The Concept of Contacts with Other Cultures in India During Ancient History

Summary of Ancient History

Ancient India can be divided into these following parts:

• Prehistory which is the Stone Age and dates from 6600000 BC to 3500 BC. This can further be divided into Palaeolithic(old), Mesolithic(transitional) and neolithic (new) Stone Age times
• Proto-history which can be linked to discovery and use of copper hence being known as copper age and dates from 3500 to 1500 BC. The Harappan civilization falls in this time period and possesses the first evidence of contact with outside cultures
• History dating from 1500 BC to 600 BC and for the Indian subcontinent, this time period shows the emergence of Vedic culture. This is the first time evidence of literature is found not only in India but anywhere in the world
• Pre-mauryan period from 600 BC to 400 BC is the time of Mahajanapadas of India and also popularly known as the Second urbanization of India. This era is also known as age of reaction as multiple religions flourished in response to the orthodoxy of the Vedic religious practices
• The Mauryan Period dating 400 BC to 200 BC was the first empirical empire of India. Greek scholar Megasthenes’s India provides insights into Indian society at the time
• The Post-Mauryan Period which lasted from 200 BC to 300 AD saw the disintegration of the Mauryan empire and multiple attacks from the foreign powers. This is also the first time, any evidence of south India is found
• The Gupta period dating 300 AD to 550 AD is considered the golden age of India as the art and architecture flourished during this time period
• The Harshvardhan period lasting from 550 AD to 750 AD marks the end of Ancient India and provides a transition into the medieval times

Other Ancient Civilizations of the World at that Time

The four important civilizations that were based on different river systems that existed during the ancient times show evidence of surplus agricultural production. These are :

• Indus valley on the Indus River
• China on the Yellow River
• Mesopotamia on the Tigris and Euphrates river
• Egypt on the Nile river

Contact of other Cultures with Ancient India

First evidence of contact with outside cultures are found in the time of Harappan or Indus Valley Civilization. In the site of Mohenjo-daro which is one of the most important sites found, there is discovery of Three cylindrical seals from Mesopotamia. One Mesopotamian seal is also found in the site of Kalibangan. One circular seal from Persia is found in the site of Lothal( in present day Gujarat) giving evidence of foriegn trade. The trade is believed to have happened both by land and sea. There is evidence of Harappan beads and seals found at various places in Mesopotamia namely Tall Asmar, Hamma, Ur and Kush.

During the pre mauryan times, Achamidi king Cyrus invaded the Indian subcontinent and became the first foreigner to do so. He plundered the region of Kapisna which spreads from south-east to Hindukush in the present day. 

King Darius was a Persian ruler who decided to invade India in 516 BC and ended up annexing the Punjab and Sindh regions. Indo-persian contact that lasted for over two hundred years made a huge impact on Indian empires at the time and since then. The influence of which can be seen in political, social and economic spheres. One of the distinct examples can be the birth of Kharosthi script, a script written from right to left which replaced the earlier brahmi script but the language Prakrit remained. This new script originated in present day Pakistan and parts of north-west India and is heavily influenced by Semitic script which was used by Persians at the time. The evidence of this transition from Brahmi to Kharosthi is found in the Rock inscriptions made during the Ashokan times. Another evidence of the Persian influence can be traced in the Bell shaped lotus and preamble of Ashoka’s edicts.

The world renowned historical figure Alexander the Great was a Macedonian king who invaded India during the ancient times.  There was a fight among the Persians and Greeks for conquering more territories across the world. 

Evidence in Literary Texts About the Contact of Other Cultures with India

Inscription evidence of King Sargon in 250 BC is found according to which Mesopotamia used to import goods from three places; Dilmun(believed to be present day Bahrain), Makan(believed to be present day Oman) and Meluha(believed to be present day India).According to these inscriptions, Meluha used to export copper, beads of carnelian, ivory boxes, different types of woods especially blackwood and peacocks. Peacock is a typical Indian bird and is what leads to the conclusion that the mentioned Meluha is actually India. India in turn used to import Silver and Lapiz Lazuli(a kind of soft stone) from Mesopotamia.Greeks are known to be historians and keep records of everything before anyone else did. Due to indo-greek contact during the pre mauryan period, records of what society and polity was like in the indian subcontinent during pre-mauryan times exist. Alexander’s invasion proved to be historically significant as it  exposed the sea and land routes to reach India by Europe. Gandhara school of art is one of the three important schools that developed during those times and it is highly influenced by greek culture.During the Gupta period, the book India was written by a Greek scholar Megasthenese who was an ambassador in the court of Chandragupta Maurya sent by the governor of Alexander, seleucus nicator. This book provided great insights into Indian society and administration at that time.

Conclusion

India is now a part of global society and this was also true centuries ago as well although to a lesser extent. Multiple evidence of trade has been found starting from the Indus valley civilization itself that show the mobility and inter influence of cultures at that time. As the time and society progressed, there have been instances of foreign invasions that changed the cultural course of Indian ancient history. An example of this could be the introduction of Kharosthi script, a script written from right to left resulting from the centuries of Indo-persian contact. The further involvement and trade led to the arrival of different scholars whose accounts of India provide invaluable resources to contrast and compare to the accounts provided by indigenious people of that time and to reach a more accurate idea of how society functioned back then.