History has been defined as “the study of man’s dealings with other men and the adjustment of working relations between human groups.” Hence, the history of India goes back to that remote past when man first settled here. It is immaterial whether he migrated from outside or emerged here by a process of evolution.
He grew up essentially as a product of the environment that surrounded him, the climate, the geography, the flora and fauna. Indian history presents a striking parallel to that of other countries, which can boast of a culture and civilization dating back to antiquity. Human civilization began here in the same way if not at the same time as in other parts of the world.
India is a sharply demarcated land bound on the north by the world’s largest mountain range, the chain of the Himalayas, which extends to the northwest and northeast and separates India from the rest of Asia and the world. In the far south, southwest and southeast, the broad seas; the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal respectively separate India from the other parts of the globe.
The vast country, rightly called a sub-continent looks like an ‘Inverted Spire’ hanging from the great scimitar like extreme south for about 3,200 kms. between 80 4′ to 37° 6′ laitude of north parallels and in breadth, west to east of about 3,000 kms. between 68° 7′ to 97° 25′ of east meridian of longitude. The total area is about 32,80,483 sq. kms.