India is a country which steadily developed through the ages and maintained a long cultural continuity. Every period of her history has left something to the present day. The purpose for the study of this course namely ‘History of India upto 8th century’ is to know how, when and where people developed the earliest cultures in India, how they began undertaking agriculture and stock raising which made life secure and settled. As an eminent historian has put it, “the study of ancient history shows how the ancient Indians discovered and utilized natural resources and how they created the means for their livelihood; how they made arrangements for food, shelter and transport; how they took to farming, spinning, weaving, metal working and the like; and also how they cleared forests, founded villages, cities and eventually large kingdoms”.