160-567: Apoorva Lakhia is an Indian film director . Lakhia was born and brought up in Ahmedabad , India . He was educated at the Lawrence School, Sanawar . He dropped out of a filmmaking course in New York University to assist Mira Nair on The Perez Family . He had been an assistant on American films such as The Ice Storm , A Perfect Murder and Addicted to Love . Before becoming
320-615: A "Look East" policy that seeks to strengthen partnerships with the ASEAN nations, Japan , and South Korea that revolve around many issues, but especially those involving economic investment and regional security. China's nuclear test of 1964 , as well as its repeated threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the 1965 war, convinced India to develop nuclear weapons. India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1974 and carried out additional underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has signed neither
480-508: A 1988 coup d'état attempt in the Maldives. After the 1965 war with Pakistan, India began to pursue close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union ; by the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was its largest arms supplier. Aside from its ongoing special relationship with Russia , India has wide-ranging defence relations with Israel and France . In recent years, it has played key roles in
640-417: A fast-growing major economy and a hub for information technology services , with an expanding middle class. India has a space programme with several planned or completed extraterrestrial missions . Indian movies , music , and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture. India has substantially reduced its rate of poverty , though at the cost of increasing economic inequality. India
800-690: A multi-party system , India has six recognised national parties , including the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 50 regional parties . The Congress is considered center in Indian political culture , and the BJP right-wing . For most of the period between 1950—when India first became a republic—and the late 1980s, the Congress held
960-447: A common pool, from which resources are drawn to meet the needs of all members, which are regulated by the heads of the family. However, with modernisation and economic development, India has witnessed a break up of traditional joint family into more nuclear families and the traditional joint family in India accounted for a small percent of Indian households. Arranged marriages have been
1120-502: A conservative 12 million to 20 million-person diaspora. The British Indian community had grown to number over one million. According to the 2001 UK Census , 1,053,411 Britons had full Indian ancestry (representing 1.8% of the UK's population). An overwhelming majority of 99.3% resided in England (in 2008 the figure is thought to be around 97.0%). In the seven-year period between 2001 and 2009,
1280-632: A contingent of Sikh soldiers visited the western coast of Canada, primarily British Columbia which at the time was very sparsely populated and the Canadian government wanted to settle to prevent a takeover of the territory by the United States. More than a million people of South Asian descent live in South Africa, with their ancestors having left colonial India mostly as indentured labourers, and with smaller numbers emigrating later as "Passenger Indians", in
1440-474: A figure higher than both the United States and Britain. South Asian Canadians account for 7.1% of Canada's population. According to Statistics Canada, Indo-Canadians are one of the fastest-growing visible minority groups in Canada, making up the second-largest group of non-European descent in the country after Chinese Canadians. The Indo-Canadian community can trace its history in Canada back 120 years to 1897 when
1600-485: A film director with the 2002 film Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost . His second film Ek Ajnabee released in 2005 which starred Amitabh Bachchan and Arjun Rampal in the leading role was a remake of the 2004 American film Man on Fire . His third film Shootout at Lokhandwala which has a multi-star cast released on 25 May 2007 and was based on real-life events involving the underworld gangsters from D-Company such as Maya Dolas and Dilip Buwa . In late 2007 he directed
1760-477: A film director, Apoorva was an assistant director for Ashutosh Gowariker 's period epic film Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India . As Aamir Khan was looking for someone with Hollywood experience for Lagaan , Farhan Akhtar recommended Apoorva, who had worked with casts and crews in Hollywood. He also worked as the second assistant director for the film Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996). He made his debut as
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#17329486481591920-775: A long history alongside its music and dance. One of the earliest known theatre play is Mṛcchakatika composed by Śudraka . Followed by Aśvaghoṣa 's Śāriputraprakaraṇa and Bhāsa 's Swapnavāsavadatta and Pancharātra . Most notable works are Kālidāsa's Abhijñānaśākuntala , Vikramorvaśīya and Mālavikāgnimitra . Harsha 's Ratnavali , Priyadarsika , and Naganandam , other notable ancient dramatists include Bhatta Narayana , Bhavabhuti , Vishakhadatta , Thirayattam and Viswanatha Kaviraja . Notable fable story-plays Panchatantra , Baital Pachisi , Kathasaritsagara , Brihatkatha and Jataka tales were performed in folk theatres since ancient period. Jataka tales has become part of Southeast and East Asian folklore with
2080-653: A majority in the Parliament . Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP, as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalition governments at the center. In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1951 , 1957 , and 1962 , the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru -led Congress won easy victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he
2240-623: A mixture of two major ancestral components, one component restricted to South Asia and the other component shared with Central Asia , West Asia , and Europe . India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia . It is the seventh-largest country in the world by area and the most populous country . Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on
2400-672: A quarter of a million local government bodies at city, town, block, district and village levels. In the 1950s, India strongly supported decolonisation in Africa and Asia and played a leading role in the Non-Aligned Movement . After initially cordial relations with neighbouring China, India went to war with China in 1962 and was widely thought to have been humiliated. This was followed by another military conflict in 1967 in which India successfully repelled Chinese attack. India has had tense relations with neighbouring Pakistan;
2560-650: A relationship with Indian spirituality, such as the Baháʼí Faith which recognises Buddha and Krishna as manifestations of the God Almighty. Despite the strong role of religion in Indian life, atheism and agnostics also have visible influence along with a self-ascribed tolerance to other people. According to the 2012 WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism report, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were not religious, 3% were convinced atheists , and 3% were unsure or did not respond. Traditionally, Indian society
2720-471: A self-ascribed name by people of the Indian subcontinent and the Republic of India since 1949. The designation "Bhārata" appears in the official Sanskrit name of the country, Bhārata Gaṇarājya . The name is derived from the ancient Vedic and Puranas , which refer to the land that constitutes India as Bhārata varṣam and uses this term to distinguish it from other varṣa s or continents. The Bhāratas were
2880-537: A short story titled Sex on the Beach for the anthology film Dus Kahaniyaan . His next film was Mission Istanbul starring Vivek Oberoi , Sunil Shetty , Shriya Saran and Zayed Khan which released in 2008. North American producer Vikas Kohli of Fatlabs studio collaborated with Mika Singh for the first time on the Mission Istaanbul soundtrack. He has written the story of Hide & Seek (2009), which
