While reading about ancient Indian history, I found that the two most applicable themes were "For want of a nail (techological effects on history)"as well as "Religion and History". While others had chosen very similar themes, I decided to do a little research to find other contributions to the overall development of India. I then broke it down into two levels (one being more physical and the other being spiritual). Both had become very important to the early development of the Indian Civilization.
"For want of a nail (technology)" really displays itself throughout Indian history. The Indo- Europeans known as the Aryans had conquered over the ancient Harrapan Indian natives through technology. They had learned iron weapon smithing from the Hitties of Anatolia. They also were believed to be the people that introduced the domestication of wild horses in the Asian steppes. In Von Sievers book, Patterns of World History, it explains " around 1000 BCE various Indo-European-descended groups, most prominently the Hittites, brought the techniques of Iron making out of Anatolia, ultimately taking them as far as the western reaches of the Yellow-River basin"(Von sievers, 82). Not only did they introduce better physical tools, but had also brought different languages that became enchanced communication tools for the natives there. "... Greek, the Slavic languages, Celtic languages such as Gaelic, and what became the Indian literary language, Sanscrit" (Von Sievers, 82). The technology that was introduced helped turn the tides in the future battles with Alexander the Great, who had attempted to conquer india before the Mauryan period. "In this passage, he has just returned to Persia in 324 BCE from his expedition to India, where his exhausted soldiers had forced him to turn back because they wanted to return home." (Lualdi, The making of the West p.80). The introduction of iron tools such as plows helped prepare the land and really boosted agricultural development which had influenced India's "second urbanization"( Von Sievers, 85).
"Religion and History" is a later theme that happens around 322 BCE-185BCE. At the time, Chandragupta first siezed power of ruling the Nanda's. He was accompanied by the philosopher Kautilya, who created the "most influential treatise in Indian history" (pg. 240, Von Sievers).