INDIA
'India' today means the Republic of India which has another constitutional name also – Bharat. The term 'India' is derived from 'Sindhu', a word in Sanskrit, to mean either a river or the river Indus. The 'S' in 'Sindhu' is a phonetic 'h' in certain languages. Thus Sindhu was pronounced as 'hindu' and this explains 'Hindustan' (the land of the Hindus), another name for India. The term 'India' is found used from 5th century BC, according to some historians, quoting Darius the King, Herodotus, Megasthenes and some others. In certain Buddhist texts, India is denoted as 'Aryadesh' or 'Aryavarta' (both to mean the land of the Aryas), and also as 'Jambudvipa' to mean one of the seven islands (continents) of the earth. The English term 'India' is borrowed from the Latin equivalent and in French it is Inde. In Japan India for long has been referred to as Tenjiku which means 'heaven'.
THE PRE-HISTORIC INDIA
It is an accomplished fact that the Indian land mass was the abode of humans far ahead of the origin and development of recorded civilizations like the
Indus Valley one. Anthropologists and other experts have collected evidences of the presence in
Kashmir,
Rajasthan,
Maharashtra,
Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu, (
more...)
THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
An ink-well, more than thousand seals bearing inscriptions of a yet-to-be-deciphered script, seals with the figure of a three-faced divinity in a sitting '
yoga' posture, the figurine of a dancing girl, remains of brick-built houses, public tanks for bathing, statuettes of animals, well-laid out city centers, farm houses (
more...)
THE VEDIC PERIOD
In the long history of India, the
Vedic Age (1500-500 BC) comes after the
Indus Valley Civilization. It was during this period that India presented to human culture one of its invaluable contributions – the
Vedic Literature. (
more...)
THE AGE OF RELIGIONS
India has been a breeding station for some of the important religions in the world. It has also motivated the formation of certain religions in other countries. Human thought and its culture have been greatly influenced by this role India has played over thousands of years. Whether it be
Buddhism, which was Asia's most influential religion, or
Jainism, which became a significant thought system in India, or
Hinduism, the texts of which became the cornerstones of human thought, or Ajivikism or Sikhism or the religion preached by the Charvakas, India remained the most significant cradle for all the flowers of different hues and fragrance.
JAINISM
Jainism is one of India's ancient religions and
Vardhamana Mahavira (599-527 BC) its greatest name. He was not its founder, but its reformer. 'Varddhamana' is an honorific title to mean 'ever flourishing', and he has several other honorific names like sanmati, and viraprabhu. (
more...)
BUDDHISM
There is no one like the founder of
Buddhism in history or in legends, and there is nothing else like his legacy. For more than twenty five hundred years he has been living in the minds of men and women in their millions all over the world. He is Siddhartha, the Prince of Kapilavastu, of the Himalayan Kingdom in Nepal. He is also known as Gautama, (
more...)
THE RELIGION OF THE AJIVIKAS
Ajivikism was popular in parts of India during the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. It was founded by Gosala who preached a sharp and consistent criticism against the ways of Brahmanism, (
more...)
THE HINDUISM
Of the 1.12 billion people of India, 83 % are the followers of
Hinduism according to the latest census. And Hindus live in large numbers outside India too. This religion is not founded on the teachings of one powerful master, as in the case of most other religions. There is no known single text nor the name of an author there for the origin of
Hinduism, (
more...)
SIKHISM
The fifth largest organized religion in the world, Sikhism was founded in the 15th century, on the teachings of Guru Nanak and his nine successive gurus. Nanak taught that realization of truth is higher than anything else. Higher still is faithful living, he said. He disapproved caste system and belief in many gods. There is only one god, and there is no hell or heaven. All are equal. Asceticism is not a means to attain salvation. In fact leading a true, household life is a better goal. A key practice for the Sikh is the remembrance of the divine name. A Sikh should balance work, worship and charity and should defend the rights of all creatures.
THE AGE OF FOREIGN INVASIONS
India had to face foreign invasions, apart from massive migrations, several times across centuries. The earliest of these in history was the invasion by the Ackaemenid Empire of Persian 6th and 5th century BC. (more...)
THE GREAT DYNASTIES
The 6th, 5th and the 4th centuries B.C. saw the rise of several dynasties in Northern India. The most remarkable and strong of these was the Magadha dynasties of kings which flourished from the south of the present Bihar state of India. Of these, the Haryanka dynasty was a brilliant one, (more...)