3040-1529: A symbol for zero , interpolation formula , Fibonacci's identity , theorem , the first complete arithmetic solution (including zero and negative solutions) to quadratic equations . Chakravala method , sign convention , madhava series , and the sine and cosine in trigonometric functions can be traced to the jyā and koti-jyā . Notable military inventions include war elephants , crucible steel weapons popularly known as Damascus steel and Mysorean rockets . Other notable inventions during ancient period include chess , cotton , sugar , fired bricks , carbon pigment ink , ruler , lac , lacquer , stepwell , indigo dye , snake and ladder , muslin , ludo , calico , Wootz steel , incense clock , shampoo , palampore , chintz , and prefabricated homes . Indian cultural aspects, religions , philosophy , arts and architecture have developed over several millennia and have spread through much of Asia in peaceful manner. Many architectural structures of India such as Sanchi Stupa , Taj Mahal and Mahabodhi Temple are UNESCO World Heritage Sites today. In modern times, Indian people have continued to contribute to mathematics , sciences and astrophysics . Among them are Satyendra Nath Bose , Srinivasa Ramanujan , Jagadish Chandra Bose , Meghnad Saha , Homi J. Bhabha , Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis , and notable Nobel Prize recipients C. V. Raman , Har Gobind Khorana , Venkatraman Ramakrishnan , and Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar who
3200-431: A third of Indian plant species are endemic. India also contains four of the world's 34 biodiversity hotspots , or regions that display significant habitat loss in the presence of high endemism. According to official statistics, India's forest cover is 713,789 km (275,595 sq mi), which is 21.71% of the country's total land area. It can be subdivided further into broad categories of canopy density , or
3360-782: A variety of lentils (dal), whole-wheat flour (aṭṭa), rice and millet (kutki, kodra, bājra), which has been cultivated in Indian subcontinent since 6200 BCE. Over time, segments of the population embraced vegetarianism during Śramaṇa movement while an equitable climate permitted a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains to be grown throughout the year. A food classification system that categorised any item as saatvic , raajsic or taamsic developed in Ayurveda tradition. The Bhagavad Gita prescribed certain dietary practices. During this period, consumption of various types of meat became taboo , due to being considered sacred or impure. Indian cuisines use numerous ingredients, deploy
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#17329486481593520-677: A vedic tribe mentioned in the Rigveda , notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings . India is named after legendary Emperor Bharata who was a descendant of the Bhāratas tribe , scion of Kuru Dynasty who unified the Indian Subcontinent under one realm. In early Vedic literature, the term Āryāvarta ( Sanskrit : आर्यावर्त) was in popular use before Bhārata . The Manusmṛti (2.22) gives
3680-476: A wide range of food preparation styles, cooking techniques and culinary presentation depending on geographical location. The oldest preserved examples of Indian music are the melodies of the Samaveda (1000 BC) that are still sung in certain Śrauta sacrifices; this is the earliest account of Indian musical hymns. The Samaveda, and other Hindu texts, heavily influenced India's classical music tradition, which
3840-470: Is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India—the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic. Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the union and the states . The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950, originally stated India to be a " sovereign , democratic republic ;" this characterisation
4000-575: Is a nuclear-weapon state , which ranks high in military expenditure . It has disputes over Kashmir with its neighbours, Pakistan and China, unresolved since the mid-20th century. Among the socio-economic challenges India faces are gender inequality , child malnutrition , and rising levels of air pollution . India's land is megadiverse , with four biodiversity hotspots . Its forest cover comprises 21.7% of its area. India's wildlife , which has traditionally been viewed with tolerance in India's culture ,
4160-554: Is an extended family arrangement prevalent throughout the Indian subcontinent , particularly in India . The family is headed by a patriarch, the oldest male, who makes decisions on economic and social matters on behalf of the entire family. The patriarch's wife generally exerts control over the household, minor religious practices and often wields considerable influence in domestic matters. A patrilineal joint family consists of an older man and his wife, his sons and unmarried daughters, his sons' wives and children. Family income flows into
4320-672: Is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity. When Harsha of Kannauj , who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647 CE , attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by the Chalukya ruler of the Deccan. When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal . When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by
4480-577: Is derived ultimately from Sindhu , the Sanskrit name of the river Indus, but also meaning "river" generically. The history of India includes the prehistoric settlements and societies in the Indian subcontinent ; the blending of the Indus Valley civilization and Indo-Aryan culture into the Vedic Civilization ; the development of Hinduism as a synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions;
4640-434: Is directed Shawn Aranha. Lakhia wrote and directed all the movies from his debut to Mission Istanbul . He made his acting debut with a negative role in the 2010 film Knock Out starring Sanjay Dutt and Irrfan Khan . In 2013, he directed a remake of the breakthrough film Zanjeer (1973) with Telugu actor Ram Charan; the film was funded by Aaditya Kulshreshtha. In 2017, he directed the film Haseena Parkar based on
4800-407: Is expected to remain so in the near future. According to a 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers ( PwC ) report, India's GDP at purchasing power parity could overtake that of the United States by 2045. During the next four decades, Indian GDP is expected to grow at an annualised average of 8%, making it potentially the world's fastest-growing major economy until 2050. The report highlights key growth factors:
4960-596: Is grouped according to their caste . It is a system in which social stratification within various social sections defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups are often termed jāti or castes . Within a jāti , there exists exogamous groups known as gotras , the lineage or clan of an individuals. Caste barriers have mostly broken down in cities but still exists in some form in rural areas. Most Indian states are majority Hindu . However, Kashmir and Lakshadweep are majority Muslim ; Nagaland , Mizoram , and Meghalaya are majority Christian and Punjab
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5120-618: Is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this period, as well as by nearby traces of agriculture , irrigation tanks , and craft traditions. In the late Vedic period, around the 6th century BCE, the small states and chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas . The emerging urbanisation gave rise to non-Vedic religious movements, two of which became independent religions. Jainism came into prominence during
5280-493: Is known today in two distinct styles: Hindustani music and Carnatic music . Both the Hindustani and Carnatic music systems are based on the melodic base known as Rāga , sung to a rhythmic cycle known as Tāla . These principles were refined in the nātyaśāstra (200 BC) and the dattilam (300 AD). The nātyaśāstrais an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts , encompassing theatre , dance and music . It
5440-438: Is majority Sikh . Although participants in the Indian census may choose to not declare their religion, there is no mechanism for a person to indicate that he/she does not adhere to any religion. Due to this limitation in the Indian census process, the data for persons not affiliated with any religion may not be accurate. India contains the majority of the world's Hindus , Jains , Sikhs , Zoroastrians and Baháʼí . Christianity
5600-468: Is notable for currently accepted theory on the later evolutionary stages of massive stars, including black holes. Bharat Mata ( Hindi , from Sanskrit भारत माता , Bhārata Mātā ), Mother India , or Bhāratāmbā (from अंबा ambā 'mother') is the national personification of India as a mother goddess . The image of Bharat Mata formed with the Indian independence movement of the late 19th century. A play by Kiran Chandra Bandyopadhyay, Bhārat Mātā ,
