Editing Outline of ancient India (section)

== General history of Ancient India ==
{{main|History of India}}
An elaborate periodisation may be as follows:{{sfn|Michaels|2004}}

=== Pre-history (Neolithic Age) (c. 8000–3500 BCE) ===
* Indian Pre-history Age ({{Circa|10,000}}–3300 BCE)
* [[Bhirrana|Bhirrana culture]] (7570–6200 BCE)
* [[Mehrgarh]] culture ({{Circa|7000|2500 BCE}})

=== Proto-history (Bronze Age) (c. 3500–1800 BCE) ===
[[File:World in 2000 BC.svg|thumb|270px|Map of the world in 2000 BCE showing the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]]]]
* [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] ({{Circa|3300|1300 BCE}}), including the "first urbanisation"
* [[Ahar–Banas culture]] ({{Circa|3000|1500 BCE}})
* [[Ochre Coloured Pottery culture]] ({{Circa|2600}}–1200 BCE)<ref>Civilsdaily, (August 15, 2017). [https://www.civilsdaily.com/pottery-evolution-and-significance/ "Case study | Pottery – Evolution and significance".]</ref>
* [[Cemetery H culture]] ({{Circa|1900}}–1300 BCE)<ref>M Rafiq Mughal Lahore Museum Bulletin, off Print, vol.III, No.2, Jul-Dec. 1990 [http://www.rafiquemughal.com/MUGHAL_1990_Decline-of-the-Indus_Lahore-Mus-Bulletin.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626135910/http://www.rafiquemughal.com/MUGHAL_1990_Decline-of-the-Indus_Lahore-Mus-Bulletin.pdf|date=26 June 2015}}</ref>

=== Iron Age (c. 1800–200 BCE) ===
[[File:East-Hem 1300bc.jpg|thumb|270px|The [[Indo-Aryan migrations|Indo-Aryan]] [[Vedic civilization]] and main polities in Eurasia around 1300 BCE]] 
*[[Iron Age India]] ({{Circa|1800|200 BCE}})
**[[Vedic civilization]] ({{Circa|1700|600 BCE}})
***[[Black and red ware culture]] ({{Circa|1500}}–700 BCE) in Western [[Ganges plain]]<ref>Franklin Southworth, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hTwuFUW5aEgC ''Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia''] (Routledge, 2005), p. 177</ref>
***[[Northern Black Polished Ware]] ({{Circa|1200}}–500 BCE)<ref name="Strickland, K. M.">Strickland, K. M., R. A. E. Coningham, et al., (2016). [http://doa.gov.np/downloadfile/190_1496827491.pdf "Ancient Lumminigame: A Preliminary Report on Recent Archaeological Investigations at Lumbini's Village Mound"], in Ancient Nepal, Number 190, April 2016, p. 10.</ref>
*** [[Painted Grey Ware culture]] ({{Circa|1200}} or 700–300 BCE)<ref name="cambridge.org">Neogi, Sayantani, Charles A. I. French, Julie A. Durcan, Rabindra N. Singh, and Cameron A. Petrie, (2019). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/7EEB4F0A6653158B1160DB9B5ED61E90/S003358941900070Xa.pdf/geoarchaeological_insights_into_the_location_of_indus_settlements_on_the_plains_of_northwest_india.pdf "Geoarchaeological insights into the location of Indus settlements on the plains of northwest India"], in Quaternary Research, Volume 94, March 2020, p. 140.</ref>
** [[Brihadratha|Brihadratha dynasty]] ({{Circa|1700|682 BCE}})
** [[Gandhāra (kingdom)|Gandhara Kingdom]] ({{Circa|1500|545 BCE}})
** [[Kuru Kingdom]] ({{Circa|1200|345 BCE}})
**[[Mahajanapadas|Indian Iron Age kingdoms]] ({{Circa|600|345 BCE}})<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lal |first1=Deepak |title=The Hindu Equilibrium: India C.1500 B.C. - 2000 A.D. |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-927579-3 |page=xxxviii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dps-A5gOmA8C&pg=PR38 |language=en}}</ref>
**[[Early Pandyan Kingdom|Pandyan Kingdom]] ({{Circa|600 BCE|650 CE}})<ref name="pandyan_capital">{{cite book|title=Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India|last=Geological Survey of India (1883)|pages=80}}</ref>

