The origin and evolution of various civilizations anchors our understanding of who we are, where we have come from, and where we are headed as a society. This is premised on the right placing of defining events along time, the chronology. Such a timeline is based upon the available body of knowledge, across natural, social and applied sciences, and the constructs developed thereupon.

Prevailing chronologies of different civilizations in the world were determined by Europeans in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There has since been much development in the availability of data for exploring, in particular, the prehistoric times, enabling the much-needed use of multidisciplinary research methods. And one of the most extraordinary findings is that the Indian civilization spans an astonishing ten millennia!

This meticulously researched book recounts the extraordinary rediscovery of the Indian timeline and the spectacular findings that come together as the exploration unfolds. India’s civilization is mapped through the ‘Four Periods’ construct, from the end of last ice age around 9000 BCE to 1192 CE. It is a monumental breakthrough in the understanding of world civilization at large—opening the gates for further enquiry and wider updation and corrections.