any genetic, archaeological or linguistic evidence - that Vedic and Puranic culture originated in India and that Aryans with a gray past are the original inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent. It is assumed that the Indo-Aryan peoples and their languages ​​originated in the Indian subcontinent and that the Indus Valley Civilization (Sindhu-Saraswati Civilization) was a Vedic civilization and not a Dravidian civilization as claimed in the AIT. This is part of the Kurgan Hypothesis / Revised Steppe Theory, which further describes the spread of Indo-European languages ​​in Western Europe through the migrations of Indo-European-speaking people. In other words, the new evidence completely debunks the 19th century colonial Aryan invasion theory and its late 20th century refinement, the Indo-Aryan migration theory. 

Changing our view of history is as radical as Einstein's ideas changed our view of physics. D. Frawley. Aryan Invasion Theory and Hindu Politics. In India it can be traced back to at least 6000 BC. (Melgar). Now more than ever, there is a severe lack of supporting and conflicting evidence to support theories popularized by the UK, such as the Aryan invasion theory, or that Muslim invaders made a huge contribution to Indian art, music or culture in India. Even architecture and Buildings such as Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutub Minar and others all over India. Taken together the above evidence proves the genetic and cultural continuity of India from north to south and proves that the artificial concept of "Aryan-Dravidian split" and between "high caste" and "low caste" has no real basis. This A Nature report cites three genetic studies showing that most Indians are genetically similar, refuting the hypothesis of the Aryan-Dravidian dichotomy [9]. 

But historians now largely agree that the Aryans did not come to India in some sudden movement right at the heart of the Harappan civilization. It is tragic that the history books claim that the Aryans invaded India and destroyed the civilization of the Indus Valley. According to this account, India was invaded and conquered by light-skinned nomadic Indo-European tribes from Central Asia around 1500-100 BC. became a Hindu culture. In a serious challenge to the popular "Aryan invasion" theory, a group of Indo-American researchers on Friday presented scientific evidence from the Harappan era to prove that there has never been such a massive migration from Central Asia to India. 

A study published in Cell, one of the world's leading journals, not only discards the Aryan migration theory, but also finds that Southeast Asian hunter-gatherers developed into their own farming communities and were the creators of the Harappan civilization. . The idea of ​​"invasion" has been rejected by mainstream scholars since the 1980s and replaced by more sophisticated models, [note 3] called the Indo-Aryan migration theory. The Aryan invasion theory rests on very fragile ground, Shinde said, adding that the history we are taught in textbooks now needs to be changed. “The exodus from India theory was motivated by bad politics, not good scholarship,” Namit Arora said, adding that the “controversy” over Aryan migration was never a genuine disagreement among scholars. 

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Rakhi Gadi Is Proof All Indians Are From Same Origin

 Rakhi Gadi Is Proof All Indians Are From Same Origin

The genetic map of the lady from Rakhigarhi shows that the original inhabitants of Harappa may have been Dravidians with more southern Indian features than today's northern Indians. Data on the ancient DNA of the Indus Valley Civilization from the Rakhigarhi Haryana site, which was due to be released last month, should add to this picture of the origins of South Asian populations. Of these, the ancient ancestors of the South Indians are probably the least studied and were present in parts of the subcontinent that did not fall under the Indus Valley Civilization. Turan, an area north of present-day Iran, also known as the Bactria-Margiana archaeological complex, was home to a vast community of ancient peoples who appear to have little genetic ties to the inhabitants of the subcontinent. 

However, the authors identified three individuals from this ancient complex with some connection to India, primarily a mix of Iranian agriculture and South Asian hunter-gatherers or ancient South Indian ancestors. The reason researchers refer to them as the Indus fringes is because they can't be sure their genetic makeup is the same as most people living in the Indus Valley, because they don't have access to ancient Native American DNA. Instead, they show that some social groups spread across India share a common ancestral genetic lineage (denoted by haplogroup R1a1a) with Eastern Europeans. 

