HARAPPAN/INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION (3300-1300 BCE): One of the world's oldest urban civilizations, contemporaneous with Mesopotamia and Egypt. Key sites: Harappa (Punjab, Pakistan — first discovered 1921 by Daya Ram Sahni), Mohenjo-daro (Sindh, Pakistan — 1922, R.D. Banerjee, 'Mound of the Dead'), Lothal (Gujarat — only Harappan site with a dockyard), Dholavira (Gujarat — water conservation system, signboard with Indus script), Kalibangan (Rajasthan — earliest ploughed field, fire altars), Rakhigarhi (Haryana — largest Harappan site in India). Features: grid-pattern town planning, citadel + lower town, Great Bath (Mohenjo-daro), granaries, drainage system (most advanced in ancient world), standardized weights and measures, Indus script (UNDECIPHERED — mostly short, some boustrophedon). Economy: agriculture (wheat, barley, cotton — first to cultivate cotton), trade with Mesopotamia. Religion: Mother Goddess worship, Pashupati seal (proto-Shiva), animal worship, no temple structures found. Decline theories: Aryan invasion (now largely rejected), climate change, river drying (Saraswati/Ghaggar-Hakra), floods, epidemic.

VEDIC PERIOD (1500-600 BCE): EARLY VEDIC/RIG VEDIC (1500-1000 BCE): Aryans settled in Sapta Sindhu (land of seven rivers — Punjab). Rig Veda — oldest text (1028 hymns/suktas, 10 mandalas). Pastoral society, cattle = wealth ('Gavishti' = search for cows = war). Political unit: Jana/tribe. Women had relatively high status (could attend sabhas, choose husbands — Swayamvara). River Saraswati was the most revered (now identified with Ghaggar-Hakra). LATER VEDIC (1000-600 BCE): Shifted to Ganga-Yamuna doab. Agriculture became dominant (iron plough — Painted Grey Ware culture). Varna system rigidified (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra). Four Vedas: Rig, Sama (music), Yajur (rituals), Atharva (magic/medicine). Upanishads — philosophical texts questioning rituals. Political units: Janapadas → Mahajanapadas (16 great kingdoms — Magadha most powerful).

MAURYAN EMPIRE (322-185 BCE): Founded by CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA (defeated Nanda dynasty with help of CHANAKYA/KAUTILYA who wrote ARTHASHASTRA — treatise on statecraft, economics, military strategy). Chandragupta also defeated Seleucus Nicator (Alexander's general) and received Megasthenes (Greek ambassador who wrote 'Indica'). ASHOKA (268-232 BCE): Greatest Mauryan ruler. Initially violent (Kalinga War, 261 BCE — 100,000 killed). Horror of war converted him to BUDDHISM. Ashoka's Edicts — rock and pillar inscriptions promoting Dhamma (moral law): non-violence, tolerance, respect for elders, animal welfare. Ashoka's Lion Capital at Sarnath is India's national emblem. He sent missionaries to spread Buddhism (son Mahinda to Sri Lanka). Mauryan administration: centralized, efficient, spy network (described in Arthashastra).

GUPTA EMPIRE (320-550 CE) — 'GOLDEN AGE OF INDIA': Founded by Sri Gupta. CHANDRAGUPTA I (320 CE) — first great ruler, married Licchavi princess Kumaradevi. SAMUDRAGUPTA (335-375 CE) — 'Napoleon of India' (by V.A. Smith), great military conqueror. Allahabad Pillar inscription (by Harisena) describes his conquests. CHANDRAGUPTA II/VIKRAMADITYA (375-415 CE) — greatest Gupta ruler. Fa-Hien (Chinese traveller) visited during his reign. Nine Gems (Navaratna) at his court including Kalidasa (Shakuntala, Meghaduta), Varahamihira (astronomer), Aryabhata (mathematician — calculated π, discovered Earth's rotation). Golden age of: literature (Sanskrit), science (Aryabhata, Sushruta — surgery), art (Ajanta cave paintings), temple architecture (Dashavatara temple at Deogarh). Decline: Huna invasions.

MEDIEVAL INDIA: DELHI SULTANATE (1206-1526): Five dynasties — Mamluk/Slave (Qutb-ud-din Aibak, Iltutmish, Razia Sultan — first woman ruler of Delhi, Balban), Khalji (Alauddin Khalji — market reforms, Mongol defense), Tughlaq (Muhammad bin Tughlaq — shifted capital to Daulatabad, introduced token currency; Firoz Tughlaq), Sayyid, Lodi (Ibrahim Lodi — defeated at First Battle of Panipat by Babur, 1526). MUGHAL EMPIRE (1526-1857): Babur (1526, Battle of Panipat) → Humayun (lost to Sher Shah Suri) → AKBAR (greatest Mughal — Din-i-Ilahi, Mansabdari system, Navratna court, Fatehpur Sikri, religious tolerance, revenue reforms by Todar Mal) → Jahangir (patron of arts) → SHAH JAHAN (Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Jama Masjid — 'Engineer King') → AURANGZEB (expanded empire to maximum, strict religious policies, Deccan wars weakened empire). Mughal decline: Aurangzeb's policies, Maratha resistance, regional kingdoms, British colonialism.

MODERN INDIA AND FREEDOM STRUGGLE: BRITISH COLONIAL IMPACT: Economic drain (Dadabhai Naoroji's 'Drain of Wealth' theory), destruction of handicraft industries (de-industrialization), commercialization of agriculture, creation of Zamindari/Ryotwari/Mahalwari land systems. FREEDOM MOVEMENT PHASES: (1) Moderate Phase (1885-1905): INC founded 1885 (A.O. Hume). Leaders: Dadabhai Naoroji, Gokhale, Surendranath Banerjea. Methods: petitions, prayers, constitutional means. (2) Extremist Phase (1905-1920): Lal-Bal-Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal). Swadeshi Movement after Bengal Partition (1905). (3) Gandhian Era (1920-1947): Non-Cooperation (1920), Civil Disobedience/Salt March (1930), Quit India (1942). Subhas Chandra Bose's INA. Partition and Independence (15 August 1947).

REET EXAM TIPS (12-17 questions): (1) Harappan sites: Kalibangan=Rajasthan=ploughed field, Lothal=Gujarat=dockyard. (2) Ashoka: Kalinga War → Buddhism → Edicts → Dhamma. (3) Gupta = Golden Age: Chandragupta II = Vikramaditya = Fa-Hien. (4) Mughal sequence: Babur→Humayun→Akbar→Jahangir→Shah Jahan→Aurangzeb. (5) First Battle of Panipat: 1526, Babur vs Ibrahim Lodi. (6) INC founded: 1885, A.O. Hume. (7) Salt March: 1930, Dandi. TRAPS: 'Harappan script has been deciphered' — FALSE. 'Lothal is in Rajasthan' — FALSE (Gujarat). 'Rudolf Virchow said Omnis cellula e cellula' — TRUE (1855, cell biology — sometimes appears in history section). 'Archaeological sites order: Harappa→Mohenjo-daro→Lothal→Kalibangan' — this specific order is tested.