Ancient India may refer to:

• The ancient history of the whole Indian subcontinent
  • History of South Asia and History of India
  • Indus Valley Civilization — during the Bronze Age
  • Vedic period — the period of Vedic Sanskrit, spanning the late Bronze Age and the earlier Iron Age
  • Mahajanapadas — during the later Iron Age
  • Magadha Empire — during classical antiquity (6th to 4th centuries BCE)
    • Maurya Empire — the largest ancient Indian empire, contemporary to Hellenism in the west (4th to 2nd centuries BCE), golden age of early Classical Sanskrit literature
    • Gupta Empire
  • the Kingdoms of Ancient India as described in Sanskrit literature
  • Middle kingdoms of India — during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages
    • Indo-Greek Kingdom and Kushan Empire (2nd c. BCE to 3rd c. CE)