However, they add that insights from a single genome suggest that the study of ancient South Asian DNA is promising. This work, along with a comprehensive analysis of ancient Eurasian DNA, also raises new questions about the origins of agriculture in South Asia. However, a new study shows that Iranian DNA in the Indus and modern Indians actually predates the development of agriculture in Iran by about 2,000 years. 

In addition, the new genetic study not only explains the origin of the North Indian Indo-Aryan languages, but also appears to explain the South Indian Dravidian language family, which dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization. While the evidence strongly suggests that the Indus Valley Civilization represents a distinct population from the post-Vedic population, infused with the MLBA steppe genes that imprint the population of India to this day, it is also true that the population of the Indus Valley Civilizations represents "the most important source of ancestry in South Asia" today (according to the newspaper "Narasimhan"). Excerpts from an email interview with David Reich about our study "Our study shows that the largest genetic contributors to people living in South Asia today are people from populations including the Indus Valley Civilization." “By sequencing 523 ancient humans, we show that the main origin of modern South Asians is a prehistoric genetic gradient between humans associated with early hunter-gatherers in Iran and Southeast Asia. 

Among the genetic sequences of 523 ancient people were people from as far away as the Eurasian steppe, eastern Iran and the Iron Age Swat Valley of present-day Pakistan. These include specimens from eastern Iran, an area known as Turan, which currently covers Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and South Asia. They then compared the data with data collected today from individuals, including 246 different groups in South Asia. Another analysis by Reich's scientific team looked at macroscopic data, analyzing the genetic data of 523 ancient peoples spanning 8,000 years from Central and South Asia to the European steppes, the largest study of ancient human DNA. 

Read this explanatory note for more details on the Reich group's study published earlier this year on the subject. While the Science study is broader and uses the genes of more than 500 people who have lived over the past 8,000 years to track the migrations and intermingling of various ancient peoples in South and Central Asia, the second study, published in Cell, focuses entirely on single genome analysis. , the first ever, IVC. The conclusions are based on the study of the ancient genome in skeletons recovered from the burial ground at Rakhigarhi, which is one of the largest sites in the Indus Valley, spread over 300 hectares near Hissar. The Science article, also led by Reich, notes that modern northern Indians also carry the genetic markings of ancient shepherds from the Eurasian steppes, the vast grasslands that stretch across northern Asia, moving south until about 2000 BC. 

But steppe herder DNA is absent from ancient Indus Valley dwellers, suggesting that similarities between these pastoral nomads and modern populations arose from migrations after the decline of the NIP. Another important assertion in a study published in the scientific journal A Cell titled "Ancient Harappan genome has no ancestors from steppe pastoralists or Iranian farmers" is that agriculture was not brought to South Asia by the large-scale movement of people from the Fertile Crescent. where is agriculture. Notably, while Narasimhan and others predicted a model of the Harappan genome using DNA samples from ancient skeletons of apparent Indus Valley visitors found in sites that were in commercial contact with the Harappans, as well as post-Harappan remains (1200 BC A.D.) -1 A.D.) people from Swat, the Rakhigarhi document suggests that this model was accurate. 

Niraj Rai, the lead genetic researcher of the Rakhigarhi study, said there was no evidence in the DNA samples of a Central Asian origin. A study of DNA samples from skeletal remains excavated at the Rakhigarhi site of the Indus Valley civilization in Haryana state found little evidence of Aryan invasion, according to people familiar with the matter, claiming that Harappa's inhabitants were the same as those of the Vedic era who conducted this study. Archaeological evidence has given researchers insight into the daily lives of the inhabitants of Harappa, but until now scientists have struggled to piece together evidence of the ancient DNA of the IVC due to the degradation of genetic material in the hot and humid regions. 