THE AGE OF DISINTEGRATION OF THE EMPIRE
After the death of Harsha Vardhana, the disintegration of empire was in acceleration. Malwa was taken over by the Pratihara dynasty. Bengal was taken over by the Palas. Deccan went to the Rashtrakutas. (more...)
THE SOUTH INDIAN
When the northern empires collapsed, India was presenting a different spectacle in its south. Around 230 BC., the Satavaahanas established their power in the south and central India. Gautamiputra Satakarni was the most powerful king of this dynasty. (more...)
THE NIZAMS OF HYDERABAD
Even after the death of Aurangazeb, the Marathas launched continuous attacks and this weakened the Mughals in Deccan. In 1724 a new and independent state was founded with Hyderabad as its capital. (more...)
THE SIKH EMPIRE
The Sikhs of Punjab developed their territory as an empire, after the invaders from Afghanistan defeated the Marathas and occupied their empire. The Sikhs were persecuted badly by the Mughals and they rallied round Guru Gobind Singh who had formed 'Khalsa', a holy troop of the Sikhs, in order to inspire and rejuvenate its people. The Sikhs had been disunited and scattered in small principalities and it was Maharaja Ranjit Singh who united them and created an empire which extended from the Khyber Pass in the west, Kashmir in the north, river Sind in the south and Himachal Pradesh in the east. The Sikh empire existed till the British defeated the Sikhs in 1849, and after that it became a part of British India.
THE RISE OF MYSORE
Mysore was a vassal territory of Vijayanagara Empire, but in the mid-16th century it declared itself an independent state and soon developed further with the decline of their former masters' empire. The beginning of Mysore was in 1400 when the Wodeyars laid the foundation of it and lasted till the state acceded to the Indian Union in 1947. (more...)
THE ADVENT OF THE EUROPEANS
By the time Babur laid the foundations (1526) for the Mughal Empire, the Europeans had arrived in India with their trading intent. India was then a land of fragmented geo-political entity, ruled by countless petty kings and local chieftains of wealth. It is to this country that Babur entered from the north and the Europeans landed in the south. (more...)
THE BRITISH RULE OF INDIA
The British East India Company opened their first trading center at Surat, Gujarat in 1612. This was as per the deed of right Mughal Emperor Jehangir granted to them. In 1640, they opened their second center in Madras (now Chennai). In 1687, they shifted their main trading center from Surat to Bombay, the city that they leased out from the British King in 1668. (more...)
1857 : THE FIRST STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
The rule of the British East India Company in India was brought to an end by the armed struggle of 1857, known in India as the First Struggle for Independence. The British historians and the Company called it 'Sepoy Mutiny'. (more...)
BRITISH INDIA
The mutiny of 1857 marked the end of the British East India Company. And in August 1858 Queen Victoria of England issued a declaration dissolving the company and taking over its power. In 1877 she assumed the title of the Empress of India. (more...)
THE MUSLIM OCCUPATION OF NORTH INDIA
Right from very ancient times, the Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula had trade relations with Kerala. But they did not have any colonial or occupation interest. The Persian imperial forces attacked India in the 5th century A.D., but it did not have any visible impact on North India. The North Indian kings resisted all attempts of invasion by foreign forces. (more...)
THE MUGHAL PERIOD
After the dazzling period of the Gupta Empire and the reign of the Sultanate of Delhi, India saw the emergence of the largest ever empire with the rise of the Mughal rule in the country. The term 'Mughal' is the Persian equivalent of the term 'Mongol". The founder of this new state in India was Zahir-Ud-din Muhammad Babur, (more...)
THE MARATHA EMPIRE
The Mughal empire reached its zenith in its reach during Aurangazeb's reign. The irony was that the collapse of the empire was also during his reign. This fall was due to his cruel and wrong policies against the Hindus. Persecution of the Hindus became a routine business. (more...)
THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR INDEPENDENCE
The doomed uprising of 1857, leaderless and incohesive, set in motion a truly national movement, drawing in disparage ideologies and unlikely personalities, heroes and villains, that finally wrested independence from the most formidable empire of modern times. It all began slowly as small rills and streams, and in different theatres, both in India and England, and its course was long, sometime lazy, at times vehement and riotous and finally a painful but peaceful resistance to the cruel deeds of suppression, (more...)
THE GANDHI ERA
The World War I was another crucial occasion which vitiated the atmosphere in India. Though about 1.3 million Indian soldiers and laborers served for the British alliance in various theatres of the war, and the Indian princes sent large amounts of food and money to the battle fields, anti-colonial movements became more vehement in crucial states like Punjab and Bengal. The war resulted in great difficulties for the people. (more...)
