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Title H story, Religion, and Tradition W ith evidence of habitation by some of the earliest human beings on the earth, India has a history as old as mankind itself. Tools dating back an incredible 2 million years have been found in the northwestern part of the country. Remnants of Homo erectus from between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago seem to confirm a human presence since the Stone Age. Recent discoveries of stone tools belonging to Homo sapiens , the descendent of Homo erectus , show that the first modern humans were present in India approximately 75,000 years ago. By the time of the Bronze Age—around 3000 bce —an extensive civilization in the valley of the Indus River of present-day Pakistan was springing to life. The Indus Valley Civilization, as it has come to be known, was one of the first urban areas in the world. Inhabitants of the Indus Valley were very advanced,

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CHAPTER ONE: HISTORY, RELIGION, AND TRADITION