Megalithic culture of the Deccan

Megalithic culture of the Deccan appears on the timeline as a people or culture of Deccan (South Asia) from c. 1200 to 100 BCE, a span of 1,100 years. Its people spoke Dravidian languages (Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam).

Iron-using farmers and herders who buried their dead in stone circles, cists and dolmens across Vidarbha and Karnataka, with horse gear, iron weapons and black and red pottery in the graves.

See Megalithic culture of the Deccan on the interactive timeline

Facts

Dates

c. 1200 to 100 BCE

Duration

1,100 years

Type

People or culture

Region

Deccan, South Asia

Language family

Dravidian

Events in South Asia during its time

• 1000 BCE Iron spreads across the Ganges plain
• 483 BCE Death of the Buddha
• 326 BCE Alexander at the Hydaspes
• 261 BCE Ashoka's Kalinga war
• 247 BCE Buddhism reaches Sri Lanka

Neighbours in South Asia

• Maurya Empire 322 to 185 BCE
• Anuradhapura Kingdom 377 BCE to 1017 CE
• Kuru Kingdom c. 1200 to 500 BCE
• Satavahana dynasty c. 100 BCE to 220 CE
• Indo-Greek Kingdom c. 200 BCE to 10 CE
• Achaemenid eastern satrapies c. 535 to 330 BCE
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom c. 256 to 120 BCE
• Magadha (Haryanka dynasty) c. 544 to 413 BCE
• Shunga Empire 185 to 73 BCE
• Nanda Empire c. 345 to 322 BCE

Elsewhere in the world at the same time

• Carthage c. 814 to 146 BCE, North and West Africa
• Teotihuacan c. 100 BCE to 550 CE, Mesoamerica and Caribbean
• Shang dynasty c. 1600 to 1046 BCE, East Asia
• Roman Republic 509 to 27 BCE, Europe
• New Kingdom of Egypt c. 1550 to 1069 BCE, North and West Africa
• Parthian Empire 247 BCE to 224 CE, Middle East
• Greek city-states c. 800 to 338 BCE, Europe
• Neo-Assyrian Empire 911 to 609 BCE, Middle East
• Xiongnu Empire c. 209 BCE to 93 CE, Central and North Asia
• Ptolemaic Kingdom 305 to 30 BCE, North and West Africa

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