The Hindu Timeline - Part 1 of 3
I posted the following in 1994:
[ Subject: TIMELINE (Complete)
[ From: Dr. Jai Maharaj
[ Date: Mon, 26 Dec 1994 00:39:37 UTC
Hindu Timeline (by Hinduism Today
http://www.hinduismtoday.com )
Introduction
A History of India and Hindu Dharm
Much of what India and Hinduism are today can be understood by examining
their origins and history. Here is a humble chronology that tells the story
of the sages, kings, outside invaders and inside reformers who contributed
to the world's oldest living civilization and largest modern-day democracy.
Remarkably, Hindu India has been home to one-fourth of the human race since
the dawn of recorded time. Its story, summarized here, is crucial to human
history.
The emphasis on spirituality in India's thought and history is unparalleled
in human experience. The king in his court, the sage on his hill and the
farmer in one of Bharat's 700,000 villages each pursues his dharma with a
common ultimate purpose: spiritual enlightenment. This perspective is the
source of Hinduism's resilience in the face of competing faiths and
conquering armies. No other nation has faced so many invaders and endured.
These invasions have brought the races of the world to a subcontinent one-
third the size of the United States. There are many feats of which the
ancient Hindus could be proud, such as the invention of the decimal system
of numbers, philosophy, linguistics, surgery, city planning and statecraft.
And most useful to us in this particular timeline: their skill in
astronomy.
Dates in Hindu history after Buddha are subject to little dispute, while
dates before Buddha have been decided as much by current opinion and
politics as by scientific evidence. An overwhelming tendency of Western
scholarship has been to deny the great antiquity of Hinduism.
Indian scholar S.B. Roy points out that the commonly accepted chronology of
German linguist Max Muller (1823-1900) is based solely "on the ghost story
of Kathasaritasagara." Historian Klaus K. Klostermaier agrees: "The
chronology provided by Max Muller and accepted uncritically by most Western
scholars is based on very shaky ground indeed." While making crucial
historical contributions in bringing India's wisdom to the West, Muller
admitted his covert intention to undermine Hinduism. In a letter to his
wife in 1886 he wrote: "The translation of the Veda will hereafter tell to
a great extent on the fate of India and on the growth of millions of souls
in that country. It is the root of their religion, and to show them what
the root is, I feel sure, is the only way of uprooting all that has sprung
from it during the last 3,000 years.''
Contemporary researchers, such as Dr. B.G. Siddharth of B.M. Birla Science
Centre, Dr. S.B. Roy, Professor Subhash Kak, Dr. N.R. Waradpande, Bhagwan
Singh and Dr. David Frawley, Vedacharya, have developed a more accurate
picture of ancient India, assembling new chronologies based on a highly
reliable method: dating scriptural references by their relationship to the
known precession of the equinoxes. Earth's axis of rotation "wobbles,"
causing constellations, as viewed from Earth, to drift at a constant rate
and along a predictable course over a 25,000-year cycle. For example, a Rig
Vedic verse observing winter solstice at Aries can be correlated to around
6500 bce. Frawley states, "Precessional changes are the hallmark of Hindu
astronomy. We cannot ignore them in ancient texts just because they give us
dates too early for our conventional view of human history." Besides
astronomical references from scripture, there is much to support their
dates, such as carbon-14 dating, the discovery of Indus-Sarasvati Valley
cities and the recent locating of the Sarasvati River, a prominent landmark
of Vedic writings.
Much of the dating in this timeline prior to 600 bce derives from the work
of Dr. S.B. Roy (Chronological Framework of Indian Protohistory-The Lower
Limit, published in The Journal of the Baroda Oriental Institute, March-
June 1983) and that of David Frawley Ph.D. (Gods, Sages and Kings). For
technical enhancements to the timeline we depended on Prof. Shiva G. Bajpai
PhD., Director of Asian Studies at California State University, who co-
authored "A Historical Atlas of South Asia" with Prof. Joseph E.
Schwartzberg and Dr. Raj B. Mathur.
Max Muller is the primary evangelist of another, more invidious, dogma
imposed on Hindu history: the "Aryan invasion" theory. Originally a Vedic
term meaning "noble," then applied to the parent-language of Greek,
Sanskrit, Latin and German, the term Aryan soon referred to those who spoke
it, a supposed race of light-skinned Aryans. The idea of a parent race
caught the imagination of 18th and 19th century European Christian
scholars, who hypothesized elaborate Aryan migrations from Central Asia,
west to Europe, south to India (ca 1500 bce) and east to China-conquering
local primitive peoples and founding the world's great civilizations. This
theory states that the Vedas, the heart and core of Sanatana Dharma, were
brought to India by these outsiders and not composed in India.