THE POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIA
Inheritor of a civilization more than 5000 years old, a confluence of almost all religions and cultures in the world, Independent India has now crossed 60 years and it is a sovereign, socialist republic. It has a Parliamentary form and democratic system of government. 1.3 billion people living in 3.28 million square kilometers of land space and 7,516 kilometers of coastline, India has a fast developing economy, its GDP stands at $ 576 billion with a growth rate of 8%. The world's largest democracy, India has an economy which is the 4th largest in the World. India's people speak about 700 different languages in their 1500-odd dialects, though officially the country recognizes only 22 languages for all its 29 states and 5 Union territories.
STATES OF INDIA
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.
MAJOR CITIES OF INDIA
India has a fast growing economy with powerful industrial, commercial and trade sectors. Even though India is a country of countless villages, it has many ancient and modern cities. New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Agra, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Gurgaon, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kochi, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Madurai, Mysore, Nagpur, Nasik, Noida, Patna, Pune, Shimla, Sreenagar, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodara, Varanasi are some of the major Indian cities.
UNION TERRITORIES OF INDIA
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagarhaveli, Daman and Dieu, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Lakshadweep, Puducherry (Pondicherry).
INDIA'S LANGUAGES
Is it a Babel of tongues, this India?
Including Hindi there are 22 languages that are declared official languages. (The other official languages are Assamia, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkan, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu). (more...)
INDIA'S CUISINE
There is no exclusive Indian Cuisine. From place to place all along the country it differs. And as they say, the country itself is a very large dining table for which a large variety and unbelievably different dishes are prepared in a kitchen, as diverse as India itself. How many smells and tastes, and how many fragrances! (more...)
AGRICULTURE IN INDIA
Indian economy revolves round its agriculture. 22% of India's GDP is contributed by its agriculture and related activities. 65-70% of its people bank upon agriculture for their livelihood. India produced 210.45 million tons of food grains in 2004-5. Wheat (74.05 million tons), bajra (6.93million tons), maize (14.87 million tons), oil seeds (25.15 million tons), cotton (16.07 million bundles, each 175 kg) – this is how the production stood. Rice, potato, sugarcane, rubber, mustard, cardamom, tea, coffee, ginger, jute, pepper, red pepper, oil palm seed and most other agricultural products are cultivated in India. (more...)
THE RIVERS OF INDIA
Rivers are the arteries of Indian life and culture. Some of the world's largest and longest rivers in the world –the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Narmada, Nila, Periyar and their tributaries (more...)
COMMUNICATIONS IN INDIA
India's has the largest postal network in the world. It was in the second half of the 18th century that modern postal system was introduced in India. India's postal network connects thousands of the country's villages to its towns and cities. According to official statistics, there are 155,516 post offices, of which 139,120 are in villages (2005). India's first telegraph line was set up in 1851 in Calcutta. Indian Railway started using the telegraph-telephone facilities from 1900. The largest telecommunication company in India is the public sector Bharat Sanchar Niagam Limited (BSNL).Private sector service providers are also there in the field. India's is the world's tenth largest telecom network.
DEFENCE OF INDIA
India is one of the biggest military forces in the world. The Indian defense force is comprised of the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, The Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard, and the Para-military forces. In total manpower, the Indian military forces are ranked second in the World, and the active troops ranked third. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Armed forces, (
more...)
EDUCATION IN INDIA
India has a very long tradition of educational institutions dating from the very ancient times. Numerous were the ancient schools and hermitages which taught and trained people in languages, literature, religion, warfare, physical culture and arts. The ancient universities of Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramshila were the golden links in the long chain of India's educational history and tradition. (
more...)
ECONOMY OF INDIA
The Indian economy is the world's fourth largest on the basis of buying capacity. And it is the second fastest growing economy as has been testified by the 8.9% growth rate for the first three months of 2006-7. Two thirds of India's work force depends on agriculture or service sector directly or otherwise. (more...)
INDIA'S CULTURE
The culture of India is like a garland of beads of various colors. Diversity is its hallmark. But there is a string that joins all the beads into one single piece. And this, in fact, is the Indian-ness. The epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata gained their popularity all over India not through the originals in Sanskrit, but because of their free versions in the regional tongues. Thulsidas (Oudhi/Hindi), Kampar (Tamil), Ezhuthacchan (Malayalam), Ponna (Kannada) and other poets like them created free versions of Ramayana. (more...)
