History, geographical background: philosophy, land, people and environment, first urbanization in India: distribution and extents, the vedic civilization, religious reforms movement: Buddhism and Jainism, janapada and ascendancy of magadha, the Mauryan empire, advent of foreign powers and their assimilation, the kushanas, trade and commerce, art and architecture (200B.C-300 A.D), the gupta empire and political consolidation, the culture of the gupta age (Topical Term)