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CIVILIZATION ART STYLES HERITAGE GEOGRAPHYLANGUAGEHISTORY

CIVILIZATION  Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age

civilization (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) extending from what today is northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India (see map).[1] Along with Ancient Egypt an Mesopotamia, it was one of three early civilizations of the Old World, and the most widespread among them,[2] covering an area of 1.25 million km2.[3] It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, one of the major rivers of Asia, and the now dried up Sarasvati River,[4][5] which once coursed through northwest India and eastern Pakistan [6] together with its tributaries flowed along a channel, presently identified as that of the Ghaggar-Hakra River on the basis of various scientific studies.

At its peak, the Indus Civilization may have had a population of over five million.[10] Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley developed new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products, seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin). The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings.

The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization, after Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated in the 1920s, in what was then the Punjab province of British India, and is now in Pakistan. The discovery of Harappa, and soon afterwards, Mohenjo-Daro, was the culmination of work beginning in 1861 with the founding of the Archaeological Survey of India in the British Raj.  Excavation of Harappan sites has been ongoing since 1920, with important breakthroughs occurring as recently as 1999.  There were earlier and later cultures, often called Early Harappan and Late Harappan, in the same area of the Harappan Civilization. The Harappan civilization is sometimes called the Mature Harappan culture to distinguish it from these cultures. By 1999, over 1,056 cities and settlements had been found, of which 96 have been excavated,[15] mainly in the general region of the Indus and the Sarasvati River[16]and their tributaries. Among the settlements were the major urban centers of Harappa, Mohenjo-daro(UNESCO World Heritage Site), Dholavira, Ganeriwala in Cholistan and Rakhigarhi.

INDIAN ART• Indian Art consists of a variety of art forms, including plastic arts

(e.g., pottery and sculpture), visual arts (e.g., cave paintings), and textile arts (e.g., woven silk). Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. A strong sense of design is characteristic of Indian art and can be observed in its modern and traditional forms.

• The origin of Indian art can be traced to pre-historic Hominid settlements in the 3rd millennium BC. On its way to modern times, Indian art has had cultural influences (e.g., Indus Valley and Hellenistic), as well as religious influences such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam. In spite of this complex mixture of religious traditions, generally the prevailing artistic style at any time and place has been shared by the major religious groups.

• In historic art, sculpture in stone and metal, mainly religious, has survived the Indian climate better than other media, and provides most of the best remains. Many of the most important ancient finds that are not in carved stone come from surrounding, drier regions rather than India itself. Indian funeral and philosophic traditions exclude grave goods, which are a main source of ancient art in other cultures.

• Early Indian art• Rock art• Bhimbetka rock painting showing man riding on horse.• Replica of the "dancing girl of Mohenjo Daro”• Dr. V. S. Wakankar discovered several painted rock shelters

in Central India, situated around the Vindhya mountain range. Of these, the Bhimbetka rock shelters have been deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The paintings in these sites commonly depicted scenes of the human life alongside animals, and hunts with stone implements. Their style varied with region and age, but the most common characteristic was a red wash made using a powdered mineral called geru, which is a form of Iron Oxide (Hematite).

GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA

The "Geography of India" describes the geographic features of India, a country in South Asia. India lies largely on the Indian Plate, the northern portion of the Indo-Australian Plate, whose continental crust forms the Indian subcontinent. The country is situated north of the equator between 8°4' and 37°6' north latitude and 68°7' and 97°25' east longitude. It is the seventh-largest country in the world, with a total area of 3,166,414 square kilometers (1,222,559 sq mi). India measures 3,214 km (1,997 mi) from north to south and 2,933 km (1,822 mi) from east to west. It has a land frontier of 15,200 km (9,445 mi) and a coastline of 7,517 km (4,671 mi).

• On the south, India projects into and is bounded by the Indian Ocean – in particular, by the Arabian Sea on the southwest, the Laccadive Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast.

