History of Bharat in Seven Days

When you compress Indiarsquos history to one week we gain a rather delightful perspective of our past Indian history from Harappan times till today is approximately 5000 years so each day of the week is approximately a period of 700 yearsOn Sunday in Northwest India farming appears Well organised cities of the Harappan civilisation rise around the Indus river valley as well as Gujarat coast Rajasthan and Haryana These are part of the Bronze Age Trading Network Sesame chickens beads and cotton are exported to the Gulf Seals with emojis and images of unicorns are used to regulate business On Sunday India did not know horses because horses were domesticated only on Monday north of the Caspian SeaMonday saw the gradual demise of Harappan cities The Bronze Age network unravelled slowly around the world The world was a mess Only on Tuesday would the world see warriors on horsedrawn chariots across the world in Egypt Greece Middle East in China even IndiaOn Tuesday men on horses would come into Punjab from the Eurasian Steppes after spending a few generations in the Central Asian Oxus civilisation They would marry local women and their children would create the Sanskrit language containing memories of Eurasia Oxus Indus and Harappa They would call themselves Arya like their fathers and praise the gods in the sky They would shift to Gangetic plains where the nomadic cattle herding life would give way to the more settled agricultural life thanks to the fertile soil and the discovery of iron In the South we would find pot burials raising of giant dolmen stones to the dead and mounds of ash created by cattleherding communities unconnected with the Northern AryasBy Wednesday Vedic culture was thriving in the Gangetic plains Merchants were trading exporting elephants and cotton to Persia and even using cash karshapana Urban culture with oligarchies saw princes like Buddha turning into monks and wondering about the point of wealth and luxury Rebirth debt and liberation become popular themes Adventures of Alexander the Great who destroys the Persian empire inspires imperial ambitions of Pataliputra Buddhist and Jain monks and Brahmin priests started influencing the river valleys of the south Narmada Mahanadi Godavari Krishna and KaveriThursday is when Satavahan kings from Nashik who perform Vedic sacrifices enable Jain and Buddhist merchants to take cotton from Andhra and export it to Rome via Sopara Mumbai In the North foreign tribes like Greeks Scythians Parthians Central Asia Kushans and Huns control the highways support Buddhist monasteries and patronise Sanskrit In the South we hear passionate poems of lovers and warriors and epic ballads of wives courtesans and nuns in Tamil and Prakrit A new form of Hinduism rises that tells stories of Vishnu Shiva and DurgaFriday is when Southern templebased kingdoms rajamandala thrive the Chalukyas of Deccan the Rashtrakutas the Cheras the Cholas the Hoyasalas the Kakatiyas the Palas and the Senas Kannada Marathi Telugu Odia Bengali emerge as powerful local languages This is the age of Adi Shankara Ramanuja and Madhva Brahmin culture has overpowered Buddhism and Jainism Caste is now the normSaturday is when we hear of the Delhi and Bahamani Sultanates of Rajputs the Gajapatis the rise and fall of the Vijayanagara Mughal and Maratha and even British Empires and the Freedom struggles This is the age of Bhakti Industrialisation and DemocracyThe author writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times Reach him at devduttpattanaikmiddaycom