Although lacking supporting scientific evidence, this theory, and the
alleged Aryan-Dravidian racial split, was accepted and promulgated as fact
for three main reasons. It provided a convenient precedent for Christian
British subjugation of India. It reconciled ancient Indian civilization and
religious scripture with the 4000 bce Biblical date of Creation. It created
division and conflict between the peoples of India, making them vulnerable
to conversion by Christian missionaries.
Scholars today of both East and West believe the Rig Veda people who called
themselves Aryan were indigenous to India, and there never was an Aryan
invasion. The languages of India have been shown to share common ancestry
in ancient Sanskrit and Tamil. Even these two apparently unrelated
languages, according to current "super-family" research, have a common
origin: an ancient language dubbed Nostratic.
Sidebar: Rewriting History
Still confused? Here's a guide to competing theories of Indian history
TAKING SIDES:
The Old Model
Credits India's culture to foreign invaders. Hypothesis, first proposed by
German Max Muller (1823-1900), is still accepted in most historical
textbooks. Supporters: Sir William Jones, Thomas Young, Joseph de Goubinau,
Dwight Witney, Sir Mortimer Wheeler, A.L. Basham.
The New Model
Offers astrological and archeological evidence to discredit invasion
theory, pushes Indian history back several thousand years. Supporters: B.G.
Tilak, P.C. Sengupta, S.B. Roy, Pargiter, Jagat Pati Joshi, Dikshit, K.N.
Shastri, Sri Aurobindo, Hermann Jacobi, S.R. Rao, Dayananda Saraswati,
Subash Kak, David Frawley, B.G. Sidharth, and others.
WHAT IS CLAIMED?
The Old Model
Conquering legions of blue-eyed, white "Aryans" from Eastern Russia invaded
North India on horseback around 1500bce and ultimately displaced most of
India's unsophisticated Dravidian tribals. They brought civilization and
the refined Sanskrit language into India, built the expansive Indus Valley
complex, wrote the Vedas and other sacred texts. The Sarasvati River,
prominent in the Vedas, is mythical, or lies outside of India somewhere.
Claims no astronomical references are found in the Rig Veda.
The New Model
There was no invasion at all. India's native peoples founded the
Indus/Sarasvati River civilization, developed Sanskrit and wrote all her
ancient texts. uropean ates are all wrong. Rig Veda verses belie the old
chronology (VI.51.14-15 mentions the winter solstice occurs when the sun
rises in Revati nakshatra, only possible at 6,000bce, long before the
alleged invasion.) Carbon dating confirms horses in Gujarat at 2,400bce,
contradicting old model claim Aryans must have brought them. NASA satellite
photos prove Sarasvati River basin is real, not a myth. Fire altars
excavated at Kali Bangan in Rajasthan support existence of Rig Veda culture
at 2,700 bce. Kunal, a new site in Haryana, shows use of writing and silver
craft in pre-Harappan India, 6-7,000bce.
WHAT IT MEANS?
The Old Model
India's native peoples were primitive and her foundational culture and
religion were imported. All the good stuff came from Eastern Europe, of
course, and the rest is a vestige of conquered dark-skinned aboriginals.
The Vedas are, at most, 3,500 years old.
The New Model
India's history goes back much farther than anyone knew, perhaps 10,000
years. India need not be indebted to others for her rich and ancient
traditions. The Vedic texts, thought to be part mythology, are being
vindicated by scientific evidence to be the world's oldest factual account
of human experience.
Hindu Timeline Article
It's About Time!
New Finds and Intriguing Theories Conspire with Scholars To Rewrite India's
History-Plus HT's 7-Page Timeline
When you learned Indian history, a startling amount of myth may have
inadvertently been mixed in the masala with fact. The "official" history of
India and Hinduism was set down by Western scholars more than a hundred
years ago, a history based on the now-disputed principle that an outside
group of "Aryans," not her indigenous peoples, were responsible for most of
India's civilization. Subsequent discoveries, research and analysis have
unearthed major flaws in that history. Still, to this day, virtually every
textbook and encyclopedia in the world contains the same century-old
conjectures.
"Early Indian history is on the brink of a change," says Professor Shiva G.
Bajpai, co-author of the monumental work A Historical Atlas of South Asia.
He told Hinduism Today that "Archaeological explorations taking place in
the recent decade have changed many of the views we used to hold as being
very historical. Many do not even know what they have excavated so far."
