The North consists of the basins of the Indus and Ganges rivers and the South has the Deccan Plateau Region. The river basins in the North provided the rise of the Ganges Civilization in the 1st millennium BCE and the Indus Civilization in the 3rd millennium BCE To the South of the Indus Civilization, many tribal people lived in the hills and forests, expanding from the West to the East. The belt of the hills and forests, negatively impacted much of the history of ancient India because it didn’t form a regional cultural development in South Asia and remained relatively unpopulated. The Narmada River flows through the belt of forests and hills to the west, which has been identified as a symbolic boundary between the North and the South.  

The Northern Part has multiple different regions that have different cultures, and populations. The northwest (valleys of the Baluchistan uplands) were often used to produce wheat and barley. Many tribal people lived in the northwest. The Indus plains were very rich in rain and were used for irrigation systems which enhanced their agriculture. Most of the southern regions had denser populations but were isolated from each other due to their geographical differences.  

Achaemendid rule in the Gandhara region.

c. 320 BCE - c. 180 BCE
Mauryan rule in the Gandhara region, beginning with Chandragupta Maurya 

c. 180 BCE - 80 BCE
Period of Indo-Greek rule in the Gandhara region.

c. 180 BCE
Greco-Bactrians start expanding as far as modern India. 

c. 80 BCE - c. 75 CE
The combined Scytho-Parthians rule Gandhara. 

c. 320 CE - c. 550 CE

Gupta period, considered a golden age of ancient India in art and architecture

c. 500 CE - 647 CE
The Pushyabhuti (or Vardhana) Dynasty rules in Ancient

 India

c. 700 CE - c. 1000 CE
Zoroastrian Parsees flee Iran for India, taking sacred texts and keeping ancient traditions alive; worship of Mithra is preserved.