History of Chandigarh
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The city of Chandigarh, India was established in the early mid-1950s, but the history of the land extends many centuries earlier.
It is situated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent and is also the capital of India's Punjab as well as Haryana.
Bronze Age
[edit]The Indus Valley Civilisation
[edit]During excavations at the time of the building of the city, some Indus Valley artefacts were discovered, suggesting that the area that is today Chandigarh was home to some settlements of the Indus Valley civilisation.[1]
Iron Age
[edit]The land where Greater Chandigarh is situated today was probably a part of the Vedic Period Kuru Kingdom, Yaudheya Republic and the Trigarta Kingdom probably ruled parts of Greater Chandigarh.
Ancient Chandigarh
[edit]The land of Chandigarh was mostly untouched by the Achaemenid invasions and the later Alexander Invasions.
Mauryan Empire
[edit]Chanakya and Chandragupta allied with Trigarta king Parvataka to conquer the Nanda Empire.[2] This alliance resulted in the formation of a composite army, comprising Gandharans and Kambojas, as documented in the Mudrarakshasa.[3]
According to the Taranatha, following the death of Ashoka, the northwestern region seceded from the Maurya Empire, and Virasena emerged as its king. Noteworthy for his diplomatic endeavors, Virasena's successor, Subhagasena, maintained relations with the Seleucid Greeks. This engagement is corroborated by Polybius, who records an instance where Antiochus III the Great descended into India to renew his ties with King Subhagasena in 206 BCE, subsequently receiving a substantial gift of 150 elephants from the monarch.
The chief of the Mauryan military was also always a Yaudheyan warrior according to the Bijaygadh Pillar inscription, which states that the Yaudheyas elected their own chief who also served as the general for the Mauryans. The Mauryan military was also made up vastly of men from the Punjab Janapadas.
The Mauryas were the first political state to ever unify Chandigarh , Greater Chandigarh , Punjab region and majority of the Indian Subcontinent as a whole.
Indo-Scythian Kingdom
[edit]
The Indo-Scythians were descended from the Sakas (Scythians) who migrated from southern Siberia to Punjab, Pakistan and Arachosia from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE. They displaced the earlier Indo-Greeks. The power of the Saka rulers started to decline in the 2nd century CE and soon they were replaced with Indo-Parthians by the mid 1st century AD.
The Indo-Scythians were the second political state to ever unify Chandigarh , Greater Chandigarh and Punjab region as a whole.
Indo-Parthian Kingdom
[edit]The Indo-Parthians
References
[edit]- ^ Staff (14 November 2008). "Chandigarh was part of Harappan civilization 5,000 years ago". www.oneindia.com. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ Sastri, K. a Nilakanta (1957). Comprehensive History Of India Vol.2 (mauryas And Satavahanas). p. 3.
According to tradition he began by strengthening his position by an alliance with the Himalayan chief Parvataka, as stated in both the Sanskrit and Jaina texts, Mudradkshasa and Parisishtaparvan.
- ^ Sastri, K. a Nilakanta (1957). Comprehensive History Of India Vol.2 (mauryas And Satavahanas). p. 4.
The army of Malayaketu (Parvataka) comprised recruits from the following peoples : Khasa, Magadha, Gandhara, Yavana, Saka, Chedi and Huna.