6500 BCE: evidència d’agricultura i ramaderia a Mehrgarh i el que ara és Balochistan.
2500 – 1900 BCE: Civilització de vall de l’Indus [riu que va de L’Himalaia a Karachi, Pakistan], Monhenjo-daro i Harappa.
[la resta ?]
2000 – 500 BCE Cultura Veda al Punjab i plana del Ganges.. Composició dels Vedas associats amb l’hinduisme, així com el sistema de castes.
Buda (480 BCE – 400 BCE)
Jainisme
300 BCE – 187 BCE Imperi Maurya, ab Asoka controlant gairebé tot el continent llevat del sud
187 BCE – 200 CE
Indo escites
Imperi Kushan
altres
200 CE – 563 CE Imperi Gupta
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire existing from the mid-to-late 3rd century CE to 543 CE[3]. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 543 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent.[4] This period is called the Golden Age of India by some historians.[5][note 1] The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by the king Sri Gupta; the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II alias Vikramaditya.[note 2] The 5th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas, the Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas, and others.[8][non-primary source needed]
The high points of this period are the great cultural developments which took place primarily during the reigns of Samudragupta I, Chandragupta II and Kumaragupta I[9]. Many of the literary sources, such as Mahabharata and Ramayana, were canonised during this period.[10] The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa,[11] Aryabhata, Varahamihira, and Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields [12][13][14]. Science and political administration reached new heights during the Gupta era [15]. The period gave rise to achievements in architecture, sculpture, and painting that “set standards of form and taste [that] determined the whole subsequent course of art, not only in India but far beyond her borders”.[16] Strong trade ties also made the region an important cultural centre and established the region as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.[17][unreliable source?] The Puranas, earlier long poems on a variety of subjects, are also thought to have been committed to written texts around this period.[18]