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European colonies in India were set up by several European nations beginning at the beginning of the 16th century. Rivalry between reigning European powers saw the entry of the Portuguese, Dutch, British and French among others. The fractured debilitated kingdoms of India were gradually taken over by the Europeans and indirectly controlled by puppet rulers. By the 19 th century, the British had assumed direct and indirect control over most of India . The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in India in 1498. The closing of traditional trade routes in western Asia by the Ottomans and rivalry with the Italian states set Portugal in search of an alternate sea route to India . The first successful voyage to India was by Vasco da Gama in 1498, when he arrived in Calicut , Kerala. He proceeded to Goa . The Portuguese established a chain of outposts along India 's west coast and on the island of Sri Lanka in the early 16th century. Goa was their prized possession an...

The Deli Sultanate refers to the many Muslim dynasties that ruled in India from 1206 to 1526. Several Turkish and Afghan dynasties ruled from Delhi : the Slave dynasty (1206-90), the Khilji dynasty (1290-1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413), the Sayyid dynasty (1414-51), and the Lodi dynasty (1451-1526). During the last quarter of the twelfth century, Muhammad of Ghor invaded the Indo-Gangetic plain, conquering in succession Ghazni, Multan , Sindh, Lahore , and Delhi . Qutb-ud-din Aybak, one of his generals proclaimed himself Sultan of Delhi. In the 13th century, Shams ud din Iltumish (1211 - 1236), a former slave-warrior, established a Turkic kingdom in Delhi, which enabled future sultans to push in every direction; within the next 100 years, the Delhi Sultanate extended its way east to Bengal and south to the Deccan, while the sultanate itself experienced repeated threats from the northwest and internal revolts from displeased, independent-minded nobles. The sultanate was in co...

After the collapse of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century, India was ruled by numerous regional kingdoms. From the mid-seventh to the mid-thirteenth centuries, regionalism was the dominant theme of political or dynastic history of South Asia . A minor line of the Gupta clan continued to rule Magadha after the disintegration of the empire until ultimately ousted by the Vardhana king Harsha, who established an empire in the first half of the seventh century. The White Huns established themselves in Afghanistan by the first half of the fifth century, with their capital at Bamiyan. They were responsible for the downfall of the Gupta dynasty but much of the Deccan and southern India were largely unaffected. The classical age in India began with the resurgence of the north during Harsha's conquests around the 7th century and ended with the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire in the South due to pressure from the invaders to the north in the 13th century. This period produced some of...

There was a time in the history of India when scientific and technological innovation flourish. This golden era of science ended by the end of the 6 th century A.D. Ancient India attracted many invaders, rulers and nations because of the wealth and fame. Some went back, some stayed and some become rulers. But the decline of the glory is not only caused by invaders but also by divisions within the society. India enjoyed relative peace from the beginning of the Maurya Empire (321 B.C – 184 B.C) to end of Gupta Empire (240 A.D. – 550 A.D.). The time of the Gupta Empire is referred to as Golden Age of India in science, mathematics, astronomy, religion and Indian philosophy. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Gupta’s enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors. The invaders from northwest (Hunas) drained empire's resources and decline of India began. The caste system which stratify the society into hierarchical list of Jatis or caste and sub ...