India

=== Ancient India ===
[[File:Battle at Lanka, Ramayana, Udaipur, 1649-53.jpg|thumb|Manuscript illustration, {{circa|1650}}, of the Sanskrit epic [[Ramayana]], composed in story-telling fashion {{circa|{{BCE|400}}|{{CE|300}}}}<ref name="Lowe2017-epic">{{Cite book |last=Lowe |first=John J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSgmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |title=Transitive Nouns and Adjectives: Evidence from Early Indo-Aryan |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-879357-1 |page=58 |quote=The term 'Epic Sanskrit' refers to the language of the two great Sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa. ...  It is likely, therefore, that the epic-like elements found in Vedic sources and the two epics that we have are not directly related, but that both drew on the same source, an oral tradition of storytelling that existed before, throughout, and after the Vedic period.}}</ref>|right]]
About 55,000 years ago, the first modern humans, or ''[[Homo sapiens]]'', had arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa, where they had earlier evolved.<ref name="PetragliaAllchin" /><ref name="Dyson2018p1" /><ref name="Fisher2018p23" /> The earliest known modern human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago.<ref name="PetragliaAllchin" /> After {{BCE|6500}}, evidence for domestication of food crops and animals, construction of permanent structures, and storage of agricultural surplus appeared in [[Mehrgarh]] and other sites in [[Balochistan, Pakistan]].{{sfn|Coningham|Young|2015|pp = 104–105}} These gradually developed into the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]],{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|pp = 21–23}}{{sfn|Coningham|Young|2015|pp = 104–105}} the first urban culture in South Asia,{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 181}} which flourished during {{BCE|2500–1900}} in modern day Pakistan and western India.{{sfn|Possehl|2003|p = 2}} Centred around cities such as [[Mohenjo-daro]], [[Harappa]], [[Dholavira]], and [[Kalibangan]], and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade.{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 181}} Ancient India was one of the four [[Old World]] [[Cradle of civilization|cradles of civilization]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keith Maisels |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1WOPkmChaFsC&q=Anatolia+cradle+of+civilization&pg=PP8 |title=The Near East: Archaeology in the 'Cradle of Civilization' |year=1993 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-04742-5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418050405/https://books.google.com/books?id=1WOPkmChaFsC&q=Anatolia+cradle+of+civilization&pg=PP8 |archive-date=2023-04-18}}</ref>

During the period {{BCE|2000–500}}, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the [[Chalcolithic]] cultures to the [[Iron Age]] ones.{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 255}} The [[Vedas]], the oldest scriptures associated with [[Hinduism]],{{sfn|Singh|2009|pp = 186–187}} were composed during this period,{{sfn|Witzel|2003|pp = 68–69}} and historians have analysed these to posit a [[Vedic period|Vedic culture]] in the [[Punjab region]] and the upper [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Gangetic Plain]].{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 255}} Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of [[Indo-Aryan migration]] into the subcontinent from the north-west.{{Sfn|Singh|2009|pp=186–187}} The [[caste system]], which created a hierarchy of priests, warriors, and free peasants, but which excluded indigenous peoples by labelling their occupations impure, arose during this period.{{Sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|pp=41–43}} On the [[Deccan Plateau]], archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation.{{Sfn|Singh|2009|p=255}} In [[South India]], a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number of [[megalith]]ic monuments dating from this period,{{Sfn|Singh|2009|pp=250–251}} as well as by nearby traces of [[agriculture]], [[irrigation tanks]], and craft traditions.{{Sfn|Singh|2009|pp=250–251}}
[[File:Cave 26, Ajanta.jpg|thumb|Cave 26 of the rock-cut [[Ajanta Caves]]|right]]

In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the ''[[mahajanapadas]]''.{{sfn|Singh|2009|pp = 260–265}}{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|pp = 53–54}} The emerging urbanisation gave rise to non-Vedic religious movements, two of which became independent religions. [[Jainism]] came into prominence during the life of its exemplar, [[Mahavira]].{{sfn|Singh|2009|pp = 312–313}} [[Buddhism]], based on the teachings of [[Gautama Buddha]], attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in India.{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|pp = 54–56}}{{sfn|Stein|1998|p = 21}}{{sfn|Stein|1998|pp = 67–68}} In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up [[Nekkhamma|renunciation]] as an ideal,{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 300}} and both established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of [[Magadha]] had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan Empire]].{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 319}} The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent except the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas.{{sfn|Stein|1998|pp = 78–79}}{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p = 70}} The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for [[Ashoka]]'s renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist ''[[Dharma (Buddhism)|dhamma]]''.{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 367}}{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|p = 63}}

The [[Sangam literature]] of the [[Tamil language]] reveals that, between {{BCE|200}} and {{CE|200}}, the southern peninsula was ruled by the [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]], the [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]], and the [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]], dynasties that [[Indo-Roman trade relations|traded extensively with the Roman Empire]] and with [[Western Asia|West]] and [[Southeast Asia]].{{sfn|Stein|1998|pp = 89–90}}{{sfn|Singh|2009|pp = 408–415}} In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased subordination of women.{{sfn|Stein|1998|pp = 92–95}}{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 319}} By the 4th and 5th centuries, the [[Gupta Empire]] had created a complex system of administration and taxation in the greater Ganges Plain; this system became a model for later Indian kingdoms.{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|2004|pp = 89–91}}{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 545}} Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion, rather than the management of ritual, began to assert itself.{{sfn|Stein|1998|pp = 98–99}} This renewal was reflected in a flowering of [[Sculpture in the Indian subcontinent|sculpture]] and [[Architecture of India|architecture]], which found patrons among an urban elite.{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 545}} [[Sanskrit literature#Classical Sanskrit literature|Classical Sanskrit literature]] flowered as well, and [[History of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent|Indian science]], [[Indian astronomy|astronomy]], [[Ayurveda|medicine]], and [[Indian mathematics|mathematics]] made significant advances.{{sfn|Singh|2009|p = 545}}