The Land of Five Rivers 

Indus River Valley Civilisation

Buddhism arose around 500 BC, contemporaneously with Jainism and presented Brahmanical Hinduism with its greatest challenge. The appeal of both of these cosmologies was that they rejected the Vedas and condemned caste, though, unlike the Buddhists, the Jains never denied their Hindu heritage and their faith never extended beyond India Buddhism however, drove a radical swathe through the spiritual and social body of Hinduism and enjoyed spectacularly growth after Ashoka embraced the faith and declared it the state of religion. Nevertheless, it gradually lost touch with the general population and faded as Hinduism underwent a revival between 200 and 800 AD, based on devotion to personal god represented today by sects based on Ram and Krishna (avataars, or manifestations, of Vishnu). Yet such was the appeal of the greatest of India's spiritual teachers that the Buddha could not be sidelined and forgotten. He was therefore incorporated into the Hindu pantheon as yet another of the avataars of Vishnu. It was a prime example of the way in which Hinduism has absorbed spiritual competitors and heretical ideologies.

The Mauryans & Ashoka

An Indian kingdom had started to develop in the north of India, two centuries before Alexander made his long-march east. It expanded after Alexander's departure, Chandragupta Maurya's empire came to power in 321 BC. Along with the capital Patna the Mauryan Empire eventually spread across northern India. Maurya's empire was rigid & well organised with a huge standing army payed for directly by the emperor. They also developed an efficient bureaucracy which kept control on everyone for the collection of taxes, tithes and agricultural produce. Heavy penalties were introduced for the evasion of taxes and an extensive system of spies, but corruption was rife and life for the ordinary man was very hard. The empire reached its peak under the Emperor Ashoka, converted to Buddhism in 262 BC. He left pillars and rock-carved edicts which delineate the enormous span of his empire. They can be seen in Delhi, Gujarat, Orissa, Sarnath, in Uttar-Pradesh and at Sanchi in Madhya-Pradesh. Ashoka also sent missions abroad, and in Sri lanka his name is revered because he sent his brother as a missionary to carry Buddhism to the island. The development of art and sculpture also flourished during his rule, and his standard, which topped many of his pillars, is now the seal of the modern state of India. Under Ashoka, the Mauryan Empire controlled more of Indian than probably any subsequent ruler prior to the Mughals or the British. Following his death, in 232 BC, the empire rapidly disintegrated and collapsed in 184 BC.

The Guptas

A number of empires rose and fell following the collapse of the Mauryas. The successors to Alexander's kingdoms in the north-west expanded their power into the Punjab and this later developed into the Gandharan Kingdom. In the south-east and east, the Andhras or Telugus expanded inland from the coast, while the Mauryan Empire was relaced by the Sungas, who ruled from 184 to 70 BC. During this period, many Buddhist structures were completed and the great cave temples of central India were commenced. This was the period of the `lesser vehicle' or Hinayana Buddhism, in which the Buddha could never be directly shown but was alluded to through symbols such as stupas, footprints, trees or elephants. Although this form of Buddhism probably continued until about 40 AD, it was already being supplanted by 100 AD by the `greater vehicle' or Mahayana Buddhism. In 319 AD, Chandragupta II founded the Gupta Empire, the first phase of which became known as the Imperial Guptas. His successors extended their power over northern India, first from Patna and later from other northern cities such as Ayodhya. The Imperial Guptas gave way to the later Guptas in 455-AD but the Gupta period continued to 606 AD. The arts flourished during this period, with some of the finest work being done at Ajanta. Ellora, Sanchi and Sarnath. Poetry and literature also experienced a golden age. Towards the end of the Gupta period, however, Buddhism and Jainism both began to decline and Hinduism began to rise in popularity once more.

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