1000-325 BC Iron Age

In the first millennium BC a second major process of urbanisation in South Asia took place on the Gangetic Plain. Sanskrit religious texts known as the Vedic hymns and the collection of Buddhist scriptures and chronicles known as the Buddhist Canon shed some light on the political development of the early cities. However, because these texts were written down long after the events they describe, they are not full reliable as historical documents. Initially, there were two main types of political organisation: the confederacies or gana-sanghas which had diffused power-bases and less hierarchical societies, and small kingdoms, which concentrated power in certain individuals and had highly stratified social systems.

In the early 5th century BC, some of the kingdoms launched campaigns of conquest, creating the first real states in south Asia – the mahajanapadas. Documented events of historical importance occurred in the Iron Age, such as the invasion of the north-west by the Achaemenid emperor Cyrus (519 BC). This was also the period of the Buddha (died 400 BC). Trade networks, facilitated by early coinage, became increasingly extensive, and ceramics from the Ganges area are found throughout South Asia. In southern India a different culture prevailed, characterised by megalithic burials accompanied by grave goods including iron tools.