INDIA. 549 INDIA. ly into three periods: Tlic Hindu period (c.2000 li.t. to 1001 A.D.), the ilohaniinedan period (a.d. 10011757), and tiie period of the establishment of European dominion ( 17.57 — ) . Hindu Period. The Aryans (q.v.) entered the Punjab perhaps as early as B.C. 2000. They came from the Iranian country, apparently by two routes, through the mountain passes in Southern Afghanistan and by way of Cliitral, and giadually forcing their way east and soutli, expelled or subdued the aborigines, such as the Dravidians, and occupied the entire territory north of the Vindhya Mountains. There are but few historic allusions in the ear- liest part of this period, although the Rig-Veda (q.v.) mentions a battle of ten kings against Sudas, King of the Trltsu clan, evidently a tribal war, and contains a number of references to Aryan victories over the aboriginal tribes. The epics of the Mahublifirata and the Ilfimaiiaiui con- tain legends of wars which nuist have been of much importance. The former epic narrates al- most as its main theme the strife between the Kurus and Panchalas, both on the Upper Ganges, while the latter tells of the war waged by the Kosalas of Oudh against the demoniac armies of Lankia, supposed to be Ceylon. By the close ■of the period described in the former epic there were ten great Hindu kingdoms: JIagadha (South Behar), Anga (West Bengal), Van- ga (East Bengal), Kalinga (Orissa). Avanti (Malwa), Saurashtra (Gujarat), and the king- doms of the Andhras ( Deccan ) , the Cholas ( Coromandel ) , the Cheras (Malabar), and the Pandyas (extreme south). Of these ^lagadha became the chief before the dawn of authentic history in India. The earliest historic Indian date thus far known is B.C. 557, the reputed birth-year of Buddha. Bimbsara (q.v.) of the Saisunagar dynasty began to rule soon after this (died 485 B.C.), and this line reigned until the early part of the fourth century. In n.c. 315 during the reign of the Maurya king Chandragupta. called by the Greeks Sandracottus (q.v.), who brought all Northern India under the sway of ilagadha, India for the first time in the historic period came into relations with the Occident. The invasion ot Alexander the Great was to be the forerunner of a long series of inroads, which were to end two thousand years later in the final surrender of India to the West. The stay of Alexander in India was short, but Sandracottus entered into an alliance with the Greek ruler of Persia and Bactria, Seleucus Ni- <!ator. whose daughter he married, and to whose ambassador. IMegasthenes (q.v.K we are indebted for our earliest non-Indian information on Hin- dustan. The great Sandracottus was succeeded by his son Bindusara in B.C. 201, and his grand- son. A^oka. whose reign lasted approximately from B.C. 259 to 222. is famous as the royal promulgator of Buddhism. . series of weak kings followed, and the foreign influence on India •steadily gained strength. A half-century after Anoka's time the Gr.-pco-Bactrian dynasty ex- tended its power over the Upper Ganges and the Punjab, only to be driven out by the Indo- Scythians aboiit B.C. 100. The greatest monarch of this line was Kanishka. a Kushana king, who founded the Saka (or Salivahana) era (q.v.) in .^.D. 78. The northwestern (Kabul) Indo- Scythian princes gave way in the second century .A.D. to the western (Gujarat) Kshatrapas, who in turn were overthrown by the Guptas toward the end of the third century. The name of Chandra- gupta I. (about 319) is one of the most impor- tant in this dynasty. He made his house supreme over practically all Northern India, an<l his son, Sanmdragupta, was equally powerful. The power of the Guptas was finally broken in the early part of the sixth century, having previously been weakened by invasions of the Huns. During the Gupta period the Hindus flourished in arts and in religion, and the so-called Renaissance of San- skrit literature came in the reign of Vikrama- ditya (about 455-480). It was about this time that Buddhism attained its acme in India. To this fact we are indebted for some of our best information regarding the condition of the land. Chinese travelers, notably Fa-Hien (400), Hiouen- Thsang |(!43), and I-Tsing 1671), came to India seeking for a knowledge of Buddha's teachings in their purity, and the records which they left form the only non-Indian information on Hindustan which we possess from the time of the Greeks until the coming of the Arabs. In the first half of the sixth century Harshavardh- ana, who was the hero of the one historical romance in Sanskrit, extended his sway over all Northern India, even conquering Nepal. From this time the Hindu power began gradu- ally to decline. Of the succeeding dynasties the most important were the Chalukja and Chola, but the day of native monarchy over India was past. Petty kings came and went, warred with each other, and by their lack of harmony helped to prepare the way for the second great epoch of India, the ilohamniedan ])eriod. The subject of early Hindu eras and dates is very involved, and only the chief epochs can Ix" given here. Hindu chronologTi- begins with the Kali_-uga (q.v.) , B.C. 3102: Chandragupta established the Maurya dynasty B.C. 315; A^oka was crowned B.C. 259; the Samvat (q.v.) era (attributed wrongly to Vi- kramaditya. who lived much later) begins B.C. 57. This is the chief era of India. The Saka (q.v.) or Salvahana era begins a.d. 78; the Gup- ta or Vallabhi era a.d. 319; the Harshavardhana era a.d. 00(>: the modern Burmese era. a.d. 639. According to a new theori- of Bhandarkar (not yet accepted by scholars generally), the Saka and following dates have to be increased by 200. MOHAIIMEDAX PERIOD (1001-1757). Ilouse of Ohnziu (1001-1180). — The Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, founder of the House of the Ghaz- nivides (q.v.), was the first conqueror who permanently established the Mohammedan power in India, and the Hindu princes fell one by one before a succession of Mohammedan d^Tiasties. The House of (Jhazni succumbed to the House of Chor. which was supplanted by the Slare Kings of Delhi (1206-88). One of" these sovereigns, Altamsh. who ascended the throne in 1211, added the greater part of Hindtistan proper to his do- minions. He died in 1236. The Khilji Di/nasty (1290-1320).— Under Ala ud-Din (1295-1316)', of the House of Khilji, the Afghan jjower in In- dia reached its highest point. He crushed the Hindus in Gujarat, defeated the Moguls in sev- eral battles on their invading the Punjab, and, most important of all, invaded the Deccan. Like so many Oriental conquests, however, his success was but temporary. Bouse of Tughlak (1320-1414). — Ala ud-Din's descendants having been slain. Tughlak. Governor of the Pvmjab, seized the throne in 1320. The Tughlak dynasty
