The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the history of South Asia:
History of South Asia – South Asia includes the contemporary political entities of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, and the island nations of Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
| History of South Asia |
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| Chronology of India | |||||
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| James Mill (1774–1836), in his The History of British India (1817),[a] distinguished three phases in the history of the Indian subcontinent, namely Hindu, Muslim, and British civilisations.[b][c] This periodisation has been influential, but has also been criticised for the misconceptions it gave rise to.[d] Another influential periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical, medieval and modern periods".[e] | |||||
| World History[f] | James Mill's Periodisation[g] | ACMM[h][i] | Chronology of Indian History[j][k][l][m] | ||
| Early Societes (3500–2500 BCE) |
Early Indian Civilizations | Ancient India | Prehistoric Era Indus Valley civilisation (c. 3300–1750 BCE) | ||
| Ancient Vedic Kingdoms (2500–600 BCE) |
Hindu civilisations | Early Vedic period (c. 1750 – 1200 BCE) | |||
| Middle Vedic period (from 1200 BCE) | |||||
| Late Vedic period (from 850 BCE) | |||||
| Classical Civilisations (600 BCE-500 CE) |
Second urbanisation Early empires[n] (c. 600–200 BCE)[o] | ||||
| Disintegration[p] and regional states (c. 200 BCE–300 CE)[q] | |||||
| Classical India | "Golden Age" (Gupta Empire) (c. 320–650 CE)[r] | ||||
| Post-classical age (500–1000 CE) |
Medieval India | Regional Indian kingdoms and Beginning of Islamic raids (c. 650–1100 CE)[s] | |||
| Transregional nomadic empires (1000–1500 CE) |
Muslim civilisations | Delhi Sultanate (north India) (1206–1526 CE) Vijayanagara Empire (south India) (1336–1646 CE) | |||
| Modern age (1500–present) |
Modern India | Mughal Empire (1526–1707) | |||
| British civilisations | Maratha Empire British rule (c. 1750 CE–1947) | ||||
| – | Independent India | ||||
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James Mill (1773–1836), in his The History of British India (1817), distinguished three phases in the history of India, namely Hindu, Muslim and British civilisations. This periodisation has been influential, but has also been criticised for the misconceptions it gave rise to. Another influential periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical, medieval and modern periods", although this periodisation has also been criticised.[1]
Romila Thapar notes that the division into Hindu-Muslim-British periods of Indian history gives too much weight to "ruling dynasties and foreign invasions",[2] neglecting the social-economic history which often showed a strong continuity.[2] The division into Ancient-Medieval-Modern periods overlooks the fact that the Muslim conquests occurred gradually during which time many things came and went off, while the south was never completely conquered.[2] According to Thapar, a periodisation could also be based on "significant social and economic changes", which are not strictly related to the change of ruling powers.[3][note 1]
(c. 500,000–125,000 BCE)
Bronze Age India (3500–1500 BCE)
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Main article: Vedic period |
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Main article: Middle kingdoms of India |
Late medieval period (1206–1596)
Early modern period (1526–1858)
Colonial period (1510–1961 CE)
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Main article: History of Sri Lanka |
History of architecture in South Asia
