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Isolated remains of Homo erectus in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley in central India indicate that India might have been inhabited since at least the Middle Pleistocene era, somewhere between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago.Tools crafted by proto-humans that have been dated back two million years have been discovered in the northwestern part of the subcontinent.The ancient history of the region includes some of South Asia's oldest settlementsand some of its major civilisations. The earliest archaeological site in the subcontinent is the Palaeolithic hominid site in the Soan River valley.Soanian sites are found in the Sivalik region across what are now India, Pakistan, and Nepal.

The Mesolithic period in the Indian subcontinent was followed by the Neolithic period, when more extensive settlement of the subcontinent occurred after the end of the last Ice Age approximately 12,000 years ago. The first confirmed semi-permanent settlements appeared 9,000 years ago in the Bhimbetka rock shelters in modern Madhya Pradesh, India.

Early Neolithic culture in the Indian subcontinent is represented by the Bhirrana findings (7570–6200 BCE) in Haryana, India as well as Mehrgarh findings (7000–5000 BCE) in Balochistan, Pakistan.

The Edakkal Caves are pictorial writings believed to date to at least 6,000 BCE, from the Neolithic man, indicating the presence of a prehistoric civilisation or settlement in Kerala.The Stone Age carvings of Edakkal are rare and are the only known examples from South India.

Traces of a Neolithic culture have been alleged to be submerged in the Gulf of Khambat in India, radiocarbon dated to 7500 BCE.Neolithic agricultural cultures sprang up in the Indus Valley region around 5000 BCE, in the lower Gangetic valley around 3000 BCE, and in later South India, spreading southwards and also northwards into Malwa around 1800 BCE. The first urban civilisation of the region began with the Indus Valley Civilisation.