Revising India's history is practically a cottage industry today.
Archaeologists and historians are forming strategic partnerships, even
teaming up with astronomers who turn Rig Veda observations of the stars
into firm dates for recorded events. Two conferences were held already this
year-January in Hyderabad and April in Sringeri. A third, the World
Archaeology Congress, is scheduled in New Delhi on December 4-11, where the
latest, most significant findings will be revealed. Author and Vedic
scholar, David Frawley, reports, "The conferences featured S.R. Rao, Subash
Kak, Rajaram and others working in this field. Nobody was really upholding
the old model. The issue wasn't so much whether the old model is working,
but how the new model is going to be formed. It's no longer just Hindus
claiming their faith in what their holy books say. All the archaeological
and scientific evidence is pretty much in agreement with them."
The "Aryan invasion" of India is taught as fact everywhere, but many modern
researchers don't support it. Establishment historians aren't ready to
accept any wholesale revision, and are slow to explore discoveries which
necessitate such a revision. Nor is Indian history the only one undergoing
rethinking. Just a few years ago the Egyptian sphinx was suddenly dated
thousands of years earlier by new technology, turning Egyptian history on
its head.
Hinduism Today has been following the dramatic events among historians, and
our staff has assembled a new Timeline of Hinduism, a chronology that
incorporates recent findings and tempers the anti-Hindu bias undergirding
previous histories of India. Beginning on page four, we present 600,000
years in 585 entries.
Our seven-page timeline is generous toward Hinduism, listing the earliest
possible dates for events and scriptures. Bajpai does not mind, "The
Hinduism Today Timeline is extremely important because it highlights the
Hindu heritage. This is both its greatest strength and, others might say,
its weakness. No timeline can be wholly satisfactory for everyone, as is
the case with any encyclopedia."
Hindu Timeline #1
-2.5 m to -1000
How to Read the Timeline
The thick line represents the flow of time from the date on the top to
dates on the bottom. The thinner lines to the left indicate the duration of
major ruling dynasties. Not all are included, for at times India was
divided into dozens of small independent kingdoms. Approximate dates are
preceded by the letter "ca," an abbreviation of the word "circa," which
denotes "about," "around" or "in approximately." all dates prior to Buddha
(624 bce) are considered estimates.
bce: Abbreviation for "before common era," referring to dating prior to the
year zero in the Western, or Gregorian calendar, system.
ce: Abbreviation for "common era." Equivalent to the abbreviation ad.
Following a date, it indicates that the year in question comes after the
year zero in the Western, or Gregorian calendar, system.
-2.5 m: Genus Homo originates in Africa, cradle of humanity.
-2 m: Stone artifacts are made and used by hominids in North India, an area
rich in animal species, including the elephant.
-500,000: Stone hand axes and other tools are used in N. India.
-470,000: India's hominids are active in Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
-400,000: Soan culture in India is using primitive chopping tools.
-360,000: Fire is first controlled by homo erectus in China.
-300,000: Homo sapiens roams the earth, from Africa to Asia.
-100,000: Homo sapiens sapiens (humans) with 20th-century man's brain size
(1,450 cc) live in East Africa. Populations separate. Migrations proceed to
Asia via the Isthmus of Suez.
-75,000: Last ice age begins. Human population is 1.7 million.
-45,000: After mastery of marine navigation, migrations from Southeast Asia
settle Australia and the Pacific islands.
-40,000: Groups of hunter-gatherers in Central India are living in painted
rock shelters. Similar groups in Northern Punjab work at open sites
protected by windbreaks.
-35,000: Migrations of separated Asian populations settle Europe.
-30,000: American Indians spread throughout the Americas.
-10,000: Last ice age ends after 65,000 years; earliest signs of
agriculture. World population 4 million; India is 100,000.
-10,000: Taittiriya Brahmana 3.1.2 refers to Purvabhadrapada nakshatra's
rising due east, a phenomenon occurring at this date (Dr. B.G. Siddharth of
Birla Science Institute), indicating the earliest known dating of the
sacred Veda.
-10,000: Vedic culture, the essence of humanity's eternal wisdom, Sanatana
Dharma, lives in the Himalayas at end of Ice Age.
-9000: Old Europe, Anatolia and Minoan Crete display a Goddess-centered
culture reflecting a matriarchial order.
-8500: Taittiriya Samhita 6.5.3 places Pleiades asterism at winter
solstice, suggesting the antiquity of this Veda.