=== Pre-Classical Period (c. 600 BCE–200 CE) ===
[[File:East-Hem 200bc.jpg|thumb|270px|The [[Maurya Empire]] and main polities in Eurasia around 200 BCE]] 
[[File:Asia 100bc.jpg|thumb|270px|Map of the world in 100 BCE showing the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]s]]
*[[Pradyota dynasty]] ({{Circa|682}}–544 BCE)
*[[Haryanka dynasty]] ({{Circa|544}}–413 BCE)
*[[Shaishunaga dynasty]] ({{Circa|413}}–345 BCE)
*[[Nanda Empire]] ({{Circa|345|322 BCE}})
*[[Maurya Empire]] ({{Circa|322}}–185 BCE)
*[[Sangam period]] ({{Circa|300 BCE|300 CE}})
**[[Pandya dynasty|Pandyan Kingdom]] ({{Circa|600 BCE}}–1650 CE)
**[[Chera dynasty|Chera Kingdom]] ({{Circa|300 BCE}}–1102 CE)
**[[Chola dynasty|Chola Kingdom]] ({{Circa|300 BCE}}–1279 CE)
*[[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga Empire]] (until 250 BCE)
*[[Mahameghavahana dynasty|Maha-Megha-Vahana Empire]] ({{Circa|2600}}–300 CE)
*[[Satavahana dynasty|Satavahana Empire]] (230 BCE–220 CE)
*[[Kuninda Kingdom]] ({{Circa|2600}}–350  CE)
*[[Shunga Empire]] ({{Circa|185}}–73 BCE)
*[[Kanva dynasty]] ({{Circa|73}}–26 BCE)
*[[Indo-Greek Kingdom]] (180 BCE–10 CE)
*[[Kanva dynasty|Kanva Empire]] (75–26 BCE)
*[[Kushan Empire]] (30–375 CE)
*[[Indo-Scythians|Indo-Scythian Kingdom]] ( {{Circa|12 BCE}}–395 CE)

=== Classical Period (c. 200–550 CE) ===
[[File:East-Hem 500ad.jpg|thumb|270px|The [[Gupta Empire]] and main polities in Eurasia around 500 CE]]  
There are varying definitions of this period.{{refn|group=note|Different periods are designated as "classical Hinduism":
* Smart calls the period between 1000 BCE and 100 CE "pre-classical". It is the formative period for the Upanishads and Brahmanism{{refn|group=subnote|Smart distinguishes "Brahmanism" from the Vedic religion, connecting  "Brahmanism" with the Upanishads.{{sfn|Smart|2003|p=52, 83-86}}}} Jainism and Buddhism. For Smart, the "classical period" lasts from 100 to 1000 CE, and coincides with the flowering of "classical Hinduism" and the flowering and deterioration of Mahayana-buddhism in India.{{sfn|Smart|2003|p=52}}
* For Michaels, the period between 500 BCE and 200 BCE is a time of "Ascetic reformism",{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=36}} whereas the period between 200 BCE and 1100 CE is the time of "classical Hinduism", since there is "a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions".{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=38}}
* Muesse discerns a longer period of change, namely between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, which he calls the "Classical Period". According to Muesse, some of the fundamental concepts of Hinduism, namely karma, reincarnation and "personal enlightenment and transformation", which did not exist in the Vedic religion, developed in this time.{{sfn|Muesse|2003|p=14}}}}
{{main|Middle kingdoms of India}}
*[[Gupta Empire]] ({{Circa|320}}–650 CE)
*[[Later Gupta dynasty]] ({{Circa|490–750 CE}})
*[[Vakataka dynasty|Vakataka Empire]] ({{Circa|250|500 CE}})
*[[Pallava dynasty|Pallava Empire]] ({{Circa|275}}–901 CE)
*[[Kadamba dynasty]] ({{Circa|345}}–1347 CE)
*[[Western Ganga dynasty]] ({{Circa|350}}–1024 CE)
*[[Vishnukundina dynasty|Vishnukundina Empire]] ({{Circa|420}}–624 CE)
*[[Maitraka dynasty]] ({{Circa|475|776 CE}})	
*[[Rai dynasty]] ({{Circa|489}}–632 CE)