Uttar Pradesh: History, Civilisation, Culture and Ancient Cities

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, General Studies V:

• History, Civilization, Culture and Ancient Cities of UP.

Topics in detail

Read UP's past as a sequence of regions and centres: the Ganga-Yamuna doab, Kosala and Kashi in the east, Braj around Mathura, Bundelkhand in the south and Rohilkhand in the north-west. For each period note the dynasty, its capital in today's UP, and the evidence (sites, inscriptions, travellers' accounts).

Prehistory and protohistory

• Palaeolithic tools of the Belan valley (Prayagraj district) and the stratified sequence of the Vindhyan foothills
• Mesolithic sites of the Ganga plain in Pratapgarh district: Sarai Nahar Rai, Mahadaha and Damdama, with burials and bone tools
• Chopani Mando (Belan valley): Mesolithic huts and some of the earliest pottery in the region
• Neolithic sites Koldihwa and Mahagara (Belan valley) and Lahuradewa (Sant Kabir Nagar): early evidence of rice cultivation
• Late Harappan sites in the western doab: Alamgirpur (Meerut) and Hulas (Saharanpur)
• Sanauli (Baghpat): Bronze Age burials with copper weapons and chariot remains
• Ochre Coloured Pottery and the Copper Hoard objects of the doab
• Painted Grey Ware sites (Hastinapur, Ahichchhatra, Atranjikhera, Mathura) and their link with the later Vedic period
• Northern Black Polished Ware and the rise of towns in the Ganga valley (the second urbanisation)

Vedic, epic and janapada period

• The doab as the heartland of later Vedic culture: the Kuru and Panchala people
• Epic traditions tied to UP: Ayodhya and the Ramayana, Hastinapur and the Mahabharata, Naimisharanya (Sitapur) and the Puranas
• Mahajanapadas wholly or partly in UP: Kashi, Kosala, Vatsa, Panchala, Shurasena, Malla, Kuru and Chedi
• Republican clans of the north-east: the Shakyas of Kapilavastu, the Koliyas and the Mallas of Kushinara and Pava
• Rivalry of Kosala and Magadha; the absorption of Kashi and Kosala into the Magadhan empire

Buddhism and Jainism in UP

• Buddha's first sermon at Sarnath (Rishipatana), his mahaparinirvana at Kushinagar, and long stays at Shravasti (Jetavana, gifted by Anathapindika)
• Kaushambi (Ghoshitarama monastery) and Sankisa (associated with the Buddha's descent) as Buddhist centres
• Jain tradition: Ayodhya as the birthplace of Rishabhanatha and other tirthankaras, Varanasi of Parshvanatha, Shravasti of Sambhavanatha, Hastinapur

Mauryas to Guptas

• Ashoka's pillars at Sarnath (the Lion Capital) and the pillar now in the Prayagraj fort
• The Prayagraj pillar's later inscription: Samudragupta's Prayag Prashasti, composed by Harishena
• Shungas and local kings of Kaushambi, Ahichchhatra and Mathura; their coins
• Kushanas: Mathura as a major centre under Kanishka; Mathura school of sculpture in red sandstone
• Guptas: temples at Deogarh (Lalitpur) and Bhitargaon (Kanpur Nagar); the Bhitari pillar inscription of Skandagupta (Ghazipur)
• Gupta-period Sarnath as a centre of Buddhist sculpture

Kannauj and the early medieval kingdoms

• Maukharis of Kannauj after the Guptas
• Harshavardhana (606 to 647): Kannauj as capital, the visit of Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang), the assemblies at Kannauj and Prayag; Banabhatta's Harshacharita
• The tripartite struggle for Kannauj between the Gurjara-Pratiharas, Palas and Rashtrakutas; Pratihara rule from Kannauj (Mihira Bhoja)
• Gahadavalas of Kannauj and Varanasi (Govindachandra, Jayachandra); defeat at Chandawar (1194)
• Chandelas of Bundelkhand: the forts of Kalinjar and Mahoba

Sultanate and regional kingdoms

• Delhi Sultanate's provinces (iqtas) in Awadh, Kara, Badaun and Sambhal
• Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur (from 1394, founded by Malik Sarwar): a centre of learning and architecture
• Lodis: Sikandar Lodi's founding of Agra (1504)
• Bhakti saints of UP: Kabir and Ravidas (Varanasi), Tulsidas, Surdas; Vallabhacharya and the Braj tradition
• Sufi centres: Salim Chishti at Fatehpur Sikri, Makhdoom Ashraf at Kichhauchha, later Dewa Sharif (Barabanki)

Mughals

• Sher Shah's victory over Humayun at Kannauj (1540)
• Akbar's capitals at Agra and Fatehpur Sikri; the fort at Ilahabad (Prayagraj)
• Mughal provinces (subas) covering UP: Agra, Ilahabad and Awadh, with the western districts in the suba of Delhi
• Agra as an imperial city under Jahangir and Shah Jahan

Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

• Nawabs of Awadh: Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk (from 1722), Safdar Jang, Shuja-ud-Daula (Battle of Buxar, 1764; Treaty of Allahabad, 1765), Asaf-ud-Daula (capital moved from Faizabad to Lucknow, 1775), Wajid Ali Shah
• Rohillas of Rohilkhand and the Rohilla War (1774); the Jats and Marathas in the doab and Bundelkhand
• The Banaras chiefs and Raja Chet Singh's clash with Warren Hastings (1781)
• Cession of Rohilkhand and the lower doab to the East India Company (1801); the Ceded and Conquered Provinces
• North-Western Provinces (1836); annexation of Awadh (1856); North-Western Provinces and Oudh (1877)
• United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (1902), United Provinces (1937), Uttar Pradesh (24 January 1950, now marked as UP Day)
• Creation of Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand) from UP's hill districts on 9 November 2000

Ancient cities at a glance

Overlaps

• Indian art, literature and architecture from ancient to modern times: General Studies I.
• Architecture and archaeology in detail: Architecture, Museums, Archives and Archaeology.
• Tourism circuits built on these sites: Tourism: Issues and Prospects.