5760-404: Is one of the earliest form of materialistic and atheistic movement in ancient India. Sramana , Buddhism , Jainism , Ājīvika and some schools of Hinduism like Samkhya consider atheism to be valid and reject the concept of creator deity , ritualism and supernaturalism . India has produced some notable atheist politicians and social reformers . Although approximately 80% of
5920-579: Is supported among these forests, and elsewhere, in protected habitats . According to the Oxford English Dictionary (third edition 2009), the name "India" is derived from the Classical Latin India , a reference to South Asia and an uncertain region to its east. In turn the name "India" derived successively from Hellenistic Greek India ( Ἰνδία ), ancient Greek Indos ( Ἰνδός ), Old Persian Hindush (an eastern province of
6080-530: Is the third-largest Asian American community in the United States after Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans . After slavery was abolished in the European colonies, Indians were hired under the Indian indenture system to become indentured laborers to fill the need for cheap labor and for their skills in agriculture. In the English-speaking Caribbean and Suriname , Indians primarily came from
6240-557: Is trending away from traditional arranged marriages, they find that the marriage trends in India are similar to trends observed over last 40 years where arranged marriages were previously common, particularly in China and Japan. India's clothing styles have continuously evolved over the course of history. Cotton was first cultivated in Indian subcontinent around the 5th millennium BC. Dyes used during this period are still in use, particularly indigo , red madder , lac and turmeric . Silk
6400-515: Is widespread in Northeast India , parts of southern India, particularly in Kerala and among various populations of Central India. Muslims are the largest religious minority. India is also home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan . Historically, India had a prevailing tradition of the joint family system or undivided family . Joint family system
6560-692: The Achaemenid Empire ), and ultimately its cognate , the Sanskrit Sindhu , or "river", specifically the Indus River and, by implication, its well-settled southern basin. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi ( Ἰνδοί ), which translates as "The people of the Indus". The term Bharat ( Bhārat ; pronounced [ˈbʱaːɾət] ), mentioned in both Indian epic poetry and
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6720-623: The Amoghavarsha of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty was described by the Arab traveller Sulaiman as one of the four great kings of the world. The medieval south Indian mathematician Mahāvīra lived in the Rashtrakuta dynasty and was the first Indian mathematician who separated astrology from mathematics and who wrote the earliest Indian text entirely devoted to mathematics. The greatest maritime empire of
6880-556: The Arabian Sea . Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch of western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the latter is shared with Bangladesh. India has two archipelagos : the Lakshadweep , coral atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea . Indian climate is strongly influenced by
7040-497: The Asiatic cheetah ; the blackbuck, no longer extant in Punjab, is now severely endangered in India, and the cheetah is extinct. The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangered Indian wildlife. In response, the system of national parks and protected areas , first established in 1935, was expanded substantially. In 1972, India enacted
7200-587: The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty nor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty , considering both to be flawed and discriminatory. India maintains a " no first use " nuclear policy and is developing a nuclear triad capability as a part of its " Minimum Credible Deterrence " doctrine. It is developing a ballistic missile defence shield and, a fifth-generation fighter jet . Other indigenous military projects involve
7360-469: The Constitution of India , is used in its variations by many Indian languages . A modern rendering of the historical name Bharatavarsha , which applied originally to North India , Bharat gained increased currency from the mid-19th century as a native name for India. Hindustan ( [ɦɪndʊˈstaːn] ) is a Middle Persian name for India that became popular by the 13th century, and
7520-605: The Delhi Sultanate and drawing northern India into the cosmopolitan networks of mediaeval Islam . In the 15th century, the Vijayanagara Empire created a long-lasting composite Hindu culture in south India. In the Punjab , Sikhism emerged, rejecting institutionalised religion. The Mughal Empire , in 1526, ushered in two centuries of relative peace, leaving a legacy of luminous architecture . Gradually expanding rule of
7680-720: The European colonization of the Americas , the term "Indian" is still used as an identifier for indigenous populations in North America and the Caribbean . This usage is growing rarer, as terms such as indigenous, Amerindian, and specifically First Nations in Canada , and Native American in the United States , are widely used in official discourse and in law. The name Bhārata has been used as
7840-676: The Ganges and the Brahmaputra . According to some current projections, the number and severity of droughts in India will have markedly increased by the end of the present century. India is a megadiverse country , a term employed for 17 countries that display high biological diversity and contain many species exclusively indigenous , or endemic , to them. India is the habitat for 8.6% of all mammals , 13.7% of bird species, 7.9% of reptile species, 6% of amphibian species, 12.2% of fish species, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species. Fully
8000-566: The Himalayas . Immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast crescent-shaped trough that rapidly filled with river-borne sediment and now constitutes the Indo-Gangetic Plain . The original Indian plate makes its first appearance above the sediment in the ancient Aravalli range , which extends from the Delhi Ridge in a southwesterly direction. To the west lies
8160-675: The Hindi Belt , especially the Awadh region in central and eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Bhojpur region of eastern Uttar Pradesh, western Bihar , and northwestern Jharkhand , along with a significant minority who came from South India , and a smaller minority who came from other parts of India. They arrived from the late 1830s to the early 1920s as indentured laborers to work primarily on sugarcane estates , as well as on cocoa , rice , banana , coconut , and coffee estates after indentureship. After
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#17329486481598320-532: The Indian Rebellion of 1857 . Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule. Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company and
8480-451: The Indian subcontinent and has been influenced and shaped by a history that is several thousand years old. Throughout the history of India, Indian culture has been heavily influenced by Dharmic religions. They have been credited with shaping much of Indian philosophy , literature , architecture , art and music . Greater India was the historical extent of Indian culture beyond the Indian subcontinent . This particularly concerns
8640-530: The Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago. Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity . Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of
8800-524: The Indus Valley Civilisation , the first urban culture in South Asia, which flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India. Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro , Harappa , Dholavira , and Kalibangan , and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade. During the period 2000–500 BCE , many regions of
8960-763: The Marathas , the Rajputs , the Pathans , the Jats and the Sikhs , gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience. Following the death of Aurangzeb in the early 18th century, the empire saw the emergence of autonomous regional powers such as Marathas , the Rajputs and various de facto independent Mughal governors and other Hindu and Muslim princely states, though they all continued to recognise
