Since people seem to be confused about what some of the civs in this poll stand for, Iâve decided to make a clearer list with some explanations.
Bactrians/Yuezhi: The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom as well as the Kushana Yuezhi, an Iranian people from China which subjugated Bactria and then adopted hellenistic elements in the new kingdom they created here. It can also include earlier satrapies under the Achaemenid Empire.
Kushans/Yavana: The Indo-Greek Kingdom (also called Yavana Kingdom) as well as the later Kushan Empire, which was technically an extension of Yuezehi Bactria.
Alchons: The Alchon Huns who conquered Bactria and Northwest India in Late Antiquity and may be the origination of all Rajput clans. Can also cover the Kidara Huns.
Indians: A wide umbrella including all Indo-Aryan civs and possibly earlier civs.
Harappans: The Indus Valley Civilisation, which is the oldest known agricultural civilization in South Asia.
Baratas/Purus: Bronze Age Indo-Aryan tribes. I should probably have grouped them with Kuru, as they are its direct predecessorsâŠ
Kuru: The Kuru Kingdom, oldest known organized state in India and center of the Middle Vedic Period. Its fall coincide more or less with the start of the rise of the MahÄjanapadas.
What are the MahÄjanapadas, you (may) ask? Well, aside from a huge complication for the creation of this poll, they are a group of sixteen kingdoms, oligarchic republic and confederations who shared Northern and Central India from the 6th to 4th century BC. The list includes:
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Äáč
geyas, aka the Anga tribe which formed a kingdom close to the Ganges delta which could maybe grouped together with the Bengali and/or the Kamarupi.
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Asmaka/Assaka, a southern kingdom relatively isolated from the other MahÄjanapadas. Could probably be grouped with the later Maharashtri.
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Avantis, another kingdom which could be grouped together with the Malavas as it is their predecessor.
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GandhÄri, from the GandhÄra Kingdom near Kashmir which seems mostly known through legends and could probably be grouped with the Kashmiris.
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Kamboja, an Iranian people from modern day Afghanistan
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Chedi, Mallakas, Matsya/MÄtsyeyas, PañcÄlas, Surasena, and a few other that I forgot to put in the poll (plus one whose name is censored), various states and tribes from the Ganges valley with little to no information on them (Yes, I know Iâm not really impartial here).
Sure, it doesnât look good for the MahÄjanapadas as a whole with this list, but I voluntarily kept the most important one out because itâs relevance far exceed the time period in which it cohabits with the othersâŠ
Magadhis: The Kingdom of Magadha, or Magadha Empire depending on who you ask, as existed from the 7th to 1st centuries BC, and has been the main power in India for a huge chunk of this period. The Mauryas are only their most famous dynasty (and arguably the most successful one, considering the size of their empire), but the Nanda preceded them, and you may notice their territory include most of the other MahÄjanapadas. The later Shunga dynasty is also probably worth mentioning, even despite never reaching the same territoial extent as their predecessors. The empire is considered to have fallen with the its eighth dynasyt, the Kanvas, but even though their origin is uncertain, one could argue the Gupta Empire is also a Magadhi state, as it shared the same center of power including its capital, Pataliputra.
The Pauravas, AĆvaka and Malavas/Malwas are all notable for having fought Alexander the Great. Itâs worth mentioning that king Porus who fought Alexander at the Battle of the Hydaspes may have been ruling the former. The Malavas are probably the most relevant out of the three, though, as they were around for quite some times and have clashed with a great many empires.
Abhira: Possibly an Iranian tribe which arrived in India after Alexanderâs campagins and far later founded a kingdom in wetern India.
The Kiratas, Audumbaras, Vaidehas are all Himalayan kingdoms, while the Kasmira is simply Ancient Kashmir.
Bengalis: No need to explain who they are and where they live I think. During most of the Ancient Era, Bengal is either disorganised or under Magadhi rule. The most important independant state is probably the Vanga Kingdom, though itâs probably less relevant than the other Eastern Indo-Aryan civs in this list.
Kamarupis: Bengalâs neighborâs to the north, Kamarupa is the precursor of Assam.
Kalinga: Without a doubt the most important Eastern Indo-Aryan civ in this time period in my opinion and one of the most relevant Ancient Indian civs in general, Kalinga is the predecessor of modern Odisha. There was a Kalinga Kingdom as early as the 11th century BC, until it started clashing with the Magadha Empire during the Nanda and Maurya dynasties. Under the Mahameghavahana dynasty, Kalinga seems to have known a golden age and itâs greater territorial extent, until they did it again in the 15th century AD.
Sinhalese: Another Eastern Indo-Aryan people, the Sinhalese live in Sri Lanka and seem to have been relatively disorganised until the unification of the Anuradhapura Kingdom which lasted for almost fifteen centuries.
Maharashtri: Last Indo-Aryan civ in this poll, they are the ancestors of the Marathis and had a few important states during the Ancient Era, with the Satavahana (though this one was only partly Maharashtri) and another one whose name is censored so I canât even give you a link.
Finally, Dravidians are meant to be an umbrella civ covering the non Indo-Aryan people from (mostly) South India. There were however already sufficient differenciations between the various Dravidian people to justify a split between the three main branches who would still be there during the Middle Ages (and are still around by now).
Tamils: The âThree Crowned Kingsâ of Chera, Chola and Pandya were all already around in the 4th century BC and would built strong thalassocracies that would last for over a millenium (two for the Pandya).
Telugus/Andhra: Northeast to the Tamils, the Telugus are mostly relevant in this era for the importance they had in the Satavahana Empire, especially after the capital moved to Amaravati.
Kannadas: Last candidate in this list, they will become extremely powerful during the Middle Ages and Early Modern Era but are not as relevant during the Ancient Era. The Kadamba dynasty is worth mentioning, however.
As a conclusion, I will give the civs I think actually should be in the game: Bactrians/Yuezhi (also covering Yavana and Kushans) though they are not specifically Indians and may not be added in an Indian dlc, Harappans (or possibly Bharatas), Magadhis, Kalinga, Maharashtris and Dravidians/Tamils. Other civs may be nice but are not essential.