Buddhism emerges in the Indian subcontinent
The origin of Buddhism points to one man, Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, who was born in Lumbini (in present-day Nepal) during the 5th century B.C.E..
South Asia
Vaishali in India becomes world’s first republic
An ancient metropolis, the capital of the Republic of the Vaishali state and the capital of the Vajjian Confederacy (Vijji), Vaishali is prominently mentioned in Jain and Buddhist texts which emerged later.
Suśruta of ancient India authors Sushruta Samhita, an ancient Sanskrit text on medicine
The Sushruta Samhita is one of the most important treatises on medicine and herbalism to survive from the ancient world.
Jainism emerges in the Indian sub-continent
Jainsm has a set of five vows: nonviolence, truth-speaking, non-stealing, no sexual immorality and non-attachment to worldly things.
The Vanga Kingdom comes to power in modern-day India and Bangladesh
Vanga was an ancient kingdom and geopolitical division on the Ganges delta in the Indian subcontinent. It was located in southern Bengal, with the core region including present-day southern West Bengal (India) and southwestern Bangladesh.
The Rigveda, one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism, is completed
The Rigveda is one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas. It is one of the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language.
The Yajurveda, one of the four Vedas of the Hindu tradition, is completed
The Yajurveda is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals. An ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, it is a compilation of ritual offering formulas.
Use of the now ubiquitous spice black pepper becomes widespread, beginning in modern-day India
Black pepper is native to Kerala in Southwestern India and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropica regions.
Humans in the Indian subcontinent domesticate the water buffalo
At least 130 million domestic water buffalo exist, and more people depend on them than on any other domestic animal.
The Indus Valley Civilization, or Harrapan Civilization, emerges in South Asia
The Indus Valley Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in South Asia, lasting from 3300 B.C.E. to 1300 B.C.E. Along with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia it was one of three early civilisations of West- and South Asia.