History
The major stages of the country's history at a glance
A few milestones to place the major stages in the building of the modern country — not an exhaustive summary of its history.
Ancient civilisations, empires and sultanates
The Indus Valley Civilisation (c. 2600–1900 BC), one of the oldest urban civilisations, preceded the arrival of the Indo-Aryans and the Vedic texts. Then came the Maurya Empire (4th–2nd century BC), under which Ashoka converted to Buddhism, and the Gupta Empire (4th–6th century), a "golden age" of science and the arts. Muslim sultanates took hold in the north from the 13th century, before the Mughal Empire, founded in 1526 by Babur, unified most of the subcontinent and left an immense heritage, including the Taj Mahal.
Milestones