Indian civilization united by its diversity, experience the richness of culture, the glory of the past, the turbulences and triumphs. History in India is a crossroads of cultures from China to Europe. The facts of geographical conditions are a must requirement to the study of history of any country. Therefore, a concise study of geographical conditions of India is not only advantageous, but also necessary for the apt discernment of Indian history. India is a huge country and before partition, its area was equal to entire Europe, leaving Russia. The northern boundary of India is Himalayas which cut it from the rest of Asia and the eastern and western sides of its boundary, broaden up to the seas. There is a discernible dissimilarity between its southern and northern portion- the southern portion is peninsular while the northern portion is continental.

The route of Indian history has been hugely determined by these physical features. The division of the country into marked and diverse regions led to the distinctive history of each region, which remained roughly independent of other regions. The immensity of the country, along with complexity in the means of communication was a serious obstacle in the confederation of the country. India, a meeting ground between the East and the west, was an invader`s paradise. At the same time its natural isolation and appealing religious doctrines allowed it to adapt to and absorb many of the peoples who penetrated its mountain passes. Due to mountain passes in the north, foreign migrants have come to north since pretty prehistorical times and have vastly shaped the course of Indian history. The essentiality of fortification against the foreigners, led to the formation of very controlling kingdoms in the north. These kingdoms played a prevailing role in the history of the country. Due to the richness of land, the struggle for survival was less intense for Indians, compared to other countries. This led to the prevalence of mind over matter and since pretty prehistoric times, Indians had developed a religious bent of mind. The affluence, which had happened because of the richness of land, was accountable for the refinement of art and literature and made the populace nonviolent and comfort-loving. As the provinces of south were more sheltered and protected, they preserved Indian civilisation and culture, during a time when north was neck-deep in encountering foreign invasions.

Ancient history of India is hugely magnificient, affluent and diverse. But the rebuilding of an uninterrupted history of ancient India, introduces immense difficulties. It is not because there is lack of stuffs, but because chronological arrangement of events is seldom found. Indians had their own techniques of recording and dating events exactly and with conviction. Not a sole historical work can be found, which may be compared to those created by Herodotus, Livy or Tacitus. It is because of this lack that many critics have commented that Indians lacked the historical sense wholly and there is no book which gives the chronological history of ancient India. Some writers have even coined this period as the `dark age` on this account. According to Elphinstone, no date can definitely be set before the invasion of Alexander. Alberuni has observed that Indians did not devote much thought to historical order of things and they were always in the inclination of combining facts with fiction and tale-telling. According to Dr. R.C. Majumdar, "One of the greatest defects of Indian culture, which defy rational explanation, is the aversion of Indians to writing history. They applied themselves to all conceivable branches of literature and excelled in many of them, but they never seriously took to writing of history".

However, it would be incorrect to say that Indians wholly lacked the historical sense. It is evident that there were many chronological difficulties in delineating the events and dates of ancient Indian history, but these difficulties have been agreeably solved by scholars, who through their tolerance and efforts illustrated that the remarks of Elphinstone and others are pretty futile, and the "date of public event can be fixed before the invasion of Alexander, and no connected relation of national transaction can be attempted until after the Mussahnan conquest". These theories do not still hold good. Kalhana`s `Rajtarangini` visibly depicts that the Indians did not lack the historical sense and that they had the concept of scientific inclination towards historical study. Hiuen Tsang`s account also proves this fact. The Chinese pilgrim himself had observed that several Provinces use to keep written accounts of their events. Thus, it is seen that neither there was any deficiency of materials, nor were Indians deficient in historical sense. Actually, Indians had their own modus operandi of recording events and did not give much attention to pen these events in a chronological order. As remarked by Dr. R.C. Majumdar, "We may thus presume that neither historical sense nor matter was altogether wanting in ancient India. What was lacking, was either enthusiasm or the ability to weave the scattered raw material into critical historical text book with a proper literary setting which the people would not willingly let die".

Classification of Sources of ancient Indian history: India, the land of diverse culture and varied tradition, boasts of a civilization, which is more than 5000 years old. While little is known, a lot is still unknown and is yet to be uncovered. Incised in pillars, stone tablets, metal plates, walls and caves, scrawled in paper and engraved in coins the sighs of ancient Indian history can still be heard.