9120-420: The Mughal emperor as their suzerain . The period also saw the emergence of the British East India Company who took control of large parts of the empire, though they nominally ruled and traded under the authority of the emperor and nominally considered him as their suzerain. The regions under Company rule witnessed a period of rapid development of infrastructure, economic decline and major famines . During
9280-507: The Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south. No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond their core region. During this time, pastoral peoples, whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy, were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes. The caste system consequently began to show regional differences. In
9440-462: The Roman Empire and was one of the major exports of ancient India to other parts of the world along with Indian spices and Wootz steel . Traditional Indian clothing greatly varies across different parts of the country and is influenced by local culture, geography and climate. Women traditionally wear Sari , Gagra Choli , Angarkha , Phiran , Shalwar Kameez , Gharara and Bandi with Dupatta or Ghoonghat worn over head or shoulder to complete
9600-406: The South Asia Satellite , a gift from India to its neighbouring SAARC countries. In October 2018, India signed a US$ 5.43 billion (over ₹ 400 billion) agreement with Russia to procure four S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile defence systems, Russia's most advanced long-range missile defence system. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Indian economy in 2024
9760-406: The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the World Trade Organization . The nation has provided 100,000 military and police personnel to serve in 35 UN peacekeeping operations across four continents. It participates in the East Asia Summit , the G8+5 , and other multilateral forums. India has close economic ties with countries in South America , Asia, and Africa; it pursues
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#17329486481599920-406: The Thar Desert , the eastern spread of which is checked by the Aravallis. The remaining Indian Plate survives as peninsular India , the oldest and geologically most stable part of India. It extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in
10080-424: The United Kingdom , and Canada . The President of India is the supreme commander of the nation's armed forces; with 1.45 million active troops, they compose the world's second-largest military . It comprises the Indian Army , the Indian Navy , the Indian Air Force , and the Indian Coast Guard . The official Indian defence budget for 2011 was US$ 36.03 billion, or 1.83% of GDP. Defence expenditure
10240-437: The Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial wilderness; the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988. India hosts more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries and eighteen biosphere reserves , four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves ; seventy-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention . A parliamentary republic with
10400-441: The direct administration of India by the British government. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest. In the decades following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885. The rush of technology and
10560-405: The temperate coniferous forest of the Himalayas , the moist deciduous sal forest of eastern India, and the dry deciduous teak forest of central and southern India. Open forest , whose canopy density is between 10% and 40%, occupies 9.26% of India's land area. India has two natural zones of thorn forest , one in the Deccan Plateau , immediately east of the Western Ghats, and the other in
10720-400: The 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206. The sultanate was to control much of North India and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for
10880-526: The 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion, resulting in greater patronage of painting , literary forms, textiles, and architecture . Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas , the Rajputs , and the Sikhs , gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience. Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along
11040-653: The 1820s. India was then no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British Empire with raw materials. Many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period. By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and having effectively been made an arm of British administration, the East India Company began more consciously to enter non-economic arenas, including education, social reform, and culture. Historians consider India's modern age to have begun sometime between 1848 and 1885. The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of
11200-596: The 1980s and the collaboration with Soviet Union for technical know-how, has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the world's fastest-growing economies , and increased its geopolitical clout. Yet, India is also shaped by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban; by religious and caste-related violence ; by Maoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies ; and by separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and in Northeast India . It has unresolved territorial disputes with China and with Pakistan . India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among
11360-473: The 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Maurya Empire . The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent except the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas. The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka 's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of
11520-736: The 4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Empire had created a complex system of administration and taxation in the greater Ganges Plain; this system became a model for later Indian kingdoms. Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion, rather than the management of ritual, began to assert itself. This renewal was reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture , which found patrons among an urban elite. Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian science , astronomy , medicine , and mathematics made significant advances. The Indian early medieval age, from 600 to 1200 CE ,
11680-541: The 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language. They were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development of all modern languages of the subcontinent . Indian royalty, big and small, and the temples they patronised drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well. Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation. By
11840-578: The 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in Southeast Asia, as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern-day Myanmar , Thailand , Laos , Brunei , Cambodia , Vietnam , Philippines , Malaysia , and Indonesia . Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; Southeast Asians took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages. After
12000-478: The Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains. According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches; 11% rocky shores, including cliffs; and 46% mudflats or marshy shores. Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra , both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal . Important tributaries of
12160-522: The BJP became the first political party since 1984 to win a majority and govern without the support of other parties. In the 2019 general election , the BJP was victorious again with majority. In the 2024 general election , the BJP failed to achieve majority and the BJP-led NDA coalition formed the government . Narendra Modi , a former chief minister of Gujarat , is serving as the 14th Prime Minister of India in his third term since May 26, 2014. India
12320-620: The BJP was able to form a successful coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee , the NDA became the first non-Congress, coalition government to complete a five-year term. Again in the 2004 Indian general elections , no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming another successful coalition: the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). It had
12480-498: The British East India Company followed, turning India into a colonial economy but also consolidating its sovereignty . British Crown rule began in 1858. The rights promised to Indians were granted slowly, but technological changes were introduced, and modern ideas of education and public life took root. A pioneering and influential nationalist movement emerged, which was noted for nonviolent resistance and became