Scientists are working to restore ancient DNA in South Asia, where the subtropical climate often makes genetic preservation impossible. The paper concludes that Indians originated from a gene pool largely belonging to ancient indigenous civilizations. DNA tests showed that the deceased's name was replaced by the number 14411 and that the deceased did not carry the R1a1 gene, the Aryan gene of Bronze Age people who lived in the Black Sea steppe of Central Asia 4,000 years ago, between the Black Seas. and the Caspian Sea. One of the most interesting aspects of Rakhigarhi's study is that while the population of the Indus Valley Civilization is clearly multi-ethnic, the strong genetic substructure also suggests that the Harappan civilization may have been characterized by high levels of endogamy. group. 

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Cultural diversity of India

Cultural diversity of India

India has a history of thousands of years. There are very few countries in the world with such a long history and such an ancient culture. People have been living in India since the Stone Age. People came to India from different parts of India. They became one with the culture here. This has shaped a mixed Indian culture.

We are all Indians living in different parts of the country. Despite the diversity in language, literature, art, etc., we are one as Indians. This diversity has been instrumental in creating a sense of unity among Indians. Our social life is enriched by diversity.

Languages ​​in India:

Many languages ​​are spoken in India. Hindi and English are the languages ​​used in our country. Marathi is the official language of Maharashtra.

Festivals:

Festivals: Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jews live in India. Various festivals are celebrated in the country. Agriculture is the main occupation of our country. Many of our festivals are related to agriculture and the environment. Dussehra, Diwali, Holi in Maharashtra; Vaishakhi is celebrated in Punjab, Eruwak Punnam in Andhra Pradesh, Pongal in Tamil Nadu and Onam in Kerala. Ramadan Eid, Christmas, Buddhapurnima, Sanvatsari, Pateti are the important festivals.

Festivals and celebrations of any religion, all Indians happily participate in them.  Greet each other.  The feeling of oneness grows between them.

Costume and diet:

Variety is found in the dress and diet of Indians. The costume depends on the nature, climate and traditions of the area. The diet of the people of India is also diverse. This diversity is due to geographical differences such as climate, crops. For example, the diet of Punjabis consists mainly of dal-roti. People on the coast eat rice and fish.

Shelter:

There is also diversity in the way houses are built in India. Many houses in rural areas have mud walls. Some houses are noisy. Houses in areas with high rainfall have low roofs. Where there is less rain, there are dhaba houses. In large cities, multi-storey buildings can be seen.

Games:

Many types of games have been played in India since ancient times. We play a lot of sports like Viti - Dandu, Chess, Wrestling, Jhimma, Fugdi, Mallakhamba, Lagori, Atyapatya, Khokho, Kabaddi. We also have modern sports like Hockey, Cricket etc.

Sport has a very important place in our lives. Sports instill in us the qualities of cooperation and unity. Perseverance and passion are more important than winning or losing a game.

Art:

Many arts like music, dance, handicrafts, painting, sculpture have developed in India.

A wide variety of music has been prevalent in our country since time immemorial. There are two major modes of Indian classical music, Hindustani music and Carnatic music. Apart from this, there are many types of folk music like Bhajan, Qawwali, Lavani, Povada.

The tradition of dance is also very old in India. There are many types of folk dances. The dances of Santhal, Naga, Mizo are especially attractive. Koli dance is famous in Maharashtra. Bhangra in Punjab, Ghumar in Rajasthan, Bihu in Assam, Garba in Gujarat, Yakshagan in Karnataka, Calcutta in Kerala are some of the Indian folk dances.

Classical dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali etc. are especially famous.

Our country has developed different types of handicrafts since time immemorial.  Earthenware, wicker and bamboo baskets, curtains, and vases are still widely used.  The handicrafts developed in India show the skill and aesthetics of the artisans.

The tradition of painting in India dates back to the Paleolithic cave paintings.  The Paleolithic cave paintings at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh are famous.  There are beautiful specimens of Indian painting in the caves at Ajanta.  These paintings were painted about one and a half thousand years ago.  The colors used in these paintings still look fresh.  The fame of these paintings has spread all over the world.

