History

Ancient village of Mehrgarh in Baluchistan was settled in about 7000 B.C, this made it one of the oldest permanent settlement in the world. Pottery was introduced in 5500 B.C, making it more advanced than other cultures at the time. Ruins found in the Indus River shows the expansion of the Mehrgarh culture. At its peak, it would have had a population of 5 million people. Cities had been laid out in a geometric pattern with roads all the same size. The civilization began to decline during the 19th and 17th centuries B.C.
 * Prehistory of South Asia (Option 2)**

The next civilization were the Aryans. Between 1550 and 800 B.C, the civilization had slowly been reaching eastwards. In 600 B.C, there had been sixteen territorial powers, such as the Magadha, Kosala, Kuru, and Gandhara. By 500 B.C, most of Northern India had been put under civilization. First contact with the Islam was in the year 711. Three centuries later, the Turks, Persians, and Afghans invaded India. There were 5 dynasties, Slave (1206-90), Khilji dynasty (1290-1320), Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413), Sayyid dynasty (1414-51), and Lodi dynasty (1451-1526).

India in the 16th century presented a fragmented picture of rulers, both Muslim and Hindu, who lacked concern for their subjects and who failed to create a common body of laws or institutions. Outside developments also played a role in shaping events. The circumnavigation of Africa by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498 allowed Europeans to challenge Arab control of the trading routes between Europe and Asia. In Central Asia and Afghanistan, shifts in power pushed Babur of Ferghana (in present-day Uzbekistan) southward, first to Kabul and then to India. The dynasty he founded endured for more than three centuries. Thus, the Mughal Empire was started. After the Mughal Empire was the beginning of British rule in South Asia.