12640-593: The Buddha is recorded in the Pali canon to have sought enlightenment. Many Indian species have descended from those of Gondwana , the southern supercontinent from which India separated more than 100 million years ago. India's subsequent collision with Eurasia set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic changes later caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms. Still later, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographic passes flanking
12800-734: The Buddhist dhamma . The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 200 CE , the southern peninsula was ruled by the Cheras , the Cholas , and the Pandyas , dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with West and Southeast Asia . In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased subordination of women. By
12960-679: The Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated ; she was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi , who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year . The Congress was voted out again in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front , won the elections; that government too proved relatively short-lived, lasting just under two years. There were two prime ministers during this period; V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar . Elections were held again in 1991 ; no party won an absolute majority. The Congress, as
13120-472: The East India Company set the stage for changes essential to a modern state. These included the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens. Technological changes—among them, railways, canals, and the telegraph—were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe . However, disaffection with the company also grew during this time and set off
13280-900: The Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi ; the latter's extremely low gradient, caused by long-term silt deposition, leads to severe floods and course changes. Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari , the Mahanadi , the Kaveri , and the Krishna , which also drain into the Bay of Bengal; and the Narmada and the Tapti , which drain into
13440-544: The Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and winter monsoons . The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes. The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide
13600-455: The Himalayas. This had the effect of lowering endemism among India's mammals, which stands at 12.6%, contrasting with 45.8% among reptiles and 55.8% among amphibians. Among endemics are the vulnerable hooded leaf monkey and the threatened Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172 IUCN -designated threatened animal species , or 2.9% of endangered forms. These include
13760-572: The Hindi Belt made up the majority of Indians in the Anglo-Caribbean and Suriname. Hence, their dialect of Hindustani, known as Caribbean Hindustani collectively, is based mostly on Bhojpuri and Awadhi, and it became the lingua franca of the early Indians. Also, since they formed the largest group of Indians, the traditions and culture from the Bhojpur and Awadh regions became the dominant culture for
13920-401: The Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs. By repeatedly repulsing Mongol raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into
14080-461: The Indian people was the Maurya Empire having Patliputra (currently Patna , Bihar ) as its capital, conquered the major part of South Asia in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka alongside their senior advisor, Acharya Chanakya , the world's pioneer of the fields of political science and economics. The next great ancient empire of the Indian people
14240-521: The Indian subcontinent and within the international borders of the modern country of India had been migrating to Southeast Asia , East Asia , Central Asia , North Africa , and even along Europe's Mediterranean coast, the Indian diaspora generally socio-politically or historically refers to those whose families or themselves migrated to other parts of the world after the British Empire established itself in India. Population estimates from 2016 vary from
14400-592: The Indians in those countries. France sent southern Indians to its colonies in the Caribbean as indentured laborers, hence there are also many residents of Indian descent in Guadeloupe , Martinique , and French Guiana , mostly of southern Indian descent. Many Indo-Caribbean people have migrated to the United States , United Kingdom , Canada , the Netherlands , and France , and few of them have even seasonally migrated to
14560-458: The Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status. The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency, caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets. The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of
14720-764: The advent of European traders resulting in the establishment of British India ; and the subsequent independence movement that led to the Partition of India and the creation of the Republic of India . The Indian people established during the ancient and medieval periods to the early eighteenth century some of the greatest empires and dynasties in South Asian history like the Maurya Empire , Satavahana dynasty , Gupta Empire , Rashtrakuta dynasty , Chalukya Empire , Chola Empire , Karkota Empire , Pala Empire , Vijayanagara Empire , Delhi Sultanate , Mughal Empire , Maratha Confederacy and Sikh Empire . The first great empire of
14880-543: The advent of independence in 1947, but tempered by the partition of India into two states: India and Pakistan. Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a secular and democratic republic. Per the London Declaration , India retained its membership of the Commonwealth , becoming the first republic within it. Economic liberalisation, which began in
15040-512: The agricultural sector 18.1%. India's foreign exchange remittances of US$ 100 billion in 2022, highest in the world, were contributed to its economy by 32 million Indians working in foreign countries. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes. Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software. In 2006,
15200-488: The banking sector, 44th in business sophistication, and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies. With seven of the world's top 15 information technology outsourcing companies based in India, as of 2009 , the country is viewed as the second-most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States. India is ranked 39th in the Global Innovation Index in 2024. As of 2023 , India's consumer market
15360-641: The beginnings of a nonviolent movement of non-co-operation, of which Mahatma Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol. During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections. The next decade was beset with crises: Indian participation in World War ;II , the Congress's final push for non-co-operation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism . All were capped by
15520-636: The centuries, there has been significant integration of Hindus , Jains , and Sikhs with Muslims across India. India is the birthplace of Hinduism , Buddhism , Jainism and Sikhism , collectively known as Indian religions . Indian religions, also known as Dharmic religions, are a major form of world religions along with Abrahamic ones. Today, Hinduism and Buddhism are the world's third- and fourth-largest religions respectively, with over 1 billion followers altogether, and possibly as many as 1.5 or 1.6 billion followers. Throughout India's history, religion has been an important part of
15680-490: The citizens of India are Hindus , the country has a substantial population of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and adherents of tribal faiths. Zoroastrianism and Judaism each has several thousands of Indian adherents, and also have an ancient history in India. India has the largest population of people adhering to Zoroastrianism and Baháʼí Faith in the world, even though these two religions are not native to India. Many other world religions also have
15840-484: The coasts of southern and eastern India. As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs. By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company , had established coastal outposts. The East India Company's control of
