A. Royden D'souza

In the annals of South Asian history, few political formations carry the weight of the Kuru Kingdom. Emerging from the mists of the late Bronze Age around 1200 BC, this union of Indo-Aryan tribes in the region of modern Haryana, Delhi, and western Uttar Pradesh represents nothing less than the first recorded state-level society in the Indian subcontinent since the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization.

The story of ancient India from c. 900 BC to c. 550 AD is one of repeated cycles of fragmentation and unification, each cycle producing more sophisticated mechanisms of ideological control and administrative reach.