>> female narrator: INDIA IS A VERY ANCIENT LAND,
A VERY DRAMATIC LAND. THE PEOPLE ARE AS VARIED
AS THE LAND THEY LIVE IN. HUNDREDS OF LANGUAGES
ARE SPOKEN IN INDIA. THERE ARE DOZENS OF RELIGIONS.
>> INDIAN CIVILIZATION IS ONE OF THE OLDEST IN THE WORLD.
WE KNOW THIS FOR A FACT THAT THE ANCIENT INDIANS WERE
HIGHLY PROFICIENT IN ALL FIELDS OF LITERATURE.
DESPITE THIS FACT, THERE IS NO RATIONAL EXPLANATION
FOR THE TOTAL LACK OF HISTORICAL SENSE.
NOBODY EVER THOUGHT OF LEAVING ANYTHING FOR HISTORY.
WHATEVER INFORMATION THAT WE CAN GATHER IS BASICALLY
IN THE FORMS OF SACRED BOOKS, WHICH ARE PART SACRED AND PART
SOCIAL COMMENT ON THE TIME. >> IT'S USEFUL AND INTERESTING
TO LOOK AT INDIA, TO SEE HOW THINGS CAN HAPPEN
IN A DIFFERENT WAY. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE EARLY
PERIOD, IN THE BRONZE AGE OF CIVILIZATIONS, YOU CAN SEE
A VERY DIFFERENT MODEL TO DEVELOPMENT OF STATES
TO THAT WHICH WE KNOW FROM MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT.
WHAT PEOPLE ALWAYS SAY ABOUT INDIA IS THAT IT'S GOT THIS
AMAZING ABILITY TO ABSORB EXTERNAL INFLUENCES,
FOREIGN INFLUENCES, AND TURN THEM INTO SOMETHING
UNIQUELY INDIAN. >> AMONGST THE MOST IMPRESSIVE
ASPECTS OF THE SUBCONTINENT IS THAT IT HAS BEEN THE LAND MASS
THAT HAS ENCOMPASSED GREATEST AMOUNT OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY.
IT IS ONE OF THOSE FEW PARTS OF THE WORLD THAT ACTUALLY
CONTINUES TO REENACT TRADITIONS THAT ARE PROBABLY OVER
2 1/2 MILLENNIUM OLD. >> THERE WAS A TRADITION
OF FAIRLY EXPENSIVE EMPERORSHIPS OR SULTANSHIPS BASED
IN NORTH INDIA ESTABLISHING, OVER A BRIEF PERIOD, A KIND OF
SOVEREIGNTY OVER A VERY WIDE AREA OF NORTHERN INDIA.
AT A CERTAIN CULTURAL LEVEL, THERE ARE MARKERS OF
A BROAD INDIAN OR SOUTH ASIAN CIVILIZATION WHICH GO BACK
A VERY LONG WAY--BACK TO ASOKA, THE BUDDHIST EMPEROR
AROUND THE TIME OF CHRIST. >> THE DEVELOPMENTS THAT ONE
SEES FROM THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD TO THE MODERN PERIOD IN, SAY,
HINDU-MUSLIM RELATIONSHIPS ARE COMPLICATED.
THERE WERE PEOPLE THAT WERE COMING FROM SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA.
THERE WERE PEOPLE COMING FROM AFGHANISTAN.
THERE WERE PEOPLE COMING FROM EASTERN IRAN, IRAQ, YEMEN,
ANATOLIA--CURRENT-DAY TURKEY-- FROM THE CAUCASUS,
FROM GREECE, RUMELIA. NOW, NONE OF THESE PEOPLE
SPOKE THE SAME LANGUAGE EITHER. THEY ALL HAD DIFFERENT DIALECTS.
THERE WERE NO KINSHIP BONDS. >> narrator: INDIA HAS BEEN
INHABITED FOR AT LEAST 42,000 YEARS.
IN 40,000 B.C., PREHISTORIC HUNTERS WERE LIVING IN CAVES
AND PAINTED PICTURES ON THE ROCK WALLS.
ARCHAEOLOGY HAS BEEN VERY IMPORTANT IN UNRAVELING
THE STORY OF ANCIENT INDIA, AND IN 1922, SOMETHING WONDERFUL
WAS DISCOVERED: A HUGE SETTLEMENT THAT WENT BACK TO
THE BEGINNINGS OF CIVILIZATION. IT WAS AT LEAST 4,500 YEARS OLD
AND COVERED OVER 46 SQUARE MILES ALONG THE VALLEY OF THE
INDUS RIVER IN NORTHWEST INDIA. HERE THERE WERE ABOUT
100 SEPARATE CITIES. THE MOST SPLENDID WERE
MOHENJO-DARO AND HARAPPA, WHERE UP TO 60,000 PEOPLE LIVED
IN HOUSES MADE OF BRICKS.