Article
India’s Prehistory and National Culture Policy 

By : Ajay Pratap

Page No: 87-113

Abstract
This article provides a concise overview of key dimensions of prehistoric India and assesses their relevance to contemporary national cultural policy. Despite forming the deepest and most extensive phase of the subcontinent’s past, prehistory remains marginal in academic curricula and public heritage discourse. Indian prehistory spans the Pleistocene to the early Holocene and reflects exceptional ecological and cultural diversity shaped by repeated Quaternary climatic oscillations. Although fossil evidence is limited, this period witnessed the transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens and the dispersal of anatomically modern humans before and around 50,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence from regions such as the Narmada–Sone basins, the Thar Desert margins, the Hindukush, and western coastal India documents Acheulean, Middle, and Upper Palaeolithic occupations, including distinctive symbolic expressions. Holocene climatic shifts fostered dense Mesolithic settlements and gradual transitions to agriculture, sedentism, and technological innovation. Recognising this long-term cultural continuity is essential for informed heritage policy and public engagement.

Author
Ajay Pratap is a Professor (Retd.) at the Department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
 

DOI: http://doi.org/10.32381/NS.2026.09.01.6