-7500: Excavations at Neveli Cori in Turkey reveal advanced civilization
with meticulous architecture and planning. Dr. Sri B.G. Siddharth believes
this was a Vedic culture.
-7000: Proto-Vedic period ends. Early Vedic period begins.
-7000: Time of Manu Vaivasvata, "father of mankind," of Sarasvati-
Drishadvati area (also said to be a South Indian Maharaja who sailed to the
Himalayas during a great flood).
-7000: Early evidence of horses in the Ganga region (Frawley).
-7000: Indus-Sarasvati area residents of Mehrgarh grow barley, raise sheep
and goats. They store grain, entomb their dead and construct buildings of
sun-baked mud bricks.
-6776: Start of Hindu lists of kings according to ancient Greek references
that give Hindus 150 kings and a history of 6,400 years before 300bce;
agrees with next entry.
-6500: Rig Veda verses (e.g., 1.117.22, 1.116.12, 1.84.13.5) say winter
solstice begins in Aries (according to Dr. D. Frawley), indicating the
antiquity of this section of the Vedas.
-6000: Early sites on the Sarasvati River, then India's largest, flowing
west of Delhi into the Rann of Kutch; Rajasthan is a fertile region with
much grassland, as described in the Rig Veda. The culture, based upon
barley (yava), copper (ayas) and cattle, also reflects that of the Rig
Veda.
-5500: Mehrgarh villagers are making baked pottery and thousands of small,
clay of female figurines (interpreted to be earliest signs of Shakti
worship), and are involved in long-distance trade in precious stones and
sea shells.
-5500: Date of astrological observations associated with ancient events
later mentioned in the Puranas (Alain Danielou).
-5000: World population, 5 million, doubles every 1,000 years.
-5000: Beginnings of Indus-Sarasvati civilizations of Harappa and Mohenjo-
daro. Date derived by considering archeological sites, reached after
excavating 45 feet. Brick fire altars exist in many houses, suggesting
Vedic fire rites, yajna. Earliest signs of worship of Lord Siva. This
mature culture will last 3,000 years, ending around -1700.
-5000: Rice is harvested in China, with grains found in baked bricks. But
its cultivation originated in Eastern India.
-4300: Traditional dating for Lord Rama's time.
-4000: Excavations from this period at Sumerian sites of Kish and Susa
reveal existence of Indian trade products.
-4000: India's population is 1 million.
-4000: Date of world's creation (Christian genealogies).
-3928: July 25th, the earliest eclipse mentioned in the Rig Veda (according
to Indian researcher Dr. Shri P.C. Sengupta).
-3200: Hindu astronomers called nakshatra darshas record in Vedic texts
their observations of full moon and new moon at the winter and summer
solstices and spring and fall equinoxes with reference to 27 fixed stars
(nakshatras) spaced nearly equally on the moon's ecliptic or apparent path
across the sky. The precession of the equinoxes (caused by the wobbling of
the Earth's axis of rotation) causes the nakshatras to appear to drift at a
constant rate along a predictable course over a 25,000-year cycle. From
these observations historians are able to calculate backwards and determine
the date when the indicated position of moon, sun and nakshatra occurred.
-3102: Kali Era Hindu calendar starts. Kali Yuga begins.
-3100: Reference to vernal equinox in Rohini (middle of Taurus) from some
Brahmanas, as noted by B.G. Tilak, Indian scholar and patriot. Traditional
date of the Mahabharata war and lifetime of Lord Krishna.
-3100: Early Vedic period ends, late Vedic period begins.
-3100: India includes Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia.
-3100: Aryan people inhabit Iran, Iraq and Western Indus-Sarasvati Valley
frontier. Frawley describes Aryans as "a culture of spiritual knowledge."
He and others believe 1) the Land of Seven Rivers (Sapta Sindhu) mentioned
in the Rig Veda refers to India only, 2) that the people of Indus-Sarasvati
Valleys and those of Rig Veda are the same, and 3) there was no Aryan
invasion. This view is now prevailing over the West's historical concept of
the Aryans as a separate ethnic or linguistic group. Still others claim the
Indus-Sarasvati people were Dravidians who moved out or were displaced by
incoming Aryans.
-3000: Weaving in Europe, Near East and Indus-Sarasvati Valley is primarily
coiled basketry, either spiraled or sewn.
-3000: Evidence of horses in South India.
-3000: People of Tehuacan, Mexico, are cultivating corn.
-3000: Saiva Agamas are recorded in the time of the earliest Tamil Sangam.
(A traditional date.)