Warli in Maharashtra and Madhubani in Bihar are famous tribal paintings.

Architecture:

 Ancient caves are found in many places in India. The caves at Carle, Ajanta, Ellora are famous. The stupa at Sanchi is worth a visit. The Sun Temple of Konark, the Dilwada Temple of Abu, the Qutub Minar of Delhi, and the Taj Mahal of Agra are also characteristic. Raigad,Devagiri, Gwalior forts are magnificent. Janjira and Sindhudurg sea forts are worth visiting. The Golden Temple in Punjab is a masterpiece of architecture.

Our country has a rich historical heritage.  Historical architecture is the glory of our country.  Keep this valuable you must be saved.  Care should be taken to ensure that these structures are not destroyed while visiting such places.  We should all take care not to engrave names on the buildings and also not to damage the area.

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Maharashtra before the Times of Shivaji Maharaj part 2

Village (Mauja) : Most of the people lived in villages. A village was also called mauja. The chief of the village was the Patil. He used to try to bring maximum land under cultivation. When there was any dispute in the village, the Patil resolved it and made peace. A Kulkarni helped the Patil in his work. The Kulkarni kept the record of the revenue that was collected. There were various artisans in the village. They had hereditary rights regarding their occupation. The peasants gave a share of their agricultural produce to the artisans for the services they rendered to the village community. This share was known as baluta. At the beginning of the seventeenth century CE, most of the territory in Maharashtra was under the control of Nizamshah of Ahmadnagar and Adilshah of Bijapur. The Mughals had entered Khandesh. Their objective was to expand their power in the south. There were settlements of Siddi people, who had come from Africa, along the coastline of Konkan. The competition and conflict amongst the Portuguese, the British, the French and the Dutch, who had come from Europe, was getting intense during this period. There was stiff competition amongst them to capture the markets for trade. The Portuguese had already established their rule in Goa and Vasai on the western coastline. The British, the Dutch and the French had found an entry through the medium of trading companies by setting up factories. All these powers assessed the strength of other powers, kept themselves safe and tried to dominate as much as possible. This conflict had created instability and insecurity in Maharashtra. These different people from Europe were called Topkar' on the basis of their customary headgear. It is necessary to get acquainted with the village (mauja), Kasba and pargana to understand the nature of settlements in that period as also of the officers that formed a link between the rulers and their subjects, and also the markets and the craftsmen. Pargana was made up of many villages. Generally, the headquarters of a pargana was called 'Kasba'. A village smaller than a Kasba was called 'Mauja'. Let us get acquainted in brief with Village, Kasba and Pargana respectively.

Kasba : A kasba was like a big village. It was usually the headquarters of a pargana, e.g., Indapur kasba of Indapur pargana, Wai kasba of Wai pargana were the headquarters of those parganas. Agriculture was the main occupation. There were skilled artisans like carpenters, blacksmiths, etc. in a kasba. There was usually a market (peth) adjacent to a kasba. The Shete and Mahajan were the watandars of the peth. Every village did not necessarily have a peth. The setting up of a peth was the job of the Shetes and the Mahajans. For that, they received some land from the government and some rights from the villagers. The Mahajan maintained the accounts of the peth.

Pargana : Many villages together made a pargana. But the number of villages was not the same in all parganas. For example, the Pune pargana was a big pargana. It consisted of 290 villages. There were 64 villages in the Chakan pargana. The Shirwal pargana was small. It had only 40 villages. The Deshmukh and the Deshpande were the watandar officers of the pargana. The Deshmukh was the chief of patils in a pargana. The Deshmukh did at the pargana level, what the Patil did at the village level. The Deshpande was the chief of all Kulkarnis in the pargana. The Deshpande did at the pargana level, the work that Kulkarnis did at the village level. These watandar officers were the link between the people and the government.

