Ganges River

The earliest civilizations in India began around the Ganges River, where political systems like gana-sanghas to monarchies developed. The early Indian Empires are very important to history. Hinduism and Buddhism both can trace their origins to these places. Chandragupta was one of the greatest rulers of India. He grew up under the teachings of Kautilya, who was a great political treatise in the Indian History. The governing system of Chandragupta is very similar to that of the practices outlines in the Arthashastra.

Kautilya was the biggest influence in Chandragupta's life and was the one who put Chandragupta in power. After Kautilya's unsuccessful revolt against the Nandas, he and Chandragupta fled to Taxila. There Kautilya met Alexander the Great and asked for helping in making Chandragupta the ruler of a new Empire. With that, Chandragupta took control over the Magadha Empire, and formed the powerful Mauryan Empire. Chandragupta, however, stepped down to follow Jainism. His son took over, and continued to expand the empire. Chandragupta died by starving himself due to the believes of Jainism that one can't eat any living thing.

The next great ruler of India was Ashoka, who was the grandson of Chandragupta. He emerged as India's most dominant ruler until the nineteenth century CE. Ashoka's mission was to expand his empire to the south of India. He led a great army to battle the last empire in India not under the Mauryan Empire, the Kingdom of Kalinga. At the end of the conflict, 100,000 people were dead and Ashoka retrieved back home. When he returned home, he converted to Buddhism, and vowed to rule his kingdom by "right conduct" alone.

The next great empire was The Gupta Empire. The first great ruler of The Gupta Empire was Chandragupta I ( not related to Chandragupta of the Mauryan Empire). His new empire lied where Magadha and Kosala existed before. Chandragupta I took control of many areas including Nepal. His successor was Samudragupta, who expanded the empire both north and south. Samudragupta tied relations with China for trade and making his empire more powerful. His son Chandragupta II continued to expand the empire, adding the southern and western Gujarati territories of the Shakas. The cumulative effect of this string of conquests over barley a century was that, once again, the Indian Subcontinent stood on the threshold of unity. During the Gupta empire, Hinduism became the major religion. The Gupta empire left this lasting effect to present day, where the majority of India today follows Hinduism. However, the Gupta empire began to fade in power under the rules of Chandragupta's son and grandson.

During the rules of Chandragupta's son and grandson, there were opposing forces arriving in India. With internal conflict making the empire weak, it became easy for the outside forces to take over the Gupta empire. The Hunas, or the "White Huns"