16000-452: The commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks, and many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far-away markets. There was an increase in the number of large-scale famines , and, despite the risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for Indians. There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in
16160-514: The concept of zero and the Hindu–Arabic numeral system decimal system during this period. During this period Indian cultural influence spread over many parts of Southeast Asia which led to the establishment of Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia . During the early medieval period the great Rashtrakuta dynasty governed most of the Indian subcontinent from the 8th to 10th centuries and
16320-625: The contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%. India was the world's second-largest textile exporter after China in the 2013 calendar year. Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years prior to 2007, India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century. Some 431 million Indians have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number around 580 million by 2030. Though ranking 68th in global competitiveness , as of 2010 , India ranks 17th in financial market sophistication, 24th in
16480-421: The country's culture. Religious diversity and religious tolerance are both established in the country by the law and by custom ; the Constitution of India has declared the right to freedom of religion to be a fundamental right . Atheism and agnosticism have a long history in India and flourished within Śramaṇa movement . The Cārvāka school originated in India around the 6th century BCE and
16640-547: The declining status of women, and the incorporation of untouchability into an organised system of belief. In South India , the Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian-languages scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of Southeast Asia . In the early mediaeval era, Christianity , Islam , Judaism , and Zoroastrianism became established on India's southern and western coasts. Muslim armies from Central Asia intermittently overran India's northern plains, eventually founding
16800-507: The design and implementation of Vikrant -class aircraft carriers and Arihant -class nuclear submarines . Since the end of the Cold War , India has increased its economic, strategic, and military co-operation with the United States and the European Union . In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at
16960-507: The early 16th century, northern India, then under mainly Muslim rulers, fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors. The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule. Instead, it balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices and diverse and inclusive ruling elites, leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule. Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar ,
17120-715: The east. To the south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau , is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as the Western and Eastern Ghats ; the plateau contains the country's oldest rock formations, some over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6° 44′ and 35° 30′ north latitude and 68° 7′ and 97° 25′ east longitude. India's coastline measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distance, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres (1,300 mi) to
17280-513: The endangered Bengal tiger and the Ganges river dolphin . Critically endangered species include the gharial , a crocodilian ; the great Indian bustard ; and the Indian white-rumped vulture , which has become nearly extinct by having ingested the carrion of diclofenac -treated cattle. Before they were extensively used for agriculture and cleared for human settlement, the thorn forests of Punjab were mingled at intervals with open grasslands that were grazed by large herds of blackbuck preyed on by
17440-437: The extent that it is treated as a religion in itself. Sports like hockey, volleyball, football are quite popular while polo, golf and tennis are preferred sports for affluent sections of the society. In recent times with government support Olympic sports like shooting, archery, wrestling, javelin throw, swimming, badminton have gained prominence in the Indian society. Although, population groups originating in different parts of
17600-544: The first half of the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for Indian independence movement was launched, the Indian subcontinent gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, after the British provinces were partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan and the princely states all acceded to one of the new states. India is one of the world's oldest civilisations. The Indian culture, often labelled as an amalgamation of several various cultures, spans across
17760-485: The first wave of migration of indentured laborers, more Indians from Gujarat , Sindh , Kutch , Punjab , Bengal , and South India came to the Caribbean for business and professional occupations from the 1930s till present-day. There are more than a million Indo-Caribbean people . In Trinidad and Tobago , Guyana , and Suriname they are the largest ethnic groups. The Indians from the Bhojpuri and Awadhi-speaking areas of
17920-494: The largest single party, was able to form a minority government led by P. V. Narasimha Rao . A two-year period of political turmoil followed the general election of 1996 . Several short-lived alliances shared power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996; it was followed by two comparatively long-lasting United Front coalitions, which depended on external support. There were two prime ministers during this period; H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral . In 1998 ,
18080-735: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are concentrated around the city of Durban . They were classified as members of an "Indian" race under the country's defunct Apartheid system. About 40,000 people of Indian origin live in Tanzania mostly in the urban areas. According to the American Community Survey of the United States Census Bureau , the Indian American population in the United States grew from almost 1.67 million in 2000 to 3.1 million in 2010 which
18240-399: The life of Dawood Ibrahim's sister with Shraddha Kapoor and her real-life brother Siddhant Kapoor in the lead roles. Indian people Indian people or Indians are the citizens and nationals of the Republic of India . In 2022, the population of India stood at 1.4 billion people, of various ethnic groups . According to United Nations forecasts, India overtook China as
18400-425: The life of its exemplar, Mahavira . Buddhism , based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha , attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in India. In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal, and both established long-lasting monastic traditions. Politically, by
18560-502: The major factor in ending British rule. In 1947, the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent dominions , a Hindu-majority dominion of India and a Muslim-majority dominion of Pakistan , amid large-scale loss of life and an unprecedented migration. India has been a federal republic since 1950, governed through a democratic parliamentary system , and has been the world's most populous democracy since
18720-467: The majority of India's rainfall. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet , tropical dry , subtropical humid , and montane . Temperatures in India have risen by 0.7 °C (1.3 °F) between 1901 and 2018. Climate change in India is often thought to be the cause. The retreat of Himalayan glaciers has adversely affected the flow rate of the major Himalayan rivers, including
18880-560: The medieval Indians was the Chola dynasty . Under the great Rajaraja Chola I and his successor Rajendra Chola I the Chola dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in South Asia and South-East Asia . The power of the Chola empire was proclaimed to the eastern world by the expedition to the Ganges which Rajendra Chola I undertook and by the occupation of cities of the maritime empire of Srivijaya in Southeast Asia , as well as by
19040-778: The name Āryāvarta to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)". While the word Indian and India is derived from Greek Ἰνδία ( Indía ), via Latin India . Indía in Koine Greek denoted the region beyond the Indus ( Ἰνδός ) river, since Herodotus (5th century BC) ἡ Ἰνδική χώρη , hē Indikē chōrē ; "the Indian land", Ἰνδός , Indos , "an Indian", from Old Persian Hinduš and medieval term Hindustani . The name
