Pre-historic Period

The word prehistoric is derived from the Greek words “prae” and “his­torikos”, and indicates that something is prior to history. Thus archaeology is the scientific study of man-made things, and history is the writing down of events that are important to us. History tells us about Man’s past whereas prehistory merely traces his existence. Prehistoric man was a hunter, gathering fruits and nuts from forests, or a fisherman depending upon streams and rivers for his food supply. When conditions grew better and more favourable to his development he also began to grow crops and rear cattle.

What is History?

History is the study of the human past. It explains the events that occurred in the past such as the inception of a nation, migration, discovery and so on. But there are some events which are still unknown or still not possible from today’s point of view.

History can be classified into 3 types which are:

1) Prehistory:

It refers to the time period before recorded history. For example, the Indus Valley Civilization was discovered in the 1920s and it happened around 3000 BC. But before this civilization, there was no writing system or any knowledge about it. So, it is considered as the prehistoric age for India.

2) Protohistory:

It refers to the time period when some events are mentioned but not very clear and present. For example, the Vedic period is considered as a Protohistory Age for India. There is no evidence of the existence of Rig Veda in written form but we have some evidence that it existed during 1500 BC to 600 BC e.g. the findings of Satapatha Brahmana, Aitareya Brahmana, Taittiriya Brahmana etc.

3) Post-history:

It refers to the time period from the beginning of history to the present day.

The Prehistoric Age refers to the time when there was no writing and development. It consists of five periods – Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic & Iron Age. This article gives all relevant information on the Prehistoric Age in India.

Construction of Ancient Indian History:

Literary and Non-Literary Sources both assisted in the reconstruction of history:

1) Literary Sources: Literary Sources are the evidence that are available in the written form. Such as various epics and Puranas.

These are considered to be of secondary importance as they cannot be used as evidence for making an inference about the past.

2) Non-Literary Sources: Non-Literary Sources include objects such as tools, weapons etc., remains of buildings, coins and pottery etc. 

Prehistoric Age in India:

The time period during which humans started living in a complex manner is known as Prehistoric Age. The history of Indian prehistory dates back to around 1.7 million years. In this period, the region was connected with Africa which is known as the Out of Africa Theory. This theory states that the ancestors of every hominid on Earth came from Africa and evolved into Homo sapiens in Africa before dispersing across the globe around 100,000 years ago.

The prehistoric Age in India can be divided into two parts – The Stone Age and Iron Age.

1) Stone age: It covers the Paleolithic, Mesolithic & Neolithic periods.

Palaeolithic Period: In this period, humans lived in caves. They used tools made up of stone and wood. The main food for them was plants, animals and fish. Bones of the animals were used to make tools and weapons e.g. spears, arrows etc.

Mesolithic Period: It is also known as Epi-palaeolithic period which covers the time period from 10000 BC  to 7000 BC even 5th millennium BC i.e., from 6000 BC to 4000 BC approximately.

Pre-Harappan Culture and the associated sites are an example of it (2500-2000 BC).

Kunal is one of the important sites belonging to this period. Most of the evidence from Kunal has been found from the surface level.

2) Iron Age: In this period, humans learned how to make tools and weapons using an iron. They are also known as the Agrarian period as people started living in villages, tilling soil for agriculture and farming animals for meat & milk. They started using coins for transactions and Indian Numismatics started in this period. Indus Valley Civilization was the prominent civilization of the Iron Age which was built by the people of Indus Valley. Indus Valley Civilization covered a large area of what is now modern day Pakistan, northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. The civilization was spread over more than 4,000 km² in the fertile Indus Valley, which is an alluvial plain situated in the western region of the Indian subcontinent. The archeological site of Mohenjo-daro is one of the famous sites belonging to this period (2700 BC – 1900 BC).

In the Indian subcontinent, the Iron Age started around 2000 BC and continued until 500 AD.

Iron Age in India is divided into two parts – Aryan & Dravidian.

1) Aryans: It refers to Indo-Europeans who migrated from Central Asia to South Asia which includes areas like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India & Iran today. They entered India around 1500 BC and spread out all over the country by 1000 BC.

2) Dravidians: It refers to original people of the Indian subcontinent who are related with present-day North Indians & South Indians. They are said to have migrated from Central/South Asia 300,000 years ago and formed a Dravidian race.

There is controversy about the race of Aryan & Dravidian as some historians claim that these groups belonged to the same race which is called Dravidian. Some archaeologists also say that these people never came from present-day Central Asia. According to them, the people are believed to be indigenous Indians who had no need for migration. There are many cultures and histories which came into existence during this period and have completely disappeared without leaving any evidence behind.

Conclusion:

This article gives all relevant information on the Prehistoric Age in India. It also presents a brief history of the whole period which is divided into 5 periods. Stone Age and Iron Age are further divided into different periods like Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Period. In conclusion , we can say that the prehistoric Age in India is the time period when humans started living in a complex manner.