History of Subcontinent

HISTORY OF INDIA
Historical Perspective
Throughout known history, the tribal belt, presently configured as FATA has remained fragmented on ethno–tribal lines and independent of any external domination. Except British, all the invaders from Aryan to Ahmed Shah Durrani came to invade and occupy India through the passes of this region and it became a source of income for the people of this area who earned their livelihood by:-
      * Joining the invaders as mercenaries and remaining on their pay roll for as long as they were in power.
      * Accepting gratuity for protection of supply routes passing through the Tribal Areas.
      * Trading between area on either side of mountainous passes with people of Afghanistan / Sub-continent.
During the course of long history, hordes of invaders marched through the Border land (Tribal Area), but none found a firm foothold. Sir Olaf Kirkpatrick Kruuse Caroe the Governor of the then North-West Frontier Province, from 1946 to   1947 pointed out, “they are the tribes who never fell under the effective sway of any recorded Imperial Authority and now form the backbone of the so called Tribal Belt”. The history of the FATA can be divided into different eras as given below:-

DYNASTIC ERA
(336 BC-1857 AD)

Dynastic era starts with enthroning of Alexander the great in 336 BC and ends in 1857 AD when the Mughal forces under the virtual tutelage of deposed king Bahadur Shah Zafar fought Britishers and lost. The Era has been dilated upon in succeeding paras, but a flow chart is added to give a wholesome glimpse of the era as follows.  

Alexander and the Greeks
Alexander was the King of Macedonia, a nation of the city-states of ancient Greece, which was heavily influenced by the Hellenic (Greek) culture. Alexander was just 21 years old in the year 336 B.C.E., when he decided to invade India, after having conquered much of Asia Minor and the Middle East. At the time, King Taxila ruled a large area in India. When he heard...