Evidence suggests that civilisation has existed in the Indian subcontinent since at least the Younger Dryas, and in this post I’ll outline the broad contours of history as it happened between ~10000 B.C. and ~3000 B.C.
We take these two dates as the working approximations for the Younger Dryas and Mahabharata War events respectively. The Mahabharata is dated, varyingly, from between 500 B.C. to 5000 B.C. depending on what source you refer to. Consensus favours the 3100-3200 B.C. mark, so we’ll take the same date though a variation of 1500 years in either direction can be allowed for. The first Manvantara, or the era of Svayambhuva Manu, commenced after the Younger Dryas, for which an approximation of ~10000 B.C. will work. This entire substack will focus on the period after, beginning with Svayambhuva Manu and culminating with the Mahabharata War.
In this period, as evidence shows and more emerges still, civilisation and all its artefacts arose independently in the Indian subcontinent, and they exhibit a degree of reach and continuity that is unparallelled in all of known human history. Not only is this attested to in the archaeological record, it is also remembered in Vedic and Tamil literature. There is of course a fair bit of speculation involved. I will examine the available literature and map it to known events in geology and history, and not all of it will be accurate.
But the general thesis, that continuing civilisation has existed in the Indian subcontinent since at least the Younger Dryas, will be proved using all fields- literature, history, linguistics and archaeology.
These are the broad contours of that story, and in each case remember to retain the possibility of varying up to 1500 years in either direction:
10000 B.C.: Younger Dryas recedes, cultures begin again. Oral tradition culture is established in the Indian subcontinent, or maybe revived. The families of Svayambhuva, Pulastya, Marici, Angirasa and others feature in the early culture.
8000-7000 B.C: First early kings, with the dynasty that includes king Prithu. The beginnings of organised agriculture (farming itself predates this) and with it, large-scale settlements or cities. Ex: Mehrgarh and possibly also Rakhigarhi, Ganweriwala.
6000 B.C.: Major geological event, likely including a great flood- possibly the same remembered in the stories of Noah and Gilgamesh. Era of Vaivasvat Manu and the beginnings of core Rig Vedic period.
5000 B.C.: Pancha Gana period- the five tribes of Anu, Yadu, Druhyu, Turvasa and Puru populate the subcontinent. The first Harappan civilisation cities begin coalescing.
4000 B.C.: Era of Bharata and his descendants, the primary tribe of the Rig Veda. The rise of this dynasty and its consolidation of power coincides with the march of history to produce the cities of Sarasvati and Sindhu we call Harappan civilisation.
~3700 B.C.: Possible period of the Battle of Ten Kings.
3000 B.C.: Mahabharata War.
While this substack covers this large period, it is beyond this that the Sarasvati begins to decline and with it, what we call the Harappan civilisation. In reality, it’s the decline of a continuity that begins at least with the Younger Dryas.
There is also the element of Tamil literature. Agastya is considered the founder of Tamil language, and he is also a revered Rig Vedic rshi. Tradition holds that he travelled from the north to the south, and that he was the son of Pulastya. Pulastya is an early rshi, likely a contemporary of Svayambhuva Manu. While Agastya may only be a descendant and not a son, the relation remembered in tradition indicates the antiquity of continuing civilisation in southern India as well.
In fact, combine this with the fact that Vaivasvat Manu is said to be of Dravida-desha in his previous life and there emerges a curious case of intimate bipolarity between the Vedic and the Tamil.
We will also have to place the story with contemporary sources. There is enough to suggest that the Indo-Iranian people were one at some point of time. Their separation into the Indo and the Iranian happened somewhere between the Younger Dryas and the Mahabharata, and a coherent historical narrative will have to cover that.
None of this is based on original research. Several dedicated and proficient scholars have exhumed different aspects of Indian history in this period, and their books and videos are available to all. Some of the leading I can recommend are given here, and one must remember to examine any content on its own merit- not to dismiss names/ideologies a priori and with prejudice.
Shrikant Talageri- simply unmatched and groundbreaking analysis on the Rig Veda, including comparative with the Zend Avesta.
Raj Vedam, Sanjeev Sanyal, Dr. Niraj Rai, Dr. David Frawley, Michael Danino, Koenraad Elst, Nicholas Kazanas.