19200-420: The nation to liberalise its economy ; since then, it has moved increasingly towards a free-market system by emphasising both foreign trade and direct investment inflows. India has been a member of World Trade Organization since 1 January 1995. The 522-million-worker Indian labour force is the world's second largest , as of 2017 . The service sector makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and
19360-494: The neighboring Latin American and other Caribbean countries as migrant workers. A majority of Indo-Caribbean are Hindus , while there is significant minority of Christians and Muslims , along with smaller numbers of recently arrived Indian Jains , Sikhs , Buddhist , and Baháʼís . Indo-Caribbean people are known as the descendants of the jahajis or girmityas . Recent genome studies appear to show that South Asians are
19520-445: The newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption. The railway network provided critical famine relief, notably reduced the cost of moving goods, and helped nascent Indian-owned industry. After World War I , in which approximately one million Indians served , a new period began. It was marked by British reforms but also repressive legislation , by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by
19680-528: The northern and western regions. By 400 BCE , stratification and exclusion by caste had emerged within Hinduism, and Buddhism and Jainism had arisen, proclaiming social orders unlinked to heredity. Early political consolidations gave rise to the loose-knit Maurya and Gupta Empires based in the Ganges Basin . Their collective era was suffused with wide-ranging creativity, but also marked by
19840-521: The number of Indian-born people in the UK increased in size by 38% from 467,634 to around 647,000 (an increase of approximately 180,000). There are approximately 1.86 million people of Indian origin or ancestry in Canada, the majority of which live in Greater Toronto and Vancouver , with growing communities in Alberta and Quebec. Roughly 5.1% of the total Canadian population is of Indian ancestry,
20000-553: The orbitals of planets. The Mughal Empire consolidated much of the Indian sub-continent under a single realm. Under the Mughals, India developed a strong and stable economy, leading to commercial expansion and greater patronage of culture, greatly influencing Indian society. The Mughal Empire balanced and pacified local societies through new administrative practices and had diverse and inclusive ruling elites, leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule. Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as
20160-450: The outfit. Men traditionally wear Angarkha , Achkan , Bagalbandi , Kurta , Kameez , Phiran , Sherwani and Koti for upper garment, lower garment includes Dhoti , Churidar , Shalwar , and Lungi . Pagri is usually worn around head to complete the outfit. In urban centres, people often wear western clothing and variety of other contemporary fashion. Indian food varies from region to region. Staple foods of Indian cuisine include
20320-532: The proportion of the area of a forest covered by its tree canopy . Very dense forest , whose canopy density is greater than 70%, occupies 3.02% of India's land area. It predominates in the tropical moist forest of the Andaman Islands , the Western Ghats , and Northeast India . Moderately dense forest , whose canopy density is between 40% and 70%, occupies 9.39% of India's land area. It predominates in
20480-535: The repeated embassies to China. During the late medieval period the great Vijayanagara Empire ruled most of southern India from the 14th to 16th centuries and reached its peak during the reign of Sri Krishnadevaraya The medieval Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics flourished during this period under such well known south Indian mathematicians as Madhava ( c. 1340 – c. 1425 ), who made important contributions to Trigonometry and Calculus, and Nilakhanta (c. 1444–1545), who postulated on
20640-473: The rise of sixteen oligarchic republics known as Mahajanapadas ; the rise of the Śramaṇa movement ; the birth of Jainism and Buddhism in the 6th century BCE, and the onset of a succession of powerful dynasties and empires for more than two millennia throughout various geographic areas of the subcontinent, including the growth of Muslim dynasties during the Medieval period intertwined with Hindu powers;
20800-544: The seas, greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to increasingly assert its military strength and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; these factors were crucial in allowing the company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the other European companies. Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by
20960-463: The share of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985. In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.7%; In 2021, India was the world's ninth-largest importer and the sixteenth-largest exporter . Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and manufactured leather goods. Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals. Between 2001 and 2011,
21120-620: The southern supercontinent Gondwana , began a north-eastward drift caused by seafloor spreading to its south-west, and later, south and south-east. Simultaneously, the vast Tethyan oceanic crust , to its northeast, began to subduct under the Eurasian Plate . These dual processes, driven by convection in the Earth's mantle , both created the Indian Ocean and caused the Indian continental crust eventually to under-thrust Eurasia and to uplift
21280-459: The southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China , Nepal , and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives ; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand , Myanmar, and Indonesia . Modern humans arrived on
21440-600: The spread of Hinduism , Buddhism , architecture , administration and writing system from India to other parts of Asia through the Silk Road by the travellers and maritime traders during the early centuries of the Common Era . To the west, Greater India overlaps with Greater Persia in the Hindu Kush and Pamir Mountains . During medieval period, Islam played a significant role in shaping Indian cultural heritage. Over
21600-447: The spread of Buddhism. These literature's were also influential in development of One Thousand and One Nights during medieval period. Indian people have played a major role in the development of the philosophy , sciences , mathematics , arts , architecture and astronomy throughout history . During the ancient period, notable mathematics accomplishment of India included Hindu–Arabic numeral system with decimal place-value and
21760-416: The subcontinent from the north-west. The caste system , which created a hierarchy of priests, warriors, and free peasants, but which excluded indigenous peoples by labelling their occupations impure, arose during this period. On the Deccan Plateau , archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation. In South India , a progression to sedentary life
21920-515: The subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic cultures to the Iron Age ones. The Vedas , the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism , were composed during this period, and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Gangetic Plain . Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into
22080-441: The subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north. The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire . Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India, and was to influence South Indian society for long afterwards. In
22240-414: The support of left-leaning parties and MPs who opposed the BJP. The UPA returned to power in the 2009 general election with increased numbers, and it no longer required external support from India's communist parties . That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 and 1962 to be re-elected to a consecutive five-year term. In the 2014 general election ,
22400-452: The third millennium BCE. By at least 1200 BCE , an archaic form of Sanskrit , an Indo-European language , had diffused into India from the northwest. Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the Rigveda . Preserved by an oral tradition that was resolutely vigilant , the Rigveda records the dawning of Hinduism in India. The Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in
