History — Our Pasts (Ancient to Modern India) • Topic 2 of 5

First Cities & Early Empires

Around 2500 BCE the subcontinent saw its first cities in the Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilisation - a Bronze Age culture famous for carefully planned towns, grid-pattern streets, baked-brick houses, covered drains and the Great Bath at Mohenjodaro; major sites include Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Dholavira, Kalibangan and Lothal. After its decline came the Vedic Age, when the Rigveda and other Vedas were composed in Sanskrit. By around the 6th century BCE northern India was divided into sixteen large states called mahajanapadas (Magadha grew the strongest). This was also the age of two great teachers: Mahavira, who gave shape to Jainism (stressing ahimsa - non-violence), and Gautama Buddha, who founded Buddhism after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya and preached the Middle Path and the four noble truths. The first great empire was the Mauryan (founded c. 321 BCE by Chandragupta Maurya, advised by Chanakya). Its most famous ruler, Ashoka, fought the bloody Kalinga War (c. 261 BCE), was filled with remorse, embraced Buddhism and spread Dhamma through edicts inscribed on rocks and pillars across the empire.

✅ Solved examples

1. Well-planned drainage systems, grid-pattern streets and the Great Bath are associated with which civilisation?
The Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilisation, around 2500 BCE - noted for advanced town planning and the Great Bath at Mohenjodaro.
2. After which war did the Mauryan emperor Ashoka give up violence and adopt Buddhism?
The Kalinga War (c. 261 BCE). The huge bloodshed filled Ashoka with remorse and he turned to Buddhism and the policy of Dhamma.
3. The founder of the Mauryan Empire, who was guided by his minister Chanakya (Kautilya), was:
Chandragupta Maurya, who established the empire around 321 BCE with its capital at Pataliputra.
4. Mahavira is associated with the religion that places the highest value on ahimsa (non-violence). That religion is:
Jainism. Mahavira is regarded as the most important teacher (24th Tirthankara) who shaped its core idea of non-violence.

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment at which place?
In present-day Bihar.
Under a peepal/Bodhi tree.
Bodh Gaya
2. The sixteen large states of the 6th century BCE were known as:
"Maha" = great.
Magadha was the most powerful.
Mahajanapadas
3. Ashoka spread his message of moral conduct, called Dhamma, mainly through:
Carved on rocks and pillars.
Written in Brahmi/Prakrit.
Edicts / inscriptions
4. The Harappan Civilisation is described as a Bronze Age culture because its people used tools and objects made of:
An alloy of copper and tin.
Not iron yet.
Bronze (copper and tin)

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

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