1.Periods of the Kingdoms (Mahaajanapad)
The centre of Indian civilisation migrated from the Indus valley to the middle basin of the Ganges by about the 6th century B.C., the Kingdom of Magadha boasted mighty power. Letters and money came to be used then, besides, it was the same era as the Buddha lived in and Buddhism was also established subsequently.
Natya Shastra, which is said to be compiled by Bharata in about the 4th century B.C., has been remaining as the first treatise on the performing arts. Thus it was that the performing arts of the land were theorised by degrees and the framework of classical art was created. At that time, the Indus valley and the Kingdom of Gandhara were dominated by the Persian empire of the Achaemenid dynasty, moreover, in 326 B.C. they were invaded by Alexander the Great of Macedonia a Greek power. Nonetheless they were defeated by the Maurya dynasty in the Kingdom of Magadha and ousted from there after his death.
By the time of the third King Ashoka of the Maurya dynasty, the power extended from the Indus River to the Ganges, and Bangladesh of today and Orissa, and the area was almost unified, leaving the southern tip of the Indian Peninsula in the south. It is said that during this period, King Ashoka introduced advanced civilisation of that time to the surrounding areas along with Buddhism.
In the first part of the 2nd century A.C., the Deccan Plateau area of South India was dominated by the Dravidian Saatavaahana dynasty. They prospered in foreign trade based in the southern ports. From northern India to central India, the Iranian Kushan dynasty that invaded from the northwest was established.
During the time of the third King Kanishka, a vast kingdom was built from Central Asia to North India, and it prospered by holding the centre of the land route (Silk Road) of the trade route, connecting the Roman Empire to the post-Han Dynasty, Mahaayaana Buddhism, that was transmitted to Japan, and Gandhara art were also born.
On the one hand it was politically unstable during this period, on the other hand Buddhism and Jainism became popular in terms of religion, and Hinduism was established by the fusion of Brahmanism and indigenous beliefs, and the [Manusmriti] was later created.
In the middle of the 3rd century after which the Kushan dynasty was destroyed by the Sasanian Persia, the Gupta dynasty was established in the middle reaches of the Ganges and dominated the whole of North India. Around this time, Indian culture made progress in every aspect, the concept of zero and the decimal system, which are now commonplace, were discovered. Hinduism also flourished, and Hindu temples came to be built. Buddhism gradually decline but the murals and Buddhist statues at the Ellora Ajanta Caves became more sophisticated.
The Gupta dynasty perished in the middle of 5th century and was replaced by the Hashal kingdom, but it did not last long and died in half a century. Indian history was moving into the era of the small kingdoms of Maharaja.