22560-640: The time and was not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group , ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce. As a consequence, India became the sixth de facto nuclear weapons state. India subsequently signed co-operation agreements involving civilian nuclear energy with Russia, France,
22720-456: The time of its independence in 1947. It is a pluralistic , multilingual and multi-ethnic society . India's nominal per capita income increased from US$ 64 annually in 1951 to US$ 2,601 in 2022, and its literacy rate from 16.6% to 74%. During the same time, its population grew from 361 million to almost 1.4 billion, and India became the most populous country in 2023. From being a comparatively destitute country in 1951, India has become
22880-429: The tradition in Indian society. Marriage is considered a union of the two families rather than just the individuals, the process involved in an arranged marriage can be different depending on the communities and families. Recent survey study found that fewer marriages are purely arranged without consent and that the majority of surveyed Indian marriages are arranged with consent. The study also suggested that Indian culture
23040-513: The two nations have gone to war four times: in 1947 , 1965 , 1971 , and 1999 . Three of these wars were fought over the disputed territory of Kashmir , while the third, the 1971 war, followed from India's support for the independence of Bangladesh . In the late 1980s, the Indian military twice intervened abroad at the invitation of the host country: a peace-keeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990; and an armed intervention to prevent
23200-611: The union territories of Jammu and Kashmir , Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi , have elected legislatures and governments following the Westminster system of governance. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the central government through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act , states were reorganised on a linguistic basis. There are over
23360-488: The western part of the Indo-Gangetic plain, now turned into rich agricultural land by irrigation, its features no longer visible. Among the Indian subcontinent's notable indigenous trees are the astringent Azadirachta indica , or neem , which is widely used in rural Indian herbal medicine , and the luxuriant Ficus religiosa , or peepul , which is displayed on the ancient seals of Mohenjo-daro , and under which
23520-444: The world in nominal per capita income and 125th in per capita income adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP)—the vast majority of Indians fall into the low-income group. Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist economics. Widespread state intervention and regulation largely walled the economy off from the outside world. An acute balance of payments crisis in 1991 forced
23680-419: The world's most populous country by the end of April 2023, containing 17.50 percent of the global population. In addition to the Indian population, the Indian overseas diaspora also boasts large numbers, particularly in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf , former British colonies, and the Western world . While the demonym "Indian" applies to people originating from the present-day Republic of India , it
23840-404: The world's newer nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved. India accounts for the bulk of the Indian subcontinent, lying atop the Indian tectonic plate , a part of the Indo-Australian Plate . India's defining geological processes began 75 million years ago when the Indian Plate, then part of
24000-403: Was also used as the identifying term for people originating from what is now Pakistan and Bangladesh prior to the Partition of India in 1947. Particularly in North America , the terms "Asian Indian" and "East Indian" are sometimes used to differentiate Indians from the indigenous peoples of the Americas . Although the misidentification of indigenous Americans as Indians occurred during
24160-457: Was amended in 1971 to "a sovereign, socialist , secular , democratic republic". India's form of government, traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong centre and weak states, has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic, and social changes. The Government of India comprises three branches: India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories . All states, as well as
24320-408: Was first performed in 1873. She is usually depicted as a woman clad in an orange or saffron sari holding a flag and sometimes accompanied by a lion . Sports in India are mainly in two categories: traditional sports and global sports. Traditional sports like gilli danda , kho kho , kabaddi are quite popular. On the other hand, Indians are highly enthusiastic about the game of cricket, to
24480-426: Was nominally worth $ 3.94 trillion; it was the fifth-largest economy by market exchange rates and is, at around $ 15.0 trillion, the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). With its average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% over the past two decades, and reaching 6.1% during 2011–2012, India is one of the world's fastest-growing economies . However, due to its low GDP per capita—which ranks 136th in
24640-438: Was pegged at US$ 70.12 billion for fiscal year 2022–23 and, increased 9.8% than previous fiscal year. India is the world's second-largest arms importer; between 2016 and 2020, it accounted for 9.5% of the total global arms imports. Much of the military expenditure was focused on defence against Pakistan and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean. In May 2017, the Indian Space Research Organisation launched
24800-532: Was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi , who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971 . Following public discontent with the state of emergency she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977 ; the then-new Janata Party , which had opposed the emergency, was voted in. Its government lasted just over two years. There were two prime ministers during this period; Morarji Desai and Charan Singh . Voted back into power in 1980,
24960-487: Was the Gupta Empire . This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known as the classical or " Golden Age of India ". During this period, aspects of Indian civilisation, administration, culture, and Hinduism and Buddhism spread to much of Asia , while the Chola Empire in the south had flourishing maritime trade links with the Roman Empire during this period. The ancient Indian mathematicians Aryabhata , Bhāskara I and Brahmagupta invented
25120-411: Was the world's fifth largest . Driven by growth, India's nominal GDP per capita increased steadily from US$ 308 in 1991, when economic liberalisation began, to US$ 1,380 in 2010, to an estimated US$ 2,731 in 2024. It is expected to grow to US$ 3,264 by 2026. However, it has remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and
25280-736: Was used widely since the era of the Mughal Empire . The meaning of Hindustan has varied, referring to a region encompassing the northern Indian subcontinent (present-day northern India and Pakistan ) or to India in its near entirety. By 55,000 years ago, the first modern humans, or Homo sapiens , had arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa, where they had earlier evolved. The earliest known modern human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago. After 6500 BCE , evidence for domestication of food crops and animals, construction of permanent structures, and storage of agricultural surplus appeared in Mehrgarh and other sites in Balochistan, Pakistan . These gradually developed into
25440-489: Was woven around 2450 BC and 2000 BC. In the 11th century BC Rig-veda mentions dyed and embroidered garments known as paridhan and pesas respectively and thus highlights the development of sophisticated garment manufacturing techniques during this period. In the 5th century BCE, Greek historian Herodotus describes the richness of the quality of Indian textiles. By the 2nd century AD, cotton , muslins and silk textiles manufactured in India were imported by
25600-452: Was written during the period between 200 BCE and 200 CE in classical India and is traditionally attributed to the Sage Bharata . Natya Shastra is incredibly wide in its scope. While it primarily deals with stagecraft, it has come to influence music , classical dance , and literature as well. It covers stage design , music , dance , makeup , and virtually every other aspect of stagecraft . Indian drama and theatre has
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