       In case of enemy invasion or drought, these watandars represented the grievances of the people to the government. Sometimes, these officers misused their powers. They collected more money from the people than was due or did not remit the money so collected to the government in time. On such occasions, the people suffered harassment.

      calamity of a famine: Agriculture was dependent on rainwater. The If it did not rain, crops would fail. The prices of foodgrains rose. It became difficult for the people to get foodgrains and other things. There was no fodder for the cattle. Water became scarce. It became difficult for people to live in the village. They were forced to leave the village. A famine was a great calamity for the people.

    A great famine occurred Maharashtra in 1630 CE. People were greatly distressed due to this famine. It A in has been described in these words "People were ready to sell themselves for a piece of bhakri, but there was nobody to buy them'. There was a severe scarcity of foodgrains. Entire families were destroyed. Cattle and farm animals died. Agriculture was devastated. The famine put an end to industries. All financial transactions came to a standstill. People had to wander to faraway regions in search of a livelihood. It was a great challenge to bring back to normalcy, the devastated life of the people.

The work of the Varkari movement: Society was greatly influenced by blind beliefs and rituals. People had become fatalistic and inert. They had lost all initiative. The condition of the common In such people circumstances, the Sants in Maharashtra endeavoured to inspire the masses. was miserable.

         In Maharashtra, the tradition of Sants which began with Sant Dnyaneshwar and Sant Namdeo was carried on by Sants coming from various strata of the society. People from all strata of society were part of the Sant tradition. For example, Sant Chokhamela, Sant Goroba, Sant Sena, Sant Sawata, Sant Narhari, Sant Shaikh Muhammad, etc. Sant Chokhoba's wife Sant Soyrabai, and sister Sant Nirmalabai, Sant Muktabai, Sant Janabai,  Sant Kanhopatra, Sant Bahinabai Siurkar and other women were also among them. Pandharpur was at the centre of the Sant movement. Vitthal was the object of their worship. On the banks of the river Chandrabhaga at Pandharpur, the Sants and pilgrims (varkari) used to rejoice in their devotion (bhakti). There, equality was propagated through bhajans, keertans, and unity meals (kala).

  Sant Namdeo : He was a great Sant of the Varkari movement . He was a skilled organiser . He performed excellent keertans as well . He awakened the sense of equality in men and women belonging to all castes through the medium of keertans . His pledge was ' नाचू कीर्तनाचे रंगी । ज्ञानदीप लावू जगी ।। ' His abhanga compositions Sant Namdeo are well - known . Many Sants as well as common people were influenced by his teachings . He went up to the Punjab , propagating his thoughts . His compositions are included in the ' Guru Granth Sahib ' of Sikhs . He propagated the message of Bhagwat religion in all quarters . He built a memorial to Sant Chokhamela at Pandharpur . His work is unforgettable .

Sant Dnyaneshwar : He was a great Sant in the Varkari movement . He wrote the ' Bhavartha - deepika ' or ' Dnyaneshwari ' which elucidates the meaning of the Sanskrit ' Bhagavad Geeta ' He also composed the * Amrutanubhav ' . He preached the importance of the path of devotion through his works and compositions . He showed a simple way of worship and conduct which the common people could follow easily . He gave the prestige of a religion to the Varkari movement . Though his life was spent in extremely adverse circumstances , he never lost the calm of his mind and never harboured bitterness His * Pasayadaan ' in Dnyaneshwari uplifts the mind . The poetic compositions of his brothers Sant Nivruttinath and Sant Sopandev and sister Muktabai are well known .

are Sant Eknath : He was a great Sant of the Bhakti movement in Maharashtra . His compositions many and diverse , They include abhanga , gavalana , bharud , etc. He has stated Bhagvat Dharma in detail and in a simple manner . He has portrayed people's life in Bhavarth Ramayana through the story of Ram . He explained in Marathi , the Bhakti part of the Sanskrit work ' Bhagwat ' . His abhangas show the warmth of devotion . He demonstrated through his own conduct that there is no need to renounce worldly matters for attaining the highest truth , Paramarth . He was a teacher of the people in the true sense of the term . He believed that our Marathi language was inferior to no other language . He asked the Sanskrit Scholars forcefully . संस्कृत वाणी देवे केली । तरी प्राकृत काय चोरापासुनि झाली ? ' He heavily criticised those who hated other religions .

