Five Thousand Years of History of India

This book provides a concise overview of India's long five-thousand-year history. Mainly taking the changes of dynasties as the main line, it tells the ancient history, medieval history and modern history of India. The ancient history part begins with India in the Stone Age and tells about the life of the indigenous people, Aryan culture and Vedic religion; the two major epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana" that appeared in the epic and philosophical era of India, as well as the Vedas, Sanskrit and Upanishads, especially the Buddhism and the Buddha Sakyamuni are described in detail; finally, it tells the history of the rise and fall of the Magadha Empire, the Vaikur Kushan Dynasty and the Gupta Dynasty. The history of the Middle Ages begins with the Muslim invasion of India and tells the story of the seventeenth invasion of India by the Ghaznavids and Mahmud; then it tells the rise and fall of various dynasties established by the Muslims, including the Slave Dynasty, the Kalji Dynasty, the Tughluq Dynasty, the Sayyid Dynasty and the Lodi Dynasty; and finally it tells the establishment and development of the Mughal Empire, mainly describing the great deeds of several wise kings, including Babur, Humayun and Akbar. The modern history part begins with the British East India Company's invasion of India, telling how the East India Company defeated France and other countries and invaded India step by step; then it tells how Robert Clive robbed Indian land, how Warren Hastings annexed Indian land, and how Cornwallis developed British power on Indian land; and finally it tells the Indian War of Independence, the birth of the National Conference and the non-violent non-cooperation movement led by Mahatma Gandhi among the Indian people.