• The Northern Mountains• Map of the hilly regions in India.• A great arc of mountains, consisting of the Himalayas, Hindu

Kush, and Pataki ranges define the northern Indian subcontinent. These were formed by the ongoing tectonic collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. The mountains in these ranges include some of the world's tallest mountains which act as a natural barrier to cold polar winds. They also facilitate the monsoon winds which in turn influence the climate in India. Rivers originating in these mountains, flow through the fertile Indo–Gangetic plains. These mountains are recognised by biogeographers as the boundary between two of the Earth's great ecozones: the temperate Palearctic that covers most of Eurasia and the tropical and subtropical Indomalaya ecozone which includes the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Indonesia.akbar once visited here in 1575.

HISTORY• The History of India begins with evidence of human

activity of Anatomically modern humans, as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago.

• The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, was the first major civilization in South Asia. A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappa period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.

This civilization collapsed at the start of the second millennium BCE and was later followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilization, which extended over much of the Indo-Genetic plain and which witness the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha propagated their Shramanic philosophies during the fifth and sixth century BCE.

• Most of the subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. From the 3rd century BC onwards Prakrit and Pali literature in the north and the Sangam literature in southern India started to flourish. The famous Wootz steel originated in south India in the 3rd century BC and was also exported to foreign countries. Further, various parts of India were ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the next 1,500 years, among which the Gupta Empire stand out. This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known as the classical or "Golden Age of India". During this period, aspects of Indian civilization, administration, culture, and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to much of Asia, while kingdoms in southern India had maritime business links with the Roman Empire from around 77 CE. During this period Indian cultural influence spread over many parts of Southeast Asia which led to the establishment of Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia (Greater India).

HERITAGE• The culture of India is the way of life of the people of

India. India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food, and customs differ from place to place within the country. The Indian culture, often labeled as an amalgamation of several cultures, spans across the Indian subcontinent and has been influenced by a history that is several millennia old. Many elements of India's diverse cultures, such as Indian religions, yoga and Indian cuisine, have had a profound impact across the world.

• According to a 2001 census of India, the religion of 80% of the people is Hinduism. Islam is practised by around 13% of all Indians. The country had over 23 million Christians, over 19 million Sikhs, about 8 million Buddhists and about 4 million Jains.

• Sikhism, Jainism and especially Buddhism are influential not only in India but across the world. Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and the Bahá'í Faith are also influential but their numbers are smaller. Atheism and agnostics also have visible influence in India, along with a self-ascribed tolerance to other people.

• Aarti ritual in Hindu worship• Close-up of a statue depicting Maitreya at the Thikse

Monastery in Ladakh, India. Indian religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, are indigenous to India.

• Main article: Religion in India• India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and

Sikhism, collectively known as Indian religions. Indian religions are a major form of world religions along with Abrahamic ones. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third and fourth-largest religions respectively, with over 2 billion followers altogether, and possibly as many as 2.5 or 2.6 billion followers.

• India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, with some of the most deeply religious societies and cultures. Religion plays a central and definitive role in the life of many of its people.

LANGUAGE • Languages in India belonging to different language families,

the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 75% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 20% of Indians. Other languages spoken in India belong to the Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, a few minor language families and isolates. More than three millennia of language contact has led to significant mutual influence among the four predominant language families in mainland India and South Asia.

• The Constitution of India does not give any language the status of National Language. The official languages of the Union Government of the Republic of India are Hindi in the Devanagari script and English. The Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution lists 22 languages, which have been referred to as scheduled languages and given recognition, status and official encouragement. In addition, the Government of India has awarded the distinction of classical language to Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia (formerly known as Oriya).

• According to Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages. However, figures from other sources vary, primarily due to differences in definition of the terms "language" and "dialect". The 2001 Census recorded 30 languages which were spoken by more than a million native speakers and 122 which were spoken by more than 10,000 people. Two contact languages have played an important role in the history of India: Persian and English. Hindi, the most widely spoken language in India today.

MADE BY TIRTHANKAR JAIN