Landmarks in Indian History

yLandmarks in Indian Histor 
India's history is rich and diverse due to its unique blend of ancient civilizations, cultures, beliefs and ideas. To mention just a few of the landmarks in Indian history would do grave injustice to the other important events which may seem unimportant yet left a lasting impact on the history of India today. The Indus Valley Civilization laid the foundation stone of development and progress in different cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.

A great and lasting impact was left by the Maurya Empire whose most noted King Chandragupta Maurya unified most of India. Chanakya was a popular and well known advisor of King Chandragupta Maurya who compiled many literary masterpieces.

The greatest Emperor of the Maurya dynasty however was Asoka. An able administrator and skilled warrior, he converted to Buddhism after the Battle of Kalinga. 

The coming of the Aryan race saw the Vedic period in India from 1500 - 600 B.C. The Vedic age laid the foundation of Hinduism and gave rise to four major classes consisting of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishya and Shudra. With the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire in the South, the Classical age emerged with King Harsha's conquests. The Arab-Turkic invasion slowly gave rise to the Islamic Empire in India, most notably the Delhi Sultanate. In 1526, Babur established the Mughal Dynasty. One of the most famous Kings to have emerged from this dynasty was Akbar the Great. The post-Mughal era saw the emergence of the Maratha Kingdom founded by Shivaji. Their territory stretched to practically the entire sub-continent before being defeated at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761.

With Vasco da Gama's success in finding a new sea route to India, the Portuguese set up trading posts in Daman, Diu, Goa and Bombay. They were soon followed by the Dutch, the British and lastly the French. With the coming of the British East India Company and the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the Mughal Dynasty faded away marking the beginning of formal British rule in India. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 is seen as the first major movement against British Raj. The British Crown took over power from the East India Company, gradually making India a colony and controlled everything through the rulers of what was known as Princely States.

1885 saw the emergence of the Indian Nation Congress in Bombay who played an important role towards India's independence. In 1905 Lord Curzon's policy of divide and rule led to the partition of Bengal which left huge ramifications on Indian society. In 1920, steps towards Indian Independence started with leaders such as Mohandas Gandhi who started mass movements against British rule. His most noted achievements were his non-violence movement, salt march, quit-India movement, civil-disobedience movement and non-cooperation movement. While achieving independence from the British is seen as the most important landmark in Indian history, this moment was tainted with the partition of India.