Ram Mohan Roy's fight against Sati practice, establishment of Brahmo Samaj, opposition from Dharma Sabha, free thinking views of Henry deRozio, Young Bengal movement and Roy's departure to England.
The Pandavas defeat the Kauravas in battle. Later, a centralized state administration, a tax system and a regular army were introduced. Property rights became paramount. Bhisma expounds wisdom on his death bed, titled as Shanti Parv.
Nehru describes the formation of caste system in Later Rigvedic period. The working of the system is attempted to be explained through 3 stories: Shambhuk, Eklavya and the Son of Three Fathers.
The earliest play on Ramayan was called 'Pratima Natakam', written by poet Bhas around 200 BCE. Valmiki's Ramayan came later. While in exile for 14 years, Sita urges Ram to not fight the forest tribes who oppose saints living there.
Ravan kidnaps Sita because Ram had injured his sister Suparnakha. Ram had also decimated the Ravan ruled tribals of the forest. Ravan is vanquished in war. On his death bed, he answers several philosophical questions put to him by Ram.
Mahabharata occurred in 850 BCE and was written in 100,000 verses (shlokas) much later. Land became property then, but patriarchy was not yet fully rooted. Yudhisthir gambled everything and war became inevitable after his 13-year exile.
During 5 BCE and later, some territories of the Indo-Gangetic plains were republics, with collective decision making, while others were monarchical kingdoms. The monarchies were assertive, and many republics were forced to accept them.