Sant Tukaram : He belonged to Dehu near Pune . His compositions or abhangas are very pleasing and lucid , reaching the greatest poetic heights . His ' Gatha ' is a precious treasure of the Marathi language . He asks us to find  God by showing love to the unhappy and the tormented in the following lines : * का रंजले गांजले । त्यांसी म्हणे जो आपुले । तोचि साधु ओळखावा । देव तेथेचि जाणावा ॥ ' With this viewpoint , he threw in the river Indrayani , the documents of the loans that people had borrowed from him and freed many poor families from the bonds of loan . He criticized the hypocrisy and superstition in the society in very strong terms . He stressed that devotion ( Bhakri ) should be coupled with morality . His teachings can be summed up as ' जोडोनिया धन उत्तम व्यवहारे । उदास विचारे वेच करी || Some dogmatic people opposed the social awakening that he had undertaken , and sank his abhangas in the Indrayani . Sant Tukaram faced the opposition with noble courage . Sant Tukaram's disciples and associates were of different castes and creeds . They include Navji Mali , Gavnarshet Wani , Santaji Jagnade , Shivba Kasar , Bahinabai Siurkar and Mahadajipant Kulkarni . An important task completed by Gangarampant Maval and Santaji Jagnade was writing down the abhangas of Sant Tukaram .

Work of Sants : Sants gave the message of equality to people . They taught humanity . They preached that people should live together in harmony , unity and love . Their work resulted in social awakening . They taught how to live in the face of foreign invasions , drought - like situations or any other natural calamities . Their teachings proved to be a big support for people . Their work created self - confidence among the people of maharastra. 

There was a deterioration of ethics and religion in the society . At such a time , the Sants came forward to protect the society . They taught the true meaning of religion . They showed the path of devotion by living amongst people and sharing their joys and sorrows . Some orthodox and dogmatic people opposed them . But the Sants believed that facing this opposition was a part of their duty Sant Tukaram has explained the mark of a true Sant in these words - ' तुका म्हणे तोचि संत । सोशी जगाचे आघात । '

The Sants elucidated the complex dharma of the scholars ( Shastris and Pandits ) in the language of the people . They prayed to God using simple , everyday terms . They took the view that all are equal before God . They taught society to do away with the pride arising out of caste and varna and see everyone as God's children . A characteristic of the Sants was that they did not forget their duties on the path of devotion . They found God in their work . Sant Sawata said , ' कांदा मुळा भाजी । अवघी विठाई माझी ॥ ' This statement refers to farm work but applies to work in all walks of life . The Sants carried on with their duties even as they were engaged in devotion , teaching and composing verses . They developed the moral sensibilities of the society .

Ramdas Swami : 

He was from Jamb in Marathwada . He explained the importance of physical fitness to the people , ' मराठा तितुका मेळवावा । महाराष्ट्र धर्म वाढवावा । ' I ' This message of Ramdas Swami is famous . He gave practical education and lessons in good conduct through his works like Dasbodh , Karunashtaka , Manache Shlok . He stated the importance of people's movement and organisation and founded the Samarth Sampradaya . Chaphal was the centre of this Sampradaya . He propagated the worship of Ram and Hanuman . He travelled far and wide to propagate his thoughts .

Inspiration for independence during foreign rule : Such was the political , social , cultural , situation , etc. in Maharashtra before the times of Shivaji Maharaj . In that period , Maharashtra was under the control of Adilshahi and other powers . It was not independent . Even so , some personalities and streams of thought were dreaming of freedom . Among them , Shahaji Maharaj , who is considered to be a visionary of Swaraj was on the forefront

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