-2700: Seals of Indus-Sarasvati Valley indicate Siva worship, in depictions
of Siva as Pashupati, Lord of Animals.
-2600: Indus-Sarasvati civilization reaches a height it sustains until 1700
be. Spreading from Pakistan to Gujarat, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, it is the
largest of the world's three oldest civilizations with links to Mesopotamia
(possibly Crete), Afghanisthan, Central Asia and Karnataka. Harappa and
Mohenjo-daro have populations of 100,000.
-2600: Major portions of the Veda hymns are composed during the reign of
Vishvamitra I (Dating by Dr. S.B. Roy).
-2600: Drying up of Drishadvati River of Vedic fame, along with possible
shifting of the Yamuna to flow into the Ganga.
-2600: First Egyptian pyramid is under construction.
-2500: Main period of Indus-Sarasvati cities. Culture relies heavily on
rice and cotton, as mentioned in Atharva Veda, which were first developed
in India. Ninety percent of sites are along the Sarasvati, the region's
agricultural bread basket. Mohenjo-daro is a large peripheral trading
center. Rakhigari and Ganweriwala (not yet excavated in 1994) on the
Sarasvati are as big as Mohenjo-daro. So is Dholarvira in Kutch. Indus-
Sarasvati sites have been found as far south as Karnataka's Godavari River
and north into Afghanistan on the Amu Darya River.
-2500: Reference to vernal equinox in Krittika (Pleiades or early Taurus)
from Yajur and Atharva Veda hymns and Brahmanas. This corresponds to
Harappan seals that show seven women (the Krittikas) tending a fire.
-2300: Sargon founds Mesopotamian kingdom of Akkad, trades with Indus-
Sarasvati Valley cities.
-2300: Indo-Europeans in Russia's Ural steppelands develop efficient
spoked-wheel chariot technology, using 1,000-year-old horse husbandry and
freight-cart technology.
-2050: Vedic people are living in Persia and Afghanistan.
-2051: Divodasa reigns to -1961, has contact with Babylon's King Indatu
(Babylonian chronology). Dating by S.B. Roy.
ca -2040: Prince Rama is born at Ayodhya, site of future Rama temple. (This
and next two datings by S.B. Roy.)
-2033: Reign of Dasharatha, father of Lord Rama. King Ravana, villain of
the Ramayana, reigns in Sri Lanka.
-2000: Indo-Europeans (Celts, Slavs, Lithuanians, Ukranians) follow
cosmology, theology, astronomy, ritual, society and marriage that parallel
early Vedic patterns.
-2000: Probable date of first written Saiva Agamas.
-2000: World population: 27 million. India: 5 million or 22%. India has
roughly G of human race throughout history.
-1915: All Madurai Tamil Sangam is held at Thiruparankundram (according to
traditional Tamil chronology).
-1900: Late Vedic period ends, post Vedic period begins.
-1900: Drying up of Sarasvati River, end of Indus-Sarasvati culture, end of
the Vedic age. After this, the center of civilization in ancient India
relocates from the Sarasvati to the Ganga, along with possible migration of
Vedic peoples out of India to the Near East (perhaps giving rise to the
Mittani and Kassites, who worship Vedic Gods). The redirection of the
Sutlej into the Indus causes the Indus area to flood. Climate changes make
the Sarasvati region too dry for habitation. (Thought lost, its river bed
is finally photographed from satellite in the 1990s.)
-1500: Egyptians bury their royalty in the Valley of the Kings.
-1500: Polynesians migrate throughout Pacific islands.
-1500: Submergence of the stone port city of Dwarka near Gujarat, where
early Brahmi script, India's ancient alphabet, is used. Recent excavation
by Dr. S.R. Rao. Larger than Mohenjo-daro, many identify it with the Dwarka
of Krishna. Possible date of Lord Krishna. Indicates second urbanization
phase of India between Indus-Sarasvati sites like Harappa and later cities
on the Ganga.
-1500: Indigenous iron technology in Dwarka and Kashmir.
-1500: Cinnamon is exported from Kerala to Middle East.
-1472: Reign of Dhritarashtra, father of the Kauravas. Reign of
Yudhisthira, king of the Pandavas. Life of Sage Yajnavalkya. Date based on
Mahabharata's citation of winter solstice at Dhanishtha, which occurs
around this time.
-1450: End of Rig Veda Samhita narration.
-1450: Early Upanishads are composed during the next few hundred years,
also Vedangas and Sutra literature.
-1424: Bharata battle is fought, as related in the Mahabharata. (Professor
Subash Kak places the battle at -2449. Other authors give lower dates, up
to 9th century bce)
-1424: Birth of Parikshit, grandson of Arjuna, and next king.
-1350: At Boghaz Koi in Turkey, stone inscription of the Mitanni treaty
lists as divine witnesses the Vedic Deities Mitra, Varuna, Indra and the
Nasatyas (Ashvins).
-1316: Mahabharata epic poem is composed by Sage Vyasa.
-1300: Panini composes Ashtadhyayi, systematizing Sanskrit grammar in 4,000
terse rules. (Date according to Roy.)
-1300: Changes are made in the Mahabharata and Ramayana through 200 bce.
Puranas are edited up until 400 ce. Early smriti literature is composed
over next 400 years.
-1255: King Shuchi of Magadha writes Jyotisha Vedanga, including
astronomical observations which date this scripture-that summer solstice
occurs in Ashlesha Nakshatra.
-1250: Moses leads 600,000 Jews out of Egypt.
-1200: Probable time of the legendary Greek Trojan War celebrated in
Homer's epic poems, Iliad and Odyssey (ca -750).
-1124: Elamite Dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar (-1124-1103) moves capital to
Babylon, world's largest city, covering 10,000 hectares, slightly larger
than present-day San Francisco.
-1000: Late Vedic period ends. Post-Vedic period begins.
Hindu Timeline #2
-1000 to 1000
-1000: World population is 50 million, doubling every 500 years.
-975: King Hiram of Phoenicia, for the sake of King Solomon of Israel,
trades with the port of Ophir (Sanskrit: Supara) near modern Bombay,
showing the trade between Israel and India. Same trade goes back to
Harappan era.
-950: Jewish people arrive in India in King Solomon's merchant fleet. Later
Jewish colonies find India a tolerant home.
-950: Gradual breakdown of Sanskrit as a spoken language occurs over the
next 200 years.
-925: Jewish King David forms an empire in what is present-day Israel and
Lebanon.
-900: Iron Age in India. Early use dates to at least -1500.
ca -900: Earliest records of the holy city of Varanasi (one of the world's
oldest living cities) on the sacred river Ganga.
-900: Use of iron supplements bronze in Greece.
-850: The Chinese are using the 28-nakshatra zodiac called Shiu, adapted
from the Hindu jyotisha system.
ca -800: Later Upanishads are recorded.
-800: Later smriti, secondary Hindu scripture, is composed, elaborated and
developed during next 1,000 years.
-776: First Olympic Games are held in Greece.
-750: Prakrits, vernacular or "natural" languages, develop among India's
common peoples. Already flourishing in 500 bce , Pali and other Prakrits
are chiefly known from Buddhist and Jain works composed at this time.
-750: Priestly Sanskrit is gradually refined over next 500 years, taking on
its classical form.
-700: Life of Zoroaster of Persia, founder of Zoroastrianism. His holy
book, Zend Avesta, contains many verses from the Rig and Atharva Veda. His
strong distinctions between good and evil set the dualistic tone of God and
devil which distinguishes all later Western religions.
-700: Early Smartism emerges from the syncretic Vedic brahminical (priestly
caste) tradition. It flourishes today as a liberal sect alongside Saiva,
Vaishnava and Shakta sects.
-623-543: Life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, born in Uttar Pradesh in
a princely Shakya Saivite family. (Date by Sri Lankan Buddhists. Indian
scholars say -563-483. Mahayanists of China and Japan prefer -566-486 or
later.)
ca 600: Life of Sushruta, of Varanasi, the father of surgery. His ayurvedic
treatises cover pulse diagnosis, hernia, cataract, cosmetic surgery,
medical ethics, 121 surgical implements, antiseptics, use of drugs to
control bleeding, toxicology, psychiatry, classification of burns,
midwifery, surgical anesthesia and therapeutics of garlic.
ca -600: The Ajivika sect, an ascetic, atheistic group of naked sadhus
reputated for fierce curses, is at its height, continuing in Mysore until
the 14th century. Adversaries of both Buddha and Mahavira, their philosophy
is deterministic, holding that everything is inevitable.
ca -600: Lifetime of Lao-tzu, founder of Taoism in China, author of Tao-te
Ching. Its esoteric teachings of simplicity and selflessness shape Chinese
life for 2,000 years and permeate the religions of Vietnam, Japan and
Korea.
-599-527: Lifetime of Mahavira Vardhamana, 24th Tirthankara and revered
renaissance Jain master. His teachings stress strict codes of
vegetarianism, asceticism and nonviolence. (Some date his life 40 years
later. )
-560: In Greece, Pythagoras teaches math, music, vegetarianism and yoga-
drawing from India's wisdom ways.
-551-478: Lifetime of Confucius, founder of Confucianist faith. His
teachings on social ethics are the basis of Chinese education, ruling-class
ideology and religion.
-518: Darius I of Persia (present Iran) invades Indus Valley. This
Zoroastrian king shows tolerance for local religions.
ca -500: Lifetime of Kapila, founder of Sankhya Darshana, one of six
classical systems of Hindu philosophy.
ca -500: Dams to store water are constructed in India.
-500: World population is 100 million. India population is 25 million (15
million of whom live in the Ganga basin).
ca -500: Over the next 300 years (according to the later dating of Muller)
numerous secondary Hindu scriptures (smriti) are composed: Shrauta Sutras,
Grihya Sutras, Dharma Sutras, Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas, etc.
ca -500: Tamil Sangam age (500 bce-500 ce) begins. Sage Agastya writes
Agattiyam, first known Tamil grammar. Tolkappiyar writes Tolkappiyam
Purananuru, also on grammar, stating that he is recording thoughts on
poetry, rhetoric, etc., of earlier grammarians, pointing to high
development of Tamil language prior to his day. He gives rules for
absorbing Sanskrit words into Tamil. Other famous works from the Sangam age
are the poetical collections Paripadal, Pattuppattu, Ettuthokai Purananuru,
Akananuru, Aingurunuru, Padinenkilkanakku. Some refer to worship of Vishnu,
Indra, Murugan and Supreme Siva.
ca -486: Ajatashatru (reign -486-458) ascends Magadha throne.
-480: Ajita, a nastika (atheist) who teaches a purely material explanation
of life and that death is final, dies.
-478: Prince Vijaya, exiled by his father, King Sinhabahu, sails from
Gujarat with 700 followers. Founds Singhalese kingdom in Sri Lanka.
(Mahavamsa chronicle, ca 500.)
-450: Athenian philosopher Socrates flourishes (ca -470-400).
-428-348: Lifetime of Plato, Athenian disciple of Socrates. This great
philosopher founds Athens Academy in -387.
ca -400: Panini composes his Sanskrit grammar, the Ashtadhyayi. (Date
accepted among most Western scholars.)
ca -400: Lifetime of Hippocrates, Greek physician and "father of medicine,"
formulates Hippocratic oath, code of medical ethics still pledged by
present-day Western doctors.
ca -350: Rainfall is measured by Indian scientists.
-326: Alexander the Great of Greece invades, but fails to conquer, Northern
India. His soldiers mutiny. He leaves India the same year. Greeks who
remain in India intermarry with Indians. Interchanges of philosophy
influence both civilizations. Greek sculpture impacts Hindu styles. Bactria
kingdoms later enhance Greek influence.
30: Chandragupta Maurya, founder of first pan-Indian empire (-324-184),
defeats Greek garrisons of Seleucus, founder of Seleucan Empire in Persia
and Syria. At its height under Emperor Ashoka (reign -273-232), the Mauryan
Empire includes all India except the far South.
ca -302: Kautilya (Chanakya), minister to Chandragupta Maurya, writes
Arthashastra, a compendium of laws, administrative procedures and political
advice for running a kingdom.
-302: In Indica, Megasthenes, envoy to King Seleucus, reveals to Europe in
colorful detail the wonders of Mauryan India: an opulent society with
abundant agriculture, engineered irrigation and 7 castes: philosophers,
farmers, soldiers, herdsmen, artisans, magistrates and counselors.
ca -300: Chinese discover cast iron, known in Europe by 1300 ce.
ca -300: Pancharatra Vaishnava sect is prominent. All later Vaishnava sects
are based on the Pancharatra beliefs (formalized by Shandilya around 100
ce).
ca -300: Pandya kingdom (-300-1700 ce) of S. India is founded, constructs
magnificent Minakshi temple at its capital, Madurai. Builds temples of
Shrirangam and Rameshvaram, with its thousand-pillared hall (ca 1600 ce).
-297: Emperor Chandragupta abdicates to become a Jain monk.
-273: Ashoka (-273-232 reign), greatest Mauryan Emperor, grandson of
Chandragupta, is coronated. Repudiating conquest throgh violence after his
brutal invasion of Kalinga, 260 bce, he converts to Buddhism. Excels at
public works and sends diplomatic peace missions to Persia, Syria, Egypt,
North Africa and Crete, and Buddhist missions to Sri Lanka, China and other
Southeast Asian countries. Under his influence, Buddhism becomes a world
power. His work and teachings are preserved in Rock and Pillar Edicts
(e.g., lion capital of the pillar at Sarnath, present-day India's national
emblem).
-251: Emperor Ashoka sends his son Mahendra (-270-204) to spread Buddhism
in Sri Lanka, where he is to this day revered as the national faith's
founding missionary.
ca -250: Lifetime of Maharishi Nandinatha, first known satguru in the
Kailasa Parampara of the Nandinatha Sampradaya. His eight disciples are
Sanatkumar, Shanakar, Sanadanar, Sananthanar, Sivayogamuni, Patanjali,
Vyaghrapada and Tirumular (Sundaranatha).
ca -221: Great Wall of China is built, ultimately 2,600 miles long, the
only man-made object visible from the moon.
ca -200: Lifetime of Rishi Tirumular, shishya of Maharishi Nandinatha and
author of the 3,047-verse Tirumantiram, a summation of Saiva Agamas and
Vedas, and concise articulation of the Nandinatha Sampradaya teachings,
founding South India's monistic Saiva Siddhanta school.
ca -200: Lifetime of Patanjali, shishya of Nandinatha and gurubhai (brother
monk) of Rishi Tirumular. He writes the Yoga Sutras at Chidambaram, in
South India.
ca -200: Lifetime of Bhogar Rishi, one of eighteen Tamil siddhas. This
mystic shapes from nine poisons the Palaniswami murti enshrined in present-
day Palani Hills temple in South India. Bhogar is either from China or
visits there.
ca -200: Lifetime of Saint Tiruvalluvar, poet-weaver who lived near
present-day Madras, author of Tirukural, "Holy Couplets," the classic Tamil
work on ethics and statecraft (sworn on in today's South Indian law
courts).
ca -200: Jaimini writes the Mimamsa Sutras.
ca -150: Ajanta Buddhist Caves are begun near present-day Hyderabad.
Construction of the 29 monasteries and galleries continues until
approximately 650 ce. The famous murals are painted between 600 bce and 650
ce.
-145: Chola Empire (-145-1300 ce) of Tamil Nadu is founded, rising from
modest beginnings to a height of government organization and artistic
accomplishment, including the development of enormous irrigation works.
-140: Emperor Wu begins three-year reign of China; worship of the Mother
Goddess, Earth, attains importance.
-130: Reign ends of Menander (Milinda), Indo-Greek king who converts to
Buddhism.
-58: Vikrama Samvat Era Hindu calendar begins.
-50: Kushana Empire begins (-50-220 ce). This Mongolian Buddhist dynasty
rules most of the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan and parts of Central
Asia.
ca -10: Ilangovadikal, son of King Cheralathan of the Tamil Sangam age,
writes the outstanding epic Silappathikaram, classical Tamil treatise on
music and dance.
Western Calendar Begins. C.E. - Common Era
-4: Jesus of Nazareth (-4-30 ce), founder of Christianity, is born in
Bethlehem (current Biblical scholarship).
10: World population is 170 million. India population is 35 million: 20.5%
of world.
ca 50: South Indians occupy Funan, Indochina. Kaundinya, an Indian brahmin,
is first king. Shaivism is the state religion.
53: Legend records Saint Thomas' death in Madras, one of the twelve
Apostles of Christ and founder of the Church of the Syrian Malabar
Christians (Syrian Rite) in Goa.
ca 60: Buddhism is introduced in China by Emperor Ming Di (reign: 58-76)
after he converts to the faith. Brings two monks from India who erect
temple at modern Honan.
ca 75: A Gujarat prince named Ajishaka invades Java.
78: Shaka Hindu calendar begins.
ca 80: Jains divide, on points of rules for monks, into the Shvetambara,
"white-clad," and the Digambara, "sky-clad."
ca 80-180: Lifetime of Charaka. Court physician of the Kushan king, he
formulates a code of conduct for doctors of ayurveda and writes Charaka
Samhita, a manual of medicine.
ca 100: Lifetime of Shandilya, first systematic promulgator of the ancient
Pancharatra doctrines, whose Bhakti Sutras, devotional aphorisms on Vishnu,
inspire a Vaishnava renaissance. The Samhita of Shandilya and his
followers, the Pancharatra Agama, embody the chief doctrines of present-day
Vaishnavas. By the 10th century the popular sect leaves permanent mark on
many Hindu schools.
Continued